This post is a quick explanation of a project of ours that I like to call “Sundays with Stephen”

The basic idea is simple enough: Watch every Stephen King movie in chronological order, one per week, with no regard for quality. Every. Single. One.

Stephen King more than any other author sums up American literature, good and bad, in the late 20th/early 21st century. He writes popularly accessible fiction addressing a wide variety of topics, even genres, unselfconsciously, and his work sells very, very well. He is the best at what he does (whether or not what he does appeals to you personally).

In addition, King has been very willing to lend his work to adaptations, even actively participating in many of them, as a writer and actor. This has resulted in a very wide body of work on film over the last three and a half decades… some of it very good. Some very bad. These adapations of his extremely popular work, in a mass entertainment medium, make up a broad cross-section of American cinema.

(Ok, enough pretentious academic stuff)

So myself and the roommate decided that we would watch them all, and document the experience. Tune in every Sunday to see the results. Will The Shining keep us awake? Will The Dead Zone foster even greater love for Christopher Walken?

Will I hang myself from the balcony rather than sit through Maximum Overdrive? Check back to find out.*

I’ve already had at least one well-meaning friend warn me off this endeavour, but I shall not be dissuaded from this noble cultural experiment. I’m ready; bring on the films, Netflix!

Update: Whoops, I forgot the rules for this little exercise.

Official Sundays with Stephen Rules:

1) All Stephen King films shall be watched in chronological order, one per week, until the most recent has been seen or shown.
1a) For the purposes of this exercise, only feature length theatrical releases shall apply. No TV movies or miniseries are mandatory; we may watch some, at our discretion.
2)All movies shall be watched in their entirety. DVDs shall be obtained from Netflix, unless already owned, and Director’s Cuts, if available, will be the preferred version screened(s)
3) Psychotropic drugs, mood elevators, and large doses of alcohol are… recommended, in the case of Maximum Overdrive.
4) Official screening order determined by IMDB
5) Only films written by Stephen King, or based on original works by King, shall apply. NO UNOFFICIAL SEQUELS (I’m looking at you, direct to video Children of the Corn movies)

*Note: If I do hang myself, I promise that I will put a post up here, in lieu of a suicide note, as a post-dated blog entry. If I fail to do so.. well, I’ll be dead. So I will no longer fear your scorn.

I get so furious when religious types claim that irreligious or secular people like myself are inherently amoral, and that we have to get our moral voices in society from the ranks of religion. For example:

Fascism is so dangerous precisely because it speaks to its believers in the language of emotion, populism, purity, redemption, and enduring values. Nobody on the progressive side knows how to speak that language — and match that moral force and energy — better than our own native faith groups. Secular progressives may wish it weren’t true, but it is: there’s simply no way we can rebuild a strong democratic system without holding up our end of a broad new culture-wide discussion about morality, meaning, priorities, passion, and values. And those conversations begin most naturally in our houses of worship.

(emphasis mine)

So let me get this straight: secular progressives aren’t fit to confront fascists because we can’t match their rhetoric? Because we can’t have a discussion about morality and meaning and values in society?

Why is that, exactly? Because we don’t have those things?

My response is here

I do love being denigrated because I don’t go to a church. I mean, it’s a daily experience, so I guess I had to get used to it, but it’s *especially* pleasant coming from a fellow ‘progressive’.

Unless you count equal treatment of people regardless of religious belief as a progressive value, of course.

A friend recently recommended I read the critically acclaimed comic series Ex Machina. The only problem would be… it’s about politics.

I’m DROWNING in politics. Daily.

It’s hard to imagine consuming it for fun as well. I think I’ll stick to Action-Science Robots and such for the time being.