Ghostbusters (2016) (1 Viewer)

[WillG]

It's impossible that someone didn't. That being said, I get the feeling that, like most comedies today, the scripted dialogue was a jumping off point and they relied heavily on what the actor- who was hired for her comedic abilities- brought to the table. If that's what she was performing, what can they do?

Except that they knew that at least one of the Ghostbusters had to be black which means that they wrote one of them as "black" and Jones was the logical choice.

Again contrast with the days of the original. In those days not casting a minority actor wasn't considered controversial. So Zeddemore (probably) wasn't written specifically for a black actor (Though, I do know that Eddie Murphy was originally considered for the role). Going by the trailer, the Jones character was very obviously written as "black"

 

[Tony J Case]

To the point about "hating it because all women" - I do hate it because of the all women casting, but not because I'm hung up on the idea of "A team of paranormal exterminators must be all men" or something, but because it smells of studio mandated meddling. It smells of some suit somewhere going 'Look how progressive we are! All our leads are women!"

It doesn't feel organic. It doesn't feel like they found the best actor/tress for the parts, but they found the best women for the parts. And THAT bugs me.

 

[Carl Johnson]

To the point about "hating it because all women" - I do hate it because of the all women casting, but not because I'm hung up on the idea of "A team of paranormal exterminators must be all men" or something, but because it smells of studio mandated meddling. It smells of some suit somewhere going 'Look how progressive we are! All our leads are women!"

It doesn't feel organic. It doesn't feel like they found the best actor/tress for the parts, but they found the best women for the parts. And THAT bugs me.

I'm the farthest thing from an expert on this but I would assume that some studio executive said we have Melissa McCarthy under contract and we can secure the rights to Ghostbusters, so put together a script because it should make $60 million opening weekend. In this case how would studio meddling be different from how any other movie is put together?

 

[Reed Grele]

I ain't afraid of no reboot..... NOT!

They should have stopped after Ghostbusters 2.

Let's hope the 007 producers don't follow suit with "Jane" Bond.

 

[TravisR]

Except that they knew that at least one of the Ghostbusters had to be black which means that they wrote one of them as "black" and Jones was the logical choice.

Again contrast with the days of the original. In those days not casting a minority actor wasn't considered controversial. So Zeddemore (probably) wasn't written specifically for a black actor (Though, I do know that Eddie Murphy was originally considered for the role). Going by the trailer, the Jones character was very obviously written as "black"

If you're talking about them writing and casting the movie with the idea that they had to get one black person in the cast just to avoid controversy, I agree that that's calculated and insulting to both the actors and the audience. After that though, I think that the actors did alot of improv with the script like many or most comedies today.

I didn't know Eddie was up for the Winston role. That guy was great back then but I'm glad that Ernie Hudson got it instead.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Leslie Jones' shtick is more angry than sassy. IMO she's very good at angry.

 

[WillG]

Leslie Jones' shtick is more angry than sassy. IMO she's very good at angry.

Still doesn't do Blacks any favors when it comes to stereotypical portrayals.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

They should have stopped after Ghostbusters 2.

Let's be honest, they really should have stopped after Ghostbusters 1.

 

[Tony J Case]

Fuck this movie. FUCK! THIS! MOVIE!

 

[WillG]

Fuck this movie. FUCK! THIS! MOVIE!

Looks like they toned down the hackier parts a bit (but at the same time introduced some new ones. Crowd surfing? Really?) but still doesn't look much better than the first trailer.

I did notice they changed the "Four Scientists" at the beginning to "Four Friends"

 

[Tony J Case]

It's the tits joke at the end that's the stake through the heart for me. Yes, Ray got a blow job from a ghost in the first one, but that's the extent of the low brow sex humor. And that joke was a fucking paragon of subtlety compared to what we're seeing here. And fat people falling down as comedy? Really? Did they even watch the first one?

 

[WillG]

It's the tits joke at the end that's the stake through the heart for me. Yes, Ray got a blow job from a ghost in the first one, but that's the extent of the low brow sex humor.

And even that was just a dream Ray was having.

 

[TravisR]

And even that was just a dream Ray was having.

That's what I was going to say but it's been a couple of years since I've the movie so I wasn't sure.

 

[Bryan^H]

I have nothing against an all female Ghostbusters team. I don't care that it is a reboot/sequel/re-imagining (What exactly is it, because if it acknowledges the events of the original happened wouldn't this technically be a sequel?) It is the state of cinema these days. But the trailer doesn't look good to me. About the only thing that stands out is Holtzman. She is cute, and her character seems weird enough that I might enjoy her role.
Also, the CGI ghosts....UGGHHH! Not scary, very cartoony. I have seen Computer generated models in other movies to be convincing/realistic enough, so what is the deal?

 

[Tony J Case]

Okay, take this with a huge grain of salt - because, you know, the internet - but someone working on the movie saw the rough cut:

Spoiler

I work in post production and saw an early version of the movie. I am an old ghostbusters fan (As a kid in the 80s I thought Gozer scared the hell out of me) I didn't know much about the NEW movie before watching it and I was totally for a new female cast. SPOILERS AHEAD: There are cameos and I'll get to those after the summary. Here goes:

Movie opens with a tour of deceased Madame Aldridge's (mansion or hotel I cant recall). One of the guys from Silicon Valley is a tour guide, and says she was locked in a basement to die behind an iron/metal door thats never been opened supposedly. After a few jokes and the tour leaves the tour guide hears something at the locked up door. He freaks and runs around the mansion as supernatural things start happening and accidentally goes through locked door which is now open (he didnt notice where he was going as he was running around frantically). He realizes he's in the basement and is cornered by something and screams as the camera gets closer to him.

Scene then cuts to the ghostbusters song with Kristin Wiig walking towards a TV with a show called GHOST JUMPERS that no one in the movie is involved with (They say GHOST JUMPERS instead of GHOSTBUSTERS in this song). Kristen Wiig is a college professor in math or physics or both? Shes trying to get tenure. Melissa McCarthy is writing a Ghosts of our Past book and keeps trying to ruin Wiig's chances at tenure by selling the book on Amazon with her as co-author and being a shitty friend in general. They show the book on Amazon on a computer (incase you don't know what Amazon is and you are stupid) She meets up with McCarthy to get her to stop putting her name on the book and McCarthy is obsessed with chinese food, specifically wontons. Mckinnon is also a scientist with McCarthy and they convince her to go to the Albridge mansion to investigate together. They go in there and the whole ghost puking scene happens. They record the video and Wiig screams ghosts are real!! Back at her school the actor from Game of Thrones (Tywin Lannister) says the video was posted on Reddit, and youtube. Thus cementing the trend of this movie trying to be "current". They look at the youtube comments, check their phones and youtube multiple times through the movie etc. Wiig is fired and loses her chances at tenure becaause McCarthy is a shitty friend and left her screaming ghosts are real in the video she uploaded to reddit.

UPDATE I'm going to summarize more going forward here to address points that relate to the main plot...

Rowan is a hotel worker who can see ghosts, he's been bullied and called a weirdo his whole life. There's a scene in a backroom of the hotel where he is working on a machine that releases ghosts. It breaks the barrier between the living and dead. He wants to release as many as he can so he can torment the living. he says this line "And the universe shall bend to your will" as if to validate his actions after being bullied and rejected his whole life

Leslie Jones is a subway station worker and a hotel worker (Rowan) brings a machine in to channel or awaken old ghosts. He briefly mentions the 4th cataclysm and Jone's brushes him off as a nut. He walks onto the tracks and she follows him, She sees the ghosts he releases and ends up joining the ghostbusters for her street smarts. She also sees a graffiti artist spray paint the white ghost from the logo in the subway as shes telling him to stop he puts the red circle and line through the ghost.

At this point nothing about the old ghostbusters being around or alive is referenced. They stumble upon the old GB firehouse cant afford the rent cause its 21K/month so they start their HQ at a chinese restaurant, plenty of wontons for McCarthy!! Chris Hemsworth applies as the secretary and he's a moron but a little funny at times.

They bust their first ghost at a cheesy rock concert, a large green dragon the audience thinks is part of the band's act. Jones is chased by a possessed mannekin saying "This is more intense than an usher concert!" One of the concert goers has a selfie stick (please kill yourself now) and takes a picture of the dragon-ghost as it is perched on Leslie Jones shoulder in the crowd. They crowd surf at one point. They capture the ghost and become famous. They get their name from a new segment pegging them as the Ghostbusters (without referencing anything that happened in the past with the old ghostbusters)

They get the ghostbusters car from Jone's uncle (ERNIE HUDSON) although he doesnt show up until the end of the movie.

The main villain Rowan that Jone's encountered in the subway, meanwhile is channeling more ghosts in shitty mirrors with a very large machine. The girl ghostbusters (Ill call them GGB's going forward). He knows what the ghostbusters are doing and goes into a rant about how he wants to do the opposite. Release all the tormented ghosts so they can "pester" the lives of the living, and by pester he means torturing and taking apart their flesh. He says the same line from earlier except he says World instead of universe "And the world will bend to your will" The ghostbusters corner him and say cops are the way, instead of activating the huge machine he grabs these electric currents and dies. The mayor (Andy Garcia) finds out and makes it out to the public like the GGB's are hoaxers.

Rowan is now a ghost and possesses McCarthy, then Hemsworth after Jones slaps the ghost out of McCarthy. Hemsworth then travels on the ECTO 2 motorcycle to the ghost channeling machine to release them all. He releases them all and there's a scene where a scared cop is walking up to him and tries to talk to him. Hemsworth turns around and snarls with glowing eyes (Just like Rick Moranis did in Ghostbusters 1 when he was the keymaster). He releases the tormented ghosts and they spread around the city.

Wiig discovers the hotel guy went to school or something with them since the Ghosts of Our Past book he scribbled in a ton of weird shit in the pages of one of the copies. On one of the pages theres a picture of his face and many people and ghosts with this written "I WILL LEAD THEM ALL" Hemsworth is controlling the city with his ghost powers (he makes the army dance with him to "You should be Dancing", by the Bee Gees). The GGB's face off against him and the ghost leaves Hemsworth body sparing him. He then asks "WHAT FORM DO YOU CHOOSE?" with really no explanation And Jones says out loud "Oh I think that spray painted ghost from the subway was cute!" and he turns into the Ghost from the ghostbusters logo, I AM SHITTING YOU NOT ITS THAT STUPID. He gets bigger and expands as large as a tall building, busting out of it exposing the portal. There's a portal on the ground. Saying cheesy lines like "Heeeeere's Rowan!" "Don't you want to join me and the army of the dead?"

Slimer and a female slimer with brown hair steal the GGB's car and drive around.

The GGB's decide to cross the streams, it doesnt work. Slimer and the female Slimer drive the ghostbusters car into the portal. McCarthy and then Wiig decide to lure the big stupid ghost into the portal before it closes taking themselves inside and they think a tow cable from a fire truck tied around their waists will save them (everyone in this movie is stupid with stupid ideas...) Of course this works, the big ghosts goes in and the portal closes with Wiig and McCarthy going in. Then all the sudden they are yanked out! Wow! The city is saved. They are still branded as hoaxers though. But they can now afford rent at the old GB firehouse. Jones listens to a electro magnet-whatever tape and one of the ghostbusters asks, "you get something?" Jones replies "Yeah I heard something really weird... who is Zuul?" Cue the old ghostbusters song, The End.

Thats the summary of the plot. Here's a few more things I didn't like (I liked very little of this movie)

The cameos of the old cast: They appear to be random strangers they ran into throughout the movie and are out of character thus probably confirming they are not their old characters who have moved on with other jobs. Nothing explaining regarding what happened to the old GB's or their opinions on the new GGB's

Bill Murray = a Skeptic. His lines arent good and he's kinda stiff "WHY ARE YOU PRETENDING TO CATCH GHOSTS??!! THATA GIRL!!!" he gets killed when pushed out a window by the rock concert dragon ghost. He convinced the GGB's to let it out as proof in their tiny chinese restaurant HQ. (Did I mention everyone is stupid in this movie?)

Dan Aykroyd = Cab driver who refuses to drive them when NYC is in havoc "I aint 'fraid of no ghosts" he says in a hard NY accent. This scene was alright.

Annie Potts = Now a hotel lobby clerk answering the phone WHATTAYA WANT??

Sigourney Weaver = A mentor of McKinnon who is disappointed but approves of McKinnon's work at the end of the movie

Ernie Hudson = Jone's uncle who owns a hearse company. When he finds out that they lost the ghostbusters car, Jones wants another one. Hudson says "I got four funerals this weekend. I can't do it with one hearse. Jone's says "Cant you do two at a time?" Hudson replies "Im not stackin em like flapjacks!"

Harold Ramis = ROLLING IN HIS GRAVE (he's not in the movie obviously but I'm positive he would see this movie as a disgrace)

End cameos.

There are constant references to youtube, amazon, and one to reddit (Im sorry). McCarthy loves wontons, Jones is kinda funny but definitely just sassy funny stereotyped. McKinnon is gross funny (cue fart noise, "that came from the front". Wiig is just bland hopefule scientist trying to make sense of her life and wants to bang Hemsworth. Hemsworth was the funniest just being an idiot the whole time but saying he's hilarious would be an overstatement. Everyone just seems really dumb in this movie along with the plot and no explanation on why the hotel guy said "CHOOSE YOUR FORM". Is there a connection to Gozer? gatekeepers? keymasters? They don't talk about any of that except vaguely at the end when Jone's hears Zuul on the tape and Rowan briefly mentions the 4th cataclysm in the subway to her

The ghosts do look neon bright (although not all of them were finished in this version), there is no grit, IT IS LIKE BAD SNL COMEDY with a bad cast that tries WAY too hard to be funny. There's more ghost puking with McCarthy projectile vomiting while possessed. The Ecto 2 is a motorcycle that does nothing. The music is generic and unmemorable. It isn't shot well either, lacks flow and seems pretty damn awkward.

Couple of nostalgic things i kinda liked:

When Bill Murray is a skeptic on the news it shows the old building Sigourney Weaver lived in, in the background. Slimer first appears coming out of a hotdog stand. Some of the buildings, their facades fall and break like in the old movie. Hemsworth growls at a cop with glowing eyes just like Rick Moranis did in ghosbusters 1. Thats about it???

If you watch Angry Joe's review of the Trailer he is spot on. The jokes are very lame and this movie is a complete joke. There's really nothing serious happening and nothing is scary. The dialogue is horrible, cheesy, and loaded with slapstick and side comments that ruin any tension in the film. I wanted this movie to be good cause I'm a big GB fan, but this is a fiasco. The GGB's literally were saved by a firetruck tow cable. I can't believe the old cast agreed to cameos in this movie.

It is ghost vomit. Any other questions about the movie I'll answer since I haven't included everything I remembered from the film.

TL;DNR version: the movie is as bad as the trailer make it out to be.

Also, this is interesting: leaked sony email

Spoiler

Amy,

Here’s my take on it: It’s a reboot of the franchise in a world (our world) that has never actually had any legitimate contact with the ghost world. Our villain ghost is an executed murderer, a Ted Kazinski type (think Peter Dinklage) who has left behind a manifesto of how he wants to change and destroy the world. When his execution is hit by a supercharged electrical storm, he is turned into a powerful ghost able to rouse other villainous spirits from the ghost world to carry out the ever-expanding plans of his manifesto. Our four new female Ghostbusters come together in an origin story that sees them forming a team based on their diverse skills and plays with the invention and trial-and-error of their various Ghostbusting technology and techniques as they try to stop the villain and his ever growing force of evil ghosts, which is a boring way of saying that we’ll see four very different women come together and figure out in funny, scary and action-packed ways how to save New York City and the world.

This first film will deal with this one mission and the formation of our team and the evolution of their hardware and by the end result in them forming their actual Ghostbusters business, versus starting a business mid-film like the original movie. However, I would like to keep their business as a secret government agency in a world where the government has worked hard to cover up the events of this first reboot in order to keep the public from knowing that there is now a possible reoccurring ghost threat over our country. (I’m playing with the idea that, a la Close Encounters, the government stages an evacuation of mid-town Manhattan to keep the public from knowing about the ghost threat, so that even though most of mid-town Manhattan is a mess after the final battle, they are able to explain it away as a gas explosion or something to that effect. This will keep the franchise from having to denounce the Ghostbusters in a sequel or drop them back into a world in which the public is now fully aware of ghosts. This will give the franchise much more longevity. There’s a funny dynamic we want to play with where the government eventually starts working with the Ghostbusters but has to keep denouncing them publicly, having a Cecily Strong type character always saying terrible things about them in press conferences and then apologizing to them behind the scenes, even though her public attacks on them get more and more personal. “I’m sorry, I just have to make it sound convincing.”)

Tonally, the movie will be a bit scarier and more hi-tech than the original and the set pieces will be bigger, while still being very funny. For example, I want in the third act to have the entire police force and army accompany the Ghostbusters to the final battle but since our villain only wants to deal with the Ghostbusters and wants to make the government look ridiculous, he possesses the entire police and army forces and makes them do a big ridiculous dance number in the middle of Fifth Avenue, thus neutralizing them (and delighting himself). I think that having our main villain be both evil and funny in the ways screws with our world as he’s trying to carry out the points of his manifesto (get revenge on everyone who slighted him, humiliate and take down Wall Street, make the United States look ridiculous to the rest of the world and eventually destroy NYC, which to him is the brain of the US), as well as have fun with the ghosts he picks to carry out various tasks (could be all dead villains and famous criminals he recruits from the ghost world and - in what I think could be a billion dollar idea - recruits the ghosts of evil beings from other parts of the universe - yes, ghost aliens! “Our world isn’t the only place in the universe with bad and dangerous beings that have died, you know. There’s a lot of bored dead monsters out there who are just looking for something to do.”)

Anyway, these are all things we’re experimenting with and are looking forward to exploring as we write the first draft. I hope this helps in your lunch.

Break a leg! :0)

Paul

There's also a mail about how Sony was prepared to sue Bill Murray if he resisted being in this:

In order to more fully evaluate our position if Bill Murray again declines to engage on “Ghostbusters”, AG requested that we identify “aggressive” litigation counsel with whom we can consult to evaluate our alternatives and strategize.

Wow, Sony has no shame.

 

[WillG]

Okay, take this with a huge grain of salt - because, you know, the internet - but someone working on the movie saw the rough cut:

Seems legit to me, or else it's pretty elaborate description for a hoax

 

[SamT]

Again, the new trailer is receiving two times more dislikes. How is it explicable? Even the worst movies of human history don't receive that much dislikes on youtube.

 

[WillG]

Again, the new trailer is receiving two times more dislikes. How is it explicable? Even the worst movies of human history don't receive that much dislikes on youtube.

I guess people underestimate how beloved the original is

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Holy crap that synopsis sounds awful.

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

I guess people underestimate how beloved the original is

I guess the atomic weight of cobalt is 58.9.