Rage: Carrie 2

The best stuff in this ridiculously conceived sequel to Brian De Palma's groundbreaking '70s classic are the occasional, too-brief flashbacks to De Palma's groundbreaking '70s classic. They occur in the mind of Sue Snell (Amy Irving, shamelessly reprising her role), the only main character left alive during Carrie's prom revenge freakout. After a brief stint in an insane asylum, Snell is now a therapist at a suburban high school and is currently counseling Rachel Lang (Emily Bergl). Rachel isn't like other girls. When Rachel gets really mad, she moves things with her mind. Rachel's been really mad lately, because her best friend jumped from a rooftop in the first 10 minutes of this movie. Even though there's absolutely no development of this relationship, don't doubt it: we know they're best friends because they have matching tattoos. Rachel's friend lost it because she was the latest victim in a fun game that members of the football team play off the field in which they keep a running count of how many girls they can seduce, using a rating scale based on appearance. Of course, there's a nice one, Jesse (Jason London), who feels guilty about playing the game and falls for Carrie, er, Rachel. Everything appears to be changing for Rachel, but Jesse's friends have other plans. Snell knows what's up, however, and it's pretty funny watching her explain it to Rachel: "I've been through this movie before" is essentially what she says, but Rachel doesn't want to hear that she's not an original character, that she's a cheap, slightly hardened and revised '90s rip-off with no autonomy. It makes Rachel want to move things with her mind. --Dave McCoy