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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated
1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going
to review every single movie I see. I’m
going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the
rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future). You can always ask me why I gave the ratings
for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses
under the ‘About Me’ section).
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Ghostbusters: Afterlife OK
I am a fan of Ghostbusters. The original 1984 film, that is. I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of
80’s and 90’s kids aren’t as well. I owned
a Ghostbusters lunchbox as a kid; at
least I believe I did; I had lots of lunchboxes and I believe Ghostbusters was one of them (unless
another kid owned one and I’m mixing up the memories…whatever). I remember watching the animated series, The Real Ghostbusters, when it
originally aired (one part that stands out is when Slimer draws a raincloud
outside a window at the end of an episode just so he could sleep while it’s
raining and I remember thinking that I completely understood). And that Slimer juice…Ecto-cooler? That shit was da bomb! I’m not as big a fan of Ghostbusters II, but I still watched it enough and own the
DVD. As for that 2016 remake? I didn’t hate it, but I still think it was
unnecessary (call me a misogynist, I really don’t care; I’ve known women that
didn’t like it either; you can read my review for it here, if you want---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2016/10/mooby-reviews-10252016.html). As for this sequel that appears to be a
direct one of the original film? It has
its moments (i.e. the scene in Walmart) and I wouldn’t go so far as saying it
was unnecessary, but I did expect it to be better than it was; it felt more
like a remake at times, and not in the homage-y way (those parts made it seem
unnecessary). Needless to say, the film
you grew up with or have a deep connection with is always going to be the
better version and any remake/sequel/prequel/whatever released (especially if
it’s years afterwards) is rarely ever going to be as good. I completely understand that and I didn’t
expect this going in to be better than the original. It was okay, I guess, and Ghostbusters fans (namely of the
original) are understandably going to watch it anyway, but clearly I will
always be an 80’s kid. R.I.P. Harold Ramis a.k.a. Egon. 2/4/2022
Nightmare Alley EH
Initially, I knew not this Guillermo del Toro-helmed feature
was a remake of a 1947 film of the same name.
Being that I like to see the original first, if possible, I watched that
version beforehand (which I only saw available on YouTube). I, and many others, always frown upon
remakes, especially if the original does not need improving. As you can see, I gave both of these versions
the same low rating and I was really hoping Guillermo would improve this
material given his oeuvre. [Mr. del Toro
certainly has style, but his films are hit and miss with me; I have been a fan
of The Devil’s Backbone, Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Crimson
Peak, and am always curious as to what he puts out (I am looking forward to
his stop-motion version of Pinocchio coming
out later this year)]. The 1947 film was
pretty pointless and felt like something huge was missing from the entire
proceedings. This version is largely the
same film with the obvious differences being it’s in color with modern
performers (Bradley Cooper, Toni Collette, Cate Blanchett, and Willem Dafoe, to
name a few). This film has worthy
performances and most definitely looks good, but, very much like the original,
completely lacks substance. In terms of
plot, Bradley Cooper plays a scam artist of sorts that works at carnivals and
whatnot, and, as you can imagine, things eventually don’t work out so
well. It’s hard to tell how I would’ve
felt about this version if I didn’t watch the original first, so close in time
at that. I likely still would’ve felt it
was a case of style over substance.
Since both movies are predominantly similar, all I can say is, if you
prefer older movies in black-and-white, watch the original, and if you prefer
modern movies in color, watch this one.
I’m not recommending either though, both being a huge waste of time; the
original is almost two hours, this one is almost 2 ½! 2/5/2022
Bonus review:
The Woman in the House
Across the Street from
the Girl in the Window OK/G
That lengthy title sounds as spoofy as it gets, much like Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While
Drinking Your Juice in the Hood or 30
Nights of Paranormal Activity with the Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon
Tattoo. This new 8-episode Netflix
series isn’t a parody though; it plays like many of its ilk, that being of the
Lifetime-ish murder mystery variety. I
wouldn’t even call it a meta film, like Scream
and The Cabin in the Woods, although
it does play around with many of its subgenre tropes. Stop me if you’ve heard this---a suburban
woman witnesses a murder across the street (!) and of course no one believes
her, because, one, no body was found, and, two, this woman takes medication and
regularly fills up her wine class to the brim (she’s obviously
delusional!). There are a couple red
herrings along the way, which tie in with those common tropes toyed around
with. I did figure out the big reveal at
the end, and that’s only because I’ve seen too many movies in my lifetime (!)
and it’s often hard not to foresee several outcomes, but it actually kind of
works here. Although this miniseries
(I’m not sure if there’s more planned, but there very well could be) may appear
to be not much different than many of the films the title seems to call out, it
is kind of smart in regards to working with clichés and is somewhat
addicting. It is what it is. Don’t go in expecting too much, but how can
you with a title like that anyhow? All 8
episodes are under a half-hour and go by really fast, except for maybe the
first one (it somehow seemed longer than it was). I definitely enjoyed it more than another
Netflix property containing words from this title, The Woman in the Window, which you can read my review for here---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-woman-in-windowthe-strange-house.html. 1/29/2022
Other movies and TV show(s) I’ve seen and their ratings (see above):
Chosen (Season
One) >>>OK
(Netflix; 6
episodes; In Danish with subtitles)
Evil at the Door >>>EH/OK
The French Dispatch >>>B
Hellblazers >>>OK
My Bodyguard >>>OK/G
Nightmare Alley (1947) >>>EH
Unearth >>>EH
The Unforgivable >>>OK/G
(Netflix)
What Breaks the Ice >>>EH/OK
---Sean O.
2/6/2022
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