Tag Archives: ghostbusters

Movie Moive Podcast #68: Summer 2016 By The Numbers

suicidesquad

It’s the end of summer, and the days are hot, so why not cool off with the Movie Movie Podcast? It’s the perfect way to end your summer, huddled up near the fire pit, like some alternate season Christmas Night, listening to our voices. Sorry for the intro, messed up recording this one eh? Join Alex, Russ Peter and myself and we recount all of summer 2016 at the movies, talking about Suicide Squad, Star Trek: Beyond, Kubo and the Two Strings, Ghostbusters, TMNT 2, Independence Day: Resurgence, Jason Bourne, Pete’s Dragon, Swiss Army Man, Don’t Breathe, Don’t Think Twice, Popster: Never Stop Never Stopping, The Shallows, Purge: Elections Year, Final Fantasy Kingsglave, X-Men: Apocalypse, Lights Out, Sausage Party, Finding Dory, Now You See Me 2, Central Intelligence and more on this episode of the Movie Movie Podcast. Recorded August 20th 2016. 

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The Watch Ads & The Winston Treatment

Now I’m never one to cry racism (ok yes I am), but I just saw a new television ad for The Watch and it pissed me off.  This is a film, that based off of the talent behind the camera, and the second trailer, and the inclusion of Richard Ayoade as a lead character, has me very curious.  Yes it has Stiller and Vaughn in it, but this could be good.

Anyway what pissed me off was that it was one of those 30 second spots where in large font, they show the last name of one of the principal leads, and then a funny moment from that actor.  The ad starts as you would expect with STILLER. then VAUGHN. then HILL.  then it ends.  No AYOADE.  Why wouldn’t Ayoade get the big font tv ad treatment, if 3/4ths of the stars of the film get it?  If your response is that he is not a household name like them, I guess I can agree, but why would he get billing in the trailer and not in the tv ad?  Seems inconsistent.  Also it just seems weird that you would highlight 3 members of a 4 member ensemble.

Simple solution:  Give them all the big font treatment or none of them.

This shit happened with Ghostbusters and as a person of color, I guess these are the sorts of things that you notice in marketing.  Winston  (Ernie Hudson) had nothing to do with any of the ads, posters, promotional material, or videogames.  He was a main character of a franchise that you would have never known was even in it because that is how it was sold.  I don’t doubt the filmmakers just make the film they want without much concern over being exclusionary, but the directors don’t make the ads.  Marketers do.

I’m putting you on notice The Watch marketers.  Ya kinda being racially insensitive, but I’m still gonna see this movie cause it could be good, and could put Ayoade in a much better place in the US, and that’s a win for everyone.

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Ghostbusters 3 and Why Wont They Stop!

When I was a kid, Ghostbusters was my favorite movie, cartoon, and toy line, by a wide margin.  My older brother was a Transformers/Voltron guy, and I transitioned right from Care Bears ( I WAS YOUNG!) to Ghostbusters.  I thought it was kinda spooky, funny, and cool all rolled into one property.  I even loved the sequel Ghostbusters 2 because there was more Slimer, slime in general, and I was part of the Nickelodeon generation, so I was REALLY into anything that was slimy.  Weird, but I was.  Anyway, as I’ve grown older, I realized a few things: The Ghostbusters cartoon was kinda shitty because it was Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters, not the Ghostbusters, and that second movie was retarded.  It was great for a kid, but it really has no staying power.  It also infuriates me that G2 is on Netflix streaming but not G1.

Now every few months, we get word from Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd that their new script for G3 is going to be great.  I am sorry but Ramis hasn’t written or directed anything decent since Analyze This.  I don’t even consider it a good film, but I will admit that it largely was considered good.  And Aykroyd hasn’t written or directed anything good since the first Ghostbusters, so I don’t have a lot of faith in these two shepherding a new film in the series even if its with the assistance of two writers from The Office.  Basically, I don’t want this movie to be made.

Bill Murray seems to be the only person in Hollywood on my side.  I trust his opinion and think he’s one of the smartest working comedic actors maybe ever.  He has range, talent, and knows how to avoid a shitty project for the most part.  He hasn’t liked any of the scripts, or rewrites thus far and said that he doesn’t want to do it unless the script is perfect.  If that is the case I think two of the following things should happen:

1) stop trying to make this movie.  Bill Murray is the big gun of the series and it doesn’t seem like he’s dying to get back to it, so just don’t do it.  Moving ahead without him means we’ll get a Ghostbusters: The Next Generation and I don’t want that either without a proper torch passing.  I can live without seeing Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel as new Busters with Aykroyd playing their boss.  Trust me that’s what it will be.

2) Bring Bill into the writers room.  I know he doesn’t really write as much as he just acts, but his take on what should happen should be the most important thing at this point.  If you don’t believe me, look at his IMDB credits for the last 15 years and then look at everyone else’s.  Game. Set. Match.

I want to see a Ghostbusters 3 movie in my lifetime, but only if it’s perfect.  I don’t need to see a threequel 25 years later that could have just been Evolution 2, and that’s the feeling I get from everything I’ve heard thus far.  I hate what happens to franchises that just get licensed and sequeled to no end.  Terminator 1 and 2 are perfect, but the franchise has been run through the ringer with T3, Salvation, and the Sarah Connor Chronicles that it doesn’t hold the weight that it used to and in your mind Terminator is just like anything else not. No longer a standard bearer.  Ghostbusters would end up having the same thing happen if quality is not put into the script.  They’ll probably make the next one with a trilogy in mind and then we’ll go from one great film, decent sequel and cartoon, to one great film, decent sequel, decent cartoon, and shitty trilogy.  I can live without the latter.  Can’t you?

 

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