King can't seem to help himself when it comes to folding every story he's ever written into his strange, supernatural wider universe; this is his prerogative, of course, but it does tend to limit his stories in occasionally frustrating ways. I say this as a big fan of Stephen King; but nevertheless, there always seems to be a weird moment where things shift into the uncanny valley of intergalactic tortoises or child orgies or grotesque jewelry-stealing serial killers who fuck…

If there's a lingering, vague sense of disappointment regarding this film lurking somewhere in my soul, it's due to the fact that the first half of Muschietti's vision (yes, this is part one of two, dealing with the first time the Losers confront Pennywise while they're still kids--Part 2 will deal with what happens to them as adults) for one of King's most notorious novels comes so fucking close to being perfect, yet that five-star experience slipped through my fingers…