It Doesn't Get Better For Carrie White (Or Us)

This has been a ridiculously busy weekend, so this post is rather late.  Apologies. 

The idea of a Carrie remake makes me skin crawl.  I am generally against the idea of remaking good movies (especially when it's been done before), but this is Carrie.  Come on, you can't possibly think you can improve on one of the greatest horror movies of all time.  A full trailer dropped late last week. 

 Here is my main concern.  I don't like Chloe Moretz in the title role.  She's too young, and everything else I've seen her in makes me less confident that she can pull off the character.  In this version, Carrie White is a hipster chick with an unfortunate dye job.  In this day and age, she would have owned that and become popular.  Normally, I come to the defense of actors when I hear people saying that they don't believe they can play something.  Her performance as Hit Girl in the Kick Ass movies alone convinces me that Carrie White is going to relish in her destruction at the senior prom.  I would have bought Saoirse Ronan, even though I think she is too pretty as well to play the part.  Shoulda cast an unknown!

What could have been.  Or, what could have been better.

Here are the two shots that worry me the most. 

Sexy, vengeful, bloody Carrie

I am most concerned about this shot.  In the trailer, we hear Carrie tell her mother that if she concentrates hard enough, she can make things move.  It cuts to a shot of Carrie in class and she makes a flag billow in the breeze, and she smiles.  I thought Carrie was terrified of her powers?  Or at least very freaked out because she didn't know what was going on.  I haven't read Stephen King's book (it's on my Goodreads, calm down!), so I could just be taking this from the 1976 movie. 

Obviously, I am on board with Julianne Moore as Carrie's religious zealot of a mother, Margaret.  She's the best thing about the trailer, if you ask me ("Pray little girl!"), so I will be looking forward to seeing Moore thump some Bibles.  I wonder if she is going to be more grounded, or she is going to be totally batshit nuts.  I want to see her perform the "sin never dies" monologue like it's my job. 

I do like that the prom theme and decorations seem to be an homage to the original film.  Just a side note. 

The new Carrie is directed by Kimerbly Peirce.  She hasn't done much other than Boys Don't Cry (so sad!) and Stop-Loss (...at least the men were hot...right?) as far as feature films go.  She can clearly direct a story about a female feeling inadequate and alone.  Hopefully, Carrie will be able to channel some the similar emotional power from Boys and make us really feel bad for Moretz's character. 

They're (probably) all gonna laugh at you!!!