Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: It (2017)

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-11-2017, 10:54 PM:

This is a pretty good horror film from what I've seen...nobody has left in the middle yet, and bathroom traffic is virtually nonexistent during the show -- both good signs. And a few good scream scenes.

So far, so good.

Then they went and ruined it at the end by displaying the title, followed by "CHAPTER ONE" superimposed over it. Crap, now we have umpteen sequels to look forward to.

I haven't seen enough of the movie to give it a star rating, but whatever I would give gets a minus-two for that end-title.

Posted by Daniel Schulz (Member # 1881) on 09-11-2017, 11:00 PM:

I don't think there will be umpteen sequels - the book is divided into two halves, the first half with the main characters as children, and the second half with the same characters, now grown up, revisiting the strange events of their childhood. Chapter 2 will presumably be the back half of the book focused on the kids, now grown into adulthood.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-12-2017, 08:37 PM:

quote: Daniel Schulz
Chapter 2 will presumably be the back half of the book focused on the kids, now grown into adulthood.

Fair enough, I didn't know that.

Still, if the second part is a huge success, I wouldn't put it past them coming up with umpteen sequels.

I guess I don't understand why they didn't put "Chapter One" on the poster along with the title, but what the hell....quite often they don't even put the freaking title on the poster at all.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 09-12-2017, 09:11 PM:

Mike, that's something Stephen King would probably have to sign off on. He is such a prolific writer it's possible he already has some sort of sequel/prequel/spin-off already written. The success of this movie could inspire him to put it out there.

I watched IT Sunday night and was really surprised at how much I liked it, given I'm not a fan of horror movies. One of the things that impressed me is the director didn't use overpowering music to build the movie's tension. He also avoided the typical horror movie gimmick of the false scare - where you have are all built up for something scary and a cat jumps out or something else.

I thought virtually everything about this movie was extremely well done, especially the performances of the child actors.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 09-13-2017, 07:09 PM:

IT was originally a two part television mini series that featured the first part with the children the 1st night and continued with the story thirty years later during the 2nd night with the children all grown up fighting the clown who was meaner and nastier than before. I saw the complete series from a DVD many years ago and remember enjoying it very much and thought it was better than the newly released movie.

-Claude

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-13-2017, 08:17 PM:

I've heard several people say they "saw the first one" and couldn't figure that out because this is the first time it's been a movie, but I guess those people don't know the difference between a real movie and a TV movie, so to them this is a remake.

quote: Justin Hamaker
Mike, that's something Stephen King would probably have to sign off on. He is such a prolific writer it's possible he already has some sort of sequel/prequel/spin-off already written. The success of this movie could inspire him to put it out there.

I'm sure you're right on both counts....there's probably a Pennywise "origin story" rattling around somewhere, if nothing else.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 09-14-2017, 06:11 PM:

'It' also features a rather aural rollercoaster ride through it's Dolby Atmos mix. Talk about 'soft, loud, quiet, LOUD' rhythm and pacing of sound.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-14-2017, 06:19 PM:

Reactions here have been mixed....everything from "That was awesome" to "meh." I don't know what the "meh" people were expecting...probably "Saw"-level violence, which this movie doesn't have.

I'm hearing a few comparisons to "Stand By Me," which of course also featured a group of kids, although I don't remember those kids being as foul-mouthed as the kids in this movie.

It's holding up very well mid-week, so that's a good sign it's going to have legs.

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 09-16-2017, 10:46 AM:

I guess I'm in the it (or It) was pretty good camp. I've never seen the miniseries but, having read the book long ago, I guess I expected it to be better.

It was well acted and directed but a bit slow to get going. I also think the opening with the paper boat makes more sense in 1957 when the book was set vs. 1988 when the movie was set. I grew up in the 80's and don't ever recall any friends making paper boats.

Spoiler Alert - Click to Toggle
I guess they had no choice but to leave out the "climax" of part I of the novel when, for some unknown reason, Beverly has to have sex with all the boys so they can find their way out of the sewer system.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars from me

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 09-16-2017, 03:18 PM:

CINEMA: Regal Warren East, Wichita, KS
AUDITORIUM: 14, SEAT I17
PRESENTATION: Warren Grand Slope with Regal Roller Coaster Vision Digital
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: The two tallest guys in all of Wichita just HAD to sit right in front of me, and did somebody sneak in Chinese food?
RATING: Three stars (out of four)

THE PLOT: Stranger Things Season 2. Wackiness ensues.

I'm probably being generous with the rating, but the fact that it had such a Spielberg 80's vibe to it was endearing. It made up for the many issues I had with the movie.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 09-16-2017, 03:37 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
I'm hearing a few comparisons to "Stand By Me," which of course also featured a group of kids, although I don't remember those kids being as foul-mouthed as the kids in this movie.

Go watch Stand By Me again... From Common Sense Media :

quote:
Many uses of "f--k," plus "s--t," "a--hole," "t-ts," "d--k," and more, almost all by teen boys.

I liked "IT" enough to recommend it, but not enough to see it again.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 09-16-2017, 03:49 PM:

Horror movies aren't really my favourite genre, but as horror movie go It is pretty good.

I guess the rest comes down to advertising. It is a pretty good movie, but there are a lot of other pretty good movies that don't get anywhere near the crowd that this one is getting.

Not that I'm complaining. [Smile]

So this is what a crowd looks like. It's been so long I had almost forgotten....

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 09-17-2017, 12:19 AM:

I hope that for most of you this one will be the saving grace of the Lost Summer of 2017. It might not entirely compensate months of shallowness, but at least around here it's drawing crowds like most haven't seen in quite a time now.

Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 09-17-2017, 12:47 PM:

Absolutely a saving grace for us. We had a cool rainy summer which never helps outdoors, but these past two weekends have taken us from worst summer (in the 7 years my cash system has data for) to 3rd best, possibly even 2nd when it's all said and done. We're receiving some buzz over some of the upcoming movies, so combined with improved weather and new movies in September for a change, we're quite pleased with "IT".

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-17-2017, 08:17 PM:

quote: Geoff Jones
Go watch Stand By Me again...

I haven't seen that since we played it, but I guess it was rated R, wasn't it.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 09-18-2017, 04:25 PM:

I've had more scare-outs with this movie than I can ever remember having with any movie before. I think some of the teenagers are getting pressured into coming to see it along with their friends and don't know what they're getting into.

Friday: One girl came out fifteen minutes into the movie and called her mom to come and take her home.

Saturday: Two girls and a boy came to sit in the lobby for a while a couple of times during the show.

Sunday: Two girls called their dad and left about one hour into the show.

I've had scare-outs with some movies before, but not every single night.

(I even had one very small girl get scared out at the start of Pocahontas, believe it or not. The starting scene with the ships in the storm scared her.)

In Saskatchewan this movie is classified 14A. Maybe it should have been 18A.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-18-2017, 07:00 PM:

On horror movies we almost always have one or two people come out and say it was "too much for me" but on this one, nobody has left yet, even the kids. We've had quite a few parents drop their little darlings off for the movie....hope they enjoy the colorful new vocabulary the kids will come home with!

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 10-27-2017, 09:30 PM:

SOmehow< i never watched the 90s mini series. I watched this at Atlantic Station IMAX.
Pretty good. I saw the mini series after I saw this movie and this movie improves on the childhood scenes.

I really hope the second part improves on the cheesy spider scene from the TV miniseries. Make it a little abstract in the movie version instead of some generic looking spider monster from a 50s era movie.