11.22.63 w james franco about the kennedy assassination steven king mila kunis pilates coffee

i couldn't find another thread

i have never knowingly seen james franco in anything but i love this, it's like the platonic ideal of an 80s movie executed in a 90s style, for 2016 television

it has a very stephen king feel, as in his actual writing style and not necessarily how some of his works have been adapted previously

I'm listening

chris cooper is good, franco is kind of ridiculous, how the premise works is never explained and completely nebulous thus far, which they hopefully stick with

I'm unclear on how pilates and coffee figure into this

Haven't watched today's episode but so far it's good and sufficiently suspenseful. Keeps a lot of the aww shucks humor and sweetness that I loved from the book without skimping on the time travel weirdness. It's always good to be reminded that James Franco is an actual good actor and not just a "performance artist" or whatever.

enjoying this in spite of the fact that THERE'S A TIME PORTAL IN THE CLOSET

I read the book - my first King book since I was maybe 12, decades ago - because it was said to be good. And it was - except for the 400 page digression. I do like the ingenious padding of the premise, that he can only travel back in time to a specific day/year, and basically has to wait things out for years before attempting his mission. The book sets everything up, and then - he's hanging out teaching in a Texas town, dating some woman and getting into fights and stuff? For like 400 pages. And then the plot kicks in again.

Probably not relevant to the show but this is an interesting analysis of the first chapter of the book:
http://moodywriting.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/chapter-one-112263-by-stephen-king.html

love this thread title

I think we need to have an ilx feature that whenever u type mila kunis it adds pilates solitary caffeine hit

xxpost he was spying on Oswald and other dudes throughout those 400 pages. The digression is the actual book, the JFK stuff is whatever.

For those who haven't read the book, there's already a lot of streamlining at the beginning. In the book Franco's character kept going into the past and changing things and then coming back to the present to see how they worked out.

"it's like the platonic ideal of an 80s movie executed in a 90s style"

Perfect summary there. I never expected to even actually watch this after reading some of the reviews, but ended up loving it.

josh you say 'digression' but actually i slightly regretted this thread title as soon as i hit submit (not for the first time) because in tons of ways the ostensible A-plot isn't really the point of it, it's not 'about the kennedy assassination' it's about pretending to be someone else and what choices you make with the agency that hands you, and seeing franco play michael j. fox opposite who? sarah gadon being reese witherspoon and the delicious videogame roleplay aspects demanded by the premise &etc. although the kennedy stuff is fun too!

that said i haven't read the book. not only have i never seen a james franco movie, i've read read a novel by steven king! maybe i'd like it. i like the horror and supernatural elements in this A LOT.

franco playing a michael j fox-like character is just inconceivably wrong

love sarah gadon

xp
really ? I think he is born to play that type of character - in terms of cuteness and charm.

who is that cutie pie British boy playing, then

His smalltown boy type sidekick who found his future copy of NYT - featuring the JFK assassination, and younger brother of one of the victims of his minor time-cop action targets.

xpost Tbh, I don't remember anything important happening while he's living his life in wait for history to catch up with him. I guess that gets to the crux of my issue with the book: I liked the digression section because it really is the emotional heart of the book, only to be thrown off by the goofy time-travel/assassination plot. Conversely, I liked the goofy time travel/assassination plot, but then there's this emotional drama stuck in the middle of it. In other words (as if those 400 pages weren't a clue), it's really two books. I didn't think it was bad, just too long.

I want no book spoilers but I really hope Franco's character ends up being JFK's assassin

which relative of his is the Gadon character gonna end up being

eek

appreciating this james franco hardman routine in today's episode

Board desc

Recreations of 50s and 60s US just make me cringe and take me out of whatever I'm watching

just two dumb kids drinkin sarsparilla at the drugstore

Franco should hang out for 9 years to make sure young Bryan Adams never gets his first real six string

appreciating this james franco hardman routine in today's episode

yeah he's feelin his oats huh? like with the gas station attendant. it's like he feels a license to be a hardman asshole in this alternate reality.

this has some problems but i cant deny im completely sucked in

did not read book so im trying to be deft about avoiding spoilers while still obsessively reading stuff online, which i realize is like playing operation and im gonna set off the buzzer at some point and ruin everything!

agree that this has a definite king "feel" unlike other adaptations of his stuff - particularly the most recent episode

"it's like the platonic ideal of an 80s movie executed in a 90s style" - yes

Everyone actin so stupid in this show now

lol, that psychotic ex husband was ludicrous. Then you have his partner's bizarre voyeurism with the Harvey-Oswalds and when Lee catches him hitting on his wife he lends him a copy of Das Kapital. I only just noticed the guy who play LHO isn't Jack O'Connell, he does look a bit like him.

this episode was deeply infuriating!

idk if i have ever felt the emotion of just throw the fucking bleach already so strongly before

there were about 10x opportunities before that for franco to just house clothespin guy too, totally yelling at the tv over here

if they're making a theme out of Franco wacking abusive husbands, maybe he can just cut to the chase and plug Oswald already.

even though yes this is a show about a man who uses a magic closet to go back in time to save JFK, it's frequently a little TOO dumb/ridiculous. enjoyable enough to keep me with it though.

The dance scene at the school with what was obviously one of those on-trend lindy hop schools doing all the circle around and clap on the dancers thing kinda stuck in my craw. But yeah, magic closet, who am I to get picky.

how many episodes are left in this, just one or two? i think we're completely up to the point where jake amberson has successfully made history run its course by attempting to stop history from running its course

started watching the first episode of this the other night and I was p much sold on it as soon as Franco repeatedly yelled "BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE! AT ALL!" at Chris Cooper

This thread title is magnificent.

oh, and im watching this too. Not loving it but not hating it.

yall what on earth is the amazing music in the background of the scene in the dallas strip club when they run into jack ruby??

That club music was Andre Williams' "Sweet Little Pussycat" iirc.

That club music was Andre Williams' "Sweet Little Pussycat" iirc.
--Torei

Thank you!!

This show is bad but it's bad in interesting ways, except for amnesia. Amnesia plots are always bullshit.

It started off so well :(

yeah that last episode was disappointing