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Stephen King has become our Shakespeare. His influence
permeates every form of media that one can imagine turning
even the slightest flicker of an idea into a full blown
morality play. While not all of King's stories are good
or even classic when he's in top form he manages to tap
into characters breathing life into them on the page in
a way that many of his contemporaries (and even so called
"mainstream" writers) cannot. That's King's gift the ability
to put the common man (or woman) into harm's way and allow
us to identify with him/her. Like all word magicians sometimes
King pulls the trick off flawlessly and other times it may
still be enjoyable if a bit clunky to watch. ***
TNT produced "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" which adapted
8 of King's stories as 1 hour episodes. Some of the best
stories in the massive anthology published in 1993 had already
made their way to the big screen ("The Night Flyer") and
small ("Sorry Right Number") while others languished waiting
for someone to put them on film. Since the anthology series
has been in a coma since the cancellation of the second
revival of "The Twilight Zone" (a perfect venue for these
stories by the way) it was perfect timing for TNT to pull
together some oft these stories for an anthology TV mini-series.
***
"Nightmares and Dreamscapes" unfortunately hits as
often as it misses. For every "The Fifth Quarter" a noir
tale about an ex-con who tries to go straight but is pulled
into one last dark deed when his friend and former cell
mate is murdered there is a "The Road Virus Heads North"
(which interestingly was not in the original anthology)
a tired retread of a story done to death before (and done
best by Rod Serling in the pilot movie for "Night Gallery").
"Nightmares and Dreamscapes" wasn't a bad mini-series but
it was much like its name sake; for every dream someone
has that's a bit strange but pretty much run of the mill
we'll get one that is truly bizarre or inventive. ***
Although some of the individual stories lack punch
the overall package is quite good and a marked improvement
on the awful TV adaptation of "Desperation" from this year.
This show doesn't look as cheap as that mini-series and
the resolution of the stories although a tad predictable
in many cases works well within the context of the stories.
The episodes are as follows: Disc One beings with one of
the best episodes "Battleground" stands after many of the
others have fallen to critical bullets. This story features
William Hurt in a terrific performance as a Mafia hit man
battling toy soldiers that have come to life. Although the
basic idea here isn't all that original it's the execution
that makes this the best of the episodes presented. This
episode reminded me of "The Invaders" that classic episode
of "The Twilight Zone" with Agnes Moorehead and "Prey" from
the TV movie "Trilogy of Terror" both scripted by the great
fantasy writer Richard Matheson (Matheson's son Richard
Christian Matheson scripted the episode). This story appeared
in the collection Night Shift. Look carefully for the Zuni
fetish doll from "Trilogy of Terror" in the shelf in one
sequence of the episode a nice wink to the episode's inspiration.
***
"Crouch End" focuses on an American couple on their
Honeymoon in London. Going out for dinner they end up in
the wrong neighborhood. Crouch End allows them to shift
into an alternate reality quite different and disturbing
from our own. ***
In "Umney's Last Case" William H. Macy plays a detective
author thrown into one of his own stories. Suddenly Umney
has to battle his fictional characters. There's a comic
element and tone to this marvelous short film and Macy plays
it to the hilt. ***
Disc Two begins with a fascinating episode that unfortunately
telegraphs its ending. "The End of the Whole Mess" still
manages to be both moving and powerful with Ron Livingston
playing a documentary filmmaker with a genius brother (played
by Henry Thomas) who figures out a way to bring Eden to
Earth. He discovers a cure for violence and war that they
spread around the world unfortunately the "cure" has unforeseen
consequences. The episode goes on a bit too long and feels
padded out but it's saved by a number of winning performances.
***
"The Road Virus Heads North" is an awful episode that
revisits an idea used quite well before but not here; Tom
Berenger in a terrific performance plays horror author Richard
Kinell. Returning home after a visit to the doctor where
he's told he might have cancer he picks up an awful looking
creepy painting at a garage sale. The painting changes to
reflect Kinnel's reality and the driver of the car in the
painting seems to be following him through each town. This
episode is from the collection Everything's Eventual. ***
"The Fifth Quarter" is an entertaining noir tale about
ex-con Willie Evans (Jeremy Sisto) who just can't seem to
catch a break. When he's released his former cellmate and
friend shows up at his door with news of a "big score" and
with a bullet in him. When he dies Willie decides this big
score will be just the thing to turn around his life with
his wife Karen (Samantha Mathis) and his young son. His
friend gives him one quarter of a map that leads to $3 million.
Willie needs the other portions and must go after the partners
in the scheme (and the ones who killed his friend) putting
his family and his freedom at risk. ***
Disc 3 begins with "Autopsy Room Four" takes one of
King's best first person narrative shorts and creates a
solid tense hour of entertainment. Richard Thomas plays
Howard Cottrell who has been bitten by a snake. Paralyzed
it appears for all purposes that he is dead. He awakens
to find himself on a slab waiting for his autopsy. He must
figure out a way to indicate he is alive before the autopsy
(and the snake venom) kills him. This episode is reminiscent
of an episode entitled "Breakdown" from "Alfred Hitchcock
Presents" (directed by Hitch himself and featuring Joseph
Cotton) where a man is paralyzed in a car accident and presumed
to be dead. This story plays with the same theme in a very
different way unique to King. This story originally appeared
in the collection Everything's Eventual. ***
Finally we get "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band"
in which a couple (Kim Delaney and Steven Weber) get lost
and end up in the town of Rock & Roll Heaven. Suddenly they
realize they recognize many of the residents-they're rock
'n' roll icons of the 60's and 70's who have died. They
believe they've stumbled upon Heaven until they find out
that the admission price for this concert is quite steep.
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Image & Sound:
The series truly looks like the latter part of its name-a
dreamscape with a wonderful looking transfer complimenting
the rich inky black night that is all to frequently a background
in some of these stories. Colors are accurate and vivid
with flesh tones just about perfect. The 5.1 audio is used
quite well and dialogue comes across crisp and clear although
I would have liked to have English subtitles as an option
(only Spanish and French are available) as part of this
package. ---
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