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

The Descendants & Beginners

The Descendants - I will fully admit this right now: I didn't like Sideways either. I guess "either" is a strong word. It leads you to assume that I didn't like The Descendants, which isn't entirely true. It's not that I didn't like it. It's just I sort of felt the same way about it as I do about every other Alexander Payne movie. It's good, solid story telling, acting and film making, but all terribly overrated. The Descendants follows Matt King (George Clooney - this is his best work ever, no joke), a Hawaiian lawyer who is dealing with selling his families pristine beach when his wife hits her head while boating and falls into a coma she may never come out of. To top it all off, he has two daughters: a 10 year old who sends nasty texts to her classmates and a 17 year old at a boarding school (a really, really superb Shailene Woodley) who is all kinds of messed up. Then, to make matters worse, he finds out his loyal and devoted wife was cheating on him and preparing to leave him for a real estate agent (a surprisingly well-rounded Matthew Lillard). So, Matt deals with his crazy daughters and traipsing around the islands to tell different friends and family members about his wife's condition. He meets with cousins of varying craziness to discuss proposals about selling the land. He deals with daughter Alex's annoying maybe-boyfriend (really, the only character that you want to punch in the face and guess what? Someone does!). Then he decides to track down his wife's lover, Brian Steer to confront him and maybe fight him, only to discover that he's a happy family man who never really loved Matt's wife the way she loved him. By this point in the film, if you're a little bored, don't fret, the fantastically underrated Judy Greer shows up to steal the whole goddamn movie (well, almost, Woodley is stupid good too). So, there you have The Descendants. It's great, sad story telling. The film making is amazing. There are two scenes in particular that are flawless: the spiral staircase scene and the scene where Alex begins to sob underwater which was my single favorite moment of the movie. The acting is surprisingly good all around. Clooney and Woodley will surely be nominated for Oscars for their complex, layered, flawless performances. Clooney is charming and flawed. He looks handsome and destroyed. Woodley is a revelation. I was a skeptic. I didn't think some teenybopper from some dumb ABC Family show could really be that good - but I will fully admit that I was wrong. She is so, so very good, just empathetic and full of sassy attitude, angry, depressed, sad, happy, sometimes all at the same time. Greer turns up around 3/4 through the film and all but steals it away from everyone else. But her role is so small, she probably won't get any nominations out of it. So, The Descendants is good, it's just not THAT good, the level of good that everyone is saying it is. It's slow moving. It's boring at times. It's too long (and that's coming from someone who LOVES long movies). Plus, there is way too much annoying voice over at the beginning. Still, The Descendants is worth checking out, because there is still a lot of good in there.
Grade: B

Beginners - Now here is a surprising little film. It all but came out of nowhere to tie with The Tree of Life to win Best Film at the recent Gotham Awards. I can't say I'm surprised. It's lovely, heartfelt little movie. It follows Oliver (Ewan McGregor, superb), an artist who is struggling with getting to know his dying father (Christopher Plummer, Oscar worthy) who, after being married for 44 years has come out of the closet as a gay man. Meanwhile, Oliver is also trying to take a page from his father as he attempts to start his life over and forge a relationship with a quirky, adorable French actress (Melanie Laurent). It's a simple, little story and could end up cliched in the hands of a lesser cast and filmmaker, but instead, Beginners is a different, original, funny, sad, heartwarming take on a tired genre. Writer and director Mike Mills is fantastic, adding humor and quirky little extras (a dog that talks via subtitles) to the film. McGregor, who has a lot of misses on his resume due to the crap he's been making for the past decade or so, is really, really great, as is the adorable Laurent. Their initial meeting is instantly classic. But, it's Plummer, who recently received his very first Oscar nomination at the age of 70something for The Last Station, who is mesmerizing to watch. Plummer is so good - alive even though is character is dying - that he should not only find himself nominated for a second Oscar, but also, probably winning.
Grade: B+

Oscar Nominations, Cloverfield, 27 Dresses

Oscar Nominations were announced today -

Best Picture
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Thoughts - While I am glad that Atonement did not get snubbed, I am fuming mad about all the Into the Wild snubs!

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country For Old Men
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman - Juno
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Thoughts - People actually saw Into the Wild and it's brilliance, yes? Because these people obviously didn't actually watch Juno. I mean, the direction is nothing to write home about. Sean Penn's direction on the other hand...

Best Actor
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
Thoughts - No Emile! Big surprise. However, I can't be that upset because Tommy Lee Jones was nominated instead and I loved his performance in that film!

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth the Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away From Her
Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose
Laura Linney - The Savages
Ellen Page - Juno
Thoughts - Finally! A category I am happy about. No Angelina Jolie! Hooray!

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
Thoughts - I can't complain too much here.

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Ruby Dee - American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
Thoughts - Can't really complain much here either. Although I am a little upset that Kelly MacDonald didn't get any love but whatever. That pales in comparison to how pissed I am about the whole Into the Wild snubbing!


Cloverfield - For the most part, Cloverfield is a surprinsgly good little movie. I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I know a lot of people hated it, but I absolutely loved how it was filmed. The shaky camera lends to the realism. I didn't find it annoying in the least. It actually really feels like you are watching someone's home movie that was found after the fact. If it was all steady camera shots, then it just wouldn't be as effective. I thought the basic premise was pretty solid, although I have a few problems with the way things panned out ultimately. 1) While you did develop feelings for most of the characters, I didn't really care at all about the girl these people risked their lives for. There needed to be a little more development there. I needed to somehow see that this Rob fellow actually cared about her. I really don't think the movie delivered that. 2) It was your typical 'Stupid or Seemingly Smart People Doing Things that Are Ultimately Stupid.' I can let that slide, however, because, really, movies like this aren't really made about smart people. There would be no movie then. Smart people would get the hell out of dodge. They wouldn't risk their lives for some slutty girl (that's how I viewed her because, like I said, the movie gave me no reason to care about her at all). 3) The monster. My main problem with monster movies is always, always, always the monster. When we exited the theater, the people I went with said, and I quote, "Gee whiz! I'm so glad they actually showed the monster." I disagree. Actually, I couldn't disagree more. Bits and pieces of the monster would have been find but as soon as I see a monster, it completely takes me out of the moment. The film did a really great job of making everything feel as real as possible. But the whole monster thing just does nothing for me. As soon as I see a great, big, ole monster, anything immediately goes from being intense and realistic to just plain silly. (I had the same problem with The Mist a few months ago). No matter how well the CGI is done, monsters will always seem silly to me. There's something to be said for letting things to the imagination. If we didn't see the monster, we could have all created something in our minds that would have been more terrifying than anything J.J. Abrams and his pals could cook up. However, I don't want anyone to think I didn't like the movie because I mostly did. In fact, I recommend it. You should definitely check it out. And keep your eyes peeled for that last scene and look to the right of the screen (see if you can see something falling into the ocean). It is J.J. Abrams after all. Conspiracy theories must spread like wild fire!
Grade: B-

27 Dresses - And then there's this. First, let's talk about the good points. No movie ever suffered from having Judy Greer involved. In fact, it's really time for her to move on from the 'best friend / bitchy rival' thing she's been doing for, well, ever. Honestly, she should be getting every role that goes to Leslie Mann. If I ever write a script, I will make sure that it has roles for Judy Greer and Allison Janney! Also, James Marsden is really just crazy attractive. He's charming and, well, really sexy. What with those blue eyes, gorgeous smile and chiseled cheek bones. Well, I'll see anything that involves James Marsden. Another good point was that the usually annoying beyond all belief Katherine Heigl actually wasn't as bad as I imagined. I didn't completely hate her in this movie (although I still pretty much did). And that's where all the goodness stops. The movie is paint by numbers romantic comedy. You can see where it's going based soley on the previews. It's marginally funny and marginally interesting. Even the big 'Let's dance on a bar and sing Bennie and the Jets' scene (which is cute and funny, thanks to Marsden mostly) can't save this stinker. Every tired romantic comedy cliche is there and in full force. Also, there is a major lack of chemistry between Marsden and Heigl. Just because they are both pretty doesn't mean they are going to have chemistry (see also: The Nanny Diaries starring Scarlett Jo and Chris Evans). There are many scenes that should be edited down to be tighter and funnier. Instead they just drag on and on and become way too talky. Maybe I'm just a little too much of a modern woman or maybe I just completely missed the point but what I took away from the movie was this message - No matter how beautiful, intelligent or interesting you are, you are only really complete as a woman when you find a man who can take care of you and that makes you happy. As a feminist woman, I frankly find that offensive. (Believe me, I know this isn't the first romantic comedy to spout that message but it's the first in a long time where it comes across so heavy-handedly).
Grade: D+

Short reviews of other movies I saw recently...

The Bucket List - Basically, it's cliched and predictable. However, whatever part of this movie that works only does so because of the likeability and charm of Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. It can be argued that Jack is becoming like Diane Keaton and only playing versions of himself at this point. However, when anyone talks shit about Jack, I like to evoke the 'Chinatown Clause' which pretty much states he was so magnificent in that movie (along with tons of others) that we are never allowed to say a bad word about him ever. I love you Jack!
Grade: C+

Death Sentence - Ah, Kevin Bacon. I love you, I really do, but homeboy needs to start picking some better films that really showcase his talent and not just his ability to kick major ass. The director behind Saw directs this near-disaster. I don't know why he thought shooting in stairwells and parking garages was a good idea. It makes everything feel a little claustrophobic to be honest. Bonus points for giving the great and underrated Matt O'Leary something to do!
Grade: D+