8A - Monday, October 212013

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

8A - Monday, October 21, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

New'Carrie'knockoff
diminishes King classic

"Can you hear me now?"
Bell sweetens the
niche-corn 'World'

By KARSTEN SMOLINSKI
For the Daily
Far too similar to Brian De
Palma's 1976 version of "Carrie,"
the newest iteration adds noth-
ing worthwhile
to this classic
modern horror
story. Improved Carre
special effects
and a more con- At Quality 16
temporary set- and Rave
ting utterly fail
to distract from Sony
the film's emo-
tional flatness, making this most
recent adaptation of the Stephen
King novel feel wholly unneeded.
King's original story of titular
character Carrie White, (Chloe
Grace Moretz, "Hugo"), represents
a wicked twist on the typical high-
school prom narrative. Socially
handicapped by the religious
fanaticism of her mother (Julianne
Moore, "Crazy, Stupid, Love."),
Carrie suffers from the cruel teas-
ing of her fellowseniors.
Carrie does receive some sup-
port, however, from her gym
teacher, Ms. Desjardin (Judy
Greer, "The Descendants"). With
her help and the kindness of some
of Carrie's fellow students, Carrie
manages to overcome her social
fears and get a date to the prom.
Just when her night is going per-
fectly, a sadistic prank humiliates
Carrie. Pushed past her breaking
point, Carrie takes revenge against
her tormentors using her recently
discovered telekinetic powers.
Unfortunately, not only does
Moretz look far from the part of a
social outcast, but her acting falls
far short of Sissy Spacek's (the 1976
"Carrie") Academy Award-nomi-
nated performance for the original
film. Moretz's grimaces inspire
more humor than horror. For her
part, Julianne Moore creates an
appropriately disturbing portrait
of the mother, but her treatment
of Carrie appears more ineffectual
than horrifying.
Not bold enough to stray far
from the original's formula,
"Carrie" seems a mere cosmetic
upgrade of the original with noth-

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irector's debut subplots in a way that's sponta-
neously touching.
makes her Lake Bell also produced,
wrote and directed this film.
voice heard It won Sundance Film Festi-
val's Waldo Salt Screenwriting
By NOAH COHEN Award and successfully resists
Daily Arts Writer the self-important wankery of
film festival culture, but the
the esoteric world of mov- clipped stuttering and cringing
iler voiceover actors, Don speechless lulls (meant to evoke
ntaine's death leaves a tal- organic awkwardness) feel
vacuum occasionally overdone. Still, the
e indus- / well developed characters and
nd when their equally well developed
'w fran- In A Worid... relationships manage to cre-
proposes At the ate a legitimate heart-punching
resurrect rom-com in background of the
ntaine's Michigan main plot - a huge feat for a
phrase Roadside relatively short (93-minute) fes-
world..." tival film debut.
s opening Audiences should recognize
r, the few men left at the some of the cast names: Deme-
of the voice-actor world tri Martin ("Important Things
e for the opportunity to With Demetri Martin") plays
up LaFontaine's mantle. Louis, the dorky, overly sup-
out of nowhere, comes portive audio techie who pro-
Solomon. duces Carol's voice work. Fred
ke Bell ("No Strings Melamed ("The Dictator") plays
hed") plays the lead, Carol, Carol's father, Sam "Sotto"
ch-surfing voice coach liv- Solomon, with much feather-
ith her father, who is the preening and sexist swagger.
er voice actor left after And Rob Corddry (Correspon-
eath ofcDon LaFontaine. dent on "The Daily Show") plays
Carol scores a big break a cute supporting role as Carol's
r father's voiceover world, sister's boyfriend, Moe. The
ises the ego of the men in romantic subplot between Moe
ade. Everyone scrabbles to and Dani (Michaela Watkins,
ain dignity and everyone "Wanderlust") is handled with
acularly fails. Meanwhile, the gracious warmth of a non-
ast plays hot potato with political environment, giving
y frictions and awkward the audience needed reprieve

from the ugly power game in
the main plot.
When Sam Sotto does his
voice exercises, "Me, me, me,
me," we take it as a subtle com-
mentary on voice, agency and
attitude. Carol makes a voice
for herself in a world all about
voice, and even after having
found a space for herself (physi-
cally and figuratively), she's
screwed by her rival, by her
father and even verbally beaten
by the only other woman we see
in the movie industry - who
tells her, shockingly, that she
only got the part because she
was a woman. "In A World..."
cuts a sympathetic vignette of
what it means to make a voice
for yourself in a world that
doesn't care to bear you.
This film inhabits a spe-
cial place in Hollywood meta
because it confronts and trea-
ties with the bullshit that con-
stitutes movie culture. To make
a movie about some aspect of
the movie-making industry
isn't a novel thing, but in mov-
ie-movies you rarely see Bell's
level of attention to the idiotic
human sillinesses or painful
egotistical pitfalls thatpmake
us secretly loathe ourselves.
Thanks to Lake, Martin and
Corddry, though, the bullshit
doesn't win out.
Expect to hear a lot more of
Lake's voice in the immediate
future - hopefully, as a writer/
director.

sONY
Mother of the Year.
ing substantial below the surface. she unleashed upon the school.
CGI intensifies the violent power Carrie was victim and villain.
of Carrie's telekinetic abilities, but The remake, on the other
the images of her psychotic ram- ' hand, tries to portray Carrie
page fail to distinguish this film as only the victim, framing the
from numerous other gory horror story as more of a revenge fan-
flicks. The newer version attempts tasy. Instead of murder"g her
to update the bullying aspect of classmates indiscriminately,
"Carrie" by including more con- Carrie targets those who tor-
temporary bullying methods, such mented her worst and spares
as camera-phone recordings and those who showed her kind-
social networking. However, this ness. However, this framing
introduces very little new material seems somewhat problematic
to the plot. as the punishment (a gruesome
death) doesn't really seem to fit
the crime. The film tries to get
An emotionless viewers to sympathize with Car-
rie, even as she commits murder.
remake. Consideringthe similarity of the
film's subject matter to tragic
occurrences such as mass shoot-
ings, this film will likely leave
Brian De Palma's version audiences frustratingly conflict-
ultimately invoked a sense of ed over the deaths of its villains.
terrible tragedy, showing how Similar in plot but lacking
Carrie's intense social humilia- the emotional force of the origi-
tion and gross mistreatment at nal, this new "Carrie" has not a
the hands of her mother pushed single trait to commend. Don't
her into a homicidal rage. The bother wasting your time on a
original's feeling of horror prettier looking knockoff - the
stemmed from Carrie's apparent original "Carrie" has everything
trauma and the total destruction you need.

Banksy masked by mystique

e

DO YOU LOVE GOING TO THE
MOVIES?
JOIN THE DAILY ARTS FILM BEAT.
E-mail arts@michigandaily.com to request an application.

By REBECCA GODWIN
DailyArts Writer
Imagine walking down the
street in New York City and
being drawn in by a street ven-
dor with a small selection of
spray-paint art for only $60
each. The canvases range in
sizes but one or two catch your
eye, so you purchase them and
then continue on your way.
Now imagine that those two
small pieces of artwork you
spent $120 on are actually worth
tens of thousands of dollars in
the right market. This happened
to three very lucky individuals
when celebrated and reclusive
graffiti artist Banksy recently
decided to open up a stall near
Central Park during his month-
long exhibition in New York.
But don't get your hopes up
for another such event any time
soon. According to his website,
the stunt was a one-time thing.
Luckily, though, Banksy will
still be creating new pieces all
over the city for a little bit lon-
ger.
Banksy is a British graffiti
artist whose popularity has been
growing over the last decade or
so. No one really knows what he
looks like (though many claim
to have pictures of him), and his
pieces involve intricate stencils
that have been spray-painted
onto a variety of different medi-
ums, from sidewalks to the backs
of trucks. A lot of Banksy's piec-
es also act as a form of creative
social and political commentary
and display a deep hatred for
capitalism, war and an accep-
tance of "the establishment."
But not all of Banksy's work
is so socially conscious. A quick
Google search will yield dozens
of tongue-in-cheek pieces that
are likely to bringa smile to your
face. A lot of Banksy's pieces use
graffiti that someone else has
already put on a wall or some

BANKSYNYCOM
This graffiti is worth more than your house.

other
adding
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But
unkno
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$700,0
some
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could s

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o:

previously placed item artwork.
to the already cheeky and Until his stunt in Central
y dark humor found in his Park, I had never heard of
ieces. Banksy. I had seen some prints
while he was a relative of his artwork (most memora-
wn 10 years ago, he's ble being a copy of his lesbian
into a commercial suc- Queen Victoria print on a flyer
with some of his bigger in a dorm bathroom last year),
selling for $500,000 to but I never knew who the man
00 each. According to behind the spray can was. Now
art experts, the small after quite a bit of research, I
purchased by those three can firmly say that I still don't
people near Central Park really know who he is. By hiding
ell for $30,000 or more. his identity, Banksy has indeed
added to his intrigue and made
his art more compelling.
med graffiti Thefact that people are
spending so much mnyon
.rtist is the his paintings goes completely
against his anti-capitalism mes-
.obin Hood sage. He doesn't want fame or
recognition, and he doesn't even
f street art. want money for his artwork.
When thinking of Banksy, I
picture a Robin Hood figure,
cloaked by night, creating beau-
course, Banksy doesn't tiful paintings and giving them
ysell his own artwork. He to the average, everyday per-
all of his pieces on public son - someone who will truly
ty or in public areas. Pri- appreciate his artwork and is
tizens who own the walls more likely to understand the
inting on sell most of the statement he's trying to make.

of<
usually
paints
proper
vate cii
he's pa