Could Friday the 13th be better than Halloween for the first time in a long time?
Well 2009 keeps rolling on, and another marquee movie came up big this past weekend. I can tell you that I wasn’t expecting the reboot of Friday the 13th to be good in any way when I first heard about it. Just coming off of the tragic re-whatever of Halloween, in which Rob Zombie took the purest Slasher film of all time and decided that it needed more rednecks, less fun, and a “Love Hurts” montage, I wasn’t expecting much when it came to retelling Voorhees saga. Add to that the utter failure of remakes such as The Hitcher, Prom Night and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and things were looking grimmer for us than it would for a sex crazed, pot smoking teen spending the summer at Crystal Lake.
Thankfully, by some miracle this wasn’t the case at all. It’s hard to say how exactly it happened, but the makers of the Friday the 13th reboot somehow completely got why we loved these movies in the first place, and then completely honored those feelings on screen. It’s hard to fathom how the same film company and director that took the grittiness of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and decided to replace it with a sexy teen cast, flashy camera moves and a ton of repugnant violence somehow made one of the best Jason Voorhees murderfests ever.
Of course, as much as I love them, the bar is set a little lower for the Friday the 13th series. They never worked on the atmosphere of Chainsaw and the Halloween series strove much harder for continuity and took itself much more seriously other than Halloween: Resurrection. The Voorhees movies worked on a much more exploitive level, with fun kills and tons of nudity, even falling very much into parody with its last two entries. The slick film making and attractive leads would really fall right into place with what had come before it, so having those elements in the movie wouldn’t be a big deal like it was in TCM or The Hitcher. Heck, I’d been watching bad Friday the 13th movies all my life, so this one could be bad if it wanted to, it just had to be fun.
Then, slowly but surely, this thing started to win me over. It helped that a Horror remake actually made it to the theater before this one and ended up being a ton of fun. My Bloody Valentine 3-D was a absolute blast, and gave me even more hope that Friday the 13th could bring the goods, despite not being in 3-D. It also helped that Warner Bros. and Paramount ran what I think was a pretty flawless ad campaign, especially the “Valentine’s Day” TV ads. I was pretty ramped up by Friday night, but still cautious that the whole thing could turn way too ugly in its violence or end up another parody of the Friday the 13th series instead of a good entry into it.
I shouldn’t have been worried at all.
The new Friday the 13th is exactly as it should be. It’s a movie that pays homage to the first four original movies without turning to satire or parody, taking elements that fans of the series will immediately recognize, such as the death of Pamela Voorhees and the brother out to seek revenge for his sister’s death, and weaves the movie into what could be considered the ultimate homage to the entire first “pre-zombie” era of the franchise. Jason is as scary and menacing as I’ve ever seen him before. Required formula characters such as the rich jerk, the stoners, the good girl, and the promiscuous coeds are everywhere to be found, and the movie is a carnival of violence that never stops being fun. The kills are clever without ever being off-putting or overly ugly like in past remakes (I’m looking at you The Hitcher and Rob Zombie’s John Carpenter’s Halloween). Lastly, I’d like to thank the film makers for throwing as much nudity at the screen as possible. I really can’t wait for the next one, to see what could happen next. Don’t screw it up!
Alright, next order of business is the upcoming Oscar race, and let me tell you, I could really care less this year. I know it’s the geek in me saying this, but when The Dark Knight wasn’t recognized and only one other movie that I really cared about (Benjamin Button) was nominated in the Best Picture race, my enthusiasm kind of fell by the wayside. It’s not often you see a movie like The Dark Knight, but when it comes along and then gets snubbed because of preconceived notions by the Academy, it really makes you wonder why you watch this show in the first place. At least I’ve still got Mickey Rourke to root for.
Okay, now for some predictions.
Best Picture – Since Benjamin Button is really the only one I care about in this list, I’d like to see it win, but Slumdog Millionaire pretty much has this wrapped up. It’s not like it’s not deserving, but I wish that there was at least some drama as to whether this was going to take away the top prize.
Best Director – Another Slumdog winner here. I honestly don’t think that anyone else even has a chance in this category, and it’s too bad Christopher Nolan and Clint Eastwood weren’t even nominated. Still, I like Danny Boyle’s work a lot, and it’s hard to begrudge a man this award when he’s been responsible for one of the best Zombie movies and one of the best Space Operas of the last decade. I hope he honors this success by making the final 28 Days Later sequel.
Best Actor – At least this is a two way race. It’s hard to be a betting man and root against Mickey Rourke here, though Sean Penn very conceivably could pull this off. I know Penn’s performance is outstanding, but there’s so much more weight and baggage that went into Randy “The Ram” and I hope the Academy sees that. It’s almost as if Rourke’s been pulling a De Niro for the last two decades in preparation for this movie, and the culmination of that work was worth the wait. On a side note, I would liked to have seen Clint Eastwood get a nomination for Gran Torino here, but it wasn’t meant to be, and I guess Clint will have to retire without an acting Oscar, which is too bad. Still, with Rourke winning, I think the best performance will definitely be recognized.
Best Actress – I’m going with Kate Winslett here, even though this role actually won her the Best Supporting Actress award at the Golden Globes. Still, I think she’s the odds on favorite, and I’ve always been a big fan of Winslett’s so I’m perfectly happy with this.
Best Supporting Actor – I think every geek in America will take away some solace for The Dark Knight being snubbed if Heath Ledger takes away this trophy, posthumously as it would be. His Joker is the main reason everyone is in love with The Dark Knight in the first place, so it would be fitting that he would take home the most major award for this picture. That’s not to say that there aren’t some other deserving performances, as this category is once again probably the strongest of the night, but Ledger’s performance is just so iconic and memorable that its tough to call the race for anyone else.
Best Support Actress – Speaking of locks, I’m pretty sure that Penelope Cruz has this one locked up as well. Her praise for the role has been pretty unanimous, and there really isn’t a huge standout from the other nominees, though I do love Marisa Tomei’s turn in The Wrestler as much as I do anyone else in this category.
Best Animated Film – This one also shouldn’t even be close. Pixar once again proves why they’re everybody’s sweethearts when it comes to Animated pictures, and WALL-E absolutely blows away all other competition in this category, even with Kung Fu Panda coming in as maybe my favorite Dreamworks Animation project ever. WALL-E is good enough to compete in any Best Picture race, and it would be a real shame if Oscar didn’t see it come the ceremony.
Best Original Screenplay – I’d like to see In Bruges or WALL-E take this one home, but I’ve got a feeling that this one goes Milk. I don’t think the Academy likes to necessarily shut out good movies when it can help it, but I don’t think it’ll go for Milk in any other major categories either, so I think this is the one they’ll choose to honor the picture.
Best Adapted Screenplay – Slumdog takes another one here on its way to Best Picture. It could be that Frost/Nixon or Benjamin Button sneaks one in here, but I don’t really see it happening.
So that’s pretty much it for my Oscar picks, and I’ll be back next week with another installment of my Bad Ass list.
