Movies 'n Stuff

Day 19

I just spent the evening watching 2 movies 2 times.  Basically, we're talking about older vs newer versions.

First on deck, the movie adaptation of VC Andrews's "Flowers in the Attic"

Both suck balls in their own way.  If I could combine the two, as far as some of the characters go, I guess we could make a "not half bad" flick.  Ellen Burstyn had the potential to knock the role of The Grandmother outta the park, but I found her to be way too emotional for my taste.  That's not a match for the woman I got to know in the books.  Louise Fletcher, from the 1987 version of the movie, though, nailed it.  She was phenomenal.  The newer version, though, was more true to the books, so I'm always going to find that more to my liking.  I thought Heather Graham was kind of plastic in the role of Corrine, but I do believe, at first, she did love the children.  Victoria Tennant, though, creeped me out from the first minute.  I liked the Cathy and Chris characters better in the newer movie, but I prefer the twins from the older version.  In a nutshell, though, forced to choose, I'll pick the newer one simply because the older movie didn't "go there".  Anyone who knows and loves the series knows full well what I'm talking about, and, if you're not going to "go there" with the relationship between Cathy and Chris, why even bother making the movie?

Next, we watched the newest re-make of Carrie, after which, we decided to watch the 2002 version.

Sometimes, on a very rare occasion, a remake will surpass the original, and, for me, that ALWAYS happens with Stephen King flicks (The Shining, for example).  Let's never mind the '02 version of Carrie for a minute., and I'll just say that technology made all the difference between Sissy Spacek's Carrie and the new Carrie.  The fact that someone filmed the shower scene with their phone while they tormented Carrie over getting her period and then put it on YouTube and THEN played it at the prom after they dumped the blood on her???  Yeah... you just WANT to see those little fuckstains get what's coming to them.  This Carrie was a lot more expressive, too, and I prefer that over Spacek's zombie-like demeanor and the catatonic state of the '02 Carrie... you know, the one who woke up and didn't remember what happened.  REALLY???    Plus?  New Carrie looked beautiful at the prom.  Spacek cleaned up nice, but '02 Carrie still looked like she needed about an hour and a half at the salon.  Plus?  Comparing the 3 girls? Spacek was kind of shy but warmed up some to Tommy, '02 Carrie never deviated from her socially inept routine, but new Carrie?  I loved how she started to come out of her shell.  Spacek was probably more true to the book, and, in all three movies, Tommy was generally a sweet guy. I do really love what they did with the newer movie, and that gets my vote as best re-made movie in tonight's selections.

I could do this all the time.  Now, if only I could get my love to sit down and watch the new version of The Shining with me...  hahaha.