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Carrie (1976)

post #1 of 27
9/11/07 at 12:39am
Thread Starter 
Everytime I see this, I am constantly amazed at how I could have forgotten how great this movie is. "Oh yeah, this is one of my favorite horror films. How could I have forgotten that?"

Every part of it works for me, from the terrific score to John Travolta to the more avant garde moments.
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post #2 of 27
9/11/07 at 12:47am
Opening credit bush!
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post #3 of 27
9/11/07 at 12:51am
You're goddamn right. Patrick, get you some Ginger Snaps to watch close after this one.
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post #4 of 27
9/11/07 at 1:10am
Thread Starter 
It's waiting for me in my dorm, actually.

That entire part of the film with the prom is one of the most heartbreaking moments of any movie I've seen, because you know exactly what is going to happen and the actors convince you that she actually believes it's all going to be ok. Also, the boy she goes with is cute and charming as hell. Every time I keep saying "No, let this be a romantic comedy. Let them fall in love and let her learn to fit in and accept her mother. Please let everything be alright."

When the camera circles around them until they finally kiss, I damn near start crying because I feel so bad for her.
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post #5 of 27
9/11/07 at 2:00am
CARRIE is a delight but I'm of the small cult who gets more enjoyment out of THE FURY. It has a lot of the teen angst you get in CARRIE, and throws in Kirk Douglas cappin' fools!
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post #6 of 27
9/11/07 at 2:12am
I'm just a sucker for nerds lashing out against their tormentors even in the wake of all these school shootings. It just reminds me of being a kid and wishing I had super powers so I could feel special. Man, that sounds really depressing, oh well.
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post #7 of 27
9/11/07 at 2:15am
Thread Starter 
I was just checking IMDB to see what other projects De Palma directed. He did the Dancing in the Dark video? Talk about shit, that video is more bland and status quo than a thousand Snake Eyes.

ETA: I'm glad I'm not gonna be there for englebert's high school reunion.
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post #8 of 27
9/11/07 at 2:28am
In directing that vid, he discovered Courtney Cox. Take that for what you will.
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post #9 of 27
9/11/07 at 2:30am
When you're around Beaks, watch what you say about De Palma.
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post #10 of 27
9/11/07 at 2:31am
Thread Starter 
He might as well discovered Ununhexium or some other useless element.

EDIT: Hey, I even liked Black Dahlia. I'm just saying Dancin' in the Dark is a very very typical performance piece. I wonder why De Palma even bothered directing it.
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post #11 of 27
9/11/07 at 2:41am
Because it's what Springsteen wanted? Just guessing.

EDIT: And this was 1984. The 'Thriller' video was six months old and the format was hardly an art form -- it was an extended commercial. Michael Jackson had the money and clout to do Thriller, and while Bruce would have similar power by the end of '84, that's due in large part to the high accessibility of videos and songs like Dancing In The Dark.

EDIT AGAIN: Further googling suggests (anecdotally) that Springsteen wasn't happy with the video. So who knows?
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post #12 of 27
9/11/07 at 2:47am
Thread Starter 
I guess after watching The Work of Michel Gondry, it just seems weird.

"We're gonna do a performance video, and in the end you pull a fan onstage and dance with her."
"That sounds great. Let's get the guy who directed Scarface!"
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post #13 of 27
9/11/07 at 2:51am
Was it De Palma's idea to have Courtney Cox adopt Springsteen's haircut?
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post #14 of 27
9/11/07 at 3:21am
Carrie is so great. That scene of Nancy Allen and John Travolta in the car ... in fact every scene with them is so awesome. Poor Carrie. She's a much more pathetic figure in the book. But the scene of them trying on their tuxedos before the prom is just such a headscratcher. I love Piper Laurie as the crazy mom. I think De Palma did a brilliant job with that book.
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post #15 of 27
9/11/07 at 3:33am
Thread Starter 
That book was too sprawling over what's best told as a simple betrayal/revenge tale. Lawrence D. Cohen did a good job adapting it.
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post #16 of 27
9/11/07 at 3:41am
Quote:
CARRIE is a delight but I'm of the small cult who gets more enjoyment out of THE FURY. It has a lot of the teen angst you get in CARRIE, and throws in Kirk Douglas cappin' fools!
I'm in that cult, too. Carrie didn't 'splode John Cassevetes! Advantage = The Fury.
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post #17 of 27
9/11/07 at 4:48am
De Palma directed Dancing in the Dark? WHAT. THE. HELL? That's like finding out Alfred Hitchcock directed the video to Start Me Up.

CARRIE is really good, yeah. And the tuxedo-trying-on scene really is one of the most baffling things I've seen in my life. And William Katt is such a goddamn heartthrob in this it makes my heart throb just thinking about it.
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post #18 of 27
9/11/07 at 5:33am
"I can see your dirty pillows."

"They're called breasts, mama!"
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post #19 of 27
9/11/07 at 10:48am
The book was trash. Really inept at times. Depalma elevated it to art.
Is it any wonder Springsteen thought he could do the same thing for his empty pop song?
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post #20 of 27
9/11/07 at 11:12am
Thread Starter 
I wish the Dancing in the Dark video ended with Springsteen looking down in slow motion and witnessing in horror his period spread across those tight blue jeans, then everyone in the crowd (and Clarence Clemmons on sax) starts laughing at him yelling "Plug it up! Plug it up!".

EDIT: As for the tuxedo trying on scene, I love it. When I start wishing that they would all be nice to Carrie and that it end up a romantic comedy, that's the scene I look back to (and him at her screen door, asking her out) and think maybe it will happen. It's just another piece of very innocent and light humor that sort of settles you into a false sense of security. If it weren't for scenes like that, all the first two acts would consist of is you waiting for the awful thing to happen. By drawing you into the characters using kind of stock high school comedy situations ("You only got 10 dollars, you can rent a tux for ten dollars, no you don't HAVE to wear ruffles!") it's almost like a magician distracting you into believing the illusion that this is a high school movie like many you've seen before.

The sped-up chipmunk part of it, I have no idea what that's for.
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post #21 of 27
9/11/07 at 11:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll

The sped-up chipmunk part of it, I have no idea what that's for.
DePalma couldn't get the rights to the Benny Hill theme for that scene. If he had, it would have all worked perfectly as planned.
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post #22 of 27
9/11/07 at 11:41am
Did you know John Sayles directed a bunch of Springsteen videos? He even did "Glory Days" which is a much better video than "Dancing in the Dark." It uses baseball as a metaphor for youth.
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post #23 of 27
9/11/07 at 11:42am
Only Sayles could pull such an erotic performance out of Little Steven.
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post #24 of 27
9/11/07 at 11:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobClark
Is it any wonder Springsteen thought he could do the same thing for his empty pop song?
It's not one of my favorites of his, but like a lot of songs on that album, the production makes it sound a lot emptier and shallow than it is (and the video, of course, didn't do it any favors). If you listen to the lyrics, it's actually pretty dark.
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post #25 of 27
9/11/07 at 11:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobClark
Only Sayles could pull such an erotic performance out of Little Steven.
Definitely, though Sayles didn't have any shots of Clarence Clemmons clapping. De Palma gets points for that.
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post #26 of 27
9/11/07 at 11:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB
It's not one of my favorites of his, but like a lot of songs on that album, the production makes it sound a lot emptier and shallow than it is (and the video, of course, didn't do it any favors). If you listen to the lyrics, it's actually pretty dark.
The demo recording of "Born in the USA" that never made it onto Nebraska is amazingly dark.
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post #27 of 27
9/11/07 at 12:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB
It's not one of my favorites of his, but like a lot of songs on that album, the production makes it sound a lot emptier and shallow than it is (and the video, of course, didn't do it any favors). If you listen to the lyrics, it's actually pretty dark.
Oh sure. That applies to the entire album.
But I stand by my statement for the sake of my joke.
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