Initial Reaction: Video Review - GHOSTBUSTERS

This week Charles and I are back on the summer blockbuster trail as the much anticipated/much denounced reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise hit theaters. Of course, the big "controversy" that surrounded the film was that director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, SPY) swapped the genders of the four main characters and made them women. Why this is an issue is kind of beyond common sense comprehension, but apparently it still is in 2016. All of that said, the 2016 Ghostbusters isn't going to break the mold, but it is far from being offensively bad enough to ruin anyone's childhood. Ghostbusters is fun and the all-new, all-female cast and the chemistry that exists between them is one of the best things about the film. Of course, with all of that aforementioned "controversy" surrounding the film it kind of inadvertently made this new movie something of a cultural event, but how would this contribute to its box office success or failure? Well, it seems Ghostbusters will be just fine as far as worldwide gross is concerned, but the $144 million price tag is really going to hurt the good news that the film opened with an estimated $46 million. This is the largest domestic opening for both director Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy, but it is also their most expensive...by a long shot. Bridesmaids cost $32.5, The Heat came in at $43, and SPY continued the upward trend with a $65 million budget, but each of those films went on to make over $200 million worldwide. If Ghostbusters hits this same mark it will be nowhere near as big a victory given the budget, but as of right now it seems as if Ghostbusters will probably make its budget back in the states while counting on its overseas performance for profit. The movie made $19.1 million from three international territories this past weekend with key releases in Russia, Italy, Germany, France, Mexico, Spain, and Japan still to come. It will be interesting to see how this plays out and how strong the legs are on this one given the amount of hate it has received while also factoring in the "A-" CinemaScore for the under 25 crowd with an overall score of a "B+". As always, hit the jump to watch this week's review and be sure to subscribe to our channel as we have a new review (or reviews) up each week! Appreciate the support.

GHOSTBUSTERS Review

I'd like to think there's not as much ignorance in the world as the internet tells me there is, but the small corner of the World Wide Web known as IMDb and more specifically the user reviews for 2016's reboot of Ghostbusters would suggest everything I've hoped to be true about this world is in fact wrong. Given the film has been out in wide release for less than 24 hours at the time of this writing it's astonishing how many harsh and outlandish tirades have been hurled at this film. Of course, we're not here to discuss the inability of what are likely now forty year-old men to share in the wealth of their childhoods, childhoods that provided such pleasures at the original 1984 film, and extend those same feelings of excitement and pure joy to the kids of today and moreover the young girls and women of today who have undoubtedly always looked to the portrayal of their gender in Hollywood and wondered why they were always so restrained. As far as I'm concerned and as far as I can tell (I was born in 1987 so I don't exactly "get" the hoopla that surrounds the original) despite how much the original Ghostbusters was a huge success and universally praised at the time of its release I've never understood the level of infatuation with it. Sure, it's a perfectly enjoyable comedy with a charismatic cast and unique premise, but in the thirty plus years since its release I can't help but think the film has lost some of its charm otherwise I wouldn't feel as out of the loop. With this new, all-female version director Paul Feig has both paid homage to the original film while creating a world and characters all his own. Written by Feig with the help of The Heat screenwriter Kate Dippold this new Ghostbusters universe doesn't capitalize wholly on the gimmick of the gender swap, but more it uses this basis of an idea to explore a familiar world from a new perspective. While no matter how good the film might have turned out to be there would undoubtedly still be people decrying the fact it exists at all, but that it is a lot of fun if not necessarily an exceptional comedy will surely only anger them more. To remain focused on those who take away from the unadulterated fun that Ghostbusters can provide though is to be reminded of the disappointment this world can be whereas to simply take the new Ghostbusters on its own terms can make you believe good does in fact exist among us. In short, it's a delight.

THE INFILTRATOR Review

The Infiltrator opens with a nice little tracking shot through a 1985 bowling alley as Rush plays on the soundtrack and arcade games make up the lighting. We're informed we're in Tampa yet we're following a man with hair so black it can't be natural and who is wearing a jacket in what is no doubt an insanely hot summer. Something feels off. When the camera finally pans around from the back of the figures head to reveal Bryan Cranston's face and all the stories it tells with its many cracks and crevices, but still ruggedly handsome and definitive features most will know the set-up we've been dropped into. Given the context clues provided not only by the title of the film, but by what we see in the opening seconds it is clear Cranston is undercover and is preparing for a moment of some sort. He's effortless in his adaptation of the customs and dialect in which the men he's now keeping company with do business. From here we are given a brief and subtle glimpse of how adept Cranston's character, who we come to learn is U.S. Customs and Drug Enforcement Agent Robert Mazur, actually is at modifying his persona and adjusting to whatever the situation might call for which will naturally inform moments later in the film to be filled with even more tension once we become invested in the characters. In all honesty, you've seen this movie before. It is easy to pick up on the beats of the story and understand where things are headed even if the real life events this film depicts are likely much more complicated than we're led to believe. By containing this story to what are more or less genre trappings though, director Brad Furman (The Lincoln Lawyer) doesn't limit the power of the story or the tension that unfolds from these moments, but rather gives what is undoubtedly a sprawling epic guidelines by which the highlights and necessary information of Mazur's story can be communicated to a mass audience in a clear and effective way. The Infiltrator may feel somewhat familiar in its execution, but the exceptional cast led by Cranston and by virtue of the unique details that make up the familiar plot there is much to be taken from the film if one is looking for a white-knuckle crime drama worthy of that descriptor.

EQUALS Review

Note: This is a reprint of my review for Equals, which originally ran on September 15, 2015 after seeing it at the Toronto Film Festival. I am publishing it again today as it hits select theaters this weekend.

Man, that Nicholas Hoult really likes himself some Romeo & Juliet stories, doesn't he? If you recall, he made a little subversion of the zombie genre back in 2013 that also borrowed from Shakespeare's doomed story of young lovers. While Warm Bodies at least had the sense to have a sense of humor about itself Equals is not that kind of movie, but instead plays it completely straight allowing it to end up completely boring. From the outset of the film it all feels familiar. One can see where this thing is going from a mile away and I'm not even sure how anyone read Nathan Parker's (Moon) script and thought it was a good idea to make this movie again. Again you ask? Yeah, do you recall a little 2005 Michael Bay film by the name of The Island? Remember how that film was accused of ripping off another movie? Well, I'm sure the makers of the 1979 film, Parts: The Clonus Horror, found inspiration from another source (George Lucas?) and their source before that (George Orwell?). This happens all the time. I'm not saying Equals has done anything wrong as far as copyright infringement goes, but I am saying it feels like they took out the clone aspect of The Island, added in some aspects of The Giver and threw in a third act R & J twist and called it a day. Director Drake Doremus made a nice little examination of young love with his breakout hit in 2011, Like Crazy, but this utopian set version of that story yields nothing fresh or interesting.

Teaser Trailer for LA LA LAND Starring Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone

It's a little ironic that we've received the first trailer for director Damien Chazelle's follow-up to Whiplash on the week it was originally scheduled to open. La La Land was and still is my most anticipated film of the year so it only hurt when distributor Summit Entertainment pushed it from the middle of summer to a more awards friendly December release date, but at least they finally gave us something. For me, Chazelle directed what might be one of the best movies of the past fifteen years with his 2014 feature debut and whatever it was the thirty-one year old director chose to do next there was sure to be a great amount of anticipation around it. Working again from an original screenplay that he penned La La Land tells the simple story of a jazz pianist who falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles-the catch is that Chazelle and stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone will be conveying this love story via musical. Taken from a screenplay Chazelle wrote before writing and directing Whiplash, this first trailer for his sophomore effort very much elicits the magic and music of old Hollywood that feels both inherent to the story and supremely executed. While it was originally planned for Miles Teller to reunite with his Whiplash director, that the lead male role eventually went to Gosling seems more of a perfect fit as Gosling is already a singer and musician on his own terms and that Chazelle and Summit have chosen to set the first footage audiences will see to a song sung by the actor can only suggest they made the change for the better. It doesn't hurt that Gosling and Stone have magnetic chemistry together as has been displayed in their two previous films together (Crazy Stupid Love, Gangster Squad). I was in from the get-go and after seeing how lush the visuals are and how keenly Chazelle has seemed to capture what I can only imagine he was going for I'm only all the more excited for Oscar season to arrive. La La Land also stars J.K. Simmons, Finn Wittrock, Rosemarie DeWitt, John Legend, Jason Fuchs, Callie Hernandez, Sonoya Mizuno, Jessica Rothe, Tom Everett Scott, Josh Pence, and will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 31st before opening in NY and LA on December 2nd, in limited release on December 9th, and wide on December 16th.