Spoilers Ghostbusters (2016): Grading and Review

[CommanderTrip]

^ I tell you I'm wary of Youtube links to reviews like these because there's a lot of people with whack ideas and I'd rather not support some of them. I think it's more productive to say what you think, or like that the video says, and let us react and respond to that.

I can tell you a lot of his arguments are well supported and he argues a good point (sprinkled with a unique blend of irreverent humor.) His star trek and star wars reviews are worth a look as well, but lengthy in comparison.

He is the only YouTube reviewer that I can tell you definitively I recommend viewing.

 

[Tosk]

"Watch this video" is still not a good way to discuss a film on a message board. Linking it for someone who wants to watch it is good, but not so much if it's required to know what the poster is talking about.

 

[Trekker4747]

"Watch this video" is still not a good way to discuss a film on a message board. Linking it for someone who wants to watch it is good, but not so much if it's required to know what the poster is talking about.

"Watch this video" is the entire premise of a message board centered around a TV series.

 

[Reverend]

Any yet still: no.

Use your own damn words.

 

[Trekker4747]

When it comes to the RLM videos on the PT and GB16 why do that when they have so well? Best I can do is repeat what they say and then get called out for copying them.

 

[HugeLobes]

When it comes to the RLM videos on the PT and GB16 why do that when they have so well? Best I can do is repeat what they say and then get called out for copying them.

Agreed. So many YouTube comments from Star Wars clips are just people parroting Plinkett as if his thoughts are their own. I don't see what's wrong with bringing videos into the discussion. It's just citing other people to back up or complement your own opinions.

 

[Reverend]

If you feel your only alternative to "regurgitate some youtuber's bullet points" in a cogent discussion is "try and get people to watch some youtuber's bullet points", well then sonny Jim, you done have bigger problems than people not wanting to watch your chosen opinion dispenser's videos.

 

[HugeLobes]

If you feel your only alternative to "regurgitate some youtuber's bullet points" in a cogent discussion is "try and get people to watch some youtuber's bullet points", well then sonny Jim, you done have bigger problems than people not wanting to watch your chosen opinion dispenser's videos.

So, what’s the problem again?

 

[Trekker4747]

If you feel your only alternative to "regurgitate some youtuber's bullet points" in a cogent discussion is "try and get people to watch some youtuber's bullet points", well then sonny Jim, you done have bigger problems than people not wanting to watch your chosen opinion dispenser's videos.

And, yet, your problem is, "Wah, I don't wanna watch some YouTube video, tell me what it says instead!"

To get the gist of it, the best part is laid out in the middle where it compares the set-up of both movies. The reboot spends something like the first few minutes, before the opening title, dumping us with information about this house, the relevant ghost, its history and all with unfunny humor. After the opening title we then spend a good chunk of time getting our characters to encounter the ghost in this house with more info dumps. All for a ghost that in the end doesn't matter to the main story.

The original spends 30 seconds with the librarian, opening title, then the next few minutes introducing us to the main characters as they deal with this ghost where we're learning about them and not it, this is all finished within 10-15 minutes and our characters are unemployed and set to start their own business. Clean. Simple. Efficient.

They have the Slimer encounter at the hotel around 30 minutes in, in the new one the first ghost busting moment at the concert is an HOUR in. And we don't learn much, in the original we learn about the equipment and how dangerous it is. New one, we get more lame jokes and a really lame cameo.

Watch the damn video, it's worth it.

 

[CommanderTrip]

So, what’s the problem again?

Exactly.

If you feel your only alternative to "regurgitate some youtuber's bullet points" in a cogent discussion is "try and get people to watch some youtuber's bullet points", well then sonny Jim, you done have bigger problems than people not wanting to watch your chosen opinion dispenser's videos.

I'm sorry you feel that way. While that is YOUR opinion that I have big problems in my life because I posted the link, I can tell you I most certainly have more important issues to deal with in life than arguing about posting a YT link, on a trekbbs, in a ghostbusters 2016 movie thread.

I even posted a disclaimer that RLM is not everyone's cup of tea. So would you not agree that continuing to ramble how you don't like the video, and your opinion of me because you don't like the video, is foolish, if not a little childish? What is the point of making these statements other than to insult or start an argument not related to the discussion?

You don't like RLM, we get it. What I don't understand is why you are repeatedly coming at me for discussing the topic and posting a video relevant to the discussion. Might I suggest we get back to discussing the topic? Would you like to try and touch upon the points I made in my original post and contribute to a cogent discussion rather than summarily dismiss me as "weird" or "sonny jim" because you dont like what I posted? While I am normally keen to ignore such behavior,your repeated attempts to attack my intelligence as well as my ability to make an argument solicited the most basic of responses.

I feel I discussed the topic in my original post, and rather than plagiarize someone else's argument, I cited the points and posted the link. Again, if this is not sufficient for you, I'm sorry you feel that way but why not get back to the topic at hand? I don't see what insulting me for bringing up two valid criticisms in a RLM video accomplishes.

 

[Trekker4747]

ETA on my previous post, talking about RLM video.

 

[CommanderTrip]

"Watch this video" is still not a good way to discuss a film on a message board. Linking it for someone who wants to watch it is good, but not so much if it's required to know what the poster is talking about.

I agree. I apologize if that is how my message came across. My intention was to cite the two points from the RLM video that I feel sum up what went wrong with the film. While I am more than capable of lifting RLM's argument word for word and crafting it into a very wordy post, I alternatively believed it would be far more efficient and appropriate to post the link to the original source and cite the examples.

I strongly feel the problems with GB16 are rooted deeply in the shooting script as well as the abundant use of improvisational humor on part of the cast members. The movie is edited in such a way that gags and jokes as presented have little time to breathe and often such fall flat on their face. While there is no doubt in my mind the cast of the film had a lot of fun making the film, you can also observe that the humor just didn't work, as evidenced by the looks on the crewmember's faces in BTS clips.

The original GB movie did an excellent job of balancing tone, viewer expectations, and improvisation that played to the cast's strengths and gave us a cult classic. Who doesn't find themselves laughing when the maid at the Sedgwick Hotel shouts "What the hell are you doin?!" after the team obliterates her housekeeping cart. Their responses are golden too. "sorry, sorry, thought you were someone else."

The GB16 movie did a poor job in this regard. It's tone is consistently goofy with a clear suspension of disbelief required in order to accept the events of the movie as presented. The characters spend the majority of the movie bouncing from gag to gag with no real sense of drama or weight to the story. Compare the maid scene above with the "wonton soup" gag that is repeated throughout. The soup has few wontons, now only one wonton, and now that the GB are heroes, its broth filled with mostly wontons. I personally find the former gag much more hilarious.

With the Paul Feig reboot, we essentially get a carbon-copy remake of the original GB movie plot but without the charm, wit, and balance of drama/comedy that made the original so enjoyable.

 

[Gaith]

Yeah, I have zero interest in watching a "Plinkett's Review" of anything. I mean am I the only one that

No. Lots of people, including many of the 29,773 registered members of this forum, also think that watching RLM videos are beneath them, and many of those are also perfectly happy to boast about it.

If you want to be special, consider actually doing something productive and rare, like learning to play the ukulele. Announcing to lots of people you'll never meet in person that you're not going to watch a YouTube video is neither.

 

[Reverend]

No. Lots of people, including many of the 29,773 registered members of this forum, also think that watching RLM videos are beneath them, and many of those are also perfectly happy to boast about it.

If you want to be special, consider actually doing something productive and rare, like learning to play the ukulele. Announcing to lots of people you'll never meet in person that you're not going to watch a YouTube video is neither.

Well that's a relief. For a moment there I thought I was a unique and special little butterfly.