Horror Movie Month: Carrie

The Stars: Chloe Grace Moretz, Ansel Elgort, Judy Greer, Julianne Moore

The Plot: A shy, strange teenager is bullied by a group of her classmates while also discovering she has kinetic powers. Needless to say, a horrible prank at the school prom climaxes in a bloodbath.

I'm going to go ahead and be brutally honest for a minute: Growing up, I was bullied to nearly my breaking point and around this time I discovered the original Carrie, starring Sissy Spacek. While I didn't exactly want to kill any of my tormentors, Carrie did sort of become my hero, because how I wished and wished I had powers that would make these jerks suffer. So, the original Carrie is sort of special to me. I guess it's hard to remake a movie that is so iconic, but I'm also not completely against it. I mean, we get different versions of Shakespeare every few years, so why should Stephen King be any different, really? The problem with remaking a movie, however, is that everyone knows exactly what happens. It takes away from any sort of anticipation. So, you better do something really special with the movie in order to compensate. Director Kimberly Peirce does nothing at all special here. The movie doesn't really get good until the last twenty minutes or so (and star Moretz looks so good and creepy during the scenes when she is so covered with blood, even her eyes are red). Up until then, it's just a boring movie that we've all seen before. I was most worried about Moretz. I know Spacek was way too old to play a teenager in the original Carrie, and Moretz is only 16 or whatever, but she's also too pretty and perfect to ever know what being bullied actually feels like. However, I was sort of impressed with her. She does an absolutely great job as Carrie. In fact, the acting all around is superb, especially from new find Elgort (this is his first movie and he's following it up with two super anticipated YA adaptations: Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars), and Moore, of course, who steals the entire movie. But did anyone expect any less from Moore as Margaret White?

The Scares: Carrie was never a scary movie, per se. It was more a suspense movie, I guess. Although the original movie did have one really great scare. This version, unfortunately, doesn't use that moment, or even re-imagine it in any way.

The Body Count: So many, some more deserving than others!

The Grade: C

Kick Ass 2

The sequel to Kick Ass is completely and utterly unnecessary. Need proof? Well, it didn't even crack the top 3 at the box office this weekend, so I am seemingly not the only person who feels this way. The original Kick Ass was like catching lightning in a bottle. That movie and it's success was a freak of nature. There was absolutely no way that was happening again and the closest this movie came to capturing anything like that, was Jim Carrey's unhinged performance (and this from the actor who disavowed the film due to its violent nature).

Kick Ass 2 picks up three years after the original film. Dave (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has put his Kick Ass uniform away and is living the life of a boring teenage boy, but when he begins to see all the real life super heroes that he has inspired, he gets the itch to return to his crime fighting ways. Mindy (Chloe Grace Moretz) is still struggling with the death of her dad (Nicolas Cage, in the first film) and is living with his former police partner (Morris Chestnut) while struggling to fit in the world of high school where she definitely doesn't belong. She takes an extended absence from her Hit Girl ways to play the popular game with a bunch of high school mean girls and Dave is forced to team up with a rag tag group of vigilantes who call themselves Justice Forever. They are led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Carrey). Meanwhile, Chris / Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is suddenly an orphan / the richest teenager in New York City, so he decides to become the world's first super villain and get his revenge on Kick Ass. He renames himself The MotherF**ker and decides to form an evil army. Fighting and violence ensues, obviously.

The thing about the first Kick Ass is that it felt fresh. Kick Ass 2 just feels like a retread of the same script but with different, lamer jokes. The other thing about the original Kick Ass was that it felt taboo. It featured a then 12 year old Moretz as a potty mouth crime fighter who was totally bad ass and cursing up a storm... and it was shocking. Now she is just another fifteen year old cursing on camera. None of this is shocking anymore and this time it's not even fun. The other major problem is Mintz-Plasse. I like him just fine. I thought he was sort of a revelation after seeing him in Superbad, but he most certainly does not have the acting prowess to deliver the sort of performance that his character's arc requires of him.

Sure, the movie was violent. I'm not going to sit here and attack it on those merits. Violence in movies doesn't bother me. It's just a movie. But the difference between Kick Ass and Kick Ass 2 is that the original was, at the very, very least, FUN. That is something this movie is lacking BIG TIME. It's just the same old thing again. And while it worked three years ago, it just isn't doing it for me this time around. With the exception of Carrey's great performance and Taylor-Johnson's KILLER abs, Kick Ass 2 was completely unnecessary and sort of a disaster.

Grade: D+

Take Shelter, J. Edgar, Hugo

Take Shelter - Michael Shannon stars as a man who may be psychic or may be a little bit crazy. Either way, it's Michael Shannon, probably the best actor under 50 working today, so you know the acting is going to be damn good. Shannon's character has a family history of schizophrenia so when he starts having very realistic nightmares that a storm is coming, he turns all of his attention on fixing up and expanding the storm shelter in his back yard. His wife (Jessica Chastain) has a lot on her plate also - dealing with a potentially mentally ill husband and a newly deaf child. Slowly, the nightmares become more and more realistic and everyone in the small town starts to think he is losing his mind. The movie is a little bit slow burning but it's also intense. The dream sequences are all a big tease. However, Shannon's amazing performance more than makes up for any small problems I had with the plot. He is Oscar worthy, for sure. In fact, at this point I think he should win Best Actor for his intense, slow burning, dramatic performance. Chastain, who has been in about forty movies this year is also quite good and goes toe-to-toe with Shannon very well. Take Shelter is not for everyone, but it's a damn good film.
Grade: B+

J. Edgar - While we are talking about Oscar caliber performances, it's important to discuss Leonardo DiCaprio and his completely engrossing performance as the one time most powerful man in the world - J. Edgar Hoover, the founder of the FBI. Clint Eastwood's film follows Hoover from a young man with mommy issues to an overzealous nerdy agent and eventually to a deeply confident and powerful head of the bureau. The film encapsulates his career - showing him catching the kidnapper of the Lindbergh baby and discussing how the FBI brought down Dillinger. It also speculates on the never married man's personal life. Was he really a cross dresser? Was he really gay and in love with his closest confidante (Armie Hammer)? Or was he just too busy to find a wife? J. Edgar itself disappoints as a movie. It's slow and it's boring, and it's not good for a movie about such an interesting man to be boring. However, the performances are the saving grace. Hammer may be a better actor with old man make up. Naomi Watts is great in a small role. Judi Dench dazzles, OF COURSE. But it's DiCaprio's transformation that is truly remarkable. Perhaps he will finally win that Oscar he's been due for so long.
Grade: C+

Hugo - It should be no surprise that the greatest living director should be able to switch so easily from gritty, dirty, violent films to charmingly beautiful children's tales with no effort. And it's true. Martin Scorsese, so well known as the director of some of the greatest adult movies of all time, has turned his limitless talents to children's films with Hugo, a beautiful, charming, sweet tale of young friendship and a celebration of film making. Based on a kids book, Hugo tells the story of a young boy who lives in a train station and knows the inside of the walls like the back of his hand. After his father's (Jude Law) death, he goes to live with his clock winder uncle and becomes responsible for the winding of the clocks at a Paris train station. Asa Butterfield is a revelation as the young Hugo, intent on fixing up the last remaining piece of his father's life. This takes him on a wild adventure that includes Isabelle (Chloe Mortez) and a shocking good Ben Kingsley as a mean, mean toy shop owner. This is a love song to film making, a beautiful, sweeping, charmer of a movie that will remind you why you love movies so damn much. As far as I'm concerned, we've found our Best Picture Oscar winner already.
Grade: A

Top Ten List: Best Supporting Actress 2010

10. Blake Lively in The Town - Going about as far away from Gossip Girl's Serena Van der Kamp as she can possibly get, Lively proves she's an actress to watch out for in the superb The Town. Lively's character is a tough Boston single mom, who wants ex-boyfriend Ben Affleck back in her bed. A big theme of the film is loyalty but can Lively's drunken, tough talking character be loyal if she's secretly bitter about Ben's new lady love?

09. Emily Mortimer in Shutter Island - In a movie with a huge ensemble of great actors giving great performances, Mortimer shines as Rachel Solando, an escaped mental patient who murdered her children. She only has one really juicy scene but damn if she doesn't steal it straight from Leonardo DiCaprio. One moment she's sweet and loving, and then, in the blink of an eye, she's ready to cut your throat.

08. Chloe Moretz in Kick Ass - Can you think of anything more fun than a 10 year old who curses like a sailor and likes to play with knives and guns?? Me either! Moretz knocks it out of the park as Hit Girl, a total bad ass who will kick your ass while listening to Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation."

07. Patricia Clarkson in Easy A - Okay, listen, I love my mom. I love her more than anything. But I will admit that there was a moment of weakness while watching Easy A when I said, "Man, I wish Patricia Clarkson was my mom." She's just so damn... cool. Whether she is giving out relationship advice or admitting to her daughter that she was a teenage slut, Clarkson totally nails the hippie/awesome/mom thing.

06. Barbara Hershey in Black Swan - We go from a perfect mom to a not-so-perfect mom. Hershey is the epitome of a stage mom in Black Swan. She doesn't do anything evil, per se, but she does baby her daughter and push her to perfection so severly that her sweet little daughter ultimately loses her damn mind. Hershey is amazing.

05. Melissa Leo in The Fighter - And here's another mom that I just wouldn't want. Leo proves boxing isn't just a man's world as the mom / manager of two Massachusetts boxing legends in The Fighter. She may love her kids a little too much. She's intense, tough as can be, and also a little crazy, especially when she sends her seven crazy daughters after her son's new girlfriend!

04. Rooney Mara in The Social Network - I haven't always been a fan of Mara's work. I thought she single-handedly ruined the remake of The Nightmare of Elm Street (which had potential but her lifeless performance sucked it dry). However, I take it all back. With just one substantial scene, Mara breaks hearts and steals scenes. She's thoughtful, frustrated, and hilarious as she shows you how to REALLY break up with someone.

03. Mila Kunis in Black Swan - This role is about as far away from Jackie on That 70s Show as you can possibly get. The starting point for so much of the intensity in Black Swan is the demented friendship / rivalry between Natalie Portman's sweet, tightly wound Nina and Kunis' wild and unrestrained Lilly. She's utterly seductive and plays the different facets of her character with ease.

02. Marion Cotillard in Inception - There is a reason her characters name is Mal, meaning she just might be evil. Cotillard is perfection as the crazy dead wife of Leonardo DiCaprio's Dom. She is pure passion - being so very needy one moment, erupting with anger the next, then weeping uncontrollably in the next second. There is a reason that Dom can't get her out of his head. Anyone who has seen the movie can't either!

01. Amy Adams in The Fighter - Amy Adams always plays such sweet, lovable characters. First there was Junebug. Then there was Enchanted. Even when she's playing a nun (Doubt), she's giving bunnies and the little girl who plays Lily on Modern Family a run for their money in the "cutest things ever" department. But, in The Fighter, Amy Adams shows a completely different side to herself. She's tough as nails as the former wild child party girl who knows tends bar and falls for a boxer. She stands up to his impossibly intimidating mom, she teaches her man how to grow a little backbone and become a better man, all while being completely and totally sexy. She can seduce and then beat the crap out of seven crazy sisters. In a career that is already stellar, this is Adams' best role yet!

Coming tomorrow... Best Supporting Actor!

Horror Movie Month - Let Me In

Let Me In (2010)
The Stars - Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Elias Koteas with a pretty righteous mustache.
The Gist - Director Matt Reeves remakes the beloved (by everyone but me, apparently) Swedish Let the Right One, a story of a bullied 12 year old boy who befriends his new neighbor, a girl who only comes out at night. I may be in the minority here, but I think the remake is even better the original. The original was all, "Look, it's snowy and dark in Sweden and life sucks and this movie is just a moody, long, boring take on friendship and loneliness with a really great ending." Well, Reeves took the best parts of the original and made it even better. And guess what? Things actually happen in this version! There's action and I didn't even almost fall asleep like I did with the original (and this is coming from someone who loves nothing more than a good 4 hour movie... that's how boring I felt the original was).
The Scares - There is one scene in particular (involving Elias Koteas with his brilliant mustache going into a bathroom looking for Chloe Moretz's Abby) that is pretty freaking intense.
The Body Count - 10!
The Grade - B