by admin | Jul 16, 2016 | Good Horror Movies, Media Rants, Movies, Reviews |
The Ghostbusters reboot. Following a ghost invasion of Manhattan, paranormal enthusiasts Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates, nuclear engineer Jillian Holtzmann, and subway worker Patty Tolan band together to stop the otherworldly threat.
First, a little backstory. I was 14 when the original Ghostbusters came out. My aunt raved about the movie. It was the funniest movie she had ever seen. I went with some friends to see it and I thought it was so stupid. I had never been more disappointed in a film before. For months, people were about how funny Ghostbusters was. I pretty much looked that them like they were bat shit crazy. When it came out on video, I reluctantly watched it again and I could not stop laughing. Bill Murray’s performance should have won an academy award. His sarcasm and wit in the film were epic. Because of my history with the franchise I wouldn’t have been surprised if I didn’t like it the first go-round.
Admittedly, after seeing the trailers for it, I didn’t think it looked funny at all. I didn’t want to be one of the haters so for the most part I kept my mouth shut about it. I still had high hopes for it. Sadly, each new trailer released just wasn’t very funny in my opinion. The humor was predictable and the very talented stars of the firm looked like mashups of characters they had already played many times before. For the most part I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to add to the negativity over the film.
My mother on the other hand, had been dying for the new version to come out. Yesterday being opening day I took her to see it. She loved every minute of it. Laughing all the way through it. I was almost jealous of how much she was enjoying it. She seemed to be catching many of the cameos and references to the original and it made her experience even more enjoyable, she later told me.
I too would have been laughing all the way through it, I am guessing. However, the experience was ruined by the little bratty girl sitting in front of me. She spent half the time checking her cell phone and the rest of it rocking her chair back and forth causing it bash into my knee. It was infuriating. At one point my mother leaned forward and said something to the little girl. It calmed her down for about 15 minutes then she was back to her spastic antics.
There was nothing I could do. Her parents were nowhere to be seen and I wasn’t about to get into a debate with a child. It would have just escalated things and been even more of a distraction so I just sat there trying to ignore her. I still managed to laugh and enjoy much of Ghostbusters. Even though it was just so hard to pay attention. Every time I would get back into the movie that little brat would act up and I’d miss something else spectacular in the film.
What I can say is that I enjoyed the story. I loved all the cameos and I can’t wait to see it again. I am sure there’s a ton of things I missed the first time around that would have made the movie even more enjoyable. I did however love the shout outs to Harold Ramis in the film as well as the dedication in the credits. My mother and I sat through all the credits. Personally I wanted to follow the girl out so I could let her parents know as politely and respectfully as possible about their little girl’s poor behavior. Thankfully I didn’t and we got to see the final scene after the credits. I won’t spoil it for anyone, I will just say it was perfect!
To all the haters, there’s nothing to hate to about the new Ghostbusters. It’s a fun ride. There’s some great scenes in there and the cast is amazing. I will probably wait until it comes out on Blu-ray before I see it again but I look forward to it. I am sure the Ghostbusters Blu-ray will have some amazing special features and I am hoping it will have hours of outtakes. I honestly recommend the new Ghostbusters and if you don’t like it for whatever reason. Give it another chance. Sometimes we just expect too much from movies. Had I never given the original a second chance I would have missed out on what become one of my favorite films of all time.
by admin | Dec 12, 2014 | Bad Horror Movies, Movies, On the Bubble, Reviews |
Alien Abduction…
Welcome to my first review! Let me start by saying this review is going to be actually short and sweet. I watched this movie a while ago and while reading a post on moviepilot.com the other day I came across the movie poster for Alien Abduction and was reminded of it and how just one scene can take a movie from being not too bad, to a bad just like that. In fact this movie is the reason why I made this website.
Please keep in mind it was a while ago that I saw this movie. In the future I will review movies when they’re more fresh in my head. However, I do like to let a movie sit with me for a short while. Too many times I see something and think it was great or it was horrible only later to change my mind one way or another. Sometimes I will see it again and that changes everything! For example when I was young teen and I first say Ghostbusters. Everyone I knew said it was the funniest movie they had ever seen. I go and see it, and I don’t think I laughed more than once or twice. I was so disappointed in the film. Then I see it again when it comes out on video. I could not stop laughing. It was fun, it was silly but not to the point of insulting. Simply a comedy great.
How could have been so wrong? A lot of things I guess. The movie was so hyped by friends, it could never live up the expectations. Time, when I saw it for the second time my expectations were much lower because enough time had passed I could finally see the film with much more of an open mind even though I still had expectations they weren’t to monumental levels. So when I saw it for the second time it was much more of an open experience.
So what made this movie so special. Well, after seeing the poster for it again, I decide I would get back to writing comments and reviews on moviepilot.com again. It’s been a while since I published an article there. And, this movie reminded me of how, as I said earlier that just one scene can make or break a film.
Alien Abduction is a perfect example of that in my mind. The movie is about your average family out going camping for a few days. Nothing stands out about the family. However, strange things happen the next morning and the actions takes off. I will say right up front, overall the movie isn’t too bad. I was into it at first. It was original, it wasn’t great but the acting good, Jillian Clare plays the daughter and she’s beautiful. No one is doing anything too stupid, so far it’s a good movie.
Of course there’s that one scene. It’s when people do things, so stupid that it makes stop rooting for them. Now I don’t want to give away plot lines or spoilers so I will keep the details around the mass of stupidity vague. I will just give you the basic scene. It’s night, the aliens are here and theirs no longer any doubt about that. Their intentions are clear. They are to be avoided at all costs. So one of the characters who knows for a fact the aliens are bad and violent and very near to her decides to run through the forest screaming for someone in her family.
It was at that point I started rooting for the aliens. They couldn’t kill her fast enough and by this point in the film you’re pretty sure she’s going to be one of the survivors and yet, I still was hoping they would kill her because I have no respect stupid people in horror movies. When stupid people in horror movie don’t die this means that natural selection has failed. When natural selections fails the end of the world is near.
Horror movies have been around decades now. Horror novels have been around for centuries. We have all seen and read them. There is no excuse for blatant stupidity in a horror movie unless it’s used as moral rationalization for killing the character. I want my protagonist to be smart or at the very least, not too terribly stupid. I can accept a stupid, being chased by aliens screaming for a family member they are trying to find for a second or two. But, if they don’t suddenly realize what they are doing is stupid and stop then I want them to die as a direct result of their stupidity. I want them to know and understand that the reason they are about to die is because they were being stupid. If a film doesn’t abide by this rule, it looses major points in my eyes.
So my final thoughts on this film. It has some creepy parts, the acting as I recall was good. If you can tolerate people who should know better, doing stupid things, then you will probably enjoy this movie. It’s really not all that bad. But as for actually recommending it, I am on the bubble. It could have been so much better but instead someone ruined it by making trying to add suspense via out of character stupidity.
Cast of Characters:
Katherine Sigismund as Katie Morris
Corey Eid as Corey Morris
Riley Polanski as Riley Morris
Jillian Clare as Jillian Morris
Jeff Bowser as Sean<
Peter Holden as Peter Morris
Jordan Turchin as Officer James
Kelley Hinman as Park Ranger
