Ghostbusters — OFFICIAL THREAD

[James]

Haven’t seen it yet. Waiting for my boxset to arrive…

It's on its way!

[Ben]

Ooh! I must admit I was expecting a Yoda-like "You will do soon… You will do…"

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing it!

[gaastra]

Dang it. Rip.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/i ... cid=msnews

[ShyViolet]

Oh no!

[Ben]

Yeah, this is a sad one, as it’s so unexpected and comes so soon after the franchise has been brought back to life in the original way. This will make my eventual viewing of Afterlife even more poignant now. RIP.

[Daniel]

A visionary director in a creatively fertile age of Hollywood. Glad he was able to see his sons film at least.

[EricJ]

I wouldn't call him a "visionary" director (at least by the time we got poster-concept comedies like "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" and the Schwarzenegger Trilogy), but looking at "Meatballs" and his production on "Animal House", we can say that--to paraphrase the Gershwin saying--Ivan Reitman took the "Raunchy 70's fratboy comedy" out of the drive-ins, dressed it up, and took it downtown.

Mainstream 80s comedy wouldn't BE mainstream 80s comedy if he hadn't.

[Ben]

Fixed your 80s comedy, as I’m sure you were talking about the entire decade and not just 1980.


Oh, and hey, James — a little spooky that my Ghostbusters Collection set arrived this morning, right after hearing the sad news of Reitman's passing. Very fitting, in a way, all in great nick, and with all discs and slips in the right place! Massive thanks for sending this on!!

Looking forward to checking out Afterlife this weekend!

[EricJ]

Since you assumed I wasn't talking about 1970 either, we can accept that Decade = 80's, and Year = '80.
Remember, it's not the size of your apostrophe that matters, it's where you stick it.

Looking forward to checking out Afterlife this weekend!

Including the one cameo of "That character too?...WHY?? Admit it, this is just a Boomer reunion, isn't it? Might as well have been a Super Bowl commercial."

[Ben]

Remember, it's not the size of your apostrophe that matters, it's where you stick it.

And yet…you never stick it in the right place. There is not one needed after 80 in 80s. Or any other date like that.

This is why I keep saying things like "80's what?", as you’re making it a possessive. No apostrophe keeps it a plural, which is what you actually want to say.

So stick that somewhere you’ll remember it!

[Ben]

So we watched GhostGoonies: Gozer Awakens last night…and pretty much loved it.

It’s a bit of an odd film, though, not quite an *actual* Ghostbusters movie, but more of a love-letter to the original film. Which is no bad thing.

I did like the callbacks, though the mini-Stay Pufts didn’t really have much to do, and sometimes the two minor GB Elmer Bernstein themes got a little overused for a lot of the time. I also wondered if the script may have been made a little funnier had the kids been older, as they lacked the snark that older performers may have brought to the exact same lines. As it was, the script isn’t naturally "funny" funny, but at least it didn’t try and force humor into it. Yeah, one could suggest a reprise for Gozer wasn’t the most original idea, but it worked, even if it would have been cooler if s/he had been almost an exact likeness and they’d gotten the eyes better (and not looked like a demonic Jennifer Tilly!).

But…these things weren’t really any kind of hindrance: it still really feels like an 80s movie, and certainly in keeping with the GB universe. It did what Force Awakens *wanted* to do, but does it successfully. Yes, it could have been a little funnier, especially in the opening scenes, but then that may have robbed it of some of its true, pure heart, of which it has spades. Pretty much everyone knew what was coming when the kids mentioned making a phone call, but it was somewhat cathartic when the inevitable lime came: we all wanted to say it, and if there were any lingering doubts then we knew we were going to continue to be okay from that moment on.

The return of you know who was very nicely handled, with only one shot on this first viewing that maybe felt a little off, but even then to no great real shakes, and even if it wavers between feeling like a true GB film and not, it never feels like a cash-in, rip-off or wannabe knock-off, unlike the pretty unmentionable other recent one.

I could have easily done with more of The Boys, and saving them for the end felt like we weren’t really getting enough "value" from them, but when they came, they were all in and made the ending that much more betterer. And they were all true to their characters, felt authentic to the previous film(s), and made it feel worthwhile that they agreed to appear. Even without them, this would have felt tied to the original GB universe, but they just add that touch on top of it all, and the mid-credit scene(s) really does bring things back full circle to the first film.

No, it’s not "perfect", and yes, it’s a film with its own issues — what film isn’t thesedays? — but that it gets so much right when it could have gone so very very wrong means it’s a success in my book, and we all enjoyed it both as a new movie and a throwback immensely. As the credits rolled, it took me right back and made me slightly whistful that we hadn’t got any more original sequels, but glad that, finally…"WE GOT ONE!!"

Hopefully they go somewhere from here, as the stage has been set for something possibly even better…!

[Randall]

Knowing how much you wanted this to be good, and your high standards, I'm actually surprised it met with your approval. Makes me more likely to watch it.

Though I was a teen myself in the 80s, and that I did see it at the time, I never really had any special love for the original. Sure, I liked it, but never felt it was anything more than just another popular film. I never expected it to have the fandom and longevity that it has, and I haven't been pining for more. However, it's great that better fans than I have something here to love.

[Ben]

Ah…there you are! I knew there had to be *one* teen from the 80s who didn’t plug right in to Ghostbusters…!

[James]

No details but #5 confirmed

https://deadline.com/2022/04/ghostbuste ... 235009684/

[Ben]

Well…number four, natch.