Recommend (or don't) a movie thread v2

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

Red Notice is a Don't. $200 million direct to video flick where Hollywood A-listers didn't bother getting out of character from their last comic book or action flick to make something memorable.

saw it this past weekend and agreed. not a very good film. One that you should spoil for people so they don't waste their time on it. You'd be doing them a favor.

Only actor I kind of liked was Ritu Arya.

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Did you guys like GB due to it doing nostalgic justice or cause it's a genuinely good movie that can stand on its own? This is what I'm wary of with audiences that are fans of the franchise.

People (fans) told me Amazing Spider Man 2 was good, and it was one of the most repulsive films I've ever seen. Then again with Venom, which was enjoyable, but not at all in a take it with a grain of seriousness way.

Timun touched on this a bit. It definitely doesn’t stand on its own because you pretty much have to have seen the original Ghostbusters to understand half the plot and to get much of the emotional moments of the film. ‘

By your criteria, I’m not a good judge on this movie though. Ghostbusters is one of my favourite movies and I absolutely loved Afterlife.

[Wormius]

If you watched the Rick & Morty episode, “One Crew over the Crewcoo's Morty” then “Red Notice” would annoy you for being so cliche.

[timun]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Did you guys like GB due to it doing nostalgic justice or cause it's a genuinely good movie that can stand on its own? This is what I'm wary of with audiences that are fans of the franchise.

Originally Posted by KTrain

Timun touched on this a bit. It definitely doesn’t stand on its own because you pretty much have to have seen the original Ghostbusters to understand half the plot and to get much of the emotional moments of the film.

^What he said about what I said.^

Ghostbusters: Afterlife absolutely does not stand on its own whatsoever. It makes no bones about being a sequel, and that it is assumed you've seen and remember the first couple movies (especially the first).

Having slept on it, my baseball analogy should be revised. It wasn't a triple; maybe a double...

There are problems with it. The first 75 minutes or so are an interesting mystery. The last half hour or so things... kind of fall apart a bit. The characters other than McKenna Grace's 'Phoebe' aren't fleshed out very well. Finn Wolfhard in particular had little to do.

I think your description, "doing nostalgic justice," is pretty accurate. In retrospect I liked it at first blush precisely because it didn't crap all over everything that came before as the 2016 remake did.

[direwolf]

Originally Posted by timun

^What he said about what I said.^

Ghostbusters: Afterlife absolutely does not stand on its own whatsoever. It makes no bones about being a sequel, and that it is assumed you've seen and remember the first couple movies (especially the first).

Having slept on it, my baseball analogy should be revised. It wasn't a triple; maybe a double...

There are problems with it. The first 75 minutes or so are an interesting mystery. The last half hour or so things... kind of fall apart a bit. The characters other than McKenna Grace's 'Phoebe' aren't fleshed out very well. Finn Wolfhard in particular had little to do.

I think your description, "doing nostalgic justice," is pretty accurate. In retrospect I liked it at first blush precisely because it didn't crap all over everything that came before as the 2016 remake did.

Exactly. And I agree with your point about some of the new characters not being fully fleshed out. Hopefully they can remedy this if they end up doing a sequel and give these characters more to do. That being said, I thought the kids were all good actors and were very likeable. Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) definitely steals the show though.

Regarding the nostalgia factor, the movie is a direct sequel to a beloved film, so of course the story is going to be tied to the those movies and feature lots of call-backs to the original plot. Why wouldn't it? That's the whole point. If you've never seen the first two films, you're gonna be a bit lost. Not sure why that's considered a negative thing? Maybe the older I get, I'm just a lot easier to please. Seems like people get so caught up in the critical analysis and nitpicking these days, it sucks all the joy out of the movie watching experience. Did this movie knock it out of the park? Not completely. But it was a hell of a lot of fun and it more than made up for the mistake they made in 2016. Hopefully they can continue the franchise for at least one or two more films.

[Toonage]

GB reminded me of the Force Awakens in a weird way. Plenty of fan service.

[Strange Brew]

The Night House

It has a wicked premise and I'd say even the payoff was pretty good, as were the performances.

And while creepy enough at first, they just did a poor job of showing the story unfurl and so it just ends up kind of a mess. This is a movie where the writing really kind of let them down and it's a shame because there are the bones of a great movie there.

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by Toonage

GB reminded me of the Force Awakens in a weird way. Plenty of fan service.

So you're saying that they should just stop now.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

So you're saying that they should just stop now.

Ha ha ha. Nobody wants a sequel of any movie to be compared to TLJ. Nobody!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

So you're saying that they should just stop now.

I havent gotten around to seeing it yet, but I'd definitely love it if they made a Ghostbusters film that kind of went back to the roots of the concept.

They're effectively just exterminators.

Middle aged, somewhat unlucky and unsuccessful but capable men doing a dirty job due to their circumstances.

You want to see that. The loveable loser who has to do a grim task that they dont want any part of but have to do because its the right thing and they're the only ones who can do it.

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by Locke

I havent gotten around to seeing it yet, but I'd definitely love it if they made a Ghostbusters film that kind of went back to the roots of the concept.

They're effectively just exterminators.

Middle aged, somewhat unlucky and unsuccessful but capable men doing a dirty job due to their circumstances.

You want to see that. The loveable loser who has to do a grim task that they dont want any part of but have to do because its the right thing and they're the only ones who can do it.

The problem being, they did that to absolute perfection in the first one. Doing it again would only lead to disappointment because nothing could live up to it.

This new one pays respect to it and tries to add to it in a fun way and they succeeded. It was really the only way to do a sequel to a movie this highly regarded.

That said, I could see a Ghostbusters TV series with that premise working if the casting was done well. A monster-of-the-week type series with an overarching story for the season.

[scotty2hotty]

Originally Posted by KTrain

That said, I could see a Ghostbusters TV series with that premise working if the casting was done well. A monster-of-the-week type series with an overarching story for the season.

Exactly!

Supernatural for middle aged dudes. Sign me up!

[Hockeyguy15]

I should watch the cartoon series again. I loved it when I was a kid.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by KTrain

The problem being, they did that to absolute perfection in the first one. Doing it again would only lead to disappointment because nothing could live up to it.

This new one pays respect to it and tries to add to it in a fun way and they succeeded. It was really the only way to do a sequel to a movie this highly regarded.

That said, I could see a Ghostbusters TV series with that premise working if the casting was done well. A monster-of-the-week type series with an overarching story for the season.

Yeah, a couple buddies and I have been tossing around ideas for possible continuations, too.

You need to be careful with the humor. GB movies aren't straight up comedies, and for the love of Gozer, you can't go nuts with the slapstick and expect GB fans to like it. Smaller doses of smart, funny, dry quips seem to work best.

Afterlife has some advantages too, as it very clearly caps the 1 and 2, so now they could move a bit more differently. The original GB's have passed the torch, so now you could move on...but I'm not sure you should.

I like the idea of a tv series, but wonder if it might be a bit too much.

[Hack&Lube]

There's a lot of criticism coming out about Ghostbusters Afterlife from the likes of RLM and the other bitter old men talking heads and media critics.

I have never in my life had such a vehement disagreement with any of this criticism. They criticize it for monetizing nostalgia, they criticize it for trying to sell merchandise, etc.

I have never felt so incensed reading or seeing these negative reviews after seeing the movie myself tonight. This was probably the most emotional movie for me in decades. I grew up thumbing through the Ghostbusters II picture book in my elementary school library so many times I wore it out. I marvelled at the proton packs, neutrona wands, and slime throwers. I remember the first time I had any awakenings as a young child seeing the pictures of Sigourney Weaver in the book.

I remember being terribly sad when I was on a Cathay Pacific flight and my parents denied me from watching Ghostbusters which was the in-flight movie because they were Christian conservatives and that feeling has stuck with me for 30 years. That sparked me lifelong search for science and reason over religious paranoia.

Why is nostalgia a bad thing? It is literally getting the ability to be a child again. I loved all the designs of the costumes, the equipment, the cars. They were designed by artists trying to make interesting objects, not to sell toys - that's just an after effect.

I was enormously sad when Harold Ramis passed in 2014 as I grew up on on his comedy films as well as SCTV (did anybody catch the Catherine O'Hara cameo in Afterlife? I bet I was the only one). My childhood hero was not Luke Skywalker or Hulk Hogan, it was the nerdy guy in glasses - Egon Spengler. This movie is about the best send-off and tribute I could have ever imagined.

Ghostbusters and all the varied ideas in it was the epitome of my formative youth whether it was the books in the library (parents didn't let me watch the movies) or the Real Ghostbusters cartoon. I've not a super fan of the franchise in the way a Star Wars collector might be, but rather I'm a super fan of the collection of ideas and thought it sparked in me as a child.

This movie simply connects with everything that is me. If you didn't have these experiences growing up, then definitely I understand why nostalgia wouldn't hit the same way. However, my theatre was full of kids and I can imagine a ton of little girls wanting to go home and become scientists now because this movie might inspire them.

[djsFlames]

That's.. quite a take for Ghostbusters.

I suppose we all have our franchises we deeply resonated with at a young age and as a result remain connected to for a long time.

Never thought GB was that for people though.

The bad rap nostalgia gets nowadays does feel overblown. Revisiting an old universe that is beloved is viewed as cashing in, without considering that a visit down an old, familiar road can have value and still tell a good story too. Yes.... we need more original content nowadays. Doesn't mean we need to begrudge everything that jumps back into an old idea. Seems that critics do though.

Hints and winks and nudges from old stories and characters that bring people warm and fuzzies just burn their bacon. People share a fondness for the familiar, and for recognizing things. Thats why people obsess over backstories and easter eggs and lore. I think it's time critics get over the fact that people like that and its an effective draw for interest & emotional investment.

Spiderman No Way Home is going to be a nostalgia buffet, and it makes it no less exciting. Same with Matrix 4. Its not cheating, or cheap, unless it's done sloppily & without passion. It's just giving people what they love.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Spiderman No Way Home is going to be a nostalgia buffet, and it makes it no less exciting. Same with Matrix 4. Its not cheating, or cheap, unless it's done sloppily & without passion. It's just giving people what they love.

This is kind of the crux of it, isn't it? It's 'just a movie' until...it's 'YOUR' franchise they are messing around with, and you hope you get an Afterlife instead of an Answer The Call.

[Strange Brew]

House of Gucci

Great campy fun. Lots of wealth and fashion on display, great actors chewing some scenery. I quite enjoyed it but if you’re expecting a tense thriller or deep character examination, you’ll be disappointed.

You’ll either walk away loving Jared Leto’s performance or wondering if he showed up for the wrong movie. I liked him and Pacino.

[1_Flames_Fan]

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

.... Not a good movie. I really wanted to like it but script was weak, acting was terrible, all the stuff that they somehow thought would be funny was not, I never laughed or even chuckled once. CGI was ok I guess, but overall I give it 1 1/2 symbiotes out of 5.

[SportsJunky]

Ugh^
My boy gets to pick the movie this weekend and this is his choice.