Good news. My childhood has not been ruined. It is safe and secure.
And to quote the great 21st century philosopher Taylor Swift, “Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.”
I do not believe that I have ever come across a movie that created such a whirlwind storm of hatred before it was ever seen than the reboot version of Ghostbusters.
The hatred began when it was announced that Paul Feig would be directing a reboot of the 1984 classic Ghostbusters featuring an all female cast. This news was received poorly as some misogynists hid their hatred for the idea of all-female cast behind cries of an unnecessary sequel and claims that this would ruin childhood memories.
Then came the trailers. Whoever put together this marketing plan for Sony needs to be fired immediately. The trailers were terrible. Immediately, the haters jumped on these terrible trailers as a way to hide their misogyny. And those people who did not mind the casting of four females taking over had to chose their words carefully so as not to upset the feminists who believed the haters were all the same.
However, surprise, surprise… the reviews started coming out for the new Ghostbusters and they were actually pretty good. Many people were saying that the movie was nowhere as bad as it had looked. Even the negative reviews were saying that it was okay. It was certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes at 74%.
But that did not deter the haters. They simply dug their heels in and continued to claim that this movie was shit, and that anyone who would give the movie a positive review were bowing to pressure of the feminists (kind of like how Marvel was “buying” off the critics to give Batman v. Superman negative reviews). I read some YouTube comments on the Schmoes Know movie review of the film and there were so many idiotic comments, spewing vitriol and venom at anyone who might like the film. One woman made a sensible and intelligent comment and she was chastised and berated for it. And many of these hate-filled comments were from posters who had not yet seen the movie.
Now, let me say this… if you have seen this movie (with an open mind) and you hate it, that is your prerogative. Everybody has the right to their subjective opinions when it comes to movies. If you saw the trailers and decided that the movie looked like shit and chose not to see it, that is also okay. I have not seen certain movies that I do not think I would enjoy.
However, if you have not seen this movie, then you cannot, under any circumstances, say that the movie IS shit. That is completely unfair. There have been all kinds of movies that the trailers looked terrible, but the movie was awesome. Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise springs to mind. You may think it looks terrible, but without seeing it, you cannot claim it is terrible. So many of the YouTube posters, who fall back on anonymity, are in this category of people.
Now, with that out of the way, I went to the IMAX 3D version of Ghostbusters today with an open mind and no expectations.
And I really enjoyed this movie.
Let the hate commence.
I found this movie very funny. The chemistry between the four main actresses (Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Lesley Jones) is off the charts exceptional. You believe they are friends and you connect with them because of that chemistry. The first 45-60 minutes of the movie are fantastic. I was amazed how engaged that I was during that first part of the film. The CGI is very good, and the ghosts looked fabulous. The dialogue was very clever and quick-witted, especially with the interactions with McCarthy and Wiig.
Lesley Jones, who looked to be easily the worst from the trailers, was probably my favorite character here. She was incredibly funny and engaging. She fit in with the group extremely well, and the character made sense. Way more sense than Ernie Hudson joining the original team did. She was an expert in New York City and her knowledge was vitally important to the story.
The story was pretty simplistic, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. If this tried to be too complex, I think the humor would have bogged down and would not have worked as well.
Chris Hemsworth was great here. He played the bumbling, downright dumb Kevin, the receptionist. I have heard a couple of different ideas about Hemsworth. Some people thought he was a stand out with great comedic timing. Others thought that his act wore thin because he seemed to be cartoon-like stupid that it took them out of the film. I can see both arguments, but, for me, I laughed ever time Kevin did something stupid, so it obviously did not bother me.
There was also an outcry that every male character in the film was portrayed as stupid and some have indicated that there may be a reverse sexism going on. Some have said that there would be an outcry if the receptionist was a blonde woman shown to be as stupid as Kevin was shown. That might have some validity to it, but I would argue that none of the characters of the film were shown in depth enough to make that judgment, except for the four main leads and Kevin.
Another point of contention I have heard is the character of Holtzmann, played by SNL alumni and recent Emmy nominee Kate McKinnon. Some people thought she stole every scene she was in while others believed that she was acting in a different movie and her cartoon-like performance hampered the film. Again, to me, I would come in somewhere between these arguments. I thought she was fine for what she was supposed to be. Her character was meant to be over-the-top and borderline crazy, and that was what I got. I did believe that she was capable of creating the Ghostbuster weaponry though, which was her main role in this film. Because I believed that she was goofy enough to make this work, I did not mind her.
The end credits were a lot of fun, and there was a post credits scene. This was the best credits I think I had ever seen. I really enjoyed the way they spliced material into the credits, including a great dance scene from Chris Hemsworth. This was brazenly original and creative and I hope more films follow this example.
Now, this is not to say that I thought this was a perfect film. Actually, there were several issues I had with the movie.
The biggest of these issues was the flow of the film was interrupted throughout by cameos and throwbacks to the original Ghostbusters. A few of these little “Easter Eggs” would be fun, but it seemed like these were coming full steam constantly. If it was not a cameo by one of the cast of the original (they were all here, except for Rick Moranis), it was a shot that came directly from the first film, or it was a line of dialogue from the script. A little bit of this would have been clever, but they beat the horse to death with it, over and over again. I really believe the film felt like it was paying homage to the Ghostbusters legacy, but instead it was only taking away from itself as a film. Honestly, only a few of these homages even worked where as most of these felt shoehorned/force fed into the story. They simply drew attention away from what they were trying to do.
The villain of this movie was also REALLY weak. There was nothing to this character at all. Rowan North (Neil Casey) was an interesting looking person, and he delivered some effectively creepy lines of dialogue, but there is absolutely zero story behind who he is, where he came from or why he was doing what he was doing. I don’t need a ton of information on the villain but a little bit allows the viewer to understand and maybe even emphasize with the villain as well. There was none of that. Calling Rowan a one-note character is even a stretch. He was simply a bad guy.
The ending sequence turned into nothing more than a large CGI spotfest. The action was not compelling or interesting. There were very few real stakes involved and seemed just to be here for a large scale finale light show. Each Ghostbuster was able to show off their fighting skills (which apparently they have) and the spotlight was passed around nicely, but there was little to care about here. Honestly, the thing I cared about most was “would Kevin make it out safely?”. That shouldn’t have been the first thought in my mind.
I came out of Ghostbusters thinking that this was a really good time at the theater. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie, and I am very glad that it was able to prove the haters wrong. Of course, there will still be plenty of people who think this is garbage, despite not seeing it, and to those people, I feel sorry.
This is nowhere as good as the original film, but I would go on record as saying I think this is better than Ghostbusters 2.
3.6 stars
To me there is no bigger snub than this one. Bates Motel has been quietly one of the best shows on television, bar none. The show itself should have been nominated in Best Drama, but I could almost live without that… but 
Especially with the shocking end to this season. I would also throw into the consideration for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 
Jessica Jones was a special series on Netflix. It was more than a superhero show. In fact, you could remove the superpowers of Jessica Jones and you could still have a tremendous show about a damaged woman trying to move on with her life after being a victim. The superpowers were just a part of the story. And Krysten Ritter played Jessica Jones’ suffering and her alcoholic PTSD to the tee. Her relationship with Luke Cage was fun and uncensored. There were so many things that Emmy voters look for in this series that the only thing that makes sense is that this is a comic book series and they do not get nominations from the stuck in the mud Emmy voters.
Netflix show that has been ignored by Emmy voters. There was absolutely no excuse for Vincent D’Onofrio to be skipped over last year for his role as Wilson Fisk. So many layers… and David Tennent is arguably even better. Kilgrave was essentially a rapist, yet before the end of the season, you found yourself rooting for him, understanding the pain and the desires the Purple Man had. Tennent was tremendous and deserved an Emmy nod.
I dare you to watch Daredevil Season 2 Episode 4 with Frank Castle confessing his sins to Daredevil at the cemetery and not get the feels. 
My supporting actor in a drama category would look very different than the one that the Emmys rolled out because I would have had to have included Christian Slater from Mr. Robot. The basis behind the biggest mystery of the first season, “Who is Mr. Robot”, Slater was spot on for every moment. Though it is great that Slater’s scene partner Rami Malek receive a nomination and the series got one too, Slater was so vital to bring this series to life that ignoring him was criminal.
She did win the Golden Globe. That just goes to show how little the Academy thinks of the Golden Globes. Replacing divine diva Jessica Lange was a huge challenge, but Lady Gaga impressed people with her vampiric vamping and the drastic bloodlust (literally) from American Horror Story: Hotel.
The Netflix series is another one that has had up and down seasons, but this seasons penultimate episode featuring Poussey was one of the best hours of television this season. Why would the Emmys ignore this heart wrenching episode with the great performance by fan favorite 
#10. Gary Burghoff. Radar on MASH was a very solid panelist and even sat in on the third seat when Charles Nelson Reilly was gone.
#9. Nipsey Russell. Nipsey would always give a little rhyme when he was on. As an African America during the 1970s, many of the jokes were not always racially appropriate. However, he was always funny, and extremely quick witted.
#8. Joyce Bulifant. Joyce would usually sit in the bottom right seat (the final seat) and she would give some of the funniest, albeit, worst answers on the panel. She acted fairly ditzy, but she was sharper than what she seemed.
#7. Patti Deustch. Another woman who was in that bottom right seat (the “weirdo” seat as Gene Rayburn would say) and the jokes were directed toward some of the wild answers she would write. Some might argue that she was playing a character for the show, as some of her other appearances on other shows might indicate.
#6. Elaine Joyce. Another of the pretty women who seemed to be more than what they appeared. Elaine was very flirtatious with the males of Match Game.
#5. McLean Stevenson. Formerly Lt. Col. Henry Blake from MASH, McLean Stevenson made many appearances on Match Game. In fact, there were a couple of times when McLean took over for Gene Rayburn on a spur of the moment and ran the show (Gene took McLean’s seat.)
#4. Betty White. Betty was the other panelist to step into Gene’s shoes, showing off her hosting chops. She was also one of the funniest panelists around. She imitated Charles one episode which was a riot. Her one liners with Brett were also fantastic. Betty White has always brought class, and, even here, it was no exception.
#3. Brett Somers. One of the regulars, always seated in the middle of the top row, Brett was always a hoot. She had an amazing chemistry with Charles and Gene and her smart remarks were almost as enjoyable as her loud and joyous laughter. She was never afraid to be the butt of the jokes either.
#2. Richard Dawson. Probably the best player on the show, virtually all the contestants wanted to do the Super Match with Richard. It became so much of an issue, the show instituted a “Star Wheel” so other panelists might have a chance to play as well. Richard was charming and funny and he would go on to be an iconic host of Family Feud.
#4. 
#2. 
This video was eerie and heartbreaking as Reynolds, who was at first clearly in shock, narrated the event as her boyfriend died in the seat beside her. She said that the officer had told them to put their hands in the air, that he had asked for license and registration and that the officer shot Castile as he reached for his license from his wallet. According to Reynolds, Castile had told the officer that he had a hand gun, and she had said that he had a license to carry.
