Ghostbusters (2016)
July 14, 2016 7:09 PM - Subscribe
Two friends discover that their ridiculed research into the paranormal is real, and together with two new friends, join together to combat a supernatural threat to New York City.
If you're wondering if the movie is good or not, you shouldn't wait for answer because it's 100% good and you shouldn't waste another second not seeing it!
If you're wondering if the movie is good or not, you shouldn't wait for answer because it's 100% good and you shouldn't waste another second not seeing it!
Andy Garcia is really funny in this too. I haven't liked him in something this much since The Untouchables.
posted by maxsparber at 9:35 PM on July 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by maxsparber at 9:35 PM on July 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
McKinnon manages to steal every scene in the trailer. She's magnetic. I can't wait to watch it.
posted by kandinski at 10:37 PM on July 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by kandinski at 10:37 PM on July 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
I have no emotional ties to the original -- it came out before I was born and when I was old enough to watch it, I don't remember really caring for it, although I did recognize a lot of the little throwback moments in this version. Which means I went into this version pretty neutral (or nearly neutral, since the backlash is what made me decide to see it opening night instead of a vague "someday" aka once it's available on Netflix) and had so. Much. Fun.
It's pretty much the perfect dumb-but-fun summer movie. I loved it and now have an alarmingly obsessive crush on Holtz and am ready to buy tickets for the sequel just so I can watch these ladies in action again.
(And yes the credits are very much worth it VERY MUCH not just because of the little teaser at the end but also because of a dancing eye-candy Chris Hemsworth.)
Finally: Holtz/Patty 5evah!
posted by paisley sheep at 10:42 PM on July 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's pretty much the perfect dumb-but-fun summer movie. I loved it and now have an alarmingly obsessive crush on Holtz and am ready to buy tickets for the sequel just so I can watch these ladies in action again.
(And yes the credits are very much worth it VERY MUCH not just because of the little teaser at the end but also because of a dancing eye-candy Chris Hemsworth.)
Finally: Holtz/Patty 5evah!
posted by paisley sheep at 10:42 PM on July 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
People complaining that this movie ruins the franchise should stop, Ghostbusters 2 allready did that :-)
posted by Pendragon at 11:02 PM on July 14, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by Pendragon at 11:02 PM on July 14, 2016 [10 favorites]
I really can't stand Melissa McCarthy. Is she her typical character in this? A la Bridesmaids and the Heat.
posted by 2ht at 3:56 AM on July 15, 2016
posted by 2ht at 3:56 AM on July 15, 2016
(Haven't seen the movie yet...)
Here's my thing about expectations for this: I figure the original movie was Stripes meets Poltergeist, which was a lot of fun...This one will probably be more like Bridesmaids meets a Marvel movie than it will be like the original...Because nowadays studios don't invest a bunch of money in blockbuster movies that aren't *guaranteed* to succeed by the barometer of "this kind of movie has succeeded recently using this basic formula". But that's fine, I like these women and I like Paul Feig (I particularly enjoyed Spy last year).
Whenever I hear people yelling about this one movie that they haven't seen ruining the Ghostbusters brand, all I hear is, "How DARE they make a new movie that I don't have overwhelming childhood nostalgia for?!"
And anyway, yes, if there's one thing that this truly is guaranteed to be, it's at least the second-best Ghostbusters movie.
posted by doctornecessiter at 5:22 AM on July 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Here's my thing about expectations for this: I figure the original movie was Stripes meets Poltergeist, which was a lot of fun...This one will probably be more like Bridesmaids meets a Marvel movie than it will be like the original...Because nowadays studios don't invest a bunch of money in blockbuster movies that aren't *guaranteed* to succeed by the barometer of "this kind of movie has succeeded recently using this basic formula". But that's fine, I like these women and I like Paul Feig (I particularly enjoyed Spy last year).
Whenever I hear people yelling about this one movie that they haven't seen ruining the Ghostbusters brand, all I hear is, "How DARE they make a new movie that I don't have overwhelming childhood nostalgia for?!"
And anyway, yes, if there's one thing that this truly is guaranteed to be, it's at least the second-best Ghostbusters movie.
posted by doctornecessiter at 5:22 AM on July 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
My other minor complaint, as black male, is that of the character of Patty, played by Leslie Jones. I wish it had been slightly more developed or the character had a few more minutes of screen time.
That was my only disappointment as well! They set her up so well too; she's not into science but reads a lot of non-fiction and knows a lot about New York! And then... we never see that in action, ever, in the rest of the movie, while everyone else gets their technobabble. Leslie Jones was great though, and really made what was a kind of shallow character come alive.
The movie was just awesome. I was cracking up the entire time from start to finish. The tone was perfect, the pacing was pretty good, and it's just FUN. Lots of fun!
Go see this movie.
posted by mayonnaises at 5:57 AM on July 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
That was my only disappointment as well! They set her up so well too; she's not into science but reads a lot of non-fiction and knows a lot about New York! And then... we never see that in action, ever, in the rest of the movie, while everyone else gets their technobabble. Leslie Jones was great though, and really made what was a kind of shallow character come alive.
The movie was just awesome. I was cracking up the entire time from start to finish. The tone was perfect, the pacing was pretty good, and it's just FUN. Lots of fun!
Go see this movie.
posted by mayonnaises at 5:57 AM on July 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
If you haven't read it yet, saw this on FiveThirtyEight:
‘Ghostbusters’ Is A Perfect Example Of How Internet Movie Ratings Are Broken
"The movie isn’t even out in theaters as I’m writing this, but over 12,000 people have made their judgment. Male reviewers outnumber female reviewers nearly 5 to 1 and rate “Ghostbusters” 4 points lower, on average."
posted by Pong74LS at 6:39 AM on July 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
‘Ghostbusters’ Is A Perfect Example Of How Internet Movie Ratings Are Broken
"The movie isn’t even out in theaters as I’m writing this, but over 12,000 people have made their judgment. Male reviewers outnumber female reviewers nearly 5 to 1 and rate “Ghostbusters” 4 points lower, on average."
posted by Pong74LS at 6:39 AM on July 15, 2016 [4 favorites]
Violet Ramis: On My Dad Harold Ramis and Passing the ‘Ghostbusters’ Torch to a New Generation of Fans
Especially in this context, the image of Harold Ramis in the hospital shaking with laughter watching Bridesmaids got to me a little.
posted by doctornecessiter at 6:44 AM on July 15, 2016 [19 favorites]
Especially in this context, the image of Harold Ramis in the hospital shaking with laughter watching Bridesmaids got to me a little.
posted by doctornecessiter at 6:44 AM on July 15, 2016 [19 favorites]
Male reviewers outnumber female reviewers nearly 5 to 1 and rate “Ghostbusters” 4 points lower, on average."
Sad Puppies extending their purview?
posted by Thorzdad at 7:47 AM on July 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Sad Puppies extending their purview?
posted by Thorzdad at 7:47 AM on July 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Lindley Winslow, experimental nuclear physicist at MIT, on her work with the film team: "I am looking forward to the film’s release. Ten years from now I hope to have an introductory physics course where I can’t count the women on one hand. I want the students to look at my framed thank you note from set dressing, ooh and ahh, and I will get to tell them that yes, those equations are right."
posted by effbot at 8:30 AM on July 15, 2016 [27 favorites]
posted by effbot at 8:30 AM on July 15, 2016 [27 favorites]
There's a lot to chew on with this film. Paul Feig is working a little outside his comfort zone, which tends toward raunchy r-rated material, and generally adult stuff, while this is, in part, pitched at children, and so I felt a little bit like I was seeing his limitations working within the constraints. It's a funny film, but without the added goosing of his ability to throw jaw-dropping moments in.
It retains some of the weaknesses of the original Ghostbusters, which we were willing to overlook, for some reason, back then -- mostly it has an inconsequential and barely developed villain, which is too bad, because Feig made great use of Rose Byrne as a flawed villain in Spy. As Brandon said, Leslie Jones wasn't much of an improvement on Ernie Hudson in the original, as far as her role in the Ghostbusters, although the group did feel more like a foursome that it did with Hudson, who always felt like an afterthought.
But these are quibbles. The film brings a lot to the series that is new, in particular Fieg's focus on the importance of female friendship, which were also important themes in Bridesmaid's and The Heat (screenwriter Katie Dippold probably gets a lot of the credit for that.) In the original Ghostbusters, Bill Murray always treated everything as a sort of con job, and that is replaced by four characters who really care about the subject of the supernatural (spoiler: interestingly, Murray appears as a character who insists it must be a con job). I think I prefer this film's approach, as, at its worst, Murray's approach tipped over into sleazily hitting on Sigourney Weaver.
There is a bit of a table-flipping with that theme as well, in the form of Chris Hemsworth, who I think is an inspired presence in the film. He's the male version of a dumb secretary, but he's dumb in a way that often tips over into the surreal. At once point he presents his suggestion for a Ghostbusters logo, and it's a house with a hot dog floating over it, and I have a feeling that image is going to have a life outside Ghostbusters.
I liked the effect work, although a lot of it felt very Disney's Haunted Mansion to me. The ghosts nonetheless had a wonderful look to them, sometimes going translucent, and I think the Macy Day Parade of ghostly balloons is as iconic a Ghostbusters image as anything in the original.
As others have noted, Kate McKinnon is tremendous in this film -- easily one of the weirdest film performances I have ever seen, but greatly weird, a combination of constant technical mumbo jumbo, a weird half-smile, and endless karate kicks and air punches when anything happens that she likes. She's genuinely a character I have never seen before, a scientist who approaches it like a crazed daredevil, and she's so good that I am tempted to say that she justifies the film all by herself.
But what's really staying with me is the subject of friendship. Spoiler: The climactic image is two women, plummeting through a void, one trying to save the other, and the more I think about it the more important it is. The central relationship in the film is between Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, and the whole film really exists to mend their broken childhood friendship. Wiig has been haunted as a child, and was bullied because of it, and the friendship started because McCarthy was the only one who believed her. Now, years later, the friendship has ended because Wiig can't stand the weight of McCarthy's belief -- it's both holding her back professionally and recalls her pain at being bullied, because here it is, years later, and Wiig is a scientist, and there is just no scientific evidence that her childhood experience happened.
The scientific mumbo jumbo in the film isn't just mumbo jumbo. It's there to tell us that, however silly they may seem, the Ghostbuster are doing real science, they are really proving that an impossible thing happened, and providing the tools to address the impossible. All four women bond over this, but, in the end, it is Wiig and McCarthy, along in an impossible place, finding their way back to each other while another impossible ghost looks on.
I think that's lovely. It's lovelier than anything found in the original Ghostbusters.
Is it a perfect film? No, but none of Feig's are, and I think it's sort of important that they aren't. Because the new Ghostbusters shouldn't have to be perfect to exist. Having a film that stars women should be so inconsequential that they can be good, they can be okay, they can be bad, and still be worth making. His films are at least as good, and often better, that the bro-ey comedies of Will Ferrell and Seth RRogan, and yet nobody complains when those guys remake, I don't know, Land of the Lost or Green Hornet.
The new Ghostbusters didn't have to be perfect. That's an impossible demand. It just had to be worth making and worth seeing, and it is that, abundantly so.
posted by maxsparber at 8:43 AM on July 15, 2016 [59 favorites]
It retains some of the weaknesses of the original Ghostbusters, which we were willing to overlook, for some reason, back then -- mostly it has an inconsequential and barely developed villain, which is too bad, because Feig made great use of Rose Byrne as a flawed villain in Spy. As Brandon said, Leslie Jones wasn't much of an improvement on Ernie Hudson in the original, as far as her role in the Ghostbusters, although the group did feel more like a foursome that it did with Hudson, who always felt like an afterthought.
But these are quibbles. The film brings a lot to the series that is new, in particular Fieg's focus on the importance of female friendship, which were also important themes in Bridesmaid's and The Heat (screenwriter Katie Dippold probably gets a lot of the credit for that.) In the original Ghostbusters, Bill Murray always treated everything as a sort of con job, and that is replaced by four characters who really care about the subject of the supernatural (spoiler: interestingly, Murray appears as a character who insists it must be a con job). I think I prefer this film's approach, as, at its worst, Murray's approach tipped over into sleazily hitting on Sigourney Weaver.
There is a bit of a table-flipping with that theme as well, in the form of Chris Hemsworth, who I think is an inspired presence in the film. He's the male version of a dumb secretary, but he's dumb in a way that often tips over into the surreal. At once point he presents his suggestion for a Ghostbusters logo, and it's a house with a hot dog floating over it, and I have a feeling that image is going to have a life outside Ghostbusters.
I liked the effect work, although a lot of it felt very Disney's Haunted Mansion to me. The ghosts nonetheless had a wonderful look to them, sometimes going translucent, and I think the Macy Day Parade of ghostly balloons is as iconic a Ghostbusters image as anything in the original.
As others have noted, Kate McKinnon is tremendous in this film -- easily one of the weirdest film performances I have ever seen, but greatly weird, a combination of constant technical mumbo jumbo, a weird half-smile, and endless karate kicks and air punches when anything happens that she likes. She's genuinely a character I have never seen before, a scientist who approaches it like a crazed daredevil, and she's so good that I am tempted to say that she justifies the film all by herself.
But what's really staying with me is the subject of friendship. Spoiler: The climactic image is two women, plummeting through a void, one trying to save the other, and the more I think about it the more important it is. The central relationship in the film is between Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, and the whole film really exists to mend their broken childhood friendship. Wiig has been haunted as a child, and was bullied because of it, and the friendship started because McCarthy was the only one who believed her. Now, years later, the friendship has ended because Wiig can't stand the weight of McCarthy's belief -- it's both holding her back professionally and recalls her pain at being bullied, because here it is, years later, and Wiig is a scientist, and there is just no scientific evidence that her childhood experience happened.
The scientific mumbo jumbo in the film isn't just mumbo jumbo. It's there to tell us that, however silly they may seem, the Ghostbuster are doing real science, they are really proving that an impossible thing happened, and providing the tools to address the impossible. All four women bond over this, but, in the end, it is Wiig and McCarthy, along in an impossible place, finding their way back to each other while another impossible ghost looks on.
I think that's lovely. It's lovelier than anything found in the original Ghostbusters.
Is it a perfect film? No, but none of Feig's are, and I think it's sort of important that they aren't. Because the new Ghostbusters shouldn't have to be perfect to exist. Having a film that stars women should be so inconsequential that they can be good, they can be okay, they can be bad, and still be worth making. His films are at least as good, and often better, that the bro-ey comedies of Will Ferrell and Seth RRogan, and yet nobody complains when those guys remake, I don't know, Land of the Lost or Green Hornet.
The new Ghostbusters didn't have to be perfect. That's an impossible demand. It just had to be worth making and worth seeing, and it is that, abundantly so.
posted by maxsparber at 8:43 AM on July 15, 2016 [59 favorites]
Slight derail: One review of this one mentioned the "barely disguised gay panic" of the original. Is that a thing? I can't remember ever hearing anyone else suggest it, and nothing stands out in my memory, but I've never made a close study of it either. Any thoughts?
posted by GhostintheMachine at 10:28 AM on July 15, 2016
posted by GhostintheMachine at 10:28 AM on July 15, 2016
Gay panic? The only thing I can think of is that maybe the reviewer feels that Walter Peck's character is meant to be gay, and since he's (sort of) the villain... ?
posted by wabbittwax at 10:44 AM on July 15, 2016
posted by wabbittwax at 10:44 AM on July 15, 2016
I wonder if it is because Zul is so androgynous.
posted by maxsparber at 10:47 AM on July 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by maxsparber at 10:47 AM on July 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
"Nimble lil minx isn't she?" She just looks like mid-80s Pat Benatar or Sheena Easton, which was the style at the time.
posted by wabbittwax at 10:49 AM on July 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by wabbittwax at 10:49 AM on July 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
We're not actually disagreeing. The style at the time was androgynous. It's just become so mainstreamed it doesn't have the same oomph anymore.
posted by maxsparber at 11:07 AM on July 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by maxsparber at 11:07 AM on July 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
While I am sure that many, if not most of the negative reviews are connected to sexism, I opted against ever seeing the movie after seeing commercial tie-ins with Geico (the official insurance company of "Ghostbusters," it is said in the ad, or something to that effect, with Flo as a CGI ghost) and Papa John's. So scattershot, random, tacky besides.
posted by raysmj at 11:32 AM on July 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by raysmj at 11:32 AM on July 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
They may not be tied to personal sexism, but when the average male reviewer rates a film lower than the average female reviewer, it's probably an example of institutional sexism. I saw this happen at a theater conference where I worked and the decisions regarding what plays were to be workshopped was determined by two middle-aged white men.
Inevitably, a vast majority of the plays were those that reflected the interests and concerns of middle-aged white men.
I mean, this is the thing to keep in mind: There are very few absolute values in art. Some people might find something great that others find worthless, and that's okay.
Where it gets to be a problem is when only one of those groups is acting as gatekeepers, which we have now. Every single one of the male critics who gave it a bad review may personally have great reasons for disliking it, but to be fair we can also assume that every single female critic liked it for great reasons. What happens is that critical opinion is dominated by male voices, and so no matter how reasonable their individual tastes, collectively they end up participating in a system that disadvantages women, among other groups.
That's institutional sexism, and the two ways to address it are to make sure that there is parity in hiring women as critics, and, until that happens, to weigh women's opinions more than men's, just to balance the critical consensus.
But that's not going to happen, because there actually are an organized group of misogynists out there who very badly want this film to fail because they can't stand that it stars women, and so they are going to use every criticism as a weapon against further films like this.
And male critics should be savvy to this. Believe it or not, it is possible to recuse yourself from having an opinion about every single thing ever and let women be the dominant voice once in a while.
posted by maxsparber at 11:43 AM on July 15, 2016 [23 favorites]
Inevitably, a vast majority of the plays were those that reflected the interests and concerns of middle-aged white men.
I mean, this is the thing to keep in mind: There are very few absolute values in art. Some people might find something great that others find worthless, and that's okay.
Where it gets to be a problem is when only one of those groups is acting as gatekeepers, which we have now. Every single one of the male critics who gave it a bad review may personally have great reasons for disliking it, but to be fair we can also assume that every single female critic liked it for great reasons. What happens is that critical opinion is dominated by male voices, and so no matter how reasonable their individual tastes, collectively they end up participating in a system that disadvantages women, among other groups.
That's institutional sexism, and the two ways to address it are to make sure that there is parity in hiring women as critics, and, until that happens, to weigh women's opinions more than men's, just to balance the critical consensus.
But that's not going to happen, because there actually are an organized group of misogynists out there who very badly want this film to fail because they can't stand that it stars women, and so they are going to use every criticism as a weapon against further films like this.
And male critics should be savvy to this. Believe it or not, it is possible to recuse yourself from having an opinion about every single thing ever and let women be the dominant voice once in a while.
posted by maxsparber at 11:43 AM on July 15, 2016 [23 favorites]
I saw it last night at the Alamo Drafthouse. It wasn't as good as the original.
It was better in almost* every regard.
*covers of the original song was awful, editing was a mess because they felt the need to cut to Kate Mckinnon every time she made a fun/weird face. Bill Murray's cameo was not funny. the baddie was fairly shallow and forgettable.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 11:49 AM on July 15, 2016 [7 favorites]
It was better in almost* every regard.
*covers of the original song was awful, editing was a mess because they felt the need to cut to Kate Mckinnon every time she made a fun/weird face. Bill Murray's cameo was not funny. the baddie was fairly shallow and forgettable.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 11:49 AM on July 15, 2016 [7 favorites]
(Derail update: apparently, "crossing streams" is coded homophobia, according to the reviewer.)
posted by GhostintheMachine at 2:01 PM on July 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by GhostintheMachine at 2:01 PM on July 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
I really can't stand Melissa McCarthy. Is she her typical character in this? A la Bridesmaids and the Heat.McCarthy is much more subdued in this than in her previous comedies. Kristen Wiig handled nearly all of the slapstick/physical comedy, and Leslie Jones delivered most of the zingers and hysterics. McCarthy’s role felt almost like a return to her Gilmore Girls character, since she seemed happy to play the sidekick much of the time. And I agree that Kate McKinnon really stole the show. Her character is the perfect successor to Harold Ramis’s Egon Spengler.
[SPOILER: McCarthy does have an especially great acting moment while her character is possessed.]
posted by mbrubeck at 6:31 PM on July 15, 2016 [6 favorites]
That was so much fun. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much during a movie. Having my nine year old love it too was awesome. (There were a few bits we both danced along with in our seats.) I normally wait to watch anything until the library has the DVD, but I'm trying to figure out if I can justify seeing this in the theatre again.
posted by Margalo Epps at 6:57 PM on July 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Margalo Epps at 6:57 PM on July 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
Yeah, this had all the fun and magic of the original without the pervy grossness. (Okay, Wiig's character was totally perving on Kevin, but it was a lot less creepy than Bill Murray.)
posted by rikschell at 7:48 PM on July 15, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 7:48 PM on July 15, 2016 [8 favorites]
Saw it. Loved it. All of my quibbles I had with the film, people upthread have already mentioned.
But thank you, MeFites. After reading the comments on various Reddit threads, this entire thread was like a breath of fresh air. :: fistbump ::
posted by KoPi_42 at 8:23 PM on July 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
But thank you, MeFites. After reading the comments on various Reddit threads, this entire thread was like a breath of fresh air. :: fistbump ::
posted by KoPi_42 at 8:23 PM on July 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
I loved it. It made me so happy.
posted by crossoverman at 12:35 AM on July 16, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by crossoverman at 12:35 AM on July 16, 2016 [7 favorites]
Going back to the character of Patty. I was originally not happy at all about the character as first seen in the terrible first trailer.
But the writers neatly flipped the script on the character. I'm very used to seeing black women in film (especially comedies) as loud and obnoxious and unfriendly stonwallers as government employees at the DMV or post office. That original trailer seemed to echo that stereotype.
But Patty turned out to be the opposite. Sure, she has a large personality but she was fun in a completely positive way. She's warm and friendly in general, and even at her job as a subway attendant. She's obviously intelligent and clearly loves to read. How to great is that, period, an adult move character who clearly loves to read and enjoys history. Add in that she's a black character and that's just fucking fantastic. Still would liked to see her as college educated also, since the others were and my own internal politics want Patty on every level as the others. But to the film and Leslie Jones credit, it's not an issue at all that Patty didn't go college (we would have know if she had because a joke about college loans would have been in the film).
I would pay good money to see Patty and Holtzman in a separate movie or even small feature before the second movie, like how Pixar usually has an animated short before the main feature. Just Patty and Holtzman tooling around New York weird spots. It's too perfect, Patty knows the history of New York from all her reading and Holtzman is the science brains. Throw in Kevin and it would be hilarious!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:07 AM on July 16, 2016 [27 favorites]
But the writers neatly flipped the script on the character. I'm very used to seeing black women in film (especially comedies) as loud and obnoxious and unfriendly stonwallers as government employees at the DMV or post office. That original trailer seemed to echo that stereotype.
But Patty turned out to be the opposite. Sure, she has a large personality but she was fun in a completely positive way. She's warm and friendly in general, and even at her job as a subway attendant. She's obviously intelligent and clearly loves to read. How to great is that, period, an adult move character who clearly loves to read and enjoys history. Add in that she's a black character and that's just fucking fantastic. Still would liked to see her as college educated also, since the others were and my own internal politics want Patty on every level as the others. But to the film and Leslie Jones credit, it's not an issue at all that Patty didn't go college (we would have know if she had because a joke about college loans would have been in the film).
I would pay good money to see Patty and Holtzman in a separate movie or even small feature before the second movie, like how Pixar usually has an animated short before the main feature. Just Patty and Holtzman tooling around New York weird spots. It's too perfect, Patty knows the history of New York from all her reading and Holtzman is the science brains. Throw in Kevin and it would be hilarious!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:07 AM on July 16, 2016 [27 favorites]
Thanks mbrubeck! Strangely enough, I like Kristen Wiig a lot, so I'm much more excited to see this now.
posted by 2ht at 8:38 AM on July 16, 2016
posted by 2ht at 8:38 AM on July 16, 2016
Saw it. Loved it. Will see it again. And I loved the original Ghostbusters. (Though having watched the original again recently ... it's not as wonderful as I remember. But Bill Murray is still flawless.) Stay for the credits if you want to see Chris Hemsworth dance. (Hint: You do want to see him dance. You really really do.)
posted by pjsky at 9:13 AM on July 16, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by pjsky at 9:13 AM on July 16, 2016 [5 favorites]
Loved it. McKinnon was especially fantastic.
My biggest point of sad was that they cut a crazy dance number to the ending credits; no idea why they didn't leave it in the main film after doing such an awesome build to it.
posted by kaibutsu at 11:51 AM on July 16, 2016 [6 favorites]
My biggest point of sad was that they cut a crazy dance number to the ending credits; no idea why they didn't leave it in the main film after doing such an awesome build to it.
posted by kaibutsu at 11:51 AM on July 16, 2016 [6 favorites]
I was struck by how much the villain seemed to be a GoobleGobber type, and by Wiig's snappy comeback about how they had all been bullied, too, but that didn't make them want to destroy the world.
posted by hydropsyche at 2:23 PM on July 16, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 2:23 PM on July 16, 2016 [12 favorites]
I am the straightest of straight ladies, but McKinnon was not just brilliant, but hotter than a two-dollar pistol in this movie. I promise you a million young girls will discover their true orientations thanks to her character. It kind of made me question mine.
I loved the other three as well, but because they were funny and well-grounded. Wiig's character in Bridesmaids wasn't as enjoyable to me because she had so much crippling self-doubt/hatred. Her character here has much less of that, and is confident in her intelligence. I thought McCarthy was more restrained too, and more enjoyable, and again, nice to see her play a nerdy type. Jones was actually a really pleasant surprise, I expected the stereotypes too but she got more than that and went with it. The Weaver cameo was my favorite, but the others were ok too.
You know, the Hemsworth thing didn't work for me as much; I found myself getting twitchy. And it's not that he's not watchable but I kind of resented all the time they spent with him. Whereas Janine in the original provided such much-needed commentary/eye-rolling, his role didn't do much except provide a not-really-that-funny running joke and a damsel to save. And I kind of did find the objectifying uncomfortable; turns out I don't really like it when we do it to dudes either.
My kid liked the original but dug this one more, especially because of the effects. We'll probably see it again.
posted by emjaybee at 3:03 PM on July 16, 2016 [14 favorites]
I loved the other three as well, but because they were funny and well-grounded. Wiig's character in Bridesmaids wasn't as enjoyable to me because she had so much crippling self-doubt/hatred. Her character here has much less of that, and is confident in her intelligence. I thought McCarthy was more restrained too, and more enjoyable, and again, nice to see her play a nerdy type. Jones was actually a really pleasant surprise, I expected the stereotypes too but she got more than that and went with it. The Weaver cameo was my favorite, but the others were ok too.
You know, the Hemsworth thing didn't work for me as much; I found myself getting twitchy. And it's not that he's not watchable but I kind of resented all the time they spent with him. Whereas Janine in the original provided such much-needed commentary/eye-rolling, his role didn't do much except provide a not-really-that-funny running joke and a damsel to save. And I kind of did find the objectifying uncomfortable; turns out I don't really like it when we do it to dudes either.
My kid liked the original but dug this one more, especially because of the effects. We'll probably see it again.
posted by emjaybee at 3:03 PM on July 16, 2016 [14 favorites]
Still would liked to see her as college educated also, since the others were and my own internal politics want Patty on every level as the others.
Honestly, I think they could have done it pretty easily-- just add a couple of lines to the scene where Patty lists her credentials:
"...and I have a master's in history from Columbia."
"Wait, then why do you work for the MTA?"
"In this economy? Do you know what they pay adjuncts these days?"
But I am perfectly happy to add that to my own mental edit of the movie and carry on enjoying it.
posted by nonasuch at 3:21 PM on July 16, 2016 [32 favorites]
Honestly, I think they could have done it pretty easily-- just add a couple of lines to the scene where Patty lists her credentials:
"...and I have a master's in history from Columbia."
"Wait, then why do you work for the MTA?"
"In this economy? Do you know what they pay adjuncts these days?"
But I am perfectly happy to add that to my own mental edit of the movie and carry on enjoying it.
posted by nonasuch at 3:21 PM on July 16, 2016 [32 favorites]
There will reportedly be a cut with 15 extra minutes on the DVD. This version seemed very skewed toward the action sequences, so I look forward to more character goofiness on the disc.
Also, as one of the 6 people on earth who watched Other Space, it was gratifying to see multiple cast members show up (mostly in unrecognizable form, but Kent got to be the Big Bad!)
posted by rikschell at 3:39 PM on July 16, 2016 [9 favorites]
Also, as one of the 6 people on earth who watched Other Space, it was gratifying to see multiple cast members show up (mostly in unrecognizable form, but Kent got to be the Big Bad!)
posted by rikschell at 3:39 PM on July 16, 2016 [9 favorites]
I loved this movie! It was such fun, and so funny, and I even liked the cameos - even Murray's, though Holtzman's mentor and Patty's uncle were my absolute favs. Ironically, I now like it more than the original Ghostbusters (which I like, but which also makes me cringe) because it's 100% awesome without any of the creepy sexist and racist undertones, and with Holtzman as our (unofficial) first gay Ghostbuster (she is so awesome I love her omg omg omg; her sheer glee in the foibles of everyone around her was such fun).
I actually thought the villain was evocative. I've known guys like that - intense, believe they're superior to everyone, snide and self-centered, creepy. I've been on the receiving end of their demands I fit into the role they created for me in their life, and seeing four women not only refuse but win against him was a blast. Also, I loved how he gave two of the main five an opportunity to play against type. The denouement was a lot of fun, and perfectly capped by Kevin's arc against the arcs of the ghostbusters.
(Okay, Wiig's character was totally perving on Kevin, but it was a lot less creepy than Bill Murray.)
She lusted without trickery; I found it adorable. There were also some interesting parallels with some of the unspoken stuff with Holtzman original reaction to Erin.
I would pay good money to see Patty and Holtzman in a separate movie or even small feature before the second movie, like how Pixar usually has an animated short before the main feature. Just Patty and Holtzman tooling around New York weird spots. It's too perfect, Patty knows the history of New York from all her reading and Holtzman is the science brains. Throw in Kevin and it would be hilarious!
Oh! My! Gods! I want this SO MUCH!!!
posted by Deoridhe at 4:55 PM on July 16, 2016 [11 favorites]
I actually thought the villain was evocative. I've known guys like that - intense, believe they're superior to everyone, snide and self-centered, creepy. I've been on the receiving end of their demands I fit into the role they created for me in their life, and seeing four women not only refuse but win against him was a blast. Also, I loved how he gave two of the main five an opportunity to play against type. The denouement was a lot of fun, and perfectly capped by Kevin's arc against the arcs of the ghostbusters.
(Okay, Wiig's character was totally perving on Kevin, but it was a lot less creepy than Bill Murray.)
She lusted without trickery; I found it adorable. There were also some interesting parallels with some of the unspoken stuff with Holtzman original reaction to Erin.
I would pay good money to see Patty and Holtzman in a separate movie or even small feature before the second movie, like how Pixar usually has an animated short before the main feature. Just Patty and Holtzman tooling around New York weird spots. It's too perfect, Patty knows the history of New York from all her reading and Holtzman is the science brains. Throw in Kevin and it would be hilarious!
Oh! My! Gods! I want this SO MUCH!!!
posted by Deoridhe at 4:55 PM on July 16, 2016 [11 favorites]
There will reportedly be a cut with 15 extra minutes on the DVD.
I might like to see this as well. I looked at the theatrical release today and found it was enjoyable, but not as great as I had hoped. The 1984 version had three fantastic improv comedians in the headline roles (sorry Ernie -- you are a solid actor, but not in the SNL/SCTV ranks as far as comedy goes) and they made the movie so iconic that the MRAs want the remake banished from sight. The XY brigade would not be as angry about a remake of Spies Like Us.
Here you had four of the funniest people onscreen today and they seemed a little... constrained, somehow. Really enjoyable performances (McKinnon in particular) but all four performers have been laugh-out-old funny so many times in my experience that to see them turn in just pretty good performances seems like we are missing out on something. It may be on the cutting room floor. Then again, Paul Feig has never rocked my world.
It was a hell of a lot better than Ghostbusters II, though.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:16 PM on July 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
I might like to see this as well. I looked at the theatrical release today and found it was enjoyable, but not as great as I had hoped. The 1984 version had three fantastic improv comedians in the headline roles (sorry Ernie -- you are a solid actor, but not in the SNL/SCTV ranks as far as comedy goes) and they made the movie so iconic that the MRAs want the remake banished from sight. The XY brigade would not be as angry about a remake of Spies Like Us.
Here you had four of the funniest people onscreen today and they seemed a little... constrained, somehow. Really enjoyable performances (McKinnon in particular) but all four performers have been laugh-out-old funny so many times in my experience that to see them turn in just pretty good performances seems like we are missing out on something. It may be on the cutting room floor. Then again, Paul Feig has never rocked my world.
It was a hell of a lot better than Ghostbusters II, though.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:16 PM on July 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
Just saw it and really enjoyed it. As a guy I noticed when the four women were talking to each other and advancing the plot, while realizing that I would not have noticed if it had been four men. Same for the denouement. I hope I learned something from that.
Btw, McCarthy's Spy is a great movie.
posted by idb at 6:03 PM on July 16, 2016 [4 favorites]
Btw, McCarthy's Spy is a great movie.
posted by idb at 6:03 PM on July 16, 2016 [4 favorites]
Yep, this movie is a great big ball of fun. And McKinnon's character is my new crush. Swoon.
I only have two quibbles.
1. I like that Patty is established as knowing a lot about the history of New York, but they didn't really do much of anything with it. I wanted more of that.
2. The original (and the sequel) had some super nerdy lore going on. Lovecraftian gods with silly names and crazy prophecies. Thinly-veiled Rasputins. In this it's basically, "Ghosts exist and there is another realm where they usually chill." I could have gone for more stuff like Rick Moranis' crazy blatherings.
"Then during the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex supplicants, they chose a new form for him, that of a giant Sloar! Many Shubs and Zulls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of a Sloar that day, I can tell you."
posted by brundlefly at 7:33 PM on July 16, 2016 [11 favorites]
I only have two quibbles.
1. I like that Patty is established as knowing a lot about the history of New York, but they didn't really do much of anything with it. I wanted more of that.
2. The original (and the sequel) had some super nerdy lore going on. Lovecraftian gods with silly names and crazy prophecies. Thinly-veiled Rasputins. In this it's basically, "Ghosts exist and there is another realm where they usually chill." I could have gone for more stuff like Rick Moranis' crazy blatherings.
"Then during the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex supplicants, they chose a new form for him, that of a giant Sloar! Many Shubs and Zulls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of a Sloar that day, I can tell you."
posted by brundlefly at 7:33 PM on July 16, 2016 [11 favorites]
This one had a mayor-from-Jaws joke though, that counts for something.
posted by Artw at 7:56 PM on July 16, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by Artw at 7:56 PM on July 16, 2016 [18 favorites]
Ha ha don't ever calls me THE MAYOR FROM JAWS
posted by maxsparber at 7:58 PM on July 16, 2016 [20 favorites]
posted by maxsparber at 7:58 PM on July 16, 2016 [20 favorites]
This is an important thing for all mayors.
posted by Artw at 8:03 PM on July 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 8:03 PM on July 16, 2016 [3 favorites]
You all want to hear some really obscure, inside baseball stuff? In 2009 there was a Ghostbusters video game for PS3/X360/etc. that was basically the third movie; Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis wrote the script and reprised their characters, plus Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and William Atherton returned for voicework. The story connects the Gozer and Vigo plots of the two films into a single supernatural event and closes off any lingering loose ends.
Anyway, one of the levels created for the game was a haunted Thanksgiving Day parade where parade balloons were possessed by ghosts. Time ran out in development and they had to cut the level from the final release. It's not actually in the game. Now, in the new movie, what shows up as a set piece? A haunted Thanksgiving Day parade with balloons possessed by ghosts! I don't know if there's a direct creative connection between the two, but it shows that no good idea ever truly goes to waste.
posted by Servo5678 at 8:21 PM on July 16, 2016 [26 favorites]
Anyway, one of the levels created for the game was a haunted Thanksgiving Day parade where parade balloons were possessed by ghosts. Time ran out in development and they had to cut the level from the final release. It's not actually in the game. Now, in the new movie, what shows up as a set piece? A haunted Thanksgiving Day parade with balloons possessed by ghosts! I don't know if there's a direct creative connection between the two, but it shows that no good idea ever truly goes to waste.
posted by Servo5678 at 8:21 PM on July 16, 2016 [26 favorites]
I had a blast! Other than a couple of comedy bits that didn't land for me (though they hit with the crowd, so I'm happy to chalk it up to taste rather than to quality) and wanting to see Patty's knowledge better-used, I thought it was fun start to finish. All the cameos save one got applause from the audience, and I think the lone exception was just people not recognizing Annie Potts.
(I'm also pleased that Bill Murray was actually acting rather than giving the"Harrison Ford's voiceovers for the theatrical cut of Blade Runner"-level performance he gave for the video game.)
I'm still grinning. Definitely going to have to see it again.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:26 PM on July 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
(I'm also pleased that Bill Murray was actually acting rather than giving the"Harrison Ford's voiceovers for the theatrical cut of Blade Runner"-level performance he gave for the video game.)
I'm still grinning. Definitely going to have to see it again.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:26 PM on July 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
Holtzman's mentor.
posted by Artw at 8:27 PM on July 16, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by Artw at 8:27 PM on July 16, 2016 [14 favorites]
Did anybody else hear the name "Mercado Hotel" and think of Adrian Marcato, Satan worshippper and Roman Castavet's father from "Rosemary's Baby"?
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:29 PM on July 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:29 PM on July 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
Holtzman's mentor.
I need more of her in the next film, tbh.
posted by crossoverman at 10:16 PM on July 16, 2016 [6 favorites]
I need more of her in the next film, tbh.
posted by crossoverman at 10:16 PM on July 16, 2016 [6 favorites]
I knew the villain as one of the guys in "Hello M'Lady" (he also writes for the Amy Schumer show), which puts an interesting spin on the casting.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:12 PM on July 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:12 PM on July 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
Well... He certainly favours playing a type.
posted by Artw at 12:28 AM on July 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 12:28 AM on July 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
So I just came back from my third(!) viewing (which is saying a lot for someone who normally only goes to the cinema three times a year in the first place, much less three times in one weekend). I was trying to explain to someone why this weird little film immediately stole my heart even though normally that kind of comedy isn't my cup of tea (I haven't watched Feig's other films and don't have a desire to, even now). As mentioned previously, Ghostbusters in general doesn't hold any nostalgia/sentiment factor for me that it does for so many. I don't watch SNL and I really only know Melissa McCarthy from Gilmore Girls, so I had no real expectations for the actresses. So basically I was a blank slate walking into this, which is maybe the best place to be and no doubt helped me fall head-over-heels for this popcorn blockbuster.
Watching it again tonight, I realized that I just really, really, really love seeing a group of women in their 30's/40's get passionate about something they believe in and care about, and then work together to save the day. Like, that's huge. Anything bast thirty seems to be the age when Hollywood seems to decide that women are no longer fit for starring roles, and yet here are four of them being hilarious and gorgeous and kicking butt and saving the world. While also being smart and kind and funny! I'd never really thought about it before, but most films don't make me think "oh man I could totally picture my friends and me being like that!" But this one does (if, uh, y'know, the whole ghost catching thing was real).
These women have such a pure joy about figuring out the best ways to catch ghosts. There's no "aw man here we go again" but instead it's "HECK YEAH I'MMA DEFEAT THIS GOOEY BASTARD! WHEE!" or even "OMG this is amazing! It's so pretty and incredible!" Oh gosh, can you imagine what would happen if there weren't a malevolent ghost? I'm pretty sure the gang would figure out a way to adopt it as they study it (and it would probably do a better job answering the phone than Kevin does). The joy and excitement is so infectious that I can't help but wonder if this is somehow going to help convince young girls that STEM isn't just for the dudes (I'm already looking forward to Halloween and the lil' Ghostbusters that will be running around.)
I love that Abby is so genuine and positive. I love that Erin is so passionate. I love that Patty is the true genius of the bunch (because she totally is you guys -- even if she's not a scientist, she's the smartest, and I'm not just talking "street smarts"). I love that Holtz is... Holtz (omgIlovehersomuuuuuuch). I love that there's not a hint of cleavage and that their outfits, even outside of the jumpsuits, are practical and suitable for their characters -- and also because they wear clothes that I and my friends would wear in real life (also I want all of Holtz's wardrobe plz). I love that, in the middle of this ridiculous film about catching ghosts, these women feel more real than 99% of what Hollywood tries to shove down my throat.
I can see how people may not genuinely like the film for whatever rational non-MRA reason (the humor, the plot, etc). But the friendship between these four is totally relationship goals and I'm so excited that it's about catching ghosts and not, like, going on vineyard tour in Italy once they're empty nesters and one of them has cancer so it's like a last hurrah, or some YA-centric film (because that's apparently the only other genre I can think of that has genuinely appealing friendships between women).
So yeah. The fact that this reboot was made with an all female cast is apparently very important to me, more than I thought it would be. And I'm so glad that it was made and I CANNOT wait for the DVD release because I demand a director's cut and the full version of the dance sequence and plz oh plz lots of bloopers and a commentary that's just the four of them talking about weird random facts and then laughing over fart jokes, because yes, sometimes those are funny, no matter what age or gender you are.
I don't expect this will become a cult classic like the original (although it will definitely inspire a Holtz cult), but I'm very glad it was made and it will likely be one of my personal faves for a long time.
(And thank you MeFi for being here to let me gush because holy heck the general internet is a minefield when it comes to talking about this film. Also I immediately purchased a Holtz action figure as soon as I got home Thursday -- and good thing, too, because they've become a lot scarcer and twice as expensive in the past 48 hours -- and I never buy things like that, so I guess I totally get the whole Ghostbusters excitement from the 80's because now I want ALL THE TOYS yes let me just throw money at anything with Holtz's face on it.)
posted by paisley sheep at 1:06 AM on July 17, 2016 [57 favorites]
Watching it again tonight, I realized that I just really, really, really love seeing a group of women in their 30's/40's get passionate about something they believe in and care about, and then work together to save the day. Like, that's huge. Anything bast thirty seems to be the age when Hollywood seems to decide that women are no longer fit for starring roles, and yet here are four of them being hilarious and gorgeous and kicking butt and saving the world. While also being smart and kind and funny! I'd never really thought about it before, but most films don't make me think "oh man I could totally picture my friends and me being like that!" But this one does (if, uh, y'know, the whole ghost catching thing was real).
These women have such a pure joy about figuring out the best ways to catch ghosts. There's no "aw man here we go again" but instead it's "HECK YEAH I'MMA DEFEAT THIS GOOEY BASTARD! WHEE!" or even "OMG this is amazing! It's so pretty and incredible!" Oh gosh, can you imagine what would happen if there weren't a malevolent ghost? I'm pretty sure the gang would figure out a way to adopt it as they study it (and it would probably do a better job answering the phone than Kevin does). The joy and excitement is so infectious that I can't help but wonder if this is somehow going to help convince young girls that STEM isn't just for the dudes (I'm already looking forward to Halloween and the lil' Ghostbusters that will be running around.)
I love that Abby is so genuine and positive. I love that Erin is so passionate. I love that Patty is the true genius of the bunch (because she totally is you guys -- even if she's not a scientist, she's the smartest, and I'm not just talking "street smarts"). I love that Holtz is... Holtz (omgIlovehersomuuuuuuch). I love that there's not a hint of cleavage and that their outfits, even outside of the jumpsuits, are practical and suitable for their characters -- and also because they wear clothes that I and my friends would wear in real life (also I want all of Holtz's wardrobe plz). I love that, in the middle of this ridiculous film about catching ghosts, these women feel more real than 99% of what Hollywood tries to shove down my throat.
I can see how people may not genuinely like the film for whatever rational non-MRA reason (the humor, the plot, etc). But the friendship between these four is totally relationship goals and I'm so excited that it's about catching ghosts and not, like, going on vineyard tour in Italy once they're empty nesters and one of them has cancer so it's like a last hurrah, or some YA-centric film (because that's apparently the only other genre I can think of that has genuinely appealing friendships between women).
So yeah. The fact that this reboot was made with an all female cast is apparently very important to me, more than I thought it would be. And I'm so glad that it was made and I CANNOT wait for the DVD release because I demand a director's cut and the full version of the dance sequence and plz oh plz lots of bloopers and a commentary that's just the four of them talking about weird random facts and then laughing over fart jokes, because yes, sometimes those are funny, no matter what age or gender you are.
I don't expect this will become a cult classic like the original (although it will definitely inspire a Holtz cult), but I'm very glad it was made and it will likely be one of my personal faves for a long time.
(And thank you MeFi for being here to let me gush because holy heck the general internet is a minefield when it comes to talking about this film. Also I immediately purchased a Holtz action figure as soon as I got home Thursday -- and good thing, too, because they've become a lot scarcer and twice as expensive in the past 48 hours -- and I never buy things like that, so I guess I totally get the whole Ghostbusters excitement from the 80's because now I want ALL THE TOYS yes let me just throw money at anything with Holtz's face on it.)
posted by paisley sheep at 1:06 AM on July 17, 2016 [57 favorites]
I'm also glad there hasn't been too much griping in this thread (there's are more criticisms in the MeFi FPP thread, mostly from people who haven't seen the film, though). I honestly enjoyed it so much, that I don't really want to focus on the small criticisms I have and I don't want to get bogged down by people telling me how it could have been improved. I want to revel in all the things paisley sheep has just mentioned about seeing women in their 30s and 40s saving the world together and reinventing a franchise that maybe didn't need reinventing, but turned out to be pure joy anyway.
For me, if Hollywood insists on rebooting things, I'd much rather see gender-swapped reboots than trying to find men to fill the shoes of characters we love. Putting the MRA bullshit aside, can you imagine the levels of scrutiny another all-male Ghostbusters would have gotten? How could any male cast have lived up to that sort of comparison?
But I don't weep for an another all-male Ghosbusters film that probably won't ever happen. I am glad we've got this fun romp with four awesome women and some Hemsworth eye-candy and the characters are deliberately not female versions of the original characters, they are just four great new characters.
It's hard to judge this film without all the outside bullshit, but also, why put that aside? People are starting to see the film now. People are enjoying it. People are watching four women be action heroes at the start of their own franchise. And little girls are getting heroes to look up to. And little boys are learning that women can be heroes, too. All the crying man-babies can keep crying, but the film proves its own worth.
It made me so happy.
posted by crossoverman at 3:22 AM on July 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
For me, if Hollywood insists on rebooting things, I'd much rather see gender-swapped reboots than trying to find men to fill the shoes of characters we love. Putting the MRA bullshit aside, can you imagine the levels of scrutiny another all-male Ghostbusters would have gotten? How could any male cast have lived up to that sort of comparison?
But I don't weep for an another all-male Ghosbusters film that probably won't ever happen. I am glad we've got this fun romp with four awesome women and some Hemsworth eye-candy and the characters are deliberately not female versions of the original characters, they are just four great new characters.
It's hard to judge this film without all the outside bullshit, but also, why put that aside? People are starting to see the film now. People are enjoying it. People are watching four women be action heroes at the start of their own franchise. And little girls are getting heroes to look up to. And little boys are learning that women can be heroes, too. All the crying man-babies can keep crying, but the film proves its own worth.
It made me so happy.
posted by crossoverman at 3:22 AM on July 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
After that post-credits sequel hook, I really hope someone at work sees the movie and then asks me "What's Zuul?" so I can reply "Zuul was the minion of Gozer;" then the coworker asks "What's Gozer?" and I can reply "Gozer was very big in Sumeria."
posted by Servo5678 at 7:18 AM on July 17, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by Servo5678 at 7:18 AM on July 17, 2016 [18 favorites]
As we were leaving the theatre, someone just ahead of me asked a companion, "who is Zuul?" I almost began to offer the canned history (Rectification of the Vuldronaii and so forth) but then Mrs Biscuit reminded me I might scare people doing that.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:34 AM on July 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:34 AM on July 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
but then Mrs Biscuit reminded me I might scare people doing that
People shouldn't go see a movie about ghosts if they don't want to be scared.
posted by Servo5678 at 7:42 AM on July 17, 2016 [9 favorites]
People shouldn't go see a movie about ghosts if they don't want to be scared.
posted by Servo5678 at 7:42 AM on July 17, 2016 [9 favorites]
Great movie. Not flawless, but cmon it doesn't need to be. =)
I want to be Holtzmann when I grow up.
posted by andreaazure at 8:04 AM on July 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
I want to be Holtzmann when I grow up.
posted by andreaazure at 8:04 AM on July 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
As I mentioned in the other thread the big third act CGI spectacular fell a little flat for me. I wonder if there was another version where the big Hemsworth song and dance routine was more integrated and if that would work better - that said, it works so well where it is.
posted by Artw at 8:19 AM on July 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 8:19 AM on July 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Brandon Blatcher: Chris Hemsworth is also really good in a 'dumb blonde' type role and he just hits it out of the park, his comedic timing and sense is great.
He's pretty and good at improv! (The article is a bit of fanwank on Chris, but I'm happy to hear he was able to keep up with the four main actors, who are all tops at improv.)
posted by filthy light thief at 9:01 AM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
He's pretty and good at improv! (The article is a bit of fanwank on Chris, but I'm happy to hear he was able to keep up with the four main actors, who are all tops at improv.)
posted by filthy light thief at 9:01 AM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
After that post-credits sequel hook, I really hope someone at work sees the movie and then asks me "What's Zuul?" so I can reply "Zuul was the minion of Gozer;" then the coworker asks "What's Gozer?" and I can reply "Gozer was very big in Sumeria."
Half-tempted to volunteer to show up at your work so that I can feed you prompts so that you can work your way up to "Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you! "
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:05 AM on July 17, 2016 [6 favorites]
Half-tempted to volunteer to show up at your work so that I can feed you prompts so that you can work your way up to "Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you! "
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:05 AM on July 17, 2016 [6 favorites]
So how do we feel about the weird reveal that the name of the film is "Answer the Call"?
posted by Artw at 11:20 AM on July 17, 2016
posted by Artw at 11:20 AM on July 17, 2016
So how do we feel about the weird reveal that the name of the film is "Answer the Call"?
I'm fine with it, but more importantly, how do YOU feel about it Artw?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:26 AM on July 17, 2016
I'm fine with it, but more importantly, how do YOU feel about it Artw?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:26 AM on July 17, 2016
I actually didn't mind the third act CGI extravaganza, and I've been known to fall asleep during those in lesser movies. The 3D is surprisingly good, if you happen to see it in that version, which probably helped a lot. Gimmicky, but fun. I only consciously noticed it once, but they play around with having foreground elements pop up outside the letterbox (I'm not sure what the proper terminology would be) which probably no-one anywhere will care about but makes the film nerd in me cackle with glee.
I liked the movie overall, but I didn't love it. But I'm a 30-something dude. This is a movie for kids, ideally boys as well but most definitely girls. That's fantastic. Not everything has to be for me.
posted by figurant at 11:26 AM on July 17, 2016
I liked the movie overall, but I didn't love it. But I'm a 30-something dude. This is a movie for kids, ideally boys as well but most definitely girls. That's fantastic. Not everything has to be for me.
posted by figurant at 11:26 AM on July 17, 2016
Yeah, though I would say I prefer the pacing of the finale of the first movie to this one it's true that I would say that of literally any other summer blockbuster right now.
posted by Artw at 12:01 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 12:01 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
I liked it more than I was expecting to. I wasn't expecting to dislike it; I was expecting it to be a sort of typical reboot. It turned out that the dialogue was well written, the characters were likable, and the special effects were done well.
After tumbling it around in my mind for a while, what's missing from GB16 is consequences. In GB84, the characters get booted from academia, and have to scrounge for money. There are multiple scenes of them barely scraping by. It's implied that they spend months or years getting their business up and running, and then Bill Murray's character gets their whole operation shut down just by being a bit of a dick to the wrong person.
In GB16, the characters break a lot of things. [spoiler] Erin directly causes Bill Murray's character's death, and there are zero consequences. Erin doesn't even suffer a moment of guilt. They never seem worried about money, even as they're building devices out of expensive materials. [more spoiler] In the ending, somehow all of the damage to New York is miraculously undone.
I think that the cartoonishness keeps GB16 from being truly great, but there were a lot of things that I liked:
I liked that the characters were not just flat stereotypes.
I liked that the characters were not just gender-flipped versions of the GB84 characters.
I liked most of the jokes. I think every joke I didn't like was in the first trailer.
Speaking of trailers: I liked that the trailers really didn't give away anything important.
I liked that no one "won" a boyfriend/girlfriend at the end, the way that, e.g., Bill Murray's character "wins" Sigourney Weaver at the end of GB84. (To be fair, this seems to happen less with movies with female leads because patriarchy.)
I liked Holtzmann's speech a lot.
Now that I think about it, Holtzmann really echoes Jordan from Real Genius. Except, you know, she isn't someone's trophy girlfriend at the end.
[spoiler] I liked the bit with the antagonist going off about how the protagonists can't possibly know what it's like to be nerdy and dumped on, just a few minutes after the protagonists describe in detail how they were nerdy and dumped on. I also liked how the protagonists struggled to come up with reasons for the antagonist to not be a violent, omnicidal asshole.
I liked the CG ghosts a lot more than the ghosts from GB84.
posted by reventlov at 12:24 PM on July 17, 2016 [19 favorites]
After tumbling it around in my mind for a while, what's missing from GB16 is consequences. In GB84, the characters get booted from academia, and have to scrounge for money. There are multiple scenes of them barely scraping by. It's implied that they spend months or years getting their business up and running, and then Bill Murray's character gets their whole operation shut down just by being a bit of a dick to the wrong person.
In GB16, the characters break a lot of things. [spoiler] Erin directly causes Bill Murray's character's death, and there are zero consequences. Erin doesn't even suffer a moment of guilt. They never seem worried about money, even as they're building devices out of expensive materials. [more spoiler] In the ending, somehow all of the damage to New York is miraculously undone.
I think that the cartoonishness keeps GB16 from being truly great, but there were a lot of things that I liked:
I liked that the characters were not just flat stereotypes.
I liked that the characters were not just gender-flipped versions of the GB84 characters.
I liked most of the jokes. I think every joke I didn't like was in the first trailer.
Speaking of trailers: I liked that the trailers really didn't give away anything important.
I liked that no one "won" a boyfriend/girlfriend at the end, the way that, e.g., Bill Murray's character "wins" Sigourney Weaver at the end of GB84. (To be fair, this seems to happen less with movies with female leads because patriarchy.)
I liked Holtzmann's speech a lot.
Now that I think about it, Holtzmann really echoes Jordan from Real Genius. Except, you know, she isn't someone's trophy girlfriend at the end.
[spoiler] I liked the bit with the antagonist going off about how the protagonists can't possibly know what it's like to be nerdy and dumped on, just a few minutes after the protagonists describe in detail how they were nerdy and dumped on. I also liked how the protagonists struggled to come up with reasons for the antagonist to not be a violent, omnicidal asshole.
I liked the CG ghosts a lot more than the ghosts from GB84.
posted by reventlov at 12:24 PM on July 17, 2016 [19 favorites]
I liked that no one "won" a boyfriend/girlfriend at the end
Hemsworth won a sandwich!
posted by Artw at 12:27 PM on July 17, 2016 [17 favorites]
Hemsworth won a sandwich!
posted by Artw at 12:27 PM on July 17, 2016 [17 favorites]
In the ending, somehow all of the damage to New York is miraculously undone.
Ghostbusters 2 should open with the team being sued for clean-up by every city, county, and state agency in New York. The group has disbanded. Erin goes back to academia. Holtzmann hosts a YouTube show about building your own ghostbusting gear. Patty and Abby entertain for kids' birthday parties. Then they have to get the band back together when a malevolent spirit turns up in a painting... It writes itself! And if you think the angry Internet hated the first movie, just wait until they see Vigonia the Carpathiette.
posted by Servo5678 at 12:39 PM on July 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Ghostbusters 2 should open with the team being sued for clean-up by every city, county, and state agency in New York. The group has disbanded. Erin goes back to academia. Holtzmann hosts a YouTube show about building your own ghostbusting gear. Patty and Abby entertain for kids' birthday parties. Then they have to get the band back together when a malevolent spirit turns up in a painting... It writes itself! And if you think the angry Internet hated the first movie, just wait until they see Vigonia the Carpathiette.
posted by Servo5678 at 12:39 PM on July 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Hemsworth won a sandwich!
More movies should end with a protagonist winning a sandwich.
posted by reventlov at 2:05 PM on July 17, 2016 [14 favorites]
More movies should end with a protagonist winning a sandwich.
posted by reventlov at 2:05 PM on July 17, 2016 [14 favorites]
[spoiler] In the ending, somehow all of the damage to New York is miraculously undone.
I liked the hair dye/hair growing out gags, but yeah - I think it might have been more a more satisfying win if there were more consequences first... but I wonder how much of this was altered by this being a somewhat hidden sequel to GB84 - e.g. in GB84 people really didn't believe them, but in GB16 the higher ups knew about it but were trying to hide it because REASONS, and so the actual punishments were minimized because they needed the women to do their thing, while their punishments were played up for the media. Murray's cameo becomes a lot more interesting if you think of him as adult Peter Venkman with a cushy government job concealing what the original team discovered in their youth (I know Word Of God says he isn't, but still....).
posted by Deoridhe at 3:58 PM on July 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
I liked the hair dye/hair growing out gags, but yeah - I think it might have been more a more satisfying win if there were more consequences first... but I wonder how much of this was altered by this being a somewhat hidden sequel to GB84 - e.g. in GB84 people really didn't believe them, but in GB16 the higher ups knew about it but were trying to hide it because REASONS, and so the actual punishments were minimized because they needed the women to do their thing, while their punishments were played up for the media. Murray's cameo becomes a lot more interesting if you think of him as adult Peter Venkman with a cushy government job concealing what the original team discovered in their youth (I know Word Of God says he isn't, but still....).
posted by Deoridhe at 3:58 PM on July 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
Oh maaaaaaaan, I loved this. Very funny, great cast, surprisingly excellent action scenes to boot. I thought the tone was significantly more broad than the original, but that's not a knock on it. Everything worked. My only real complaint is the reverse-the-polarity ending to the big fight, but after the Times Square battle it seems almost greedy to expect more from the climax.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 4:16 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 4:16 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
After tumbling it around in my mind for a while, what's missing from GB16 is consequences.
I think the agents and mayor's people are doing their best to conceal anything has happened, to the point of covering up the death and fixing up the city as much as possible, and possibly channeling them money, even as they ask the team to look as improbable as possible. The government players are well aware of the dangers and really want to keep the general populous unaware. This movie ends with the government funding the crazy-high rent on the old firehouse and presumably otherwise bankrolling them from now on.
posted by Margalo Epps at 4:26 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think the agents and mayor's people are doing their best to conceal anything has happened, to the point of covering up the death and fixing up the city as much as possible, and possibly channeling them money, even as they ask the team to look as improbable as possible. The government players are well aware of the dangers and really want to keep the general populous unaware. This movie ends with the government funding the crazy-high rent on the old firehouse and presumably otherwise bankrolling them from now on.
posted by Margalo Epps at 4:26 PM on July 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Official Kitteh and Shepherd review: SUCK IT HATERS
It was fun, funny, and none of the female leads ended up or needed to be paired with a guy. They were there to do their jobs and it got done. Obv, McKinnon stole the show as Holtzmann (first queer Ghostbuster, w00t!) and man, Hemsworth as the himbo receptionist was great. All the ladies were in fine form--though I hope Leslie Jones gets more material to work with in a sequel--and frankly, any whinging I hear from male reviewers is just gonna sound like sour grapes. I never thought this movie was intended to replace the original, but you can have two fine films about the same subject and each can live or die on their own merits. (As someone born in 1976 who saw most of the big movies of our childhood the first time out, I tend to think we think way too rosy of those films.)
Frankly, the review that matters most to me is that of my 7-year-old niece who saw it with her dad and it made her so happy. She wants to be a Ghostbuster this Halloween. And you know what? She can be, and that shit is now canon.
Also: Best. Use. Of. Debarge. Ever.
posted by Kitteh at 4:39 PM on July 17, 2016 [16 favorites]
It was fun, funny, and none of the female leads ended up or needed to be paired with a guy. They were there to do their jobs and it got done. Obv, McKinnon stole the show as Holtzmann (first queer Ghostbuster, w00t!) and man, Hemsworth as the himbo receptionist was great. All the ladies were in fine form--though I hope Leslie Jones gets more material to work with in a sequel--and frankly, any whinging I hear from male reviewers is just gonna sound like sour grapes. I never thought this movie was intended to replace the original, but you can have two fine films about the same subject and each can live or die on their own merits. (As someone born in 1976 who saw most of the big movies of our childhood the first time out, I tend to think we think way too rosy of those films.)
Frankly, the review that matters most to me is that of my 7-year-old niece who saw it with her dad and it made her so happy. She wants to be a Ghostbuster this Halloween. And you know what? She can be, and that shit is now canon.
Also: Best. Use. Of. Debarge. Ever.
posted by Kitteh at 4:39 PM on July 17, 2016 [16 favorites]
I welled up with emotion at two points in the film ("I'm not leaving you again" and Holtzmann's speech) which is definitely something I have never said about the '84 Ghostbusters.
posted by misskaz at 4:39 PM on July 17, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by misskaz at 4:39 PM on July 17, 2016 [8 favorites]
I like the part where they shoot fragile masculinity in the groin with a particle accelerator.
posted by gregglind at 4:40 PM on July 17, 2016 [38 favorites]
posted by gregglind at 4:40 PM on July 17, 2016 [38 favorites]
Just saw a matinee with my girlfriend. It was both better and worse than I expected. The Patty character's "hey look! a stereotypical sassy black woman!" thing from the first trailer was .. less awful than I was afraid it might be. Still pretty bad, but less awful than I was fearing. Everything else was pretty solid. I liked that the bad guy was pretty transparently an Internet Hater, and that in a lot of ways the bad guys and the good guys came from similar circumstances but made different decisions. All in all, I thought it was pretty solid, given the trainwreck it had the potential to be.
posted by Alterscape at 4:48 PM on July 17, 2016
posted by Alterscape at 4:48 PM on July 17, 2016
Servo5678: You all want to hear some really obscure, inside baseball stuff?
YES! More of this!
I actually have a find of my own to add. Remember Ghosts from Our Past - Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal by Erin Gilbert and Abby L. Yates? Well first, they actually made a book of it so high five to them on that, and second, Dan Aykroyd and his dad (and grand-dad) were really into spirtisim (not spiritualism, thankyouverymuch), and Peter Aykroyd co-wrote A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Séances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters (the other co-writer, Angela Narth, has a diverse literary background), and Dan wrote the introduction.
I wonder what Dan thought of that joke? He's a principal of Ghost Corps, but I'm not 100% clear from that article if the original principals actually have a say in the Ghostbusters world any more.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:18 PM on July 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
YES! More of this!
I actually have a find of my own to add. Remember Ghosts from Our Past - Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal by Erin Gilbert and Abby L. Yates? Well first, they actually made a book of it so high five to them on that, and second, Dan Aykroyd and his dad (and grand-dad) were really into spirtisim (not spiritualism, thankyouverymuch), and Peter Aykroyd co-wrote A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Séances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters (the other co-writer, Angela Narth, has a diverse literary background), and Dan wrote the introduction.
I wonder what Dan thought of that joke? He's a principal of Ghost Corps, but I'm not 100% clear from that article if the original principals actually have a say in the Ghostbusters world any more.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:18 PM on July 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
And there's a website for Ghosts From Our Past!
posted by filthy light thief at 6:30 PM on July 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by filthy light thief at 6:30 PM on July 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Just saw and totally loved it. McKinnon knocked me out and that's in a cast where everyone is fantastic. Okay, gonna read the rest of the thread now.
posted by rtha at 6:52 PM on July 17, 2016
posted by rtha at 6:52 PM on July 17, 2016
As a resident of New York during 9/11, I appreciate that they unwrecked the city at the end. It's not really a fun trope for some of us.
posted by rikschell at 7:29 PM on July 17, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 7:29 PM on July 17, 2016 [9 favorites]
I saw it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought all the performances were great-- everybody really threw themselves into their characters. Kate McKinnon definitely stole the show. Holtzmann might be the most wholly original character I've seen in a film since Captain Jack Sparrow.
I was surprised by how well the ghost effects worked. I liked the effect of the bones being visible, and the saturated, jewel-tone blues and greens really did create an otherworldly effect.
posted by MrBadExample at 8:31 PM on July 17, 2016
I was surprised by how well the ghost effects worked. I liked the effect of the bones being visible, and the saturated, jewel-tone blues and greens really did create an otherworldly effect.
posted by MrBadExample at 8:31 PM on July 17, 2016
I just saw it, and I loved it! I never saw the originals (though I watched the cartoons and totally had the Slimer toothpaste and drank a lot of Ecto-Cooler as a kid) so my childhood was not particularly ruined. I laughed a lot. I enjoyed the geekery. I really liked all four lead actresses. Holtzmann is my new style icon.
Around the time Holtzmann was on her slo-mo ghost shooting rampage during the final battle, I was definitely grinning with delight the same way I was when I found out Rey was the up-and-coming Jedi in TFA. All those years of playing with guy friends as a kid and always being made to be the girl character (which was inevitably a lame token character) and there are BADASS CHARACTERS THAT ARE GIRLS now and that is FUCKING AWESOME. Yeah, I dressed as Luke Skywalker for Halloween and always tell people he was my favorite but honestly, honestly, so much of my childhood pop culture fandom would have been so different had there been women in these sorts of roles. This shit MATTERS. It matters SO MUCH. I am delighted and happy and gleeful about this. More! I want more underrepresented groups in badass leading roles! It's fucking fun!
And suck it, MRA haters.
Also I hope all the straight dudes who complain about the treatment of Kevin take a good, hard look in the mirror.
posted by olinerd at 10:52 PM on July 17, 2016 [16 favorites]
Around the time Holtzmann was on her slo-mo ghost shooting rampage during the final battle, I was definitely grinning with delight the same way I was when I found out Rey was the up-and-coming Jedi in TFA. All those years of playing with guy friends as a kid and always being made to be the girl character (which was inevitably a lame token character) and there are BADASS CHARACTERS THAT ARE GIRLS now and that is FUCKING AWESOME. Yeah, I dressed as Luke Skywalker for Halloween and always tell people he was my favorite but honestly, honestly, so much of my childhood pop culture fandom would have been so different had there been women in these sorts of roles. This shit MATTERS. It matters SO MUCH. I am delighted and happy and gleeful about this. More! I want more underrepresented groups in badass leading roles! It's fucking fun!
And suck it, MRA haters.
Also I hope all the straight dudes who complain about the treatment of Kevin take a good, hard look in the mirror.
posted by olinerd at 10:52 PM on July 17, 2016 [16 favorites]
Saw this tonight, very pleased.
Little bit of trivia - I wondered about the tribute in the credits to "superfan Ryan Kemp" - it turns out it's a memorial to a devoted fan who died last year.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:08 AM on July 18, 2016 [4 favorites]
Little bit of trivia - I wondered about the tribute in the credits to "superfan Ryan Kemp" - it turns out it's a memorial to a devoted fan who died last year.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:08 AM on July 18, 2016 [4 favorites]
I saw it on Saturday, and apart from just loving it, I was also surprised at how many times I found myself tearing up. Not because anything emotional was happening on screen, but because the movie was about women being humans, and that feels like something I've never seen before (although Spy is fairly similar).
One thing I loved is that the villain of the film is misogyny, in a lot of ways. The "bad guy" is a cipher, but an obvious one-- he is angry at the world for not making him the victorious protagonist of his own life story, so he wants to destroy the world that isn't what he thinks it should be. The ghostbusters have to consistently choose to ignore misogynistic insults, many of them from internet commenters. They are all shown being silenced, diminished, ignored, second guessed (even by other women-- I thought having several of the misogynistic attacks come from the mayor's female assistant was a nice touch).
But they choose each other, and they choose to just keep going, and it seriously got to me. It was such a hopeful vision of choosing to forge ahead in the midst of so much vile and pointless hatred, and I loved it.
Also, I thought Hemsworth's character didn't just work as a parody of the "dumb blonde secretary" trope, but as another attack on patriarchy. Every time he becomes even more absurdly dumb, the implicit joke/question is "how dumb does a hot person have to be before you stop finding them attractive?" For 3/4 of the team, Kevin's hotness stops being entertaining VERY EARLY as they realize the extent of his incompetence. But when I think back on all the "dumb blonde but she's hot" female characters throughout cinematic history, the answer becomes clear-- for most men writing this character, there has never been a level of stupidity that would reduce desire. Watching them upend that with Kevin was so, so satisfying. Him walking into the aquarium MULTIPLE TIMES trying to get the phone kind of encapsulated it for me.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 5:13 AM on July 18, 2016 [26 favorites]
One thing I loved is that the villain of the film is misogyny, in a lot of ways. The "bad guy" is a cipher, but an obvious one-- he is angry at the world for not making him the victorious protagonist of his own life story, so he wants to destroy the world that isn't what he thinks it should be. The ghostbusters have to consistently choose to ignore misogynistic insults, many of them from internet commenters. They are all shown being silenced, diminished, ignored, second guessed (even by other women-- I thought having several of the misogynistic attacks come from the mayor's female assistant was a nice touch).
But they choose each other, and they choose to just keep going, and it seriously got to me. It was such a hopeful vision of choosing to forge ahead in the midst of so much vile and pointless hatred, and I loved it.
Also, I thought Hemsworth's character didn't just work as a parody of the "dumb blonde secretary" trope, but as another attack on patriarchy. Every time he becomes even more absurdly dumb, the implicit joke/question is "how dumb does a hot person have to be before you stop finding them attractive?" For 3/4 of the team, Kevin's hotness stops being entertaining VERY EARLY as they realize the extent of his incompetence. But when I think back on all the "dumb blonde but she's hot" female characters throughout cinematic history, the answer becomes clear-- for most men writing this character, there has never been a level of stupidity that would reduce desire. Watching them upend that with Kevin was so, so satisfying. Him walking into the aquarium MULTIPLE TIMES trying to get the phone kind of encapsulated it for me.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 5:13 AM on July 18, 2016 [26 favorites]
I loved it. I have to go look up everything Kate McKinnon's ever done now, brb.
Interesting to note-- they used actual local NY newscasters whenever there's a news clip montage!
posted by blnkfrnk at 5:17 AM on July 18, 2016 [2 favorites]
Interesting to note-- they used actual local NY newscasters whenever there's a news clip montage!
posted by blnkfrnk at 5:17 AM on July 18, 2016 [2 favorites]
I admit it. I actually cried during Holtz's action sequence. Is that what it's like for dudes watching movies, where they can just enjoy a fight scene and not ever have to worry about lingering slow-mo shots of tits and ass?
posted by specialagentwebb at 5:57 AM on July 18, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by specialagentwebb at 5:57 AM on July 18, 2016 [18 favorites]
Fun fact: a few teachers from Feig's show Freaks and Geeks pop up as ghosts.
posted by cottoncandybeard at 6:43 AM on July 18, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by cottoncandybeard at 6:43 AM on July 18, 2016 [5 favorites]
specialagentwebb: I admit it. I actually cried during Holtz's action sequence.
My wife teared up a bit, too - like you, she was so happy to have an action movie with women who weren't Lara Crofted up for the male gaze. I didn't pick up on how significant that was until she told me.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:05 AM on July 18, 2016 [5 favorites]
My wife teared up a bit, too - like you, she was so happy to have an action movie with women who weren't Lara Crofted up for the male gaze. I didn't pick up on how significant that was until she told me.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:05 AM on July 18, 2016 [5 favorites]
Fun fact: a few teachers from Feig's show Freaks and Geeks pop up as ghosts.
Not to mention most of the cast of Feig's short-lived (but quite funny!) Yahoo sci-fi comedy Other Space: Neil Casey as Rowan, Bess Rous as the locked-basement ghost, Karan Soni as Benny the delivery guy, and a blink-or-you'll-miss-it cameo from Milana Vayntrub as a woman screaming at rats erupting from the subway.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:16 AM on July 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
Not to mention most of the cast of Feig's short-lived (but quite funny!) Yahoo sci-fi comedy Other Space: Neil Casey as Rowan, Bess Rous as the locked-basement ghost, Karan Soni as Benny the delivery guy, and a blink-or-you'll-miss-it cameo from Milana Vayntrub as a woman screaming at rats erupting from the subway.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:16 AM on July 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
GhostintheMachine: One review of this one mentioned the "barely disguised gay panic" of the original. Is that a thing?
GhostintheMachine: Derail update: apparently, "crossing streams" is coded homophobia, according to the reviewer
And that's a code they made up, or picked up from somewhere other than official sources. From watching the original movie with commentary, Harold Ramis laughed at various meanings applied to "don't cross the streams," because as originally written and performed, there was no innuendo intended.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:23 AM on July 18, 2016 [3 favorites]
GhostintheMachine: Derail update: apparently, "crossing streams" is coded homophobia, according to the reviewer
And that's a code they made up, or picked up from somewhere other than official sources. From watching the original movie with commentary, Harold Ramis laughed at various meanings applied to "don't cross the streams," because as originally written and performed, there was no innuendo intended.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:23 AM on July 18, 2016 [3 favorites]
Saw it yesterday. Pretty much anything I would further say has already been said. Quite enjoyed it! Count me as another already lined up for tickets to the sequel.
posted by Atreides at 8:02 AM on July 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Atreides at 8:02 AM on July 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
This movie is the best! I agree with just about everyone else's criticisms and praises. I thought it was going to be a trainwreck, and I hated the trailers, but it was a really great film. Gonna have to buy the DVD for sure.
posted by cass at 9:15 AM on July 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by cass at 9:15 AM on July 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
Another round of support: my wife and I haven't seen movies in the theaters for years. We haven't been to the movies for five years, though I broke that streak and saw The Good Dinosaur with my 4 year old son and my parents last Thanksgiving. She liked the movie well enough to want to go back to the theaters to see it again, and we're definitely getting the BluRay when it's out, likely in November 2016.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:50 AM on July 18, 2016
posted by filthy light thief at 9:50 AM on July 18, 2016
It was a ridiculous movie that had some flaws, but I love ridiculous movies of all stripes (I own Clue, Money Pit, and Real Genius on DVD so any Ghostbusters movie is clearly right up my street already), and I loved this. I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy it but I was not prepared for how goddamn delightful it was all around, nor for how much Kate McKinnon was going to reinforce how very very very gay for ladies I am.
Holtz's action sequence, HELL. YEA. I think I sat through the whole of it with my mouth open, hands clasped to my chest, stars in my eyes.
posted by angeline at 10:51 AM on July 18, 2016 [5 favorites]
Holtz's action sequence, HELL. YEA. I think I sat through the whole of it with my mouth open, hands clasped to my chest, stars in my eyes.
posted by angeline at 10:51 AM on July 18, 2016 [5 favorites]
I loved it. I have to go look up everything Kate McKinnon's ever done now, brb.
I looked her up in IMDB didn't really turn up much - she's in a ton of things but no roles jump out.
I guess I could watch SNL...
/shudder
(also a bunch of Venture Brothers voice acting? go Team Venture!)
posted by Artw at 10:55 AM on July 18, 2016 [3 favorites]
I looked her up in IMDB didn't really turn up much - she's in a ton of things but no roles jump out.
I guess I could watch SNL...
/shudder
(also a bunch of Venture Brothers voice acting? go Team Venture!)
posted by Artw at 10:55 AM on July 18, 2016 [3 favorites]
A few links a friend shared with me:
McKinnon in an SNL ensemble performing the song "(Do It On My) Twin Bed"
More SNL: McKinnon as Angela Merkel on "Weekend Update"
Indie web comedy: McKinnon in the series "Vag Magazine" which satirizes a certain type of feminist magazine
In interview gifs: this sneeze
posted by brainwane at 12:55 PM on July 18, 2016 [5 favorites]
McKinnon in an SNL ensemble performing the song "(Do It On My) Twin Bed"
More SNL: McKinnon as Angela Merkel on "Weekend Update"
Indie web comedy: McKinnon in the series "Vag Magazine" which satirizes a certain type of feminist magazine
In interview gifs: this sneeze
posted by brainwane at 12:55 PM on July 18, 2016 [5 favorites]
No one should comment on this film til they've seen it - just so fucking good. And I was willing to let elements slide because dang if I haven't raved previously about craving fun female protagonists but GODDAMN that was good! Fist bumps all round.
The narrative was great, the dialogue sharp and so much fun; Kristin Wiig failed to annoy the hell out of me as feared and was instead just great; Kate McInnon was exactly as totally awesome as anticipated and both Melissa McCarthy and Lesley Jones were way more subtle than I'd expected and I loved their characters. The hokey was just right, I nearly peed myself with glee when the cameos showed up, the FX were fantastic and yup, it basically rocked. Even that dub step bass drop remix that skittered in halfway through felt like the best kind of awesome. And then....Zuul? Arrrggghh! YES! SEQUEL! *eyehearts*
So yes, for all that and everything Paisley Sheep said AND for reactions of the group of like 11 year old boys behind me, rapt throughout, and the adults cheering along, just YES and MORE!
posted by freya_lamb at 12:55 PM on July 18, 2016 [5 favorites]
The narrative was great, the dialogue sharp and so much fun; Kristin Wiig failed to annoy the hell out of me as feared and was instead just great; Kate McInnon was exactly as totally awesome as anticipated and both Melissa McCarthy and Lesley Jones were way more subtle than I'd expected and I loved their characters. The hokey was just right, I nearly peed myself with glee when the cameos showed up, the FX were fantastic and yup, it basically rocked. Even that dub step bass drop remix that skittered in halfway through felt like the best kind of awesome. And then....Zuul? Arrrggghh! YES! SEQUEL! *eyehearts*
So yes, for all that and everything Paisley Sheep said AND for reactions of the group of like 11 year old boys behind me, rapt throughout, and the adults cheering along, just YES and MORE!
posted by freya_lamb at 12:55 PM on July 18, 2016 [5 favorites]
Kate is the reason to watch SNL. I've been doing so for a few years now, and for all that time she has been (in my opinion, obviously) the funniest person out there. Not the funniest woman, or the funniest SNL cast member, or the funniest person on TV - simply the funniest entertainer there is. She never fails to make me laugh.
I think everyone's recent favorite would probably be Close Encounter.
posted by komara at 12:56 PM on July 18, 2016 [9 favorites]
I think everyone's recent favorite would probably be Close Encounter.
posted by komara at 12:56 PM on July 18, 2016 [9 favorites]
(also Kate has talked before at length about her teenage crush on Dana Scully / Gillian Anderson so I'm assuming every single one of her friends has just sent her this which is probably the best thing I've seen today, only because I'm imagining her freaking out about it)
posted by komara at 12:58 PM on July 18, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by komara at 12:58 PM on July 18, 2016 [13 favorites]
Oh wow, that's lovely.
posted by Artw at 1:02 PM on July 18, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 1:02 PM on July 18, 2016 [2 favorites]
Poking around online it doesn't seem like there's been an interview with the cast since the movie came out, but whenever one does happen I'm really looking forward to McKinnon's reaction to how fiercely people have latched on to her character as a point of identification/sex symbol.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:08 PM on July 18, 2016
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:08 PM on July 18, 2016
Okay last one I swear, Artw: I especially enjoy when Olya Povlatsky shows up on Weekend Update.
posted by komara at 1:19 PM on July 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by komara at 1:19 PM on July 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oooh, thanks for that link, komara! A few more: McKinnon's impression of Justin Bieber, the song "First Got Horny 2 U", and "This Is Not A Feminist Song" which I particularly wish I'd noticed when it first came out earlier this year.
posted by brainwane at 2:17 PM on July 18, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by brainwane at 2:17 PM on July 18, 2016 [5 favorites]
"poorly edited"
Hey, I'm with you on that. In a comedy movie where so much relies on the timing and delivery of lines, and the interaction between characters, I found it perpetually jarring that there were so many single-face closeup shots (both delivery and reaction) and it gave me the sense that that the movie had been shredded and reassembled. You have four of the funniest people in the world in one room and you can't back the camera up just a few feet to catch them all doing the job they were [paid/born] to do?
But if that's the only real criticism that my black cynical heart could muster then that's a lot better review than most movies get from me. If you want to see what goes into the PRO column, see: the rest of this thread.
posted by komara at 7:30 PM on July 18, 2016 [2 favorites]
Hey, I'm with you on that. In a comedy movie where so much relies on the timing and delivery of lines, and the interaction between characters, I found it perpetually jarring that there were so many single-face closeup shots (both delivery and reaction) and it gave me the sense that that the movie had been shredded and reassembled. You have four of the funniest people in the world in one room and you can't back the camera up just a few feet to catch them all doing the job they were [paid/born] to do?
But if that's the only real criticism that my black cynical heart could muster then that's a lot better review than most movies get from me. If you want to see what goes into the PRO column, see: the rest of this thread.
posted by komara at 7:30 PM on July 18, 2016 [2 favorites]
So, having loved the new ghostbusters, I watched Bridesmaids last night with my wife and housemate; I'd never seen it before and it was fantastic. Mellissa McCarthy is my spirit animal. (And I'm a 30-something bearded white dude.)
posted by kaibutsu at 7:45 PM on July 18, 2016
posted by kaibutsu at 7:45 PM on July 18, 2016
and it gave me the sense that that the movie had been shredded and reassembled
Yeah, a lot of the McKinnon stuff felt like it was shot later and spliced in. Like a studio suit said "you know what, put in more of those goofy reactions" after the first cut was screened.
So much of the move was "two shot of McCarthy/Whig, with Whig playing straight and McCarthy riffing, then cut to McKinnon reaction shot". Over and over.
posted by sideshow at 11:13 PM on July 18, 2016
Yeah, a lot of the McKinnon stuff felt like it was shot later and spliced in. Like a studio suit said "you know what, put in more of those goofy reactions" after the first cut was screened.
So much of the move was "two shot of McCarthy/Whig, with Whig playing straight and McCarthy riffing, then cut to McKinnon reaction shot". Over and over.
posted by sideshow at 11:13 PM on July 18, 2016
I think everyone's recent favorite would probably be Close Encounter .
Holy crap. I haven't watch SNL in maybe 15 years? That shit was great.
posted by brundlefly at 2:03 AM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
Holy crap. I haven't watch SNL in maybe 15 years? That shit was great.
posted by brundlefly at 2:03 AM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
I watched this last night, and going in, I wasn't sure that I was actually going to like the movie at all. I wanted to go see it mostly as a "screw you" to the asinine pre-release feedback the movie's gotten from overprotective misogynists. I like the first movie well enough to watch it around Halloween every year, I utterly loathe the second one, and that's really most of my feelings on the previous films.
But! Of course, I LOVED the darn thing. I was watching the movie, and ...it made me realize why people liked things like the first Independence Day film, and Jurassic Park, and other summer popcorn blockbuster type flicks. They're a lot of fun! Full of characters doing cool and interesting things! It's amazing when it feels like there's a movie being written for your eyeballs, and it's fun and exciting and wonderful.
I'm already dreaming up ways to dress up as Abby for Halloween. And I *heart* Patty. And Holtzmann! I want to be their besties forever and a day. And then ask Holtzmann where she got her awesome glasses. (And sigh, I am probably the Erin of the group, but we all need one of those, right?)
This is the movie I wanted when I was 12 and trying to figure out how to be me. I'm glad it's here now.
posted by PearlRose at 7:48 AM on July 19, 2016 [7 favorites]
But! Of course, I LOVED the darn thing. I was watching the movie, and ...it made me realize why people liked things like the first Independence Day film, and Jurassic Park, and other summer popcorn blockbuster type flicks. They're a lot of fun! Full of characters doing cool and interesting things! It's amazing when it feels like there's a movie being written for your eyeballs, and it's fun and exciting and wonderful.
I'm already dreaming up ways to dress up as Abby for Halloween. And I *heart* Patty. And Holtzmann! I want to be their besties forever and a day. And then ask Holtzmann where she got her awesome glasses. (And sigh, I am probably the Erin of the group, but we all need one of those, right?)
This is the movie I wanted when I was 12 and trying to figure out how to be me. I'm glad it's here now.
posted by PearlRose at 7:48 AM on July 19, 2016 [7 favorites]
Harold Ramis laughed at various meanings applied to "don't cross the streams," because as originally written and performed, there was no innuendo intended.
The gay panic interpretation was ridiculous anyway, because, if you'll recall, crossing the streams ends up saving the day in the end.
posted by entropicamericana at 10:14 AM on July 19, 2016
The gay panic interpretation was ridiculous anyway, because, if you'll recall, crossing the streams ends up saving the day in the end.
posted by entropicamericana at 10:14 AM on July 19, 2016
I didn't like the first Ghostbusters so I wasn't expecting much out of this one, which may have been the secret sauce. I laughed more in this movie, starting with the Kevin interview, than in any movie probably since Forgetting Sarah Marshall (another movie I had zero expectations from).
Also, I think I'm in love with Holtzman, and her Debarge dance routine was pretty much perfect. It doesn't hurt that I have ended up in a group of people who would take a burning roll of paper towels as casually as she does.
I also can't begin to express how happy it makes me to see all the women-to-women interaction that people have talked about in this thread already.
posted by small_ruminant at 11:17 AM on July 19, 2016 [2 favorites]
Also, I think I'm in love with Holtzman, and her Debarge dance routine was pretty much perfect. It doesn't hurt that I have ended up in a group of people who would take a burning roll of paper towels as casually as she does.
I also can't begin to express how happy it makes me to see all the women-to-women interaction that people have talked about in this thread already.
posted by small_ruminant at 11:17 AM on July 19, 2016 [2 favorites]
So That’s Who You Call: The Politics of the New ‘Ghostbusters’
posted by Artw at 11:27 AM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 11:27 AM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
Saw it with TeenRuki yesterday, and we both loved it. Although we stayed to watch C-Hem dance, it seems there was a teaser I missed? Can someone fill me in, please and thank you?
posted by Ruki at 2:23 PM on July 19, 2016
posted by Ruki at 2:23 PM on July 19, 2016
After the last of the last credits, they show Patty listening to the reel to reel tape recorder on her headphones and she asks turns around and asks everybody something like, "Zuul?! What's Zuul?" And everyone looks perturbed and excited. The end. (paraphrased)
posted by small_ruminant at 2:31 PM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by small_ruminant at 2:31 PM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
(Please ask what Zuul is... nobody at my office has seen it yet...)
posted by Servo5678 at 4:20 PM on July 19, 2016
posted by Servo5678 at 4:20 PM on July 19, 2016
Saw it and really enjoyed it. On the one hand I'm sad to be so excited to see a movie with four women (one of colour) being smart, funny, supportive of each other, and saving the day--it's just so rare. On the other hand, it's really cool to see that movie in a packed theatre with lots of men as well as women, an audience that is clearly enjoying it!
And I was so damn relieved they didn't feel the need to have some random boyfriend character.
My one criticism was the editing--sometimes it was weirdly slack and it threw the timing of the humour off. But overall--yeah, I really liked it a lot!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:30 PM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
And I was so damn relieved they didn't feel the need to have some random boyfriend character.
My one criticism was the editing--sometimes it was weirdly slack and it threw the timing of the humour off. But overall--yeah, I really liked it a lot!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:30 PM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
Loved it. Perfect summer movie especially for my 13 year old daughter who squeed through the whole thing.
My nitpick: Bill Murray. I don't think he was even on set. There were no shots that showed his face and theirs at once. And he was stiff as cardboard. Good for him for cameoing but I do not understand the love for that dude.
posted by latkes at 11:45 PM on July 19, 2016
My nitpick: Bill Murray. I don't think he was even on set. There were no shots that showed his face and theirs at once. And he was stiff as cardboard. Good for him for cameoing but I do not understand the love for that dude.
posted by latkes at 11:45 PM on July 19, 2016
The performances were all great. I had gotten back in to SNL a few years ago so I was expecting McKinnon to be my favorite. And she was, but I I also really enjoyed the rest of the cast, who had previously been rather hit-and-miss to me. As others have mentioned, the trailer did not really give me a good feeling about Jones's character, but she did work out rather well in the end (although, yes, it would have been nice if she had contributed more expertise than a few after the fact "Yup, that's where you'd find ghosts.")
There were a few more editing level stuff that didn't really work for me. When Kevin rode away on the motorcycle, I thought "Oh right, and they're screwed, because Ecto-1 got impounded." And then they got in Ecto-1 and drove after him. And when the docent from the opening showed up again I assumed he must be possessed to not mention the whole drowning in slime thing, but I guess not.
posted by ckape at 1:29 AM on July 20, 2016
There were a few more editing level stuff that didn't really work for me. When Kevin rode away on the motorcycle, I thought "Oh right, and they're screwed, because Ecto-1 got impounded." And then they got in Ecto-1 and drove after him. And when the docent from the opening showed up again I assumed he must be possessed to not mention the whole drowning in slime thing, but I guess not.
posted by ckape at 1:29 AM on July 20, 2016
Oh, and from scrolling through the trivia page on IMDB, apparently Bill Murray's character didn't die, because the tie-in Ghosts from Our Past book has him writing the forward talking about his medical bills from getting thrown out the window. Also, Harold Ramis does have a cameo of sorts that I didn't notice, as a bronze bust at Columbia.
posted by ckape at 1:38 AM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by ckape at 1:38 AM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
When Kevin rode away on the motorcycle, I thought "Oh right, and they're screwed, because Ecto-1 got impounded." And then they got in Ecto-1 and drove after him.
The establishing shot right before the whole possession scene shows Ecto-1 parked to one side of the building, but it's easy to miss. ^.^
(I'm going to see it again.)
posted by Deoridhe at 2:18 AM on July 20, 2016
The establishing shot right before the whole possession scene shows Ecto-1 parked to one side of the building, but it's easy to miss. ^.^
(I'm going to see it again.)
posted by Deoridhe at 2:18 AM on July 20, 2016
I really liked the action shots of Ecto-1 racing through the city. They lent a good change of pace and upped the tension in a good way.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:05 AM on July 20, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:05 AM on July 20, 2016
Technically the mayor's aide did say that Ecto-1 was "towed" rather than "impounded," but I'm not sure what "real towed, not fake towed" is supposed to mean if not "we actually took your car to an impound lot instead of just moving it from the area." Minor thing, but it threw me for a second too.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:34 AM on July 20, 2016
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:34 AM on July 20, 2016
I actually really liked the "real-towed" vs. "fake-towed" joke!
Anyway, we got tickets to see it again on Monday, this time in 3-D. I'm so excited. We were going to see the new Stark Trek movie next week, but the beau (who also liked the movie a lot), realized just how much Ghostbusters has meant to me, and suggested we go see this again instead.
I haven't loved a movie this much in at least six years, and am already wondering how much we need to eat next month because I'd really much rather have an adorable set of the team as Funko! Pop figures instead.
posted by PearlRose at 9:38 AM on July 20, 2016
Anyway, we got tickets to see it again on Monday, this time in 3-D. I'm so excited. We were going to see the new Stark Trek movie next week, but the beau (who also liked the movie a lot), realized just how much Ghostbusters has meant to me, and suggested we go see this again instead.
I haven't loved a movie this much in at least six years, and am already wondering how much we need to eat next month because I'd really much rather have an adorable set of the team as Funko! Pop figures instead.
posted by PearlRose at 9:38 AM on July 20, 2016
While I totally agree there are editing issues (again -- I want to see the director's cut, because I have a feeling some of the weird questions could be answered with whatever's on the editing floor), I just assumed that when Homeland Security fake arrested them, they dropped them off at the impound lot where they had to pay the fee out of pocket instead of letting the government pick up the tab (but that's just me merrily fanwanking).
Also, I've taken Patty's saving the day at the end as a very important and real thing. I read it as sincere when Abby said, "Patty, you're a genius."* -- not hyperbole, not sarcasm.
According to the novelization based on the original screenplay (which yes I've purchased and read yesterday), they were originally going to try and get the power by "crossing the streams," and when that didn't work, it was Holtz who was going to realize that their car had enough nuclear power to destroy the portal. I love Holtz to pieces but I'm so glad they changed the script because it's so much more meaningful that it was Patty.
That's not to say that they couldn't have given Patty more to work with in the film, because I definitely could have used more of her (and I'm totally onboard any sort of spin-off with her and Holtz), but I'm very glad she exists and I love what Leslie Jones did with the character and I hope they'll give her more chances to prove the importance of her historical knowledge and general intellectual curiosity in the sequel.
*And then to respond with the confident "I'm a Ghostbuster!" still makes me all teary inside because it feels like Patty is saying it for all the little girls who could never truly feel like they could be a Ghostbuster since it was all boys or maybe for those of us who are way more into humanities instead of science -- here's a history nerd POC woman who originally joined "the club" because she thinks it's interesting and she's curious about all the strange stuff she's seen, declaring that of course she belongs. It just really makes me feel things.
posted by paisley sheep at 9:50 AM on July 20, 2016 [6 favorites]
Also, I've taken Patty's saving the day at the end as a very important and real thing. I read it as sincere when Abby said, "Patty, you're a genius."* -- not hyperbole, not sarcasm.
According to the novelization based on the original screenplay (which yes I've purchased and read yesterday), they were originally going to try and get the power by "crossing the streams," and when that didn't work, it was Holtz who was going to realize that their car had enough nuclear power to destroy the portal. I love Holtz to pieces but I'm so glad they changed the script because it's so much more meaningful that it was Patty.
That's not to say that they couldn't have given Patty more to work with in the film, because I definitely could have used more of her (and I'm totally onboard any sort of spin-off with her and Holtz), but I'm very glad she exists and I love what Leslie Jones did with the character and I hope they'll give her more chances to prove the importance of her historical knowledge and general intellectual curiosity in the sequel.
*And then to respond with the confident "I'm a Ghostbuster!" still makes me all teary inside because it feels like Patty is saying it for all the little girls who could never truly feel like they could be a Ghostbuster since it was all boys or maybe for those of us who are way more into humanities instead of science -- here's a history nerd POC woman who originally joined "the club" because she thinks it's interesting and she's curious about all the strange stuff she's seen, declaring that of course she belongs. It just really makes me feel things.
posted by paisley sheep at 9:50 AM on July 20, 2016 [6 favorites]
Absolutely loved the movie with a fiery passion. Saw it in a packed theater with a very diverse group of people who howled in laughter and spontaneously burst into applause when it ended. Half the theater stayed to watch through all of the end credits, which almost never happens. Sat right next to an adorable family. The mother kept laughing out loud and talking back to the screen, the cutie pie 1st/2nd grade son was beside himself with excitement over what the scientists and ghosts were going to do next.
I enjoyed the original when I was a kid, but to my mind it's not some kind of sacred text or perfect movie. Hollywood reboots old movies all the time; why, the one time the reboot is female-centric, does it have to pass a higher standard than all the other stupid male-centric action/comedy flicks? I hear the nitpickers in the thread and elsewhere on the internet, and respect their right to their own opinion, but as maxsparber said, "The new Ghostbusters didn't have to be perfect. That's an impossible demand. It just had to be worth making and worth seeing, and it is that, abundantly so."
In my mind, Ghostbusters stands its ground as an infectiously FUN movie, gloriously goofy and fun and unabashedly weird, but above all warm and humane. Things that it celebrates: female friendship, persistence, drive, determination, forgiveness, passion, acceptance, communication, respect, creativity, joy, found family, standing up for what you believe in and for yourself, knowledge of history and science as a way to unlock the secrets of the natural world, engineering as a way to construct and shape the world around you...Just, the humanity of women. Women as main characters. Women who shape the world. Women who are sufficient unto themselves. Women whose lives are whole, and important, without men. Women who are single and don't have kids and are happy like that! Women as role models to a whole new generation of girls who need, need, need more representation in mainstream media telling them that it's cool to be smart, adventuresome, kick-ass, weird, to study science, to build cool shit and blow things up, to read a lot of nonfiction and not worry about what haters on the internet say about you, and to not worry about what guys think about you or how "sexy" you are. Hell, as an adult woman, I need to see more women like this...and seeing Ghostbusters is what triggered me to realize this! And finally...I think back to the cute little boy watching Ghostbusters in the theater with me, and I think about how important it is that little boys are seeing it, how hopefully, in some small way, Ghostbusters can start to puncture the boil of misogyny in this country by helping to normalize the image of women as whole, complex, kick-ass people.
posted by the thought-fox at 10:22 AM on July 20, 2016 [4 favorites]
I enjoyed the original when I was a kid, but to my mind it's not some kind of sacred text or perfect movie. Hollywood reboots old movies all the time; why, the one time the reboot is female-centric, does it have to pass a higher standard than all the other stupid male-centric action/comedy flicks? I hear the nitpickers in the thread and elsewhere on the internet, and respect their right to their own opinion, but as maxsparber said, "The new Ghostbusters didn't have to be perfect. That's an impossible demand. It just had to be worth making and worth seeing, and it is that, abundantly so."
In my mind, Ghostbusters stands its ground as an infectiously FUN movie, gloriously goofy and fun and unabashedly weird, but above all warm and humane. Things that it celebrates: female friendship, persistence, drive, determination, forgiveness, passion, acceptance, communication, respect, creativity, joy, found family, standing up for what you believe in and for yourself, knowledge of history and science as a way to unlock the secrets of the natural world, engineering as a way to construct and shape the world around you...Just, the humanity of women. Women as main characters. Women who shape the world. Women who are sufficient unto themselves. Women whose lives are whole, and important, without men. Women who are single and don't have kids and are happy like that! Women as role models to a whole new generation of girls who need, need, need more representation in mainstream media telling them that it's cool to be smart, adventuresome, kick-ass, weird, to study science, to build cool shit and blow things up, to read a lot of nonfiction and not worry about what haters on the internet say about you, and to not worry about what guys think about you or how "sexy" you are. Hell, as an adult woman, I need to see more women like this...and seeing Ghostbusters is what triggered me to realize this! And finally...I think back to the cute little boy watching Ghostbusters in the theater with me, and I think about how important it is that little boys are seeing it, how hopefully, in some small way, Ghostbusters can start to puncture the boil of misogyny in this country by helping to normalize the image of women as whole, complex, kick-ass people.
posted by the thought-fox at 10:22 AM on July 20, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'm disappointed that snippets haven't found their way onto youtube yet, because I want to watch Holtzmann's dance scene over and over.
posted by small_ruminant at 10:32 AM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by small_ruminant at 10:32 AM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
So excited for, and jealous of, all the kids who get to grow up with a Ghostbusters that includes a super hot queer character.
posted by ITheCosmos at 10:47 AM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by ITheCosmos at 10:47 AM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
Let me preface by saying that I am in no way an MRA guy.
I love these women, I think they're all hilarious. I can point out single scenes where one person absolutely kills it. But as a whole, it doesn't hang together. It's a bad movie that deserves to be better.
Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, (Personal fave ->) Melissa McCarthy, and Kristen Wiig all bring serious mojo to a shitty, improvised, overly CGI'd trainwreck of a movie. Can't I be a feminist and still think a bad movie might be bad? Or do I have to like it because it's an implicit reboot with women in the roles?
It kind of pisses me off because the obvious comparison to Bridesmaids is valid. In my opinion, Bridesmaids is a vastly superior film. I feel like Paul Feig spent more time picking his tie/hanky combos than actually making a watchable film.
You can tell that there are huge portions of unscripted material. It just doesn't work. This was a lazy cashgrab reboot of a franchise that didn't need it.
posted by Sphinx at 11:25 AM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
I love these women, I think they're all hilarious. I can point out single scenes where one person absolutely kills it. But as a whole, it doesn't hang together. It's a bad movie that deserves to be better.
Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, (Personal fave ->) Melissa McCarthy, and Kristen Wiig all bring serious mojo to a shitty, improvised, overly CGI'd trainwreck of a movie. Can't I be a feminist and still think a bad movie might be bad? Or do I have to like it because it's an implicit reboot with women in the roles?
It kind of pisses me off because the obvious comparison to Bridesmaids is valid. In my opinion, Bridesmaids is a vastly superior film. I feel like Paul Feig spent more time picking his tie/hanky combos than actually making a watchable film.
You can tell that there are huge portions of unscripted material. It just doesn't work. This was a lazy cashgrab reboot of a franchise that didn't need it.
posted by Sphinx at 11:25 AM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
That's not to say that they couldn't have given Patty more to work with in the film, because I definitely could have used more of her (and I'm totally onboard any sort of spin-off with her and Holtz), but I'm very glad she exists and I love what Leslie Jones did with the character and I hope they'll give her more chances to prove the importance of her historical knowledge and general intellectual curiosity in the sequel.
Yeah, I texted one of my best friends after seeing it that one of my favorite things was the way that Patty’s role as a historian was repeatedly validated in the midst of a problem that seemed like it would be solved by physics and engineering. It was like this meta conversation about how STEM without the humanities isn’t enough, and attempts to solve a problem without understanding the context of a problem leaves your solutions imperfect.
It was part of why I just melted whenever Patty and Holtz turned into a mutual admiration/protection society. They’re better together, and excited to meet someone who knows things they don’t, and I’M TEARING UP AGAIN
(also I want them to kiss, it is not my intention to gal pal them here)
posted by a fiendish thingy at 11:28 AM on July 20, 2016 [3 favorites]
Yeah, I texted one of my best friends after seeing it that one of my favorite things was the way that Patty’s role as a historian was repeatedly validated in the midst of a problem that seemed like it would be solved by physics and engineering. It was like this meta conversation about how STEM without the humanities isn’t enough, and attempts to solve a problem without understanding the context of a problem leaves your solutions imperfect.
It was part of why I just melted whenever Patty and Holtz turned into a mutual admiration/protection society. They’re better together, and excited to meet someone who knows things they don’t, and I’M TEARING UP AGAIN
(also I want them to kiss, it is not my intention to gal pal them here)
posted by a fiendish thingy at 11:28 AM on July 20, 2016 [3 favorites]
Or do I have to like it because it's an implicit reboot with women in the roles?
Nope! But framing it as objectively bad in an internet room with a lot of people who feel exactly the opposite ain't great. Framing it as a "bad movie" and a "cashgrab" that "just doesn't work" as a matter of fact rather than a matter of opinion seems a little off, especially if you've just read a thread full of other humans expressing their deep emotional connection with the film.
(Also, and this is not aimed at you, Sphinx-- the framing that this was just a cashgrab seems so odd to me. This movie had people actively campaigning for it to fail-- people who would normally be the opening weekend crowd for a sci-fi comedy! I am glad that the movie has done well in spite of that, but I was by no means confident that it would. I think the studio actually took something of a calculated risk in making the movie that Feig wanted to make.)
posted by a fiendish thingy at 11:34 AM on July 20, 2016 [14 favorites]
Nope! But framing it as objectively bad in an internet room with a lot of people who feel exactly the opposite ain't great. Framing it as a "bad movie" and a "cashgrab" that "just doesn't work" as a matter of fact rather than a matter of opinion seems a little off, especially if you've just read a thread full of other humans expressing their deep emotional connection with the film.
(Also, and this is not aimed at you, Sphinx-- the framing that this was just a cashgrab seems so odd to me. This movie had people actively campaigning for it to fail-- people who would normally be the opening weekend crowd for a sci-fi comedy! I am glad that the movie has done well in spite of that, but I was by no means confident that it would. I think the studio actually took something of a calculated risk in making the movie that Feig wanted to make.)
posted by a fiendish thingy at 11:34 AM on July 20, 2016 [14 favorites]
98.34% of the movies in the theaters are cash grabs with art bolted on so that people will watch them.
The other 1.65% (H) are because someone owes someone a favor and rest of the studios slate has already made a lot of money.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:06 PM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
The other 1.65% (H) are because someone owes someone a favor and rest of the studios slate has already made a lot of money.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:06 PM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
Yeah, anything that is part of a franchise, be it a sequel or reboot, is a cash grab. Virtually every Marvel film of the past so many years? Cash grab, but that's what studios do, they want to make movies which make money. Making movies that make statements about society, politics, or any other topic, that essentially happens as an aside.
I think it escapes being a lazy cash grab because that would have been either A) throwing enough money at Bill Murray to make him unable to shrug off a Ghostbusters 3 or B) Doing your darndest to cast four young men (young enough for plenty of sequels) who can pull off the best impersonations of the original four Ghostbusters. In this movie, it wasn't a remake of the original (at least anymore than The Force Awakens was a remake of A New Hope). It hit many of the same beats, but the characters were definitely much different than the originals, as was the villain and their plan for world wide cataclysm. If anything, it did quite a bit of work to avoid a lazy carbon copy of the original.
Whether we needed to revisit the Ghostbusters franchise is definitely a fair question. For the creators, there definitely was a belief that the world could use more Ghostbusters, be it the video game and the continual attempts to make that third film up until Harold Ramis passed away. So that it came in this form, instead of another, is probably just a confirmation of something that was going to happen.
Criticisms of the CGI are fair, too, and common in our digital age.
And well, not every movie is for every person. Even the studios have their Four Quadrant system, where they aim, if not always succeed, to make a film enjoyable to everyone or just particular types of folk. It may be that where you're interests and tastes are in their quadrant system is a bit remote from the film's dead center. Additionally, I think it's personally okay to drop a counter opinion about a film in Fanfare. We're here to discuss and engage the materials. So long as it's sincere and treats the opinions of others respectfully, it's cool.
posted by Atreides at 2:57 PM on July 20, 2016
I think it escapes being a lazy cash grab because that would have been either A) throwing enough money at Bill Murray to make him unable to shrug off a Ghostbusters 3 or B) Doing your darndest to cast four young men (young enough for plenty of sequels) who can pull off the best impersonations of the original four Ghostbusters. In this movie, it wasn't a remake of the original (at least anymore than The Force Awakens was a remake of A New Hope). It hit many of the same beats, but the characters were definitely much different than the originals, as was the villain and their plan for world wide cataclysm. If anything, it did quite a bit of work to avoid a lazy carbon copy of the original.
Whether we needed to revisit the Ghostbusters franchise is definitely a fair question. For the creators, there definitely was a belief that the world could use more Ghostbusters, be it the video game and the continual attempts to make that third film up until Harold Ramis passed away. So that it came in this form, instead of another, is probably just a confirmation of something that was going to happen.
Criticisms of the CGI are fair, too, and common in our digital age.
And well, not every movie is for every person. Even the studios have their Four Quadrant system, where they aim, if not always succeed, to make a film enjoyable to everyone or just particular types of folk. It may be that where you're interests and tastes are in their quadrant system is a bit remote from the film's dead center. Additionally, I think it's personally okay to drop a counter opinion about a film in Fanfare. We're here to discuss and engage the materials. So long as it's sincere and treats the opinions of others respectfully, it's cool.
posted by Atreides at 2:57 PM on July 20, 2016
More on the dance scene ending up in the credits - there's a longer story here, I'm sure.
posted by Artw at 3:17 PM on July 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 3:17 PM on July 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
Funny. I actually really liked that the dance scene was in the credits. IWhen we saw the cops freeze in Stayin' Alive pose, we all know "Dance Scene" is what's coming. I appreciated that they didn't go all the way there during the movie. In fact, I think they avoided over-exposition or running a joke all the way to it's conclusion a lot in a way I appreciated. But we still got the fun of that scene in the credits.
Also, for a movie with such a massive pile of CGI etc, there are going to be endless credits, so I like that they had so much content in the credits to keep us watching and hopefully those lackeys far down in the credits appreciate that someone is sitting through their little moment of acknowledgment.
posted by latkes at 6:32 PM on July 20, 2016 [7 favorites]
Also, for a movie with such a massive pile of CGI etc, there are going to be endless credits, so I like that they had so much content in the credits to keep us watching and hopefully those lackeys far down in the credits appreciate that someone is sitting through their little moment of acknowledgment.
posted by latkes at 6:32 PM on July 20, 2016 [7 favorites]
On balance I think using it as they did worked out pretty well, but I've heard hints that it being filmed in the first place was at studio insistence and kind of contentious.
posted by Artw at 6:41 PM on July 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 6:41 PM on July 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
Or do I have to like it because it's an implicit reboot with women in the roles?
There are two things at play here. You could appreciate the fact that this film happened at all. You could appreciate that fact and still not personally like the end product.
I have problems with the film but, for me, they are vastly outweighed by the good. And I respect that not everyone will like parts of this film or its style of humour. But I think you can appreciate that a film starring four women in an action comedy got through the studio system is pretty remarkable.
And, tbh, never start a comment with "I'm not an MRA, but..." because it sounds suspiciously like "I'm not racist, but..." and we all know how well that turns out.
posted by crossoverman at 8:23 PM on July 20, 2016 [9 favorites]
There are two things at play here. You could appreciate the fact that this film happened at all. You could appreciate that fact and still not personally like the end product.
I have problems with the film but, for me, they are vastly outweighed by the good. And I respect that not everyone will like parts of this film or its style of humour. But I think you can appreciate that a film starring four women in an action comedy got through the studio system is pretty remarkable.
And, tbh, never start a comment with "I'm not an MRA, but..." because it sounds suspiciously like "I'm not racist, but..." and we all know how well that turns out.
posted by crossoverman at 8:23 PM on July 20, 2016 [9 favorites]
Hello! Pedantic nerd fanboy checking in here.
They were muscling around the ghosts with Holtzmann's beautiful creations, because this isn't Ghostbusters I, this is Ghostbusters 0. There's only one trap, and it killed a dude. There is no Containment Grid until the end credits roll.
The proton packs, cannons, pistols, grenades, cestuses and chipper-shredders were there to brutalize the ghosts until they disincorporated. They will re-incorporate, but this is irrelevant. The Ghostbusters are fighting to reach the Big Bad and turn off his Big Bad Machine (and fans of the Ascension card came are having something of a giggle at his technology's visual aesthetic.)
Also, this isn't just a love-letter to the original movie. It's not overwriting the original or sequel. It doesn't even try for that. It's also a love letter to J. Michael Straczynski. You know. The guy who wrote the best Ghostbusters cartoon episodes, and then went on to create Babylon 5.
This isn't a reboot of the movies. It's a reboot of the cartoons. I am gleefully OK with this. Ivan Reitman and Dan Ackroyd are gleefully OK with that, too.
I speak historybabble, and Leslie Jones does goooood historybabble. I'm disappointed they didn't do more to take advantage of her impressively encyclopedic knowledge. On the other hand, Wiig is a physicist who is literally bridging the quantum-relativity gap with math, and she doesn't do all that much with her abilities, either. On the gripping hand, the dangling from the window scene with Patty, Holtzmann and Abby, this is the one time I'm willing to allow a director take advantage of an actress' body as a plot point. It was awesome.
McCarthy and McKinnon were literally stealing each others scenes, and the scenes of all those around them! With one exception who is made of muscle and baby-soft skin.
Which of these reviews makes him look more like a doctor?
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:08 PM on July 20, 2016 [11 favorites]
They were muscling around the ghosts with Holtzmann's beautiful creations, because this isn't Ghostbusters I, this is Ghostbusters 0. There's only one trap, and it killed a dude. There is no Containment Grid until the end credits roll.
The proton packs, cannons, pistols, grenades, cestuses and chipper-shredders were there to brutalize the ghosts until they disincorporated. They will re-incorporate, but this is irrelevant. The Ghostbusters are fighting to reach the Big Bad and turn off his Big Bad Machine (and fans of the Ascension card came are having something of a giggle at his technology's visual aesthetic.)
Also, this isn't just a love-letter to the original movie. It's not overwriting the original or sequel. It doesn't even try for that. It's also a love letter to J. Michael Straczynski. You know. The guy who wrote the best Ghostbusters cartoon episodes, and then went on to create Babylon 5.
This isn't a reboot of the movies. It's a reboot of the cartoons. I am gleefully OK with this. Ivan Reitman and Dan Ackroyd are gleefully OK with that, too.
I speak historybabble, and Leslie Jones does goooood historybabble. I'm disappointed they didn't do more to take advantage of her impressively encyclopedic knowledge. On the other hand, Wiig is a physicist who is literally bridging the quantum-relativity gap with math, and she doesn't do all that much with her abilities, either. On the gripping hand, the dangling from the window scene with Patty, Holtzmann and Abby, this is the one time I'm willing to allow a director take advantage of an actress' body as a plot point. It was awesome.
McCarthy and McKinnon were literally stealing each others scenes, and the scenes of all those around them! With one exception who is made of muscle and baby-soft skin.
Which of these reviews makes him look more like a doctor?
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:08 PM on July 20, 2016 [11 favorites]
Editing was a complete mess. Scenes were obviously missing which robbed later moments of their planned payoff. The CGI action felt like a video game, which was probably intentional but also felt really pandering and hollow to me. It felt like a great movie that was maybe whittled down/simplified to gain maximum appeal (I found myself wondering if the too-long cuts between the foursome during banter scenes was done on purpose to make international releases easier to dub).
That said, it was a REALLY FUN movie and I liked it a lot. And even though I wasn't won over by the CGI, I loved the fact that each character got to have at least one badass-ghost-fighting scene. That's really cool.
The whole villain justifying his murder plans because he was misunderstood and then the foursome countering that with a "we've been stepped on our whole lives too, but we're still gonna do the right thing" was really awesome.
I also suspect that some of the stuff I thought was cheesy would have hit me different if I was 12 and seeing it for the first time.
It's a good film. I hope they get to make another one.
posted by Doleful Creature at 9:58 PM on July 20, 2016 [3 favorites]
That said, it was a REALLY FUN movie and I liked it a lot. And even though I wasn't won over by the CGI, I loved the fact that each character got to have at least one badass-ghost-fighting scene. That's really cool.
The whole villain justifying his murder plans because he was misunderstood and then the foursome countering that with a "we've been stepped on our whole lives too, but we're still gonna do the right thing" was really awesome.
I also suspect that some of the stuff I thought was cheesy would have hit me different if I was 12 and seeing it for the first time.
It's a good film. I hope they get to make another one.
posted by Doleful Creature at 9:58 PM on July 20, 2016 [3 favorites]
> really fun, touching Holtzmann fanfic
That was goddamn lovely. Thank you.
posted by rtha at 10:19 PM on July 20, 2016
That was goddamn lovely. Thank you.
posted by rtha at 10:19 PM on July 20, 2016
I have told Mrs. Example that Holtzmann is my new secret imaginary girlfriend. I have a feeling she'd be down for some hardcore sitting on the couch with some popcorn and watching the 1982 The Thing.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:23 PM on July 22, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:23 PM on July 22, 2016 [2 favorites]
She wouldn't be eating popcorn. She'd be soldering something, right on the couch cushions, and let you know she's paying attention to the movie by making coo-ing come-on noises whenever Wilford Brimley came on-screen.
"Making UFOs is hot," she'd say by way of explanation without even looking up as something she was soldering exploded. Or you think it exploded, it might have let loose a curse in ancient Aramaic with a whistling scream and a burst of flame instead.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:39 PM on July 22, 2016 [6 favorites]
"Making UFOs is hot," she'd say by way of explanation without even looking up as something she was soldering exploded. Or you think it exploded, it might have let loose a curse in ancient Aramaic with a whistling scream and a burst of flame instead.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:39 PM on July 22, 2016 [6 favorites]
I saw this last night with two female friends and we were all ecstatic afterwards. I loved it so much, and it's actually kind of hard to see how someone couldn't like it, but I also respect that there was a lot about it that was geared towards me, as a thirtysomething lady who loved the movie as a kid and is really into this particular brand of goofy-but-clever comedy. I realized afterwards that Kate Dippold was a writer for Parks and Recreation and went "ohhhhhhh yeah that makes sense." It has that same general vibe of being funny and clever without being at all mean-spirited, and embracing rather than mocking everyone's inner oddball.
Kate McKinnon was just ... amazing. It feels cheesy to say she was a revelation, but that's what it felt like. Just such a breath of fresh air, something new and funny and fresh. So weird and charming. I want to watch it again just to watch her.
I saw it in a packed room at my local community movie theater, which felt like the perfect venue. Super-diverse crowd: age, gender, race, etc. But everyone seemed to really enjoy it, and people actually clapped and cheered at the end.
I do agree with the criticisms of the editing - I noticed at one point that there were a lot of close-ups, and I never notice editing choices.
When did the first trailer come out? it seems like they might have made some changes in response to the reactions to the trailer, like making Patty "smarter" and giving Holtzman more reaction shots. Not that I'm complaining about either.
I am way more bummed about the manbabies hating this film than I should be. But you know, I'm not surprised at all that misognynists hated it, because it was a pretty explicitly feminist film. And the last time I can remember being so entertained by a movie was Mad Max: Fury Road, so I guess I am really hungry for feminist-but-mainstream blockbusters with lots of female leads.
posted by lunasol at 12:48 PM on July 24, 2016 [10 favorites]
Kate McKinnon was just ... amazing. It feels cheesy to say she was a revelation, but that's what it felt like. Just such a breath of fresh air, something new and funny and fresh. So weird and charming. I want to watch it again just to watch her.
I saw it in a packed room at my local community movie theater, which felt like the perfect venue. Super-diverse crowd: age, gender, race, etc. But everyone seemed to really enjoy it, and people actually clapped and cheered at the end.
I do agree with the criticisms of the editing - I noticed at one point that there were a lot of close-ups, and I never notice editing choices.
When did the first trailer come out? it seems like they might have made some changes in response to the reactions to the trailer, like making Patty "smarter" and giving Holtzman more reaction shots. Not that I'm complaining about either.
I am way more bummed about the manbabies hating this film than I should be. But you know, I'm not surprised at all that misognynists hated it, because it was a pretty explicitly feminist film. And the last time I can remember being so entertained by a movie was Mad Max: Fury Road, so I guess I am really hungry for feminist-but-mainstream blockbusters with lots of female leads.
posted by lunasol at 12:48 PM on July 24, 2016 [10 favorites]
Slap*Happy, please feel free to continue writing more adorable Holtzmann fanfic. That snippet is way too short :D
posted by the thought-fox at 5:26 PM on July 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by the thought-fox at 5:26 PM on July 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Her character is the perfect successor to Harold Ramis’s Egon Spengler.
No no no no no no no. No. I hear the whiz of a bullet dodged, a nuTrek reboot with Petra Venkman and Reina Stantz.
The new team provides a new and completely different set of archetypes. Egon is a scientist, Holtzman is an engineer. I grew up thinking I was an Egon when clearly I'm an Erin.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 8:47 AM on July 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
No no no no no no no. No. I hear the whiz of a bullet dodged, a nuTrek reboot with Petra Venkman and Reina Stantz.
The new team provides a new and completely different set of archetypes. Egon is a scientist, Holtzman is an engineer. I grew up thinking I was an Egon when clearly I'm an Erin.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 8:47 AM on July 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
Oops: the first paragraph in my comment was quoting mbrubeck upthread.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 8:58 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 8:58 AM on July 25, 2016
Deoridhe: Holtzman as our (unofficial) first gay Ghostbuster
From Paul Feig's interview with The Daily Beast:
I saw this a while back and wanted to share it, for whatever it's worth. Maybe they can be a bit more open and overt about her sexuality, without making it a movie plot point or character development arc for someone else, like having her girlfriend drop by the station with some new gear that came in the mail or something.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:49 AM on July 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
From Paul Feig's interview with The Daily Beast:
I ask Feig: Is Holtzmann gay?As summarized by Pajiba: 'Ghostbuster' Holtzmann Is Totes Queer, Just Don't Ask Sony.
He pauses, smiling. “What do you think?”
I’d like to think yes, I say. He offers a grinning, silent nod. “I hate to be coy about it,” he offers. “But when you’re dealing with the studios and that kind of thing…” He shrugs apologetically.
I saw this a while back and wanted to share it, for whatever it's worth. Maybe they can be a bit more open and overt about her sexuality, without making it a movie plot point or character development arc for someone else, like having her girlfriend drop by the station with some new gear that came in the mail or something.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:49 AM on July 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
Jillian Holtzmann: queer as a salty parabola, she’s not here for straight people.
posted by rtha at 7:55 AM on July 26, 2016 [16 favorites]
Jillian Holtzmann. Jillian. Fucking. Holtzmann. The queerest thing I’ve seen on screen since I recruited my friends to help me move my furniture. And yet, I keep hearing that there’s some kind of ambiguity to her. That she’s not out. That there’s something coy about her presentation.This piece has been my favorite so far on this subject. And so many delightful .gifs!
Really? Really? Let’s sit ourselves down and have a look at this, shall we?
posted by rtha at 7:55 AM on July 26, 2016 [16 favorites]
Just watched it, had a great time. Not perfect but zippy and so much fun.
posted by PussKillian at 3:51 PM on July 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by PussKillian at 3:51 PM on July 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
We watched it again. I still really enjoyed it, but on the second watch, something just totally clicked for my beau, who is now over the moon about the movie as well. Something about the jokes and the reactions the second time through really resulted in a major lightbulb moment for him in terms of maximizing his enjoyment of the film.
posted by PearlRose at 1:32 PM on August 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by PearlRose at 1:32 PM on August 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
Okay it's a video of a video or something awful, but... Holtzman's dance scene yay.
posted by small_ruminant at 4:33 PM on August 2, 2016
posted by small_ruminant at 4:33 PM on August 2, 2016
Unfortunately, the movie doesn't seem to be doing well at the box office, if my understanding is correct. Not terrible, but not great, having pulled in $159M on a $144M budget, which doesn't include advertising costs.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:40 PM on August 2, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:40 PM on August 2, 2016
While it would have been gratifying for Ghostbusters to have been a huge blockbuster, I believe it performed respectably enough domestically, and once the international box office + merchandising + dvd/cable/streaming revenues are factored I'm sure Sony will have made back the budget including advertising.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:57 PM on August 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by oh yeah! at 5:57 PM on August 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
Part of the problem is that they anticipated this being a franchise, and kept their best ideas for Act II, and their best plot-and-character development for Act III. They had one shot, and it kind of felt like they already had the other two movies in the can, and we needed to see them as well to fully appreciate where they were going.
The Big Bad's ultimate form wasn't all that funny. If they kept Kevin, and they were conflicted about abusing his pretty-perfect form with their proton-packs, that would have been funny, hot, and perilous, hence dramatic. A goofy fat ghost straight out of Casper casting misses the point of the OG GB logo.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:03 PM on August 2, 2016
The Big Bad's ultimate form wasn't all that funny. If they kept Kevin, and they were conflicted about abusing his pretty-perfect form with their proton-packs, that would have been funny, hot, and perilous, hence dramatic. A goofy fat ghost straight out of Casper casting misses the point of the OG GB logo.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:03 PM on August 2, 2016
Just at a glance it seems to have done equivalently well to the other summer films in a year where no one summer film has really been the big one.
posted by Artw at 2:46 PM on August 3, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 2:46 PM on August 3, 2016 [2 favorites]
This means sequels! I am legit happy, as we have the proton packs, and now the traps and containment grids will be made cannon, and you know Patty is conversant in Toben's Spirit Guide in the original Middle English, and De Mysteris de Vermis in Latin and medieval German. The running joke will be that she "only" has an MA in History, as no-one will endorse her thesis on Vigo the Carpathian. Meanwhile, Kevin is actually a Doctor - he has a PhD in Theater Arts.
Holtzman has a Doctorate in Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, aka Woosta PI aka Whoopie!
Because no-one dared to tell her she flunked right up until she found Abbie. Well, apart from that one TA, but he wasn't on the tenure track anyway. He shan't be missed.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:02 PM on August 3, 2016
Holtzman has a Doctorate in Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, aka Woosta PI aka Whoopie!
Because no-one dared to tell her she flunked right up until she found Abbie. Well, apart from that one TA, but he wasn't on the tenure track anyway. He shan't be missed.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:02 PM on August 3, 2016
Oof. So we finally went to see the film after so many glowing reviews and media attention. Both of us left a little dead inside. It's difficult to separate politics from film. I wanted to like this film. It felt historic. But it just...fell short.
It seemed to suffer the fate of every reboot/summer blockbuster in that desire to play it safe, avoiding any joke that could possibly offend middle America, and relying on rehash of the franchise in order to get in a few quick, and only laughs. The production was limited too - the original film felt very New York, this felt like...sound stages and Boston?
Take away the references to Ghostbusters, and you basically have an Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore level film on SyFy.
posted by iamck at 8:35 AM on August 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
It seemed to suffer the fate of every reboot/summer blockbuster in that desire to play it safe, avoiding any joke that could possibly offend middle America, and relying on rehash of the franchise in order to get in a few quick, and only laughs. The production was limited too - the original film felt very New York, this felt like...sound stages and Boston?
Take away the references to Ghostbusters, and you basically have an Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore level film on SyFy.
posted by iamck at 8:35 AM on August 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Oh, and from scrolling through the trivia page on IMDB, apparently Bill Murray's character didn't die, because the tie-in Ghosts from Our Past book has him writing the forward talking about his medical bills from getting thrown out the window.
While there is such a foreword, and it certainly comes across that way, it's followed by an introduction by Erin and Abby that notes the inclusion of "a new foreword by an actual ghost." So it seems more likely that he's dead, but in denial?
posted by Shmuel510 at 8:37 AM on August 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
While there is such a foreword, and it certainly comes across that way, it's followed by an introduction by Erin and Abby that notes the inclusion of "a new foreword by an actual ghost." So it seems more likely that he's dead, but in denial?
posted by Shmuel510 at 8:37 AM on August 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Ha, that's great, a Bill Murray ghost that's in denial!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:08 AM on August 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:08 AM on August 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
He is skeptical of everything, including his own death.
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:15 AM on August 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:15 AM on August 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
I love Holtzmann. I love this movie. That is all. It made me very happy.
posted by limeonaire at 6:24 PM on August 5, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by limeonaire at 6:24 PM on August 5, 2016 [5 favorites]
Oh OK, also: How DapperQ is this crew? The fashion in this movie made this genderqueer geek girl think of every AskMe I've ever read about that set of styles. Much love. As a glasses-wearing gal, I also want every type of eyewear Holtzmann wears. I might finally have to replace my sunglasses frames.
posted by limeonaire at 6:29 PM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by limeonaire at 6:29 PM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
I just saw it, and I thought it was great, though I kind of hated the jumping down to save Abby bit at the end, because it was cheesy and weird and the CGI for that was unfuckingbelievably awful. I also wish Patty's knowledge of New York history had been more important to the whole thing. Other than that, I thought it was pretty great.
There were almost no men in the theater when I saw it, which I find pretty disappointing. Not that I blame the men of MeFi for that, but jesus christ, men in general, they've rebooted Batman and Spiderman like 3 times already, and you still go see those movies.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:50 PM on August 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
There were almost no men in the theater when I saw it, which I find pretty disappointing. Not that I blame the men of MeFi for that, but jesus christ, men in general, they've rebooted Batman and Spiderman like 3 times already, and you still go see those movies.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:50 PM on August 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
(I read the jump-into-the-pit bit as a straight-out parody of the end of Pacific Rim.)
posted by kaibutsu at 1:40 PM on August 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by kaibutsu at 1:40 PM on August 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
'Ghostbusters' Heading for $70M-Plus Loss, Sequel Unlikely
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:11 AM on August 10, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:11 AM on August 10, 2016
Gosh, who could have predicted that?
posted by entropicamericana at 9:25 AM on August 10, 2016
posted by entropicamericana at 9:25 AM on August 10, 2016
From that article:
"The studio has said break-even would be $300 million." (emphasis mine)
$300 million dollars? Just to break even?
posted by I-baLL at 12:53 PM on August 10, 2016
"The studio has said break-even would be $300 million." (emphasis mine)
$300 million dollars? Just to break even?
posted by I-baLL at 12:53 PM on August 10, 2016
Big budget effects films aren't cheap and then money needs to be spent marketing them.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:39 PM on August 10, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:39 PM on August 10, 2016
This article is pure speculation/spin. Granted, so is the previous one, but I like that one better.
(I note in passing that Holtzmann and Tolan action figures have been sold out everywhere I looked since shortly after the movie opened, and Mattel is shipping a new batch at the end of the week. And we haven't even gotten to licensed Halloween costumes yet... if you're going to count expenses beyond the cost of the film itself, you also ought to count revenue generated beyond theatrical ticket sales.)
posted by Shmuel510 at 7:46 PM on August 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
(I note in passing that Holtzmann and Tolan action figures have been sold out everywhere I looked since shortly after the movie opened, and Mattel is shipping a new batch at the end of the week. And we haven't even gotten to licensed Halloween costumes yet... if you're going to count expenses beyond the cost of the film itself, you also ought to count revenue generated beyond theatrical ticket sales.)
posted by Shmuel510 at 7:46 PM on August 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
Sure, what sort of numbers are you citing?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:44 PM on August 10, 2016
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:44 PM on August 10, 2016
Ya want numbers, try stoneweaver's article. Which doesn't have many, but then neither does the article at hand. (The article at hand even ends with a Sony rep saying that its thesis is a load of hooey, so, y'know.)
posted by Shmuel510 at 8:51 PM on August 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Shmuel510 at 8:51 PM on August 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
Sure, but the movie itself didn't do that great in its theatrical run, which puts everything else in a different light. A theme park in Dubai sounds odd if most of the film's money came from America.
I'm guessing it'll make a small profit, but will put the brakes on any studio handing Feig or McCarthy over $100M to make a movie.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:53 AM on August 11, 2016
I'm guessing it'll make a small profit, but will put the brakes on any studio handing Feig or McCarthy over $100M to make a movie.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:53 AM on August 11, 2016
All I keep thinking is "Slow and steady wins the race." Given the predictions that 2018 will be the year that the 'blockbuster bubble' bursts, maybe it's for the best if the studio doesn't rush a sequel into the fray to get clobbered by the glut of tent pole sequels on the way. They can continue making money off of the merchandising and then in a few years after a bunch of other supposedly sure things have flopped, someone will point out that Ghostbusters has been chugging along fine and is a safe bet for another go.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:27 AM on August 11, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by oh yeah! at 9:27 AM on August 11, 2016 [3 favorites]
Given preorders for DVDs, toy sales and continued box office earnings she thinks it's going about exactly as well as it needs to in order to launch a franchise.
Good to know! Did she have any specific numbers about DVDs or toy sales?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:30 PM on August 12, 2016
Good to know! Did she have any specific numbers about DVDs or toy sales?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:30 PM on August 12, 2016
All I know is that last time I looked on Amazon you could still get the action figures for three of the Ghostbusters at a reasonable rate and with Prime shipping. Holtzmann, though, is basically sold out, costs $29.99 a pop from 3rd-party vendors, and with no free shipping.
I'm just sayin' is all.
posted by komara at 12:41 PM on August 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm just sayin' is all.
posted by komara at 12:41 PM on August 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
No, no, that's all good, I'm curious about movie box office usually and NuGhostbusters even more so, especially with that Hollywood Reporter article headlining that its a flop, even as it notes Sony executives saying that DVD preorders and toy sales are doing good. So is THR actively maliciously spreading crap or just trying to fill space? I couldn't find anything that gave specifics about toys or DVD pre-orders (hence the asking), so things get more curious.
I liked the film, and the end teaser about Zule sounds promising, so not getting a sequel is disappointing.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:06 PM on August 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
I liked the film, and the end teaser about Zule sounds promising, so not getting a sequel is disappointing.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:06 PM on August 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
Holtzmann, though, is basically sold out, costs $29.99 a pop from 3rd-party vendors, and with no free shipping.
Good news on that front, if you've been wanting one: the new batch is available for preorder from Mattel, which presumably means it'll be coming back into stock elsewhere as well?
posted by Shmuel510 at 1:23 PM on August 12, 2016
Good news on that front, if you've been wanting one: the new batch is available for preorder from Mattel, which presumably means it'll be coming back into stock elsewhere as well?
posted by Shmuel510 at 1:23 PM on August 12, 2016
After tumbling it around in my mind for a while, what's missing from GB16 is consequences. In GB84, the characters get booted from academia, and have to scrounge for money. There are multiple scenes of them barely scraping by. It's implied that they spend months or years getting their business up and running, and then Bill Murray's character gets their whole operation shut down just by being a bit of a dick to the wrong person.
In GB16, the characters break a lot of things. [spoiler] Erin directly causes Bill Murray's character's death, and there are zero consequences. Erin doesn't even suffer a moment of guilt. They never seem worried about money, even as they're building devices out of expensive materials. [more spoiler] In the ending, somehow all of the damage to New York is miraculously undone.
Oh wow this.
I just saw this last night and there was some vague thing missing that I couldn't quite identify - it was fun, I liked it, but as I left the theater I told the friend who came with me that there was some kind of thing I couldn't put my finger on that I had missed - I admitted that it was "the writer in me" who was missing it, mainly, and that it wasn't a dealbreaker and I still liked it But it was driving me crazy trying to think how to phrase it.
I'd thought it was more of a "character arc" we needed - because Kristen Wiig seemed to jump almost immediately from "I haven't spoken to you in 12 years and your reviving the book we wrote is busting my chances at tenure" to "whee lemme chase ghosts with you". And Melissa McCarthy jumps right from "you betrayed me you betraying betrayer" to "yay let's work together". Even the scene with Wiig losing tenure is gone in a cough and a spit and the very next scene she's at Ghostbusters HQ and isn't worried about "my career is trashed how am I gonna make rent" or anything like that.
Stuff just sort of happens, there doesn't seem to be much of a character arc for anyone. Except the bad guy.
That said - I loved the dialogue, I loved how nearly the entire movie passes the Bechdel test, and I loved Holtzman and Patty, and you KNOW that if a demon showed up at a metal concert that that is exactly how things would go down.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:05 AM on August 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
In GB16, the characters break a lot of things. [spoiler] Erin directly causes Bill Murray's character's death, and there are zero consequences. Erin doesn't even suffer a moment of guilt. They never seem worried about money, even as they're building devices out of expensive materials. [more spoiler] In the ending, somehow all of the damage to New York is miraculously undone.
Oh wow this.
I just saw this last night and there was some vague thing missing that I couldn't quite identify - it was fun, I liked it, but as I left the theater I told the friend who came with me that there was some kind of thing I couldn't put my finger on that I had missed - I admitted that it was "the writer in me" who was missing it, mainly, and that it wasn't a dealbreaker and I still liked it But it was driving me crazy trying to think how to phrase it.
I'd thought it was more of a "character arc" we needed - because Kristen Wiig seemed to jump almost immediately from "I haven't spoken to you in 12 years and your reviving the book we wrote is busting my chances at tenure" to "whee lemme chase ghosts with you". And Melissa McCarthy jumps right from "you betrayed me you betraying betrayer" to "yay let's work together". Even the scene with Wiig losing tenure is gone in a cough and a spit and the very next scene she's at Ghostbusters HQ and isn't worried about "my career is trashed how am I gonna make rent" or anything like that.
Stuff just sort of happens, there doesn't seem to be much of a character arc for anyone. Except the bad guy.
That said - I loved the dialogue, I loved how nearly the entire movie passes the Bechdel test, and I loved Holtzman and Patty, and you KNOW that if a demon showed up at a metal concert that that is exactly how things would go down.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:05 AM on August 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
I finally got to see this (at a cute little theater on Kauai with POG slushies!)
What I felt at the end: wow, isn't it great that I got to watch a big action comedy movie where there are women leads who are allowed to be human beings?!
posted by R343L at 2:39 AM on August 21, 2016 [6 favorites]
What I felt at the end: wow, isn't it great that I got to watch a big action comedy movie where there are women leads who are allowed to be human beings?!
posted by R343L at 2:39 AM on August 21, 2016 [6 favorites]
I had to go and watch a Kate McKinnon video on YT to find out if the voice she used in Ghostbusters was her own or whether she was trying something else because, and this might have been the highlight for me weirdly, when she was talking normally she sounded exactly like Christine Baranski.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 3:08 PM on August 25, 2016
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 3:08 PM on August 25, 2016
Finally saw it last night, will catch up on the thread, just wanted to confirm that Kate McKinnon definitely made me more queer. Kudos, ma'am, I will DM you my number.
posted by palomar at 7:54 AM on August 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by palomar at 7:54 AM on August 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
McCarthy is much more subdued in this than in her previous comedies.
I loved her performance. She had a very amusing way of taking everything just a little more seriously than everyone else, which seemed really true to her character. (An example that stands out is the way when the delivery guy brings her a container of soup stuffed full of won tons, she doesn't laugh or rejoice or acknowledge that he's trying to show gratitude. She just exasperatedly points out it's still wrong, it's still not what she ordered.)
posted by straight at 3:37 PM on September 27, 2016 [3 favorites]
I loved her performance. She had a very amusing way of taking everything just a little more seriously than everyone else, which seemed really true to her character. (An example that stands out is the way when the delivery guy brings her a container of soup stuffed full of won tons, she doesn't laugh or rejoice or acknowledge that he's trying to show gratitude. She just exasperatedly points out it's still wrong, it's still not what she ordered.)
posted by straight at 3:37 PM on September 27, 2016 [3 favorites]
Just saw from a Leslie Jones re-tweet that there's an extended edition out now on digital. Thought I saw a few unfamiliar gifsets floating around.
posted by oh yeah! at 4:57 PM on September 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by oh yeah! at 4:57 PM on September 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
All right, so I preordered the extended edition, and while I enjoy the additions, they changed Holtzmann's line about eating Pringles. It's now "once you pop..." instead of anything about salty parabolas.
What. Why. Put it back.
posted by rewil at 6:59 AM on October 6, 2016 [4 favorites]
What. Why. Put it back.
posted by rewil at 6:59 AM on October 6, 2016 [4 favorites]
All these flavors and they chose -salty- strict adherence to the established branding strategy?
posted by radwolf76 at 9:31 AM on October 6, 2016
posted by radwolf76 at 9:31 AM on October 6, 2016
they changed Holtzmann's line about eating Pringles. It's now "once you pop..." instead of anything about salty parabolas.
I think a bunch of geeks rightly pointed out that Holtzmann wouldn't refer to a 3-dimensional object as a parabola.
posted by straight at 11:02 AM on October 6, 2016
I think a bunch of geeks rightly pointed out that Holtzmann wouldn't refer to a 3-dimensional object as a parabola.
posted by straight at 11:02 AM on October 6, 2016
Ah but then the line of her bite as it intersects with the plane of the chip forms a parabola, so that's just overly literal thinking, that is. Besides, it's about the delivery.
posted by rewil at 10:54 PM on October 13, 2016
posted by rewil at 10:54 PM on October 13, 2016
Technically she should have called it a paraboloid.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 2:44 PM on October 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Elementary Penguin at 2:44 PM on October 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Upon careful study of Pringles, I've decided they are actually hyperboloids.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 6:00 AM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Elementary Penguin at 6:00 AM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
You're better at math than I am- all I figured out is that the Salt and Vinegar ones are delicious.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:16 AM on October 26, 2016
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:16 AM on October 26, 2016
@JaneEspenson: I did it! I did it! I built a Pringles ringle! No glue, just physics.
posted by Lexica at 9:26 AM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Lexica at 9:26 AM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
I *finally* saw this last night and adored it. Warm, happy fun. And Kate McKinnon is everything.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 12:07 PM on May 9, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by DrAstroZoom at 12:07 PM on May 9, 2017 [4 favorites]
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He gets the tone of the film exactly right, not getting bogged down with trying to explain the plot or character details, while wallowing any technobabble for the sheer joy. The story is efficiently told, with various funny bits are sprinkled everywhere. Not all of them land, but that doesn't matter because there's going to another one or two in a minute and they'll probably be to your liking.
McCarthy and Wig are the obvious stars, with the emotional development and weight of the movie centered around their relationship. But McKinnon and Jones easily carry their own weight, with McKinnon damn near stealing every scene she's in. Seriously, EVERY SCENE.
The four leads bounce off each other very well comedy wise and its a sheer delight to watch them work. Chris Hemsworth is also really good in a 'dumb blonde' type role and he just hits it out of the park, his comedic timing and sense is great.
If there's any complaints, it's that the cameos from the 1984 original feel slightly heavy handed at times and a bit shoe horned in. It's not bad and it's great to see everyone, but those scenes do slow the pace of the movie slightly and awkwardly.
My other minor complaint, as black male, is that of the character of Patty, played by Leslie Jones. I wish it had been slightly more developed or the character had a few more minutes of screen time. Jones plays the role well, using her large personality, but toned down a few notches, to imbue Patty with a warm intelligence that left me wanting a bit, just because the character was done so well. But you could also say the same about McKinnon's character, so overall this is a good problem to be having.
Finally, as to the whole "my god, women are in the title roles of a reboot originally starting men," so what. I'm a huge fan of the original, and believe its a solid film that's held up really well. This reboot doesn't diminish it at all, not a single bit. I'm far from the most intelligent and sophisticated person when it comes to feminism and women's roles in film, but there are several scenes at the end that I think will really hit home with a lot of women. Particularly the images of the women behaving like superheroes. It's not overdone or gimmicky, it's feels exactly right and solidly done and it's hard not imagine that some young girls will see these women doing incredible things and being badass and think "hey, I can do that!"
So yes, go see the film, it's a good summer blockbuster that manages to have a heart and keep itself fun. And yeah, stay for the after credits scene!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:35 PM on July 14, 2016 [31 favorites]