Kimberly Peirce Talks Pigs Blood

CARRIE 2013 ROCKS!

Carrie rocks!   really. . . there's rocks. . .

I took my mom and two of my daughters to see Carrie.  They are now being seen to by a trauma unit as they recover from shock.  Nah -- it was good stuff.

Do you need to be told there might be spoilers?  I will not tell you how it ends.  I will not tell you if there will be a sequel.  I will tell you that I thought it was just as good a telling of Carrie as the DePalma film. 

Tell ya up front, I liked it a lot.  No use giving movies stars or grades, just saying honestly that I thought it was a strong film is enough.  Carrie 2013 can stand toe to toe with any other Stephen King adaptation. 

Random thoughts:

• The relationship between Carrie and mama is nicely played out.  They love each other deeply, but one is so broken that she is unable to overcome that brokenness and embrace her daughter.  In fact, the moment her daughter needs her most is the moment Margaret's own brokenness reaches its zenith. 
• Though  the story takes place in the present, the world for Margaret White has not progressed  a bit.  Her house seems like something from the 70's.
• I like it that Carrie has a sense of God's love and  rejects her mothers whacky theology.  She is bold, declaring that God is a God of love and telling her mother  that the things she is saying aren't even in the Bible.  Glad the Bible is the standard of truth.
• Carrie's power is not telekinesis.  I don't know what she has, but it's not telekinesis.  It's more like -- the force.  This girl is like Darth Vader.  Her power goes terrifyingly beyond telekinesis.
• This Carrie might be a little socially awkward because of scars from her  mother, but she's not an emotional  weakling.  That's probably good, since Chloe Moretz has an inner strength that can't be hidden. 
• Is the movie a remake, or is it a reimagining of the book?  Both I think.  There are definitely scenes in the movie that were also in DePalma's that are not in the book.  However, the story does more with King's source  material than the classic did.
• Who is the hero in Carrie?  Teachers.
• Scenes with the principal seem forced, rehearsed and awkward.

The story is beautiful  -- until the pigs blood.  A traumatized girl is swept away from her abusive mother by a handsome young man, taken in a limo to her school prom where  she  is complimented, loved on and  affirmed -- and then she is crowned queen. . . that's awesome!  I leaned in to my daughters, "Listen, this movie isn't going to get  better than it is right now," I said as they announced Carrie the prom queen.  "Let's go now."  Of  course, they didn't want to leave, so the fairy tale gets blown up -- scissored -- crushed -- knifed -- and everything else. 

Despite what previous reviewers have implied, there are no swipes or digs at homeschoolers, or faith itself.  I had no sense of a political "statement" being made.  Margaret White is a broken person, so everything in her life is broken as well.  Her relationships are broken, her daughter is broken, her understanding of God is broken, her attitude toward her own body is broken.  It is amazing that in real life I see young people who come from really messed up homes, but they are emotionally okay.  They might have some debris, some small scars, but really they made it through unscathed.  Carrie has  that kind of strength.

I found the prom scene where everyone is laughing at Carrie quite unbelievable.  When someone is picked on publically like that, the response is not that kind of laughter.  That doesn't give young people enough credit.  The whole school doesn't follow the mean girls.  The school was enjoying her  triumph -- they wouldn't so quickly turn on her.  They would be outraged by what was done.

I think this Carrie pulls the viewer in better emotionally than the original.  However, I have never  seen the original in a theater -- that might matter.

Carrie is one of Stephen King's strongest characters.  Emotionally she is able to stand up to and rebel against her abusive mother.  Physically, she has powers that could hold off Superman.  Sign the kid up for the Justice League -- where do you get an application? 

PEIRCE: I'm A Huge Stephen King Fan

photo credit: blog.seattlepi.com

Tim Hill has a great interview with Carrie director, Kimberley Peirce. Check it out at seattlepi.com.  What I really think is reflected in this interview is her passion for Stephen King and Carrie as the source material.  Maybe she should remake The Shining.

I also like it that Peirce clarifies that Carrie's mom is not practicing Christianity.  "She has her own iconography and as Carrie says, she changes things to mean what she wants."  That's pretty  insightful.  It can  be easy to mark an entire faith by the weirdo's who have twisted it up.  Carrie's mom falls in with David Koresh, Joseph Smith and the Westboro Baptist kooks.

My favorite lines (I'm picking and choosing -- read the context and full article at the link!)

• I’m a huge Stephen King fan. I was a literature student so I read it when I was in college. I re-read it when they came to me to do the movie and I was blown away at what an amazing storyteller Stephen King is. 
• I also love that it’s a Cinderella story. What does she want? Love and acceptance. When she’s asked to prom she can’t say no and we can’t say no. We’ve fallen in love with this Cinderella story. I think we want to take her to the height of the Cinderalla night and we crave seeing it turn on its head.
• When I read the book, I see it in my minds eye as this largely entertaining story using superhero powers.
• The difficult part of my job was figuring out how to put somebody’s face through a window. You can’t put an actor’s face through a window. So what do you do? A) You can put an actor’s face through sugar glass. B) You can put animation through fake glass. C) An actor can fly forward on a green screen. So that scene is a series of a ton of composites and that was really a blast for me.
• One of my favorite lines in the movie is something that Julianne and I pulled out of the book. She says, “I’ll be the preacher, you be the congregation.” 

There is a LOT in this interview.  How many times did they film the blood droppin' scene and so on.  Of course, that raises a question. . . how effective is a movie where we all already know there is a blood dropping scene?  I hope they've saved some surprises.  She is asked if there will be a sequel, and does not give an answer.  Does that suggest Carrie survives the horror?

FANGORIA Covered In Carrie

Next months Fangoria promises to be packed full of Stephen King goodies.  Featuring Carrie drenched in blood on its cover, the magazine says  the coming issue will include an in-depth look at Brian De Palma, including an exclusive interview.

Also there will be "chats" with CARRIE co-stars P.J. Soles and William Katt. And, there  is also an interview with director Kimberly Pierce (Carrie, 2013).

Find more at fangoria.com

Carrie Pictures

I like this picture, with the caption, "They deserved it."

photo credit: HERE

With the note, "Chris and Billy's Car."

With the caption, "Bloody"

All of the pictures in this post are from the Carrie facebook page HERE.

Also, check out the clip of the Making Of Carrie which includes this note:

"The scene in question takes place at an indoor pool with bratty teenagers and doesn’t feature any dialogue from Carrie but instead gives you an idea of how she’s being bullied by her peers. It’s also possible that this is the new opening to the film (the original opened with Carrie discovering her powers in the locker room showers). So it's probable that Carrie will have her first period in the swimming pool."  (HERE) 

Carrie: She's Baaack!



Picture Credit: collider.com

 I spotted this first at Lilja's Library.  Carrie is set to be remade. . . again!  Mike Fleming at Deadline posted that MGM has chosen Kimberly Peirce to direct the newest remake of Carrie. 

Before King fans roll their eyes, note this quote from the Deadline article:

Aguirre-Sacasa set out to write a version of Carrie that is more faithful to the King book, and more grounded than the Brian De Palma-directed film. That kind of grounded material is something Peirce does well.

Adam Chitwood at collider.com writes:

The director’s experience with off-kilter coming-of-age stories should bode well for her work on Carrie, and I’m intrigued to see what her take entails. (HERE)

A more faithful edition of Carrie.  Can't complain about that!