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Indian Express

Da Couch Tomato Podcast, Episode 45, discussing Wonder Woman 1984, why we don't agree that it was the worst movie of 2020, and why it didn't quite nail the feel of the 80s.

Sting Lacson's rating: 7/10
Rachel's rating: 7.3/10
Final rating: 7.15/10
1:47 PM
Girl power.

Una sa lahat, fanboy ako ng original. N'ung Grade 2 ako, nagdro-drawing ako ng Ghostbusters para sa mga kaklase ko for P5.00 per drawing.

Hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit andaming haters ng bagong Ghostbusters. Ito na yata ang most disliked video sa YouTube. Pero ano nga ba ang dahilan nila sa pag-dislike? Dahil ba ayaw nila ang all-female cast? O dahil ayaw nilang galawin ng Hollywood ang original franchise?

Itong 2016 Ghostbusters ay isang reboot ng original 1984 film ni Ivan Reitman, pero kahit hindi ka fan ng original film at ng sequel nito (at ng animated series) ay maa-appreciate mo naman ang efforts ni director Paul Feig at ng female ensemble cast. Hindi ito tulad ng mga Marvel reboot ng Spider-Man na ginawa dahil hindi sila nasiyahan sa unang trilogy ni Sam Raimi. Ito ay isang legitimate reboot na ang intention ay ipakilala ang Ghostbusters sa bagong henerasyon ng moviegoers.

At ipakilala ang Ecto-1 bilang proof na pwede maging cool ang karo ng patay. 

Ang ginawa ng filmmakers dito ay "transposition", isang bagong film theory na aking dine-develop at idi-discuss sa separate post. Ibig sabihin, hindi ito one-is-to-one adaptation ng original source material into a feminine mold. Allow me to explain.

Si Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) ay hindi direct equivalent ni Peter Venkman, dahil hindi naman douchebag si Gilbert tulad ni Venkman. Ang pagkakapareho lang siguro nila ay pareho silang may Ph.D. at pareho silang malandi. Si Abigail Yates (Melissa McCarthy) ay hindi direct equivalent ni Ray Stantz, dahil si Yates ay medyo loud at si Stantz ay ang quiet type. Si Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) ay hindi direct equivalent ni Egon Spengler, bagaman kapareho niya ang hairstyle ng cartoon version ni Egon. Si Spengler ay weird in a nerdy way, tulad ng pagkolekta niya ng spores, molds, and fungus, habang si Holtzmann ay super-weird-in-an-attractive-way na mahilig sa heavy machinery, at mas kenkoy kaysa sa medyo reserved na si Egon. Si Patty Tolman (Leslie Jones) ay hindi direct equivalent ni Winston Zeddmore, dahil sa original film, parang sidekick lang talaga si Winston at wala gaanong backstory, habang mas developed ang character ni Patty at mas major ang kaniyang interaction with the team. Ang pagkakapareho siguro nila ay they're both black and not scientists. At siyempre, si Kevin (Chris Hemsworth) ay hindi direct equivalent ni Janine Melnitz, kasi 'di hamak naman na mas matalino si Janine kaysa sa bobong eye-candy ni Hemsworth.

"Take that, critics!"

Ang mga pelikulang ganito ay nangangailangan ng isang solid antagonist, at hindi ito si Chris Hemsworth. Sinapian lamang siya ni Rowan (Neil Casey) na siyang main villain dito. Pero hindi gaanong effective ang villainy ni Rowan dahil ang character niya ay hindi talaga konektado sa grupo. Sa original movie, ang true villain ay ang metaphysical spirit na si Gozer, at ang kanyang manifestation ay si Zuul "the Gatekeeper" na sumapi kay Sigourney Weaver na love interest ni Peter Venkman. Mukhang mas effective sana ang pagkakaroon ng isang metaphysical villain kaysa sa isang flesh-and-blood human antagonist tulad ni Rowan, dahil ang pinakakalaban talaga ng Ghostbusters ay ang unknown evils of the spirit world.

Sa isang reboot, ang goal mo is to create new fans without alienating the old ones. At iyan ang dahilan kung bakit napakaraming references to the original, tulad ni Stay Puft Marshmallow Man at ni Slimer. Mayroon ring mga re-designed equipment ng mga proton packs at traps. At mayroon ding basbas ng original cast, dahil lahat sila, except for the late Harold Ramis at Rick Moranis, ay may speaking cameo sa pelikulang ito.

Bilang isang reboot, tagumpay ang pelikulang ito. Marami ang laugh-out-loud moments, at masayang movie experience siya para sa mga bago at lumang fans na lalabas sa sinehan na may Ghostbusters hangover. Bilang simula ng bagong franchise, ibang usapan na 'yun, pero mukhang malaki ang pag-asa ng sequel. Personally, gusto ko pa ng more Jillian Holtzmann.

Kate McKinnon: bagong girl-crush ng bayan.



Ghostbusters. USA. 2016.



Orihinal na rating: 8/10
Kristen Wiig: +0.1
Kate McKinnon: +0.2
Cameo ng original cast: +0.1
Charles Dance a.k.a. Tywin Lannister: +0.1
Cameo ni Ozzy Osbourne: +0.05
Pagsayaw ni Holtzmann ng "Rhythm of the Night": +0.05
Zach Woods ng Silicon Valley: +0.05
Matt Walsh ng Veep: +0.05
Michael Kenneth Williams a.k.a. Omar ng The Wire: +0.05
Final na rating: 8.75/10
11:37 AM
YouTube

As I mentioned in a previous review, sequels are the bane of Hollywood. This is especially true of animated films, because children cannot discern good movies from bad ones, and will most likely drag their parents to watch anything with their favourite characters in it.

Or anything with wingsuit flying.

This, however, is not true for How to Train Your Dragon 2.

See? How can you go wrong with lots of warships?
12:33 AM
YouTube

Illumination Entertainment has fallen into the Hollywood money-making mentality called "the sequel trap". With only four releases under Illumination's belt, it's sad that they already had to resort to sequels.

They also had to resort to seeing through women's clothing.
4:32 PM
A long-overdue post on the breakthrough all-female-lead comedy.

The photo above can make anyone dismiss Bridesmaids as a chick-flick. But it also has balls some men don't have the slightest idea how to own. Let's see why the film is such a hit that it was even dubbed as "The Ladies' The Hangover".

All the ladies, represent! (well, almost)
It's no surprise that we have stereotyped characters to start the story with; even the two semi-lead guys are no-brainer black-and-white "good" or "bad". What's nice is how they evolved through the movie—some more effectively than others, though.

Redefine your first impression of the girls from the first photo above.

"I can relate!" (first-hand or from a friend of a friend's perspective) 
We see very grown-up women in their very real girls-only environment—competitive, selfish, and selfless at the same time, etc. That applies, by the way, to all girls. Every girl is, one way or another, one time or another, like every other girl.

Sorry, Chris O'Dawd, you're cue but the girls clearly take the spotlight.

It's a team effort, really.
SNL alums (Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph) pick up the cred mostly. Not-really-comic actors (i.e. Rose Byrne) also put in good work. The writing upped the ante, really—bride pooping in a designer-wedding-dress in the middle of traffic vs. cat fights all over.

Especially deserving of praise is Melissa McCarthy!

So why is the movie being a blown-out hit still a mystery to me? Maybe because not all jokes and puns are laugh-out-loud. Maybe because as a girl, the novelty isn't so new to me. Maybe because it's kind of predictable in honor of true girlfriends fashion.

Now I'm not dissing the hype this film had buzzing, nor do I object to the noms and wins it achieved. It's just not that all too much for me. But it has made its mark. It is, after all, very, very entertaining—hilarious at some points—to watch.


Bridesmaids gets a six-point-five out of ten. I strongly suggest not to follow this up with a sequel lest it be similar to how the The Hangover Part II turned out—NOT that this one is similar to that movie's predecessor. Puh-lease.



*photos from qfxblog.wordpress.com, moviesovermatter.wordpress.com, aleapopculture.blogspot.com, and prettypanda.blog.com, respectively
10:05 AM
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