Next month will see the release of the already-maligned Ghostbusters remake. You basically have two camps: One who can't abide to see their beloved classic tarnished by a retread. The polar opposite side triumphantly proclaims the former group to be sexist. SJWs never feel more empowered and superior than when they are pointing to someone and shouting "fillintheblankist!".
That said, some of them are almost certainly pissed that women have claimed the positions of sturdier, manly spook hunters. Fans can be pretty juvenile.
As usual, I am somewhere in the middle.
I am not against remakes. Many people claim to despise them, but a lot of then make very good money. Especially ones that involved caped crime fighters.
I've enjoyed quite a few remakes. I could list the obviously superior ones, like The Thing or The Fly or Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I could state that treasured classics, Frankenstein and Dracula, were remakes of sorts. The rightly revered Hammer remakes of Universal classics were frowned upon by many genre purists in their day.
Most remakes are looked upon with disdain by 'serious' horror fans, but the contempt held toward the yet-to-be-released Ghostbusters reboot is more intense than I've seen since the impending Dawn of the Dead remake. Which, if you ask me, turned out pretty well.
For me, Ghostbusters is a perfect project for a remake. Simply because I never really felt that it was a particulalry good movie to begin with.
Oh, I enjoy Ghostbusters. Nostalgia is practically my middle name. 1984 was a pretty good year for me. I was young, I had few responsibilities, my friends and I partied constantly, and we saw a whole lot of movies. We loved Meatballs and Stripes, and being Bill Murray fans, we were excited about Ghostbusters.
It was a fun time at the movies, if a bit unsatisfying. Ghostbusters seems a movie that will hold more interest to non horror fans than those of us who have spent lifetimes watching scary stuff.
The writers of Ghostbusters, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, are smart, talented, very funny people, but I don't believe that they had genuine affinity or knowledge of the horror genre. The movie seems like a lark, but it was a lucrative one. Grossing over two and a quarter million dollars isn't such a remarkable thing these days, but in 1984 it was a tremendous blockbuster.
And that was only the beginning. Ghostbusters has become a beloved family feature that has been loved and enjoyed by generations. I hold fond feelings for it as well, and I am even seeing the Fathom Events showing of it this coming weekend.
There was the inevitable sequel, but it got so many bad reviews from both critics and people I knew, I skipped it and have not seen the movie to date.
There has been talk, rumors, speculations, abortive announcements, and hope for a third movie for years. None have come forth.
Now, as everyone knows, the remake is set to be released.
I'll see it. I'm not very enthusiastic, and my expectations are in the toilet, but I may enjoy the movie. I'm not so impressed with the trailer. It looks loud and filled with dumb, very obvious humor. Not that much different, I guess, than the original.
I like Kristen Wiig. She does the star vehicles, and who can blame her? But she also does smart, challenging things like the searing The Skelelton Twins, and Welcome To Me.
Melissa McCarthy gets on my nerves. Her shtick is way too broad for me, and to me she grossly exaggerates her characters. I'm sure this is mostly due to her screenwriters and directors. I did think she showed some depth in St. Vincent, which coincidentally stars Bill Murray.
The draw for me, if there is much of one, is the choice of Paul Feig as director. He will always be a hero to me for creating Freaks and Geeks. I thought Bridesmaids was decent, and it made an A-LIst Hollywood director out of him. It's nice to see a deserving guy get a break.
Speaking of Feig, if you like Freaks and Geeks, you owe it to yourself to track down his books. Kick Me and Superstud are hilarious and horrifying in equal measures. And if you've missed Freaks and Geeks, you need to watch the whole series. It's one of the best in the history of the small screen. No shit.
Getting back to the Ghostbusters remake, I believe I will withhold my opinion until I have actually seen the movie. I said that the trailer is a turn off, but the promo dept can make a good movie look bad, and a bad movie look good.
Summer's here, so see some movies. Peoples' brains are fried, and they don't mind big, dumb, idiot pictures. Ghostbusters can't be much worse than the rest of the stuff coming out. Can it?
That said, some of them are almost certainly pissed that women have claimed the positions of sturdier, manly spook hunters. Fans can be pretty juvenile.
As usual, I am somewhere in the middle.I am not against remakes. Many people claim to despise them, but a lot of then make very good money. Especially ones that involved caped crime fighters.
I've enjoyed quite a few remakes. I could list the obviously superior ones, like The Thing or The Fly or Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I could state that treasured classics, Frankenstein and Dracula, were remakes of sorts. The rightly revered Hammer remakes of Universal classics were frowned upon by many genre purists in their day.
Most remakes are looked upon with disdain by 'serious' horror fans, but the contempt held toward the yet-to-be-released Ghostbusters reboot is more intense than I've seen since the impending Dawn of the Dead remake. Which, if you ask me, turned out pretty well.
For me, Ghostbusters is a perfect project for a remake. Simply because I never really felt that it was a particulalry good movie to begin with.
Oh, I enjoy Ghostbusters. Nostalgia is practically my middle name. 1984 was a pretty good year for me. I was young, I had few responsibilities, my friends and I partied constantly, and we saw a whole lot of movies. We loved Meatballs and Stripes, and being Bill Murray fans, we were excited about Ghostbusters.
It was a fun time at the movies, if a bit unsatisfying. Ghostbusters seems a movie that will hold more interest to non horror fans than those of us who have spent lifetimes watching scary stuff.
The writers of Ghostbusters, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, are smart, talented, very funny people, but I don't believe that they had genuine affinity or knowledge of the horror genre. The movie seems like a lark, but it was a lucrative one. Grossing over two and a quarter million dollars isn't such a remarkable thing these days, but in 1984 it was a tremendous blockbuster.
And that was only the beginning. Ghostbusters has become a beloved family feature that has been loved and enjoyed by generations. I hold fond feelings for it as well, and I am even seeing the Fathom Events showing of it this coming weekend.
There was the inevitable sequel, but it got so many bad reviews from both critics and people I knew, I skipped it and have not seen the movie to date.
There has been talk, rumors, speculations, abortive announcements, and hope for a third movie for years. None have come forth.
Now, as everyone knows, the remake is set to be released.
I'll see it. I'm not very enthusiastic, and my expectations are in the toilet, but I may enjoy the movie. I'm not so impressed with the trailer. It looks loud and filled with dumb, very obvious humor. Not that much different, I guess, than the original.
I like Kristen Wiig. She does the star vehicles, and who can blame her? But she also does smart, challenging things like the searing The Skelelton Twins, and Welcome To Me.
Melissa McCarthy gets on my nerves. Her shtick is way too broad for me, and to me she grossly exaggerates her characters. I'm sure this is mostly due to her screenwriters and directors. I did think she showed some depth in St. Vincent, which coincidentally stars Bill Murray.
The draw for me, if there is much of one, is the choice of Paul Feig as director. He will always be a hero to me for creating Freaks and Geeks. I thought Bridesmaids was decent, and it made an A-LIst Hollywood director out of him. It's nice to see a deserving guy get a break.
Speaking of Feig, if you like Freaks and Geeks, you owe it to yourself to track down his books. Kick Me and Superstud are hilarious and horrifying in equal measures. And if you've missed Freaks and Geeks, you need to watch the whole series. It's one of the best in the history of the small screen. No shit.
Getting back to the Ghostbusters remake, I believe I will withhold my opinion until I have actually seen the movie. I said that the trailer is a turn off, but the promo dept can make a good movie look bad, and a bad movie look good.
Summer's here, so see some movies. Peoples' brains are fried, and they don't mind big, dumb, idiot pictures. Ghostbusters can't be much worse than the rest of the stuff coming out. Can it?
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