So, if I'm understanding this right, some of the staking-Carolyn scene was improvised (unscripted).  Now, that's what made it work so well, and that's what's called method acting.  It's a difficult thing to do and all involved must be in-sync.  Many of the best scenes in film and TV were the result of improvised acting, from drama to comedy. 

One classic scene from a movie comes to mind.  In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford went through a grueling shoot where he battled hordes of bad guys in a middle-eastern city, up and down the streets.  At the time he was suffering from Tourist Trots from drinking unprocessed water and really needed to, shall we say, "relieve" himself.  The climax was to have him battle, with his whip, a huge man wielding a massive sword.  Ford could no longer wait to find the local "privy," and improvised.  He pulled out his pistol and shot his opponent.  The guy portraying the scoundrel played along and fell dead and all the extras surrounding them responded appropriately. 

Then there was The Turning Point, where Anne Bancroft threw her drink in Shirley Maclaine's face.  Even though it was unscripted, the director whispered to Bancroft to do it without Maclaine's knowledge.  Maclaine's  reaction of shock was real, but she played along.

Gerard

Daphne:  "You really want to know what bugs me, Mrs. Collins?  Well, here goes.  We've been here now, month after month, week after week, day after day hour aft...well, you get the point, and we're always wearing the exact same dress.  What the hell is this?  Gilligan's Island?"

Gerard

I forgot to give my "critique" of last Thursday's episode.  Spike TV "burped" during it and I had to wait a few days before I could view the entire show.  To be perfectly honest, I really don't remember what happened.  All I know was that it involved more Peyton Placeish melodrama and was all over the place.  No monsters.  Totally unlikeable characters being annoying.  That pretty much sums it up.  TV took other King works and made them work.  The epic novels were turned into mini-series (the best being The Stand).  Even the novella The Langoliers became a short mini-series and it worked.  The 2002 version of Carrie was a three-hour movie and the best of the cinematic versions (sorry for the heresy regarding the 1976 version which is a classic, but this one was better; 2013 stunk, a simple rehashing of elements from '76 and '02 and adding nothing new other than the bullies posting their abuse of Carrie [Chloe Grace Moretz - Carolyn in DS12] in the locker room on youtube - how trendy).  This version of The Mist is so far from the mark it can't be considered something "based upon the novel" (note it doesn't say novella) by King.  Well, I'll give my critique of tonight's episode after I watch it tomorrow.

Gerard

Of course, the real "Annabelle" doll is a large Raggedy Anne doll kept locked up in a "blessed" glass case in the Warren museum.  That doesn't sound so creepy, so in The Conjuring franchise it's made more, well, creepy.  Lorraine Warren, who served as an advisor on the original film, wasn't thrilled in turning Annabelle from her original state to something out of a Night Gallery episode.

Back in the early '80's, I attended a lecture given by Ed and Lorraine Warren at the post-graduate university I was attending.  I'm a total skeptic, but what they presented was totally "creepy," including AV material.  They talked about Annabelle.  They also mentioned, in a Q&A session, that there is one case they weren't ready to talk about because it "hit too close to home."  Maybe at some time they would.  That turned out to be The Conjuring.  But regarding Annabelle, that Raggedy Anne doll, it being just a Raggedy Anne doll was even creepier because it was just a Raggedy Anne doll - so innocent looking and so full of evil.  They stated that as they were driving home to place the doll in "isolation" after removing it from the people it was tormenting, their car went out of their control and headed for a crash when they threw it out of the window and they regained control.  At first they thought of leaving it, but then feared if someone else would find it.  So they collected it, doused it with tons of holy water and took it home where, in an exorcism, it was "bounded" but not "cleansed."  No one since has been allowed to touch it, let alone remove it from its case.

Gerard

I guess there isn't "too much television" is fair is offered to those interested and a buck can be made for those involved.  Seriously, I don't know why I have cable with 500 channels (and not a one subscription, let alone the netflix and other stuff that can be "downloaded").  Why am I wasting money on something that only has a few things I actually watch?  There's now that new thing - I forget now what it's called but it's being advertised - where you can pick so many channels you want starting at 20 bucks a month.  You get x-amount for that 20 bucks.  If you want more, you pay for more.  Makes sense to me.  Maybe I'll look into it.  Even SyFy has gotten dull and I haven't watched it for months.  I'd rather watch My Big, Fat Gypsy Wedding on TLC.

Remember the days of three channels?  CBS, NBC and ABC?  PBS only came across the UHF (or was it VHF?) channel on the "alternate" knob that had to be tuned like a radio.  You got a fuzzy image of Big Bird.  You still didn't have time to watch everything.  After the local 10:00 p.m. (CST; 11:00 p.m. EST), some of the major networks offered a movie, and if they didn't the local affiliates did.  On weekends, there might be a second movie.  After that, it was The Star Spangled Banner (as was shown in Poltergeist) and the station announcing it was signing off.  Then came the sign-off screen with the American Indian in the center followed by "snow" (also in Poltergeist).  Let's be honest - do we really watch more than that today?

Gerard

Every time they've tried to "reboot" the iconic original it has failed.  There are some series that simply can't be remade; the originals held all the charms from actors/actresses to scripting to anything else.  It cannot be replicated.  So many of the lines in the original were hysterical because they rang true with the "offbeat family" thinking they are normal and living in a normal world.

Here are some, paraphrasing here:

Grandpa:  (Howls like a wolf.)  "I'm feeling the call of the wild."
Lilly:  "Don't even think of it, Father.  The last time you ended up in Kansas City with that police dog."

Grandpa:  "OK, Herman this is on the driving test.  Two cars stop at an intersection at the same time.  Who goes first?"
Herman:  "The one with the bigger car?"
Grandpa:  "No, no, no.  That's just in California."

I still crack up.

Gerard

Okay, the whining critic is back.  So, I just watched the latest episode.  The survivors in the mall are at each other's throats and breaking into battling tribes.  The survivors in the Episcopal church are at each other's throats and breaking into battling tribes.  The survivors in the hospital are at each other's throats and breaking into battling tribes.  You get the gist.  There was one neat scene.  At the church, a psychotic teenage boy tries to murder an old woman he thinks is a witch.  She manages to fight him off, break a window allowing the mist inside and get out, locking the door with the psycho teenager inside.  A few scenes later we see what's left of him:  a rotted, melting corpse.  That was the highlight.  Three episodes left.  You know, despite how awful this adaptation is, I'm going to stick it out.

Gerard

I've been holding out; don't ask me why.  Again, maybe hope springs eternal.  Each episode is more convoluted than the previous, the plots are all over the place, and none of the characters are likeable.  Not a one.  I wish they'd be offed by whatever is suppose to be in that mist.  All we've seen are man-eating cockroaches, moths and leeches.  And they're not that frightening.  Oh, and the Peyton Place stuff has gotten more, um, Peytonish.  There's even now a Luke-and-Laura thing going on involving two teenagers and a supposed rape.  Ho-hum.  It's pretty much a rehashing of The Walking Dead, including a crazy Episcopal priest.  Well, there's only a few episodes left.  Maybe those will make something out of this mess.  I've read reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and other critical sites and they're not so kind.  If anyone wants to watch it to form their own opinion, the whole spiel is on the Spike TV website (sans commercials; the only good thing) where I've been watching it.  When you've got nothing better to do after you've done the laundry and vacuumed the living room and GSN has hours and hours of Family Feud reruns, take a look.

Gerard