Theatrical Review: Ghostbusters

Date: Tuesday July 19 2016
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Time: 1:45pm
Party: 1 (me, myself and I)

Director: Paul Feig ("Bridesmaids" and practically all of Melissa McCarthy's "good" movies)
Writers: Paul Feig and Kate Dippold (and a lot of uncredited ad-libs from the cast)

Notable Cast:
Abby Yates- Melissa McCarthy
Erin Gilbert- Kristen Wiig
Jillian Holtzmann- Kate McKinnon
Patty Tolan- Leslie Jones
Kevin- Chris Hemsworth
Mayor of New York- Andy Garcia
Mayor's aide- Cecily Strong (another SNL alum)
Benny the take-out guy- Karan Soni (check it out- it's the taxi driver from "Deadpool"!)

Duration: 116 minutes (+3 trailers)

Write-up:

Opening Comments

"Ghostbusters" was one of the 80's most iconic movies. There'd been talk for years of a third movie that never materialized. (At one point, I believe Bill Hader was attached). Finally, it happened and it wound up being a reboot with an all female cast.
It's crazy enough to work. Yet everyone was so quick to come down on it.
Why? I have no idea :P Are they that attached to the original?

I mean, the actor who played the dude from the EPA in "Ghostbusters... people actually started fights with him because of what his character did. Not much of a spoiler, but he did something that complicated things SEVERLY.
And the firehouse where they filmed the movie, I heard it was being shut down or demolished and people rallied to save it.

And yes, "Ghostbusters" is one of the funniest movies of all time. So why not be a little protective of that?

At the same time, I'm up for something new when it involves people I know are capable of being hilarious and putting their own spin on it.

Of course I know Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig from "Bridesmaids"... which I was completely against when it was released because it was promoted as the female version of "The Hangover." Speaking as a woman, I'm not jazzed about the idea of girls doing gross-out comedy. No offence, but guys are more natural at being gross.
But "Bridesmaids" was more than just the "dressing shopping after Brazilian food" scene. It was freaking hilarious. Especially when Kristen Wiig was hopped up on pills on the airplane.

Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, I know very well from Saturday Night Live over these past couple years.
On the one hand, Kate was someone who always kinda bothered me :/ because she plays a lot of famous people I don't like. With this being an election year, SNL hasn't exactly been my favorite place. But on the other, this is the kind of role I'd been dying to see from her. Just playing an original character that is inherently quirky. I'm writing this part of the review before seeing the movie and I have a feeling this will be a break-out role for her.

Then with Leslie Jones- dude, she is freaking hilarious! Nearly every time she's in an SNL sketch, I'm laughing my ass off. She's so over the top vocal and blunt.
The Oscars this year did this whole sketch about putting black people in Oscar-nominated movies to mock the lack of diversity in nominations. [FYI- there were two characters in "The Martian" played by black actors and they played significant roles that saved Matt Damon's life, so it wasn't as if the movie was entirely lacking in diversity].
Her part was the biggest laugh by far. She played the bear that attacked Leo in "The Revanent." Seriously, if that was in the movie, maybe I would have seen it. [I like Leo, but it's too damn serious for my tastes].

I was listening to the radio last week and during their news segment, they were talking about this movie coming out and Leslie Jones said how everyone needs a laugh right now- citing all the recent shootings and attacks that had occurred

And even if the laughs are forced and kinda stupid, I kinda need to laugh today. Seriously, is it 2017 yet? With the except of my working life, which is stable and still enjoyable, and one pretty cool concert, it's been a miserable year.

Trailers:

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
Kind of a teaser trailer really... asking if we want to return to the wizarding world and how Eddie Redmayne says how his suitcase opened just a smidge and had accidentally let loose some magical creatures.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar ChildrenDirected by Tim Burton and starring Helena Bonham Carter in the titular role (well, of course)- based on a YA novel. The title kinda speaks for itself.
The special effects are amazing.
Also- this is the third YA novel Asa Butterfield starred in. He'd been in "Hugo" (which I've yet to see) and "Ender's Game" (which I struggled to read and the movie was slightly better). After I first saw him as a kid, I pegged him to play a character in a YA book I wrote. Sadly, nobody wanted to publish it and now he'll be too old to play my teenage character by the time it is published. If it is at all.

Beauty & The Beast
Another teaser trailer, but it's one I had heard a lot of good things about. Well, just a lot of buzz and excitement without a lot of detail.
I saw the Disney logo, marveled at the interior design of the castle, and when the music started playing, I gasped and almost started crying. It's the same music from the animated movie.
And yes, even in flashes and voices (we hear briefly from Lumiere, Cocksworth and Emma Watson as Belle)...
I cannot wait for March 17th 2017- OMG!

The Main Event:

Spoilers!!

you know... in case anyone cares...
just kidding... there's only one or two and they're minor

For starters, I liked the movie a lot. It might not be perfect, but it doesn't deserve all of the flack it's been getting from people. I got exactly what I came for and it was to have a good time and escape for a while.

We start, as we did in the original, with our first haunting. And our unlikely librarian, er, tour guide is played by Zach Woods. Whom a lot of people know as Gabe from "The Office" and is also in the HBO series "Silicon Valley." Don't worry, he makes it out okay. But it got pretty intense for a while.

They overdo it a little bit with the slime gags and the CGI renderings of the ghosts aren't all scary. But it does have some intense moments. Maybe it's because I hadn't seen this before, but I did gasp and jump once or twice.
or I'm just a freaking lightweight.

We cut to Erin (Kristen Wiig) who's trying to get tenure at a university, but her past (haha, you know where this is going) comes back to haunt her. In the form of a book she co-wrote with her ex-bestie Abby (Melissa McCarthy).
She tracks Abby down at her place of work where she has a new partner in Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon). Originally, she wants her to take their book off Amazon, but the three of them wind up going to the site of the opening haunting.
Erin regains her belief in ghosts and winds up losing her job over a YouTube video they posted.

Patty (Leslie Jones) joins them after reporting a haunting in the subway where she works. And they put out an ad for a receptionist and Thor himself Chris Hemsworth (but we just call him Kevin) was the sole applicant.
Oh don't worry, Kevin actually plays a big role in the third act, so he's not just there for eye candy and dumb jokes.

The kinda cool thing about this movie that they didn't do in the original... they had a reason behind the hauntings. It wasn't just random. And some government agent isn't the bad guy. Although the mayor's office (which has their own SNL alum... Cecily Strong is another member I didn't always find funny) is no help regarding the Ghostbusters' credibility.

And as I predicted, Kate McKinnon was the funniest one there, but they all did have their moments. One movie blogger I follow said that Holtzmann was quirky for no apparent reason and didn't have much of a backstory to her.
I honestly don't care. She needs more original roles like this.

For whatever reason, Leslie Jones is getting a lot of flack right now. People suck. She was awesome in this movie. Although I do miss her saying "It's a Cadillac!" when referring to their new vehicle- that was only in the trailer), I hope to see her in more comedies.
There are seriously nights watching SNL where there are few laughs to be had and she saves the show for me. As much as I don't want her to leave, she could easily carry a comedy better than Melissa McCarthy in "Tammy" and "The Boss."
Melissa hosts SNL last season and I didn't laugh at her once :/

In this movie, though, she has a lot of heart and is genuinely funny without trying too hard. There's a running joke with her and Benny the delivery guy throughout the movie.

Kristen Wiig is the sanest one of the bunch. And maybe some of her jokes were a little forced, but in the plot, she does come through where it counts. Especially in the third act.

This is one of those rare movies where the third act was maybe the best part.

There are also a bunch of cameos in this movie. You could call them Easter Eggs from the original movie. And the roles vary from passing by to comic relief to have some baring on the actual plot.

Again, it's also worth sticking around through the credits. Lots of extra goodies. Some great music ("Get Ghost" by Mark Ronson, Ray Parker Jr. and a bunch of other guys was the easy highlight). And even a dance number choreographed by Twitch (I tell you, he has to be the most successful 2nd place winner of any reality show ever- dude's freaking everywhere and he's an amazing dancer/choreographer and person).

Side-note: They DO run the movies even when people aren't in the theater. Except I was the only person in the theater and they shut the movie down halfway through cuz they forgot I was there :P but they quickly realized the mistake, apologized and restarted it within 5 minutes of where it was stopped.

Grade: A
(I had fun- that's all that matters...)

69. Bridesmaids (2011)

Code-name: SNL BFF's

Director: Paul Feig
Type: R-rated Comedy (with some gross-out)

Cast:
Annie Walker- Kristen Wiig
Lillian- Maya Rudolph
Megan- Melissa McCarthy
Helen- Rose Byrne
Nathan Rhodes- Chris O'Dowd
Becca- Ellie Kemper
Rita- Wendi McLendon-Covey
Gill- Matt Lucas
Brynn- Rebel Wilson
Annie's mom- Jill Clayburgh (RIP- died a year b4 theatrical release)
Air Marshall John- Ben Falcone

WIN- AFI- Movie of the Year

Notable Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Supporting Actress- Melissa McCarthy
OSCAR- Best Original Screenplay- Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Golden Globe- Best Supporting Actress- Melissa McCarthy
Golden Globe- Best Picture (Comedy/Musical)

Write-up:

[ok... I'm a believer]

Promoted as the "female Hangover" movie, "Bridesmaids" was tauted as one of the biggest surprises in the box office in 2011. And while she wasn't lobbying for "Finding Nemo" to get a sequel, Ellen kept saying how much she loved this movie... and she didn't even need a cast member as a guest to bring it up.

I just scoffed at the idea. Firstly because I loved "The Hangover" and didn't like that people were already trying to top it. But mainly, I didn't feel women should do gross-out comedies. I see that as more of a guy thing.
But as often is the case, I was proved wrong. I still don't think it's funnier than "The Hangover," but it got more laughs out of me than I ever expected.
(Rest assured, a handful of my favorite movies yet to be discussed were ones I had zero interest in seeing or just was skeptical... I'm not afraid to admit I'm wrong when it comes to these sorts of things).

Part of the reason I wasn't up for it was also because of its leads. More so Maya Rudolf because I didn't recall seeing Kristen Wiig-- but after seeing the movie, I stood corrected. I HAD seen Kristen Wiig and enjoyed her work on SNL. I'm likely one of the few people who loves Gilly :-P her designated Christmas special is a guilty pleasure, about which I have ZERO guilt.
Although I give her some slack because she's a Prince fan (and with a friend of hers, has performed his songs live as "Princess"), I just haven't found her funny. That remains true, but for the majority, I liked her in this movie... either because she played straight or the annoying department was taken up by someone else.

[The Basics]

We're introduced to Annie (Kristen Wiig) and Lillian (Maya Rudolf) as the tightest of besties. Lillian recently got engaged and made Annie her maid-of-honor. As the title suggests, the bridesmaids give additional dimension to the story.
You have:

• Rita, the cynical, overworked housewife with young kids in DIRE need of a get-away
• naive (their thoughts, not mine) Becca who recently got married to the only boyfriend she ever had
• (borrowing from "The Hangover" again), the future sib-in-law, Megan (also the scene stealer of the movie, much like Zach Galifianakis)

...btw, is it also coincidence that the groom's name is a derivative of Doug?

Last (and most certainly least) is Helen, Lillian's newest friend. Both beautiful and generous, she's a "little Mrs. Perfect" who may have a hidden passive-aggressive streak. Watch the interaction between her and Annie and tell me I'm wrong. There just seems to be this hidden desire for her to one-up Annie in everything she does, just to thank Lillian for being the best friend she ever had... and they'd only known each six months.

WTF!
(and there are several moments that prompt that reaction... almost like it's a reoccurring theme... also known as outer conflict generated by the plot)

The way it's written (not to mention who wrote it), the audience is lead to sympathize with Annie because she's the protagonist. She represents the average everyday woman in all of us. Starting out, we see the multiple ways why her life sucks.

Lillian insists that Annie and Helen spent time together, get to know each other. Annie (me as well) is skeptical and remains so for the majority of the movie.
Ala the "reoccurring theme"-- if Helen isn't shooting down Annie's ideas, she either makes sure she's the first time to tell everyone her own ideas... or she downright steals the ideas she hated and passes them off as their own.

But amidst the drama, hilarity is never too far behind and that balance is what makes good films. Especially in a comedy like this.

[Scene Stealing and Memorable Moments]

Another running "joke" in the plot is the fact Annie's car (ancient, btw, from the 80's or 90's) has a tail-light out and keeps forgetting to get it fixed.
On the plus side, it's how she meets her new flame, Nathan- a policeman who happens to have an Irish accent. She believes he pulled her over because she was driving erratically, as if drunken. This was after the engagement party so she was complaining to herself about Helen, whom she'd just met for the first time.
She doesn't just walk the straight line and do the alphabet backwards, but she even does a little jig for more laughs (big laughs too).

The shenanigans they get into together are simply brilliant, but they're also things that probably wouldn't be legal in reality. Like when he shows her how to use a radar gun and they let people get away with driving 10-15 miles above the speed limit.
At least when someone was doing 90, they got their act together.
That relationship does a lot of good for Annie, especially with the lack of confidence she's been battling throughout the beginning of the film, but she finds it difficult to commit after they sleep together for the first time. 

As for the "gross-out" factor, it only comes through in one particular scene (to my knowledge... I haven't seen the unrated version). Annie picks out a Brazillian restaurant that, subsequently, makes everyone ill... except for Helen who had the "foresight" to have a salad.
Immediately afterwards, they go to pick out dresses and unfortunately, that's where the food gets to them, and all kinds of bodily functions overreact. Not even the wedding dress goes unscathed.

Other than that, most of the R-rating comes from a couple brief sex scenes and vulgar language. At times, it's a tad overkill, but most of it is merited. R-movies aren't always my thing, but when the content is handed tastfully, they do really well. 

My absolute favorite scene is the plane ride to Vegas. 
Apparently, Annie is afraid of flying or doesn't travel well, so she's not feeling well. Being stuck in coach while everyone else is in first class doesn't help either. Helen offers her some pills to calm down, one of the few instances where I believe she's genuinely nice, and it has some adverse results. 
She's practically intoxicated, stumbles into first class, talking all kinds of crazy. My sides literally split at the scenes when she's arguing with the flight attendant Steve because he is so montone, but freaking hilarious. The best line comes when she reads his name tag: "what kind of name is Stove?" and she's acting like he can't see her, but he does his job to keep her in coach.
And anyone who saw the trailers knows this is where Megan banters with the guy she suspects to be an Air Marshall, flirting with him. Even more hilarious because they're married in real life.
Unfortunately, Annie's sheningians gets the whole bridal party thrown off the plan so the bachelorette party doesn't happen and Helen is dubbed the new maid-of-honor. Aside from Megan's new love interest, the only success was that Rita and Becca were able to bond over drinks. 

As if things weren't bad enough, Annie has to move in with her mom because her roommate and his sister (who doesn't even pay rent!!) kick her out of the apartment.

Then all hell breaks loose at the bridal shower after Helen steals another of Annie's ideas... hence another tirade laced with F-bombs. Plus she destroys the chocolate fountain and a giant cookie shaped like a heart. 
Lillian flips out and ultimately kicks her out of the wedding. But before all comedy is lost, she screams to the staff as she's making her exit "No! She does not get a party-favor!"
...did I mention she was giving away puppies? Golden Retreiver puppies?
LOL... and Megan steals like 7 of them (and gives Annie a helluva good pep talk a couple scenes later). 

Luckily, they found a clever way to sew the plot back together before it falls apart.
Lillian gets cold feet and Helen is freaking cuz she can't find her.
(Yeah, karma's a bitch, lady).
Annie goes with her to find Nathan and does all kinds of sheningians in her car to get his attention... freaking awesome!

And all's well that ends well.
The two of them finally look like they could be friends.

...although Helen gets Wilson Phillips (Lillian's favorite group) to sing at the wedding reception, one final one-up.