Maybe not early on, but at least before he was hit w a bucket
"hold me mama. please hold me."
This film's use of imagery is nothing short of iconic. There's something about when Carrie comes home from the hell she created, to the hell she was created in, that always gets me. The candles, amidst boisterous (almost triumphant) organ music, create her looming shadow as she makes her way up the stairs to bathe, unwittingly passing her mother lurking in the shadows. A moody sequence that perfectly captures the quintessential tragedy that Carrie embodies.
Augmented by brilliant performances by Spacek and Laurie (literally every scene between them was pure magic), this film is nothing short of a masterpiece in directorial vision and inspired cinematography. The slow-motion shower intro, the split screen prom scene, the music, the comic relief, the pacing, the themes, and just the deliberate nature of every shot. Though not very scary, its definitely unsettling and leaves you with imagery that sticks in your mind (for years, in my case).
I remember borrowing the DVD like every week when I was 12 years old and didn't really know why I liked it so much exactly, other than Spacek's performance almost making me cry every time. Now that I'm in my mid-20s and can sort of "intellectualize" my film-viewing experience, I watched this movie again recently and realized that it's honestly one of the best I've ever seen.
Just wanted to share my thoughts and welcome anyone else's!
Also, haven't seen the remakes.
I have to do a school report on this movie.
I was wondering, is it ever explained why the other students and even one teacher pick on Carrie so much, and are so generally disgusted by her?
I mean she wasn't ugly like she was described in the book to be. She was shy and awkward, but that still seems as an odd reason to hate her for.
I've seen this movie dozens of times and it never occurred to me until last night that everyone at the prom wasn't actually laughing at Carrie. She was imagining it. Now I can't stop thinking that's actually correct and it's put an entirely new perspective on the movie for me. If the prom aftermath was told by an unreliable narrator, do you think the interaction with Momma was embellished, too?
Round 1: Both girls are locked alone within an abandoned hospital with no working equipment in the building. They are strapped to wheelchairs and unable to free themselves.
Round 2: Both are trying to kill the favored teacher of the other (winner is the first to kill the other’s) in the same setting as round 1. The teacher is free to try and escape for as long as possible.
Round 3: Fight to the death on a fully-boarded cruise ship in the middle of the ocean.
My Rating: 1/5 stars
Plot
Captain S. Melly takes over as commander of an army anti-aircraft battery and is surprised to find it a mixed-sex base. He tries to bring it into shape with the help of a Sergeant Major.
Verdict
It's not a good start when the first joke is repeated ad nauseum and it doesn't get any better. Windsor Davies is just playing the same character as in It Ain't Half Hot Mum and so is Melvyn Hayes. The cast are just too old for this caper. The writing is terrible and the line delivery amateurish.
I made it thirty minutes in and gave up.
David Lodge is great as a drunken officer though he's just reprising his role as the drunken landlord in Behind.
My Favourite Character
None
The Trivia Section aka What I Found on Wikipedia
Only Kenneth Connor from the original crew stars, though Joan Sims, Jack Douglas and Peter Butterworth have small parts
It failed miserably at the box office
And The 'Not Aged Well' Award Goes To...
Nothing really
Best Carry-On Style Character Names
Captain S. Melly, Gunner Shorthouse, Privates Ready, Willing & Able
Best Non-Carry-On Style Character Names
None
Relevant Extracts From The Kenneth Williams Diaries
<here later>
Everyone say that Sue had a crush on Carrie in both films. Is this true?
(Heads up! If you haven't seen either version of the film or read the book, then this is gonna be out of context and may lead to spoilers)
Here is the original 1976 "Go to your closet" Scene
The 2013 remake of Carrie really seemed to a good job at remembering classic scenes and moments from the first film; however the remake seemed to dial down the severity of Carrie's mother and just how mentally/physically abused Carrie actually was in the story.
Here's the 2013 remake of the scene (This one is blurry, but contains the whole scene)
-and here's a better version of the last part.
Any thoughts on the differences in versions?
March 10, 2013
October 6, 2013
I haven't posted anything since I wrote about Metropolis in July, but I have been watching movies. Some of these I watched a while ago and some of them I'll have more to say about than others, but here we go.
Lost in Translation
A Sofia Coppola film starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansen as world-weary loners visiting Tokyo, bonding, and going their separate ways. The acting was fantastic and the story was sweet and occasionally funny (the hooker in Murray's hotel room), but Coppola's direction is a little too breezy, and not enough fat was trimmed off its bones, so it was at times a little dull. 3 out of 5 stars
Carrie
Holy mother of God what a movie. Brian de Palma knows what he's doing. The prom scene is expertly done, Sissy Spacek is perfect as Carrie, and the ending (I mean the very end) is terrifying and makes you appreciate de Palma's sacrifice of cheap thrills in favor of rising tension. A must see around Halloween. 4 out of 5 stars
The Naked City
Weird noir movie about a typically promiscuous murdered woman and the hunt for her killer, that also reads the thoughts of random people on the street every once and a while (two actual people are looking in a shop window, and they give them voice overs where they're thinking about what to buy). It's not connected to the plot and feels tacked on for the sake of the gimmick. The best thing about this movie is that it was shot entirely on location on the streets of New York in a time when Hollywood back lots were practically required. 3.5 out of 5
Brick
Neo-noir film by the talented Rian Johnson (director of the Breaking Bad episodes "Fly", "Fifty One" and "Ozymandias), set in a modern high school. The acting is fine and the story is fine, but Johnson's visual style is what makes the movie memorable. It borrows from the best and combines the things it borrows in a unique way, on a low budget. Worth watching for fans of noir. 4 out of 5
Room 237
This was very disappointing to me. I had wanted to see this documentary featuring different interpretations of Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" for a while, so when it appeared on Netflix Instant I was over the moon. Unfortunately so are many of the commentators in this film. The only commentator that wasn't obviously insane or trite or in want of things to do was the one that saw the film as an allegory for genocide. He was fascinating. The rest were bad. And they didn't get Rob Ager. They should ha
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There's a scene in 'Don't Look Up' where Leonardo DiCaprio goes on a very "passionate" rant on live TV, and there's a very similar scene in the film 'Network', where Peter Finch gives a fiery speech, which is often regarded as the film's most iconic scene.
So definitely check out 'Network' if you get a chance!
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So, that was approximately 45 years ago. It might have well have been many centuries ago. It certainly connected, then as now, even with my quite limited experiences. For today's students, however, it might as well have been The Return of Martin Guerre.
My memory of it was quite good. It could never be shown in any high school today, however. Faute de mieux.
The film? Lindsay Anderson's if....
IF.... (Starring Malcolm McDowell) Original Theatrical Trailer (Masters of Cinema) - YouTube
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