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starman · Jul 16, 2016, 04:26 AM

Saw it last night. Laughed my ass off. It makes me realize that:

1) The internet is full of jerks (but we knew that)
2) The marketing for the movie was awful.

subego · Jul 16, 2016, 07:02 AM

Purely in terms of how the movie has been received up to this point, I may be inclined to reorder those observations.

andi*pandi · Jul 16, 2016, 11:31 AM

glad to hear it doesn't suck! I am looking forward to it, but the trailers were not... inspiring.

Cap'n Tightpants · Jul 16, 2016, 11:34 AM

I saw it, makes me realize some people are too easily amused. Very mediocre film.

subego · Jul 16, 2016, 11:49 AM

I assess a high probability to this being put in the "rental" pile.

Cap'n Tightpants · Jul 16, 2016, 11:54 AM

It's a Netflix watch, at best... after you've caught up on the rest of your queue. If the Keystone Cops is your thing, you might gets some chuckles out of it.

'Ghostbusters' reboot a horrifying mess | Chicago Sun-Times

I don't think it's quite that bad, I'd give it 2/5, but it's not a patch on the OG.

subego · Jul 16, 2016, 12:04 PM

I think the main draw for me is to judge other people's opinions about it.

starman · Jul 16, 2016, 01:03 PM

76% on Rotten Tomatoes means that no matter where you look, you're always going to find someone that didn't like it. And Roeper isn't someone I agree with often.

And yes, a sequel is coming. Stay to the very end.

P · Jul 16, 2016, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by Cap'n Tightpants

I don't think it's quite that bad, I'd give it 2/5, but it's not a patch on the OG.

Few things are that good, to be honest - in particular, it still holds up all these years later. Recently I've noticed that several seventies comedies in particular feel extremely old-fashioned and not funny at all.

It seems to me that all the comedies that make laugh lately are the ones that come from an unexpected direction. A remake of an eighties movie is unlikely to be that.

subego · Jul 16, 2016, 09:00 PM

I don't see many movies anymore, and I'm sure there's one or two in the interim I'm missing, but the last really funny movie I can think of is Little Miss Sunshine.

Wait... Deadpool was ****in hilarious.

ort888 · Jul 18, 2016, 06:04 PM

I took my kid who is a big fan of all things Ghostbusters.

It was decent. Not great but not terrible.

The first half moved way too slow and the second half moved way too fast.

All of the actiony bits were super lame. This doesn't need to be a cool action movie. Also, way too many gags revolve around falling down.

I could have done without all of the extra gadgets and weapons. Felt really unnecessary and dumb.

That said, the characters were all very well done. Believable and they had good chemistry.

Cap'n Tightpants · Jul 18, 2016, 11:51 PM

I find it comical that the press is calling its $46M bow "solid", in light of its $150M budget (and not even "scaring"-up the #1 spot for the weekend). For 1984 that would have been great, but given how front-loaded ticket sales are nowadays, that's a disaster.

starman · Jul 19, 2016, 12:08 AM

Yeah, you can blame the asshat haters for that.

subego · Jul 19, 2016, 06:03 AM

I'm going to blame a painfully shitty trailer.

Captain Obvious · Jul 19, 2016, 08:23 AM

Yeah this is on "to see" list right after Will Smith's Karate Kid and Micheal Keaton's Robocop.
I'd been more apt to have cared if it was a sequel rather than a remake. That bait was palatable enough to work for Independance Day 2.

If Ghostbusters could't make it to number one last weekend it has no hope from here on out against another Star Trek and Ice Age film and then a Bourne movie after that.

subego · Jul 19, 2016, 08:30 AM

Unprompted by the mention, I was just musing about the "programming" sequence from the original Robocop.

"Lose the arm."

****, that was a good movie.

Cap'n Tightpants · Jul 19, 2016, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by starman

Yeah, you can blame the asshat haters for that.

Bull. There wouldn't have been "haters" if the trailers weren't so awful. It's obvious there was no love for the old film in the new one.

starman · Jul 19, 2016, 11:38 AM

The trailers were terrible. But if you think that the audience at large don't hate the movie because women are in it, or because a black woman is in it, I really think you should take a look at the shit that Leslie Jones had to put up with on Twitter yesterday. It made news. It was disgusting. That's today's audience. It's not about "love for Ghostbusters", etc., it's about how disgusting people can be to someone.

subego · Jul 19, 2016, 11:54 AM

One of the reasons the trailers were so infuriating is I'm a fan of all of them except for Leslie Jones. With her, I'm just not familiar with her work. She was crappy in the trailers, but so was everyone.

Cap'n Tightpants · Jul 20, 2016, 12:19 AM

^^ Leslie Jones was so upset she even got caught trolling herself, before she went back minutes later and deleted the tweet. I understand, she has multiple accounts and got confused, shit happens. Right?

Then there's this DM she accidentally posted publicly. Oops.

No, people don't hate the film due to "the wimmins", they hate it because it's a reboot that was hamfistedly handled without a single thought to the huge following the original has. They could have simply made it a sequel, said the women were daughters or nieces of the original team, include some of the originals giving advice, maybe had Ray help them build the containment grid or something. Even better, have him hand over the keys to the original Ecto 1, like a passing of the torch. That would have been a blockbuster and paid respect to the franchise and the fans. You'd have grown men crying in the theater, turning them instant supporters. But no, Feig's an idiot and decided to just take a big shit on the whole thing, purposely trying to piss off fandom. Well, as you can see, that didn't work out so well for him, Sony, or the cast, did it?

osiris · Jul 20, 2016, 11:48 AM

Red Letter Media/Half In The Bag tore a new one on Ghostbusters 2016.... I kinda trust these guys enough to not waste my money at the theater. This movie sounds awful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUEK...F5F9B8&index=1

subego · Jul 20, 2016, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by Cap'n Tightpants

They could have simply made it a sequel, said the women were daughters or nieces of the original team...

One of the complaints I've heard is the reboot choice forced much time being spent explaining why everything is like it was in the original.

If it was a sequel, there'd be no reason to explain why a proton pack looks like a proton pack, why they have a hearse, etc.

Same person also commented you could then have people in the movie not want female Ghostbusters, because to them the iconic Ghostbusters are male, and get all meta with it.

Cap'n Tightpants · Jul 20, 2016, 01:29 PM

A 70% Sat>Mon drop.

Wow. Even dead cats bounce higher than that. It's said that well over $250M has been spent producing and promoting this film...

Stogieman · Jul 21, 2016, 12:18 AM

Those Kobe commercials don't come cheap.

Waragainstsleep · Jul 21, 2016, 09:08 PM

Ghostbusters would be a good title to follow Pokemon Go into augmented reality.

andi*pandi · Jul 25, 2016, 10:41 AM

Saw it with a crowd of 8, we all enjoyed it immensely. Only a few flat moments for me, the rest was pure fun. I enjoyed all the cameos from the original cast. The opening ghost... that was great.

Cap'n Tightpants · Jul 25, 2016, 02:15 PM

Going to take some luck for it to break even (at 75% of BO gross). Not met anyone in RL who truly loved it, the vast majority are other "meh" voters.

andi*pandi · Jul 25, 2016, 02:36 PM

the theater we were in was full on a sunday night. Summer's not over.

Gearhead40 · Jul 25, 2016, 04:09 PM

Not my cup of tea but glad you enjoyed it!

besson3c · Jul 27, 2016, 05:28 PM

This movie passes this test, which is pretty rare:

Reverse Bechdel: Introduction to Reverse Bechdel

starman · Jul 27, 2016, 10:35 PM

Bechdel test is a useless piece of garbage.

besson3c · Jul 27, 2016, 10:59 PM

Originally Posted by starman

Bechdel test is a useless piece of garbage.

Okay!

osiris · Jul 28, 2016, 08:15 AM

Originally Posted by starman

Bechdel test is a useless piece of garbage.

Apparently a woman created it. I'm just guessing here (based on the requirements of the test), so don't hold me to it.

P · Jul 28, 2016, 08:33 AM

The Bechdel test was never intended as a serious test to classify movies. It literally started as the punchline in a cartoon strip:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test

That it is being used as a serious test is meant as a commentary on the formulaic movies we get these days.

osiris · Jul 28, 2016, 08:35 AM

interesting.

besson3c · Jul 28, 2016, 08:36 AM

Originally Posted by P

The Bechdel test was never intended as a serious test to classify movies. It literally started as the punchline in a cartoon strip:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test

That it is being used as a serious test is meant as a commentary on the formulaic movies we get these days.

Which is why I was really thrown by starman's really aggressive, declarative statement. I just found the test amusing, and it does seem to be accurate in that there are many movies that would not pass this test.

Cap'n Tightpants · Jul 28, 2016, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by P

That it is being used as a serious test is meant as a commentary on the formulaic movies we get these days.

and the sad state of gender studies.

besson3c · 10:34 AM

Why is it that a playful little list meant to provide social commentary is providing such reactionary political bullshit like CTP's and Starman's comments?

ort888 · Jul 28, 2016, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by Cap'n Tightpants

and the sad state of gender studies.

The sad state of gender roles in popular entertainment.

andi*pandi · Jul 28, 2016, 10:46 AM

One of the things I found refreshing about this Ghostbusters, aside from one character fawning over Chris Helmsworth's hotness, was the lack of a romance subplot, or the hero hooking up with the only female character. That was nice.

besson3c · Jul 28, 2016, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

One of the things I found refreshing about this Ghostbusters, aside from one character fawning over Chris Helmsworth's hotness, was the lack of a romance subplot, or the hero hooking up with the only female character. That was nice.

I found the entire moving refreshing in so many ways. I mean, it wasn't a great movie in many general respects, but I did like how it was playing with roles that have no clear archetypes. For example no real important male characters, and your point here as well is a good one.

You can take my comments as a political statement, but you don't have to for this to be valid, I think. I just get bored with all of the usual tropes.

osiris · Jul 28, 2016, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

One of the things I found refreshing about this Ghostbusters, aside from one character fawning over Chris Helmsworth's hotness, was the lack of a romance subplot, or the hero hooking up with the only female character. That was nice.

Those are cliches I can live without

subego · Jul 28, 2016, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

One of the things I found refreshing about this Ghostbusters, aside from one character fawning over Chris Helmsworth's hotness, was the lack of a romance subplot, or the hero hooking up with the only female character. That was nice.

This was one of the great things about the 90's Godzilla, but many people fail to see the genius of that film.

subego · Jul 28, 2016, 01:13 PM

Cynical me wants to allege most romance subplots are thrown in as a perk for the male lead.

Put that in your Bechedel and smoke it.

starman · 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Why is it that a playful little list meant to provide social commentary is providing such reactionary political bullshit like CTP's and Starman's comments?

What makes your commentary any more special than mine?

The Bechdel test is utter shit. It doesn't prove anything, it doesn't help anything, and it certainly doesn't change anything. Writers have freedom to create whatever they want. Who's to say that you have to make some silly test for it?

Oh, and to prove Bechdel means nothing, this passes:

Oh, my, god. Becky, look at her butt.
It is so big. [scoff]
She looks like one of those rap guys' girlfriends.
But, you know, who understands those rap guys? [scoff]
They only talk to her, because, she looks like a total prostitute, 'kay?
I mean, her butt, is just so big.
I can't believe it's just so round, it's like, out there, I mean— gross. Look!
She's just so... black!

Oh, and "Citizen Kane" fails the test, but "Thor" passes. If that's not an indication of how screwed up the test is, I don't know what is.

subego · Jul 28, 2016, 02:18 PM

I think it depends on how one assesses the importance of the results.

starman · Jul 28, 2016, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by subego

I think it depends on how one assesses the importance of the results.

Which, therefore, dilutes the test itself.

Cap'n Tightpants · Jul 28, 2016, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Why is it that a playful little list meant to provide social commentary is providing such reactionary political bullshit like CTP's and Starman's comments?

Because you love to post bait for such reactions, then pretend to be upset when you get them?

Cap'n Tightpants · Jul 28, 2016, 02:44 PM

Originally Posted by ort888

The sad state of gender roles in popular entertainment.

There's not enough gender/trans/sexuality discussion in pop culture for you? That's quite a rock you live under.

Laminar · Jul 28, 2016, 03:04 PM

I've always thought that the test means more on a larger scale. Of course you can cherry pick single shitty movies that pass and classics that don't - none of that negates what the test measures.

But what if only 5% of movies that came out this year pass the test? 50%? 75%? What does it say about the state of entertainment? What does it say about the roles that young girls see and model themselves after? What does it say that we've seen a steady increase in movies that pass, especially over the past 30 years?