Ghostbusters 2016

So there's a new Ghostbusters movie coming out on July 15, 2016. 

The new movie stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones.
Yes. You didn't read that wrong. Those are all girl names. Gasp.

Except, I guess, for Leslie.

Leslie, much like Jody (so I know from where I speak) is one of those girl and boy names. The Leslie in the cast of the new Ghostbusters movie is a woman. They're all women. Double gasp!

More about that in a minute though.

And before you think this is going to be another one of those blog or Facebook posts trashing the movie before it even opens, I want to tell you you're wrong.

I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE IDEA OF A REBOOT OF GHOSTBUSTERS. 

I'll let that sink in for a second or two. 
1...2...
Okay. Everybody good? 

Hopefully you didn't get any brain matter on the wall behind you.

Reboots are just standard, operating business for Hollywood these days. Doesn't make it right or wrong, it's just the way things are done. It seems like they're re-booting everything. I heard rumors they're re-booting Das Boot. Which would make that movie Das Boot Re-Boot. I don't care who you are, that's just fun to say!

FOR THE RECORD the idea of this reboot hasn't destroyed my childhood, as some have claimed it's done. The existence of this reboot hasn't altered the very fabric of time. My childhood is still very much intact. 

You know what ruined my childhood? Those butterfly pajamas my mom gave me when I was 7.  They were girl pajamas mom! GIRL PAJAMAS!

Here's how Actress and Comedian Melissa McCarthy responded to Ghostbusters critics and Internet haters:

“All those comments, ‘You’re ruining my childhood!’ I mean, really,” Melissa told The Guardian, joking, “Four women doing any movie on earth will destroy your childhood?”

She added, “I have a visual of those people not having a Ben (her husband), not having friends, so they’re just sitting there and spewing hate into this fake world of the Internet. I just hope they find a friend.”

I don't think it's sacrilege to have created a new telling of the story with a new cast of (Gasp!) women. I don't mind there's an all-female cast. Which is really misleading to say but it's how everyone seems to be describing the new Ghostbusters when they trash it. As if the very presence of breasts and vaginas make it less a movie. 

What's wrong with all-female, anyway. 

Steel Magnolias anyone? 

For the record, there are men in the new Ghostbusters. Jesus! Thor's in the new Ghostbusters! And by Thor I mean Actor Chris Hemsworth not the actual Norse God. The very funny Michael McDonald is also in the new Ghostbusters. Charles Dance? Yep! Ed Begley Jr.? Yep! 

While not an all-out sausage fest, for those of you who were so worried about this movie being another Vagina Monologues, breathe easy. And maybe get some professional help.

So if you base the quality of movies on the presence of penises, you'll be happy to know there are penises in the new Ghostbusters. I don't think you'll see any but they're there. 

The existence of this reboot will not erase the original, and far superior of the original two movies released, respectfully, in 1984 and 1989. The original, with it's all-male cast still exists. I can watch it any time I want. In fact, I still have the original on VHS and DVD.

People are Tweeting and posting on Facebook that the new movie looks horrible. Looks horrible. I get it that we are a visual people but it looks horrible is your basis for trashing a movie?

I've seen the trailers. The new Ghostbusters doesn't look horrible. It looks like what a movie about ghost-busting should look like. The ghosts looks cool. The CGI looks like it was created by people who know what they are doing and the cast is a group of women who have proven themselves to have serious comedy and acting chops.

My problem with the new Ghostbusters is not a problem with content or performances...

MAINLY BECAUSE I HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET!

It hasn't even opened yet and people are condemning it on-line, from the safety of their basements as they clutch their original Ghostbuster action figures. With Egon action figure in one fist and the other fist shaking in the air, they complain and whine and moan because this reboot dare exist.

It should be said, that as I write this, the new Ghostbuster movie hasn't opened yet. 

So...COME ON PEOPLE! 
Quit your whining and give it a chance!

(taking a breath)

I do have a problem with the new movie but it has nothing to do with what those, who, God bless them, seem so very passionate about. No. It's not casting. It's not the CGI. It's not the casting. Yes. I know I said casting twice. I felt I needed to say it twice because this particular point of contention  (a non-issue really) seems to be at the center of all the pre-release negativity.

FYI: 3 out 10 men suffer from pre-release negativity.
The number is higher in women. Go figure.

I have a problem with the advertising for the new movie. 

Enough already!

And before you say it...

I know. I know. It's the way of the world. Money. Money. Money. I understand that completely. Understanding something, though, doesn't mean I have to it.

It's like those Real Housewife shows on Bravo. I understand why they exist, but God knows I hate that they exist. And not because they have all-female casts!

Money is how movies are made. 

Capitalism. I get it.

I understand it apparently takes 100's of millions of dollars to make movies these days and you have to make that money somehow. I get it. I do.

But when is enough enough? How far will the company go to market their projects? 

At this rate actors will eventually be wearing patches for each one of their 'sponsors' and look like NASCAR race cars. 

What's happening as a result of this money-over-content phenomenon though is that the money part of the business is becoming more important the creative part. It's not let's make a good movie. It's let's make a movie that will make money that we can spin dozens of sequels out of and eventually make a television series out of and toys and clothing lines and...

(heavy sigh)

It's also a reason why so many movies don't do well after their initial box office releases. Nowadays if a new movie doesn't make $500 million dollars it's first weekend of release, it's deemed a failure. 

And who wants to see a failure? 

If a movie doesn't make a billion dollars the first weekend it gets labeled a failure and as a result people wait for it to be released on Redbox or Netflix or HBO or Showtime and the like.

That risk is why you see more and more production companies being created. HBO makes produces their own movies. As do Showtime and Netflix and if the rumors are true, so does Redbox.

Straight to video as they say. Eliminate the risk of being a box office failure completely!

If you're like me. you're probably bored with most movies before they even open. We are inundated with commercials and various versions of trailers months before the movies open. And those various versions of the trailers show everything! Everything! By the time you've seen Trailers 1, 2 and 3 you've essentially seen the entire movie.

There's absolutely no mystery or surprise anymore.

I remember walking into the theatre to see Raiders of the Lost Ark. I didn't know anything about it and was transported to another place and time for those two hours. It's still one of my favorite movies of all time. 

The new Ghostbusters commercial spots are just plain annoying.

They feature Papa John's Papa John and Progressive's Flo and somebody else...and...quite frankly...I'm not interested enough to Google it.

The point is I'm seeing more spots for the new Ghostbusters with commercial spokespeople than spots with the actual cast! 

It's the worst of what's wrong with how we promote movies nowadays. 

Let's just advertise the shit out of a movie months before the movie opens! 

So, again, I done care that the cast of the new Ghostbusters is all-female.  I don't care the new Ghostbusters is a reboot.

I'm just sick and tired of the commercials for the movie.

just keeping it reel

copyright 2016

all rights reserved