Ghostbusters (2016)

So recently the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot came out and I went to go see it. There's been a lot of talk about the movie before it released. I wasn't too excited about it at first. I really thought Ghostbusters was best left as a standalone movie. Ghostbusters 2 wasn't that good and at first I wasn't sure if this movie was supposed to be a sequel or a reboot. Speaking of reboots I am not a fan of them (Sequels as well) which is why I was a bit nervous about this movie. Especially with the influx of mediocre reboots and sequels of 80's and 90's movies recently such as Jurassic World, Independence Day: Resurrection, Terminator Genesis, and the Poltregeist remake. But I decided to see it in order to review it.  Was it good or bad? Let's find out.












Main Characters: The main character of the movie is Erin Gilbert played by Kristen Wiig. As main characters go she's okay but is a bit boring at times. Then there's Erin's best friend Abby Yates played by Melissa McCarthy. I actually do like her a lot and I think she plays off Wiig well in a few scenes There's the third member of the team Jillian Holtzmann played by Kate McKinnon. She's okay. But at certain points I do feel that the writers were trying too hard to make her "Quirky" and "Weird". Especially in the second act of the movie. It just felt forced. She's my least favourite out of the main Ghostbusters. Then there's Leslie Jones as Patty Tolan. I like her because of the way she plays her character. Her screaming gets a bit repetitive but other than that it's okay. She doesn't get as much screen time the rest of the cast which is disappointing. I will admit that her character is a bit stereotypical but I don't really have much more to say about that one. So overall it has a pretty funny main cast with a few problems here and there.





Side Characters: Of course we need to have a supporting cast so let's take a look at it. First there's the Ghostbusters' receptionist Kevin, played by Chris Hemsworth. He's the most one note character in the movie. But he does get a few funny lines here and there. Then there's the mayor and his assistant. They're kind of just jerks with not much else as personality. I don't have much else to say about them. And finally there's the villain of the movie: Rowan North. I didn't really know what to think of him. His plan is kind of unclear and he's never given much motivation for what he's doing. We're told he was bullied as a kid and that's it. To be fair Gozer in the original wasn't given too much backstory or motivation but at least they were intimidating. Rowan isn't intimidating. He's too serious to be a joke villain but too jokey to be a serious villain. He's kind of just forgettable. Honestly, I thought his name was Ronald until I checked IMDB. Oh yeah, and Ozzy Osbourne is briefly in this for some reason... I don't know why. I didn't even think he was still relevant. I just felt like bringing it up. So overall not a very good supporting cast. But at least Kevin is funny.






Humour: The humour in this movie varies a lot. A lot of the slapstick ends up falling flat and it has some immature/gross out jokes that I personally didn't find funny. But there were a lot of funny lines. Especially from Melissa McCarthy and Leslie Jones' characters. Something that kind of bugged me is that they really focused more on humour than actually being scary. I mean, the original Ghostbusters was still a comedy but it still had plenty of scary moments that still frighten me. I think the scene where the hands reach out of the chair in the original is terrifying. But I guess this movie is in a different style but that is okay. But at the same time focusing too much on jokes was one of the reasons I didn't like Ghostbusters 2. But I do remember there being one really scary scene involving a mannequin in this movie. Overall, the pattern of humour in the movie goes: Good jokes followed up by bad jokes.






Special Effects: As movies go the effects in this movie are average. It's better than some of the terrible effects in the original Ghostbusters but at the same time it isn't anything special. Some of the CGI ghosts are kind of generic looking. Especially the big monster that comes in at the end. It reminds me of Eddie Murphy's Haunted Mansion or the live action Scooby Doo, It all just ended up looking kind of fake. I know the effects in the original Ghostbusters are dated in some parts but for the most part it had its own style. Here, the style kind of just looks really generic.










Plot: The first half of the movie is pretty similar. The Ghostbusters see a ghost and decide to open up their ghost hunting business. Then they soon discover a plot to release ghosts on New York City. It's a pretty similar plot to the original but there are some pretty big differences. I feel like it's kind of trying to be the same movie but kind of not. I don't want to spoil to much but I can say that, to me at least, the first half of the movie is better than the last. I felt like the last half of the movie was a bit predictable. Something else I want to address is that there were a few very forced call backs to the original such as a cab driver (Played by Dan Aykryod) saying "I ain't afraid of no ghost". It reminded me of the painfully forced call backs to Jurassic Park in Jurassic World. But overall the plot is pretty good with a few bumps in the road.





Conclusion: Overall, Ghostbusters (2016) is.... Average. It's not good, but it isn't terrible either. Honestly, if it wasn't for all the hype around it wouldn't be half as popular. And something I forgot to mention is that there is a lot of product placement in the movie. It gets annoying but I guess that's not too big of a deal. So do I recommend Ghostbusters? I guess so. I honestly am not sure. Me personally I'd take the original Ghostbusters over this one. If this movie seems like something you'd be interested in go see it. I'm not stopping you. I'm  just some guy on the internet.

Mamma Mia!

Hmm.... A movie where the songs are made by a Swedish band. Let's set it in Greece. Because that makes sense. If you haven't guessed by the opening joke I'm going to be reviewing Mamma Mia! Yes, I have to put an exclamation point there. It's like Jeb! Bush's name. It's impossible not to put it there. Anyway, let's see if this movie is any good.












Characters: The main character of this movie is Sophie. She is really boring. I can't remember anything about her personality. She also has two friends who are just as boring. Also there's Shopie's fiance. I can't remember anything about him. He was kind of just the good looking love interest. Then we have Donna. She is Sophie's mother and played my Meryl Streep. Donna is my favourite character. She seems to have the most personality. Donna also has two friends but they were kind of annoying. And finally we have Bill, Sam, and Harry. They are all Sophie's possible fathers (If you haven't seen the movie it'll make sense once I get the plot section). All I remember is that Sam was played by Pierce Brosnan. I can't remember much about the other two. Okay, so all the characters are forgettable. But at least the songs are good. Right?








Music: I like the music in the movie. Most of the songs are pretty good. But the choreography kind of kills it. The choreography for the Dancing Queen musical number (As well as a few others) is incredibly lazy. If you look at the picture on the left you'll get an idea of what the choregraphy in this movie is like. Also, it turns out that Pierce Brosnan can't sing very well. Also the songs are very poorly spaced out. I remember it was less than a minute between this one musical number and another. Overall, the songs are good but the very lazy choreography as well as the singing of Pierce Brosnan kind of ruins it.







Plot: Okay so the plot of the movie is that Sophie doesn't know who her father is so she invites three men who might be be her father (Bill, Sam, and Harry) to her wedding on a island in Greece (Where the only actual Greek people are extras). But then some wedding drama happens or something.... Honestly it's just a bunch of scenes loosely connected through ABBA songs. It's also filled with predictable cliches. So it's not exactly an original plot. But what do I think of it in conclusion?







Conclusion: Overall, Mamma Mia! is a predictable movie with characters aren't very interesting and songs that aren't will choreographed and spaced out. But, I still kind of recommend it. I really don't know why there's something about how it doesn't take itself so seriously that makes me want to watch it again. So in conclusion: It's a cheesy movie with some good songs (Even if Pierce Brosnan can't sing) that I recommend. See you next time.

30 Rock

So, you're probably wondering what happened to my TIFF movies. Well I was having some troubles with them and am unable to review them. So instead, I'm going to review a TV show now. That TV show would be 30 Rock. A TV show about a TV show. Sounds very confusing. So let's take a look at it. Also, just a quick warning, there will be spoilers in the "Plot" section of this review.











Main Characters: The main character of the show is Liz Lemon. The head writer of the show TGS: With Tracy Jordan. They're sort of an exaggerated version of her actor: Tina Fey. I don't really have many problems with her. The other main character is Jack Donaghy. The head of Television and Microwave Programming. He's a very good foil to Liz with him treating everything like a business and the two of them not getting along. The main start of the show within the show is Tracey Jordan. A very... Strange person who always makes strange demands.  His off the wall zaniness is always very amusing and he is a surprisingly smart character. Then there's Tracy's egotistical co-star Jenna Maroney. She's a bit of a mix. Most of the time she's a good character but other times she gets really annoying. Then there's Kenneth Parcell. A page who works for NBC who may or may not be immortal. He's weird to say the least. I like him, he's a good comic relief. Now that the main characters are out  of the way let's move on to the side characters.







Side Characters: First there's Liz's friend and producer of TGS Pete Hornberger. He's meant to be a foil to all the insanity happening around him. Then we have Frank Rossitano, a writer for TGS. He's kind of just a loser. Sometimes he's funny but other times he's just weird. There's Jack's assistant Jonathan. He is constantly worshipping Jack and there are some pretty funny jokes that come out of it. After that, there's Josh Girard. He was one of Tracy and Jenna's co-stars. He wasn't all that funny to be honest and he left the show after season two. The show even makes fun of the fact that nobody really knows who he is. Next there's, Danny Baker, an actor that replaces Josh after he leaves the show. There's Cerie, a receptionist who works at TGS. She'a a valley girl stereotype with not too much else to her. And lastly there are Grizz and Dotcom. They are Tracy's best friends and they actually are really funny. Then there are some very minor returning characters like Jack's rival Devon Banks and another NBC page named Hazel. Most of them are pretty funny.








Plot: Since this is a TV series I'll do what I usually do for TV shows and go by these plots of each season. The plot of the first season has Tracy join the cast of TGS and everyone getting used to him. It also involves Liz dating a man named Floyd. It's pretty funny. Season two has Jack getting a politician girlfriend and having him trying to balance his life with her and his business life as well as his rical Devon Banks trying to sabotage him. It's also a pretty funny season. In season three Jack dates a woman named Elisa, Jenna tries to get the life rights to Janice Joplin for a movie, and Liz dating a doctor. It was a lot funnier than the first two seasons in my opinion. In season four a company called Kabletown buys NBC and Liz has to start making changes. Jack starts dating yet another woman. This time it's a news anchor named Avery Jessup. And latsly Jenna gets in a relationship with a man named Paul. This season is my personal favourite. In season five Jack and Avery have a daughter. Jack also tries to negotiate with the CEO of Kabletown Hank Hooper. Tracy finally gets on Oscar for his super sad film "Hard to Watch" and Tracy's wife Angie gets her own reality show. This season is my second favourite. The plot of season six is: Jack trying to get Avery back after she is held hostage in North Korea (Don't ask), Kenneth leaves the page program and is replaced by Hazel, Jenna becomes a judge on a reality TV program and considering settling down with Paul, and Liz dates a man named Criss Cross. The show was starting to get a bit over the top but it was still funny. In the final season Liz and Criss get married and try to adopt children, Jack starts to question if he is truly happy, Tracy starts his own movie studio, Kenneth tries to move up in the world, and Jenna finally settles down with Paul. This season wasn't as good as some of the previous seasons but it was still pretty good.



Conclusion: 30 Rock is a really funny show. Almost all the jokes work and the characters are interesting. It's also a very unique setting for a show. I personally like it better than Parks and Recreation and I definitely recommend this show. So in conclusion, 30 Rock is a great show that I recommend if you like comedy. Let me know what you think of the show.