The Mist was close to being a great film for me, but the absolutely absurdity of the wah-wah trombone ending cursed it utterly and entirely for me.

Eh, not me. It's very clumsy, but I do have a weak spot for actively, aggressively anti-Hollywood endings. I do agree that it's so over the top that it sort of punctures the whole thing, but dear Lord almost nobody even tries.

[spoiler alert for anyone else reading this] He shoots his own kid in the head! For no good reason! And he's the good guy! It's INSANE

He thinks he's sparing them all an even more horrible death. I mean, you can imagine the alternative ending of him being gruesomely ripped to shreds before the cavalry arrives, but that's in a weird way the less horrific outcome.

I know why he does it! I'm saying it's dumb cinema. It's a shitty choice on the filmmaker's part!

Could not agree with this more. There's no way a parent like him would shoot his kid, without trying to do everything they can to save him. It's so bad, really, and ruins the movie.

To each their own, but I actually love that ending! And King has praised it as well: www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/wh...

Yeah, I like it too, in concept. The execution makes it seem cheaper than IMO it should, because it does have a little bit of a sudden / arbitrary feeling because not all the right groundwork--again, IMO--has been laid for it. Full marks from me for trying, though.

My theory is that Darabont made two incredibly heart-warming King adaptations--Shawshank and The Green Mile--and then had to do the worst thing possible to atone for his treacly actions

That's kind of why I like it! You KNEW a movie wouldn't go there, then it did, and then it made it WORSE. I respect that.

I do not respect it at all but I cannot help but see your point

also, having read the novella, it was even MORE shocking

It's really difficult to pull off shock endings without it feeling like a trick or a gimmick, and people mostly don't enjoy the sensation. It's rare to find a movie--12 Monkeys is my favorite example--where the magician shows you the trick right from the start and then still pulls it off.

Yeah, that was the thing--this felt gratuitous, cruel, shitty, and to no end. I love a rug pull ending but this felt like shock for shock's value and I hate that shit.

And the funny thing is -- I felt that way with the ending until the "twist," at which point it somehow circled back around to great for me.

12 Monkeys is indeed a great example -- and I don't mean to go all hipsterish--because 12 Monkeys is great on its own--but La Jetée is an amazing piece of work that I don't see mentioned enough.

I have an essay on the redwoods in Vertigo, La Jetée, and 12 Monkeys that I'd still like to publish one day

You two are both upsettingly wrong but I appreciate your spirit and tenacity, carry on with your awful taste, I love you