So The Ghostbusters Embargo was lifted and oh dear

[Zontar]

Killing Joke is a theatre movie? I thought it was DTV.

It's getting a one day limited theatrical release in a bunch of theatres. On a Monday night, so I can't go because of work. Thank you Warner Brothers.

 

[Chanticoblues]

For me personally ones I watch are channels like RedLetterMeida (they share my cynicism about everything), Chris Stuckmann, GoodBadFlicks (Cecil posts his weekly stuff here, but he does timely reviews outside of that which are only on his YouTube channel) and YourMovieSucks (who isn't as pessimistic as his channel name sounds) for the ones I watch specifically, and while I don't watch him anymore since I grew a bit tired of his style Jeremy Jahns was reliable back when I watched him and I've not heard opinions on those I know who still watch him change so I'd count him as well.

Ok. I'm familiar with some of those people. RLM and YMS can be entertaining in their own right, but I don't like their fascination with skewering low-hanging fruit, it just isn't for me. Also RLM is a bit too verbose/rambling for me to watch a whole video.

Jahns and Stuckmann I really dislike, but the thing is, they have their audience. I think that a lot of people kind of hover around the same interest/enthusiasm for film that they have so I get why people trust them. I mean if you like the same stuff they do, that's reason enough. I guess I don't read criticism for the same reason you do, which is cool.

 

[Zontar]

I guess I don't read criticism for the same reason you do, which is cool.

Yeah, everyone has their own taste. It's the reason Michael Bay movies are worth going to see for some while being unwatchable for others, or why a movie that's easy to describe as "a boring 2 ours of people talking" can make a clean 100 million profit.

 

[Callate]

Ghaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Plenty of knee-jerk reactions on both sides, desperately looking for evidence that what they want to be real is the way this is all panning out, wildly pigeonholing anyone who disagrees. Bravo.

I enjoyed Spy and Bridesmaids, Feig can make a good movie, and McCarthy and Wiig can both be great with a good script.

Also: the new Ghostbusters trailers were crap, the jokes shown fell flat, the cast seemed to have zero chermistry, and it suffered from a big case of "tell" over "show".

Variety and Hollywood Reporter, both big-name sources, panned the movie. True.
It's currently at 74% on Rotten Tomatoes, which categorizes a movie over 60% as "Fresh". Also True.

And while we're throwing around numbers, Metacritic gives it a 63 as of this writing, just high enough to squeeze into the "green" category.

But, you know what? RT also has a whopping 44 reviews on GB right now, and I've seen plenty of movies this early slide right into the hole... or the other direction. It doesn't release for another week.

I'm just not feeling a huge likelihood of a clear picture of the movie's merits or demerits coming out of the storm of noise from people pinning issues on it.

 

[Kinokohatake]

I'm taking my daughter to see it Sunday. The little thing has loved Ghostbusters for years now and she is super stoked for it. And since the reviews on it are pretty good, I am actually looking forward to it now.

 

[Hawki]

Y'know, I would put in a Picard facepalm or similar meme after reading that, but my faith in humanity isn't so shattered that I can't imagine that rational people are doing it anyway.

...there are still rational people in the world, right?

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Hey! HEY!

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

As someone who's never seen Ghostbusters, or any of the spinoffs, following this storm in a teacup has been fascinating. People claiming it to be the new benchmark of progressivism, childhood rape in film form, the new face of female comedy, feminist propaganda, and anything between heaven and earth, is just interesting in an anthropologic kind of way. Few things apparently hold the same level of cultural status.

 

[Vigormortis]

I feel like the whole 'controversy' surrounding the film can best be summed up by the RT review summary from Stephen Whitty -
"None of it adds up to much more than an average summer entertainment - never bad enough to warrant the chauvinist hatred, rarely good enough to deserve the feminist support."

There. See? It sides with no one. See it if you want to. Ignore it if you don't.

Can we all calm the fuck down now?

No? Okay then. But, if that be the case, I'll be damned if I'm not gonna try enjoying the train wreck of a shitstorm that'll brew from the reviews.

I'll get the popcorn. Someone wanna bring the drinks?

 

[Areloch]

Also, REALLY PRO TIP FOR EVERYONE!!!: Don't base your judgement on critic reviews or your friends' opinions, don't base your judgements on what a popular person said, and definitely don't base it on fucking comparisons.

Go and see a movie, formulate your own PERSONAL OPINION, based on the movie's OWN MERITS.

Forgive me for not being inclined to give money to the producers of something that all the marketing made look utterly uninteresting and unfunny and also seems to generally pan out to be "Okay" according to reviews just to find out if it was bad or not.

 

[Vigormortis]

Go and see a movie, formulate your own PERSONAL OPINION, based on the movie's OWN MERITS.

Not that I'm saying I necessarily disagree, but what if, for fear that the film is bad (and is so because of some questionable decisions on the studio's part), I wish to know how the film is without giving my money to the studio?

I mean, let's say the studio decided to drop one of the key actors during the film's production in favor of a more 'popular' actor. Now, let's say I liked the prior actor and am not much of a fan of the latter. However, I'm still interested in knowing how the film turned out, but do not feel compelled to support the studio's actions by giving them my money, especially if the film turns out poorly. How would you suggest I get a bearing on how the film is without asking those who've seen it or consulting reviews?

 

[Hawki]

I mean seriously, the hatred hype for this movie is beginning to border on pathetic.

Heh, what do you mean by "beginning?"

 

[Arnoxthe1]

But will it sell "160 million dollars plus possibly just as much as that in marketing" level of tickets? Because that won't happen with anything these days, as Fant4stic showed us. In fact it's still an open question if this movie is going to brake even, and it's definitely not going to be the level of success that the investors where promised (can't even rely on China like most big budget mindless movies do).

How come though the film industry isn't getting a free ride on making shitty movies and games are? Modern Warfare 3 was a shameless cash-in through and through. Yet it made money HAND OVER FIST. What. The. Fuck?

 

[RedRockRun]

I'm sure all the reviewers are sexist.

 

[happyninja42]

Is it really nice? Really? You want the movie to be shit? Because while I had no hopes for it being good, I'm not glad it sucks. I'd like for it to have been the breakout hit of the summer, and actually be a good movie worth our time. To hear it's just as bad as we feared is sad, not nice.

Did you see the number of people who felt retroactively vindicated by the trailer?

If it confirms our presuppositions, that confirms that we were correct to presuppose them. That's how logic works, right?

The funny thing is the movie's sitting at aggregates of like 62 and 74. While these are far from movie of the year scores (and really, did anyone say this was going to be movie of the year?), they're still far from the shit that was being predicted, and it kind of makes the people clinging to the bottom most scores come off as desperate.

Yeah I'm aware of the toxic spewing that was being hosed around like the slime devices from Ghostbusters 2 about the trailers, just find it sad that people are hoping for something to be shit. I'd like every movie to be awesome, because really what good is a bad movie. And not "so bad it's awesome because it's a delightful trainwreck we can have fun riffing", but the "this just sucks, no redeeming qualities" kind of bad....nobody wins with that kind of film.

Glad to hear it's at least semi decent? Or at least some people are reporting it as such. Though I guess those reviews could potentially be just as biased the other way as the "it sucks 'cause women!" type of reviews. I've yet to see any reviews of it by the people that I normally watch for opinions on these kind of things before I spend my money on them. So we'll see in the coming weeks or whatever.

 

[Something Amyss]

I'm sure all the reviewers are sexist.

So...like...did you miss the part where the reviews are running positive to mixed?

The most depressing thing is, as soon as user reviews come out, I know that they're going to be 90% negative, just because people are going to go into the new Ghostbusters movie with the preconceived notion that it's changed from the original.

Is Batman v Superman still ranked as one of the best movies ever? Because I think that's all you'll need to point to.

Speaking of....

If you're going to try and paint a review as negative, at least cite more than two sources. I could link to- http://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/batman-v-superman-many-muscular-moments-in-clash-of-heroes/ and http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-20160322 and say that every critic loved Batman V Superman. Cherry picking doesn't make my bullshit true.

That operates under the assumption this is about truth.

Also, REALLY PRO TIP FOR EVERYONE!!!: Don't base your judgement on critic reviews or your friends' opinions, don't base your judgements on what a popular person said, and definitely don't base it on fucking comparisons.

Well, yeah, but I'm also just going to point out that while this is true, the reviews (even the positive ones) have done nothing to actually make me want to rush out and see his in theaters. This is not, of course, because I have decided the movie is bad. It's because I am not sufficiently excited to go throw money at them. And if you are, that's fine. It's just that I have low expectations. And it's still possible that I will be surprised when I watch it in two months on home video (because the video cycle seems to be speeding up).

People claiming it to be the new benchmark of progressivism

...like who?

How come though the film industry isn't getting a free ride on making shitty movies and games are? Modern Warfare 3 was a shameless cash-in through and through. Yet it made money HAND OVER FIST. What. The. Fuck?

Movies are getting a free ride, too. It's just different when it's something "I" don't like. Just remember, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles did almost 500 million worldwide.

 

[Cap'nPipsqueak]

RedRockRun was being ironic, Amyss.

 

[Parasondox]

You what I want to go away and wont miss? Labeling People.

Sexist

Leftist (Leave left handed people alone!!)

Racist

Progressive liberal

... something.

It just seems petty and throws any discussion into the fire when used. Handle that fetish responsibility, people.