Should We Call The New Ghostbusters? Maybe

When people heard Paul Feig wanted to make a reboot of Ghostbusters with an all-woman crew, a fair amount were rather skeptical it would work. Others, unfortunately, thought it was ultimate blasphemy.

Now, it's clear it's not quite like the original back in 1984, but that's not its job. It's a new version, determined to stand on its own.

Before I finally saw it this morning (mainly to get away from the "stop complaining about Melania Trump's speech, you mean media, you" ranting on TV) I read parts of reviews, and even a comment during the Adam Carolla podcast with Ray Parker Jr. (highly recommended, because Parker has done quite well as a musician after writing the theme to...well, what else?). I got the sense people thought it was OK, but it could have been more. In order words, people had high hopes just like Batman v. Superman, and expected them to be dashed.

The movie is a reboot, not connected to the original GB-verse, and an origin story. Remember, we met the original Ghostbusters just after they establish themselves. This is different. Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) , a physics professor at Columbia, is hoping for tenure, but it's threatened by a book she wrote with paranormal Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) that has re-emerged, Yates has a quirky partner in Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), and all three girls eventually investigate a report of a ghost at a historic house. Erin gets slimed and admits ghosts are real. Too bad Columbia doesn't like that when they find out, and they fire her.

They soon meet Patty (Leslie Jones), an MTA clerk who also knows a lot about New York, after she encounters a ghost just after meeting a weird bellhop named Rowan (Neil Casey). He wants to unleash the undead on New York because he can, and he gets help on that from an unexpected source,

Most people think McKinnon is the most interesting of the group because she's really wacky, competing with Venkman's attitude. Unfortunately, we know the least about her. If only she was Venkman's niece. That would explain a lot. We do meet her mentor eventually, and it's a big surprise.
Wiig is the most reluctant only because her past interests ruined her career. Once the GBs get their business underway, she's more enthusiastic. McCarthy and Jones are also great as their roles.

Rowan, the Big Bad, is a disappointment. While he wants to rule the world with evil ghosts, there's no effort on why he wants to do that. He's actually more interesting when he takes different forms.
As for Chris Hemsworth, who plays Kevin the dopey receptionist, he's also more interesting when he takes a different form.
Some of the original cast also make appearances, and if you look close, you'll find them. One character makes a big return, much to the gals' chagrin. However, they seem more of a gimmick than part of the plot. The exception is Bill Murray as a ghost debunker who finds out if they really exist...the hard way.

It would have been better if there was some connection with the original, like at least Dr. Gilbert being a former student of Dr. Spengler (Harold Ramis). If Columbia's hoping to make this a franchise, though, at least it's a better start than how DC relied on Batman v. Superman to launch the Justice League. The new Ghostbusters can make their mark, now that they're together. For those who prefer guys doing that, though, they'll have to wait. Besides, who you gonna call? Chris Pratt was proposed but he'll be busy. Jim Parsons or Simon Hedberg or Michael Pena? Maybe.

Melissa McCarthy Gets Smarter In "Spy"

First, Scarlett Johannson gets criticized for making eyes at the Hulk during Avengers: Age of Ultron, although she kicks a fair amount of Ultron butt
Then, Charlize Theron offends fans of Mad Max by yelling orders at him, as if SHE is the star of Mad Max: Fury Road. Actually, she is, although it's a comeback for him, too.
So, will Melissa McCarthy get angry comments because she makes Jason Statham look like a fool in Spy?
Maybe, but they'll also laugh a lot at this great movie that literally introduces a different kind of action hero. We can thank Paul Feig for this. The man behind Bridesmaids wrote and directed this movie.
McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, a CIA agent that helps out super-spy Bradley Fine (Jude Law) in glamorous missions..but only back in the office, warning him what's behind the next corner. She also has a drone or two to cause a distraction to help him out of tight spots. She also has a bit of s crush on him.
The mission is to find a nuclear weapon some bad guy wants to sell. They soon target Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), who plans to sell the bomb after her father gets killed.

However, Bradley gets killed by Rayna, who also reveals she knows every spy the CIA has. So, Susan suggests she go out on the field to finish the mission. One of the agents, Rick Ford (Jason Statham), is offended by this. He thinks he should go, mainly because he makes wild claims that make James Bond look like Nancy Drew. Fortunately, Susan happens to have some good fighting skills, but hasn't had a chance to use them.
She goes undercover, looking like housewives who look way too Midwestern, which isn't lost on her. She's only told to "track and report", but it isn't long before she crosses paths with Rayna, and even infiltrates her circle thanks to some fast thinking. She still has to deal with Aldo (Peter Serafinowicz), an Italian operative who's also handsy, and Rick, who's gone rogue only because he's determined to prove he's as tough as he claims. Whether he is, you'll have to see for yourself.

What's great about this is that McCarthy shows she can be a credible action heroine. Her skills may not be as fluid as Johannson in Avengers, but as long as the bad guy gets decked, it works. There's also a great scene as she fights off another woman in a kitchen, and how that ends is a big surprise.

Bryne is also a hoot in this movie. She may look like a classic villain, but she swears more than McCarthy. There's also great performances by Miranda Hart as a fellow CIA agent who gets mixed up with 50 Cent, and Allison Janney as the deputy director who sends Susan in the field. Firefly fans may be surprised to see Morena Baccarin in a couple of scenes as the female version of Bradley. It should have had more of her, but she has a key role in the story. The movie itself starts with a credit sequence that could have come from a 007 movie.
Of course, her husband Ben Falcone makes a cameo as a guy who wonders if Europe has a certain chicken franchise.

If this movie scores big, even in the face of big dinosaurs next week, maybe Susan Cooper can be the next movie spy icon. It may also be an excellent argument for the upcoming all-female Ghostbusters movie, too.

Freaks and Geeks In Other Space

After Netflix made a big splash with its Daredevil series last weekend, Yahoo Screen just presented an eight-part sci-fi comedy called Other Space. It's a great sitcom about a crew that's way over its head dealing with traveling in an alternate universe.

Some people may see hints of Quark and Red Dwarf in this, but it's in its own universe built by Paul Feig, who brought us Freaks and Geeks, Bridesmaids and soon Spy. It also includes two MST3K alumni, Joel Hodgson and Trace Beaulieu, who also worked with Feig.

The story involves a UMP ship in 2105, staffed by people who have even less experience than the red shirts on Star Trek. Stewart Lipinski (Karan Soni) is chosen as captain, but his sister Karen (Bess Rous) is second in command, and not happy about it. He chooses his ex-babysitter Mike Newman (Eugene Cordero) as 3rd in command and his crush Tina (Milana Vaytrub) as navigator. His science officer Kent Woolworth (Neil Casey) seems to play the Spock role, and has a couple of secrets.

Joel plays Zalian Fletcher, a burned out engineer who used to be a legend in the UMP. He's joined by Art, voiced by Beaulieu in the same way he talked like Dr. Forrester on MST3K. The ship's computer is Natasha, played by Conor Leslie. The computer was actually built for blackjack, and dresses like she's still working at a casino. It's a bit of a callback to Holly, the computer on Red Dwarf.

The first episode introduces everyone, and it's confusing after the ship gets sucked into the alternate universe. The second episode is better, when they deal with an invader. It develops into a spoof of The Thing, which the crew wondering who is the alien. Thing is, there is an alien, but that person isn't the threat. How it's resolved is pretty clever. It also includes a video hosted by Rifftrax fave Janet Varney.
I liked Soni as Stewart because he is trying to deal with a tough situation, made even tougher because his sister is there. Casey is also a hoot as Kent, a guy who isn't what he seems, but his story makes you feel for him. It's also great how Joel portrays Zalian as what Joel Robinson would have become if he spent too many years at Gizmonic.
UPDATE:  saw the rest of the season, and it has really good comments on whether rules on harassment still apply in a different universe. It also shows some interesting pairings, including Tina and Mike, and reveals how the ship was originally used.

All eight episodes are available at Yahoo Screen

Cinematic Titanic's Secret Episode: The Heat Blu-Ray

What if you mixed Miss Congeniality with Lethal Weapon, and got the guy who directed Bridesmaids as the cook? You'd get The Heat, a different kind of buddy-cop movie that did very well at theaters.
Now, what would happen if you added three guys mocking it from beginning to end?
You'd get The Heat Blu-ray DVD, revealed as Cinematic Titanic's secret episode...or a secret episode by the original MST3K trio. Either way, all movie riff fans should get this DVD.

Sure, Sandra Bullock as the by-the-book FBI agent and Melissa McCarthy as a wild Boston cop produced a lot of laughs. However, the Blu-ray adds more laughs with a commentary track from director Paul Feig, and from McCarthy's fictional family. The best option, though, is hearing Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu and J. Elvis Weinstein commenting on it.

The riffs start at the opening 20th Century Fox logo ("You know you're a successful company when you've outlived your logo") to the ending credits where the trio explain how they know Feig (mainly because of Freaks and Geeks), which led to this.

They waste no time dissing Bullock, as FBI agent Ashburn leading a raid ("Don't shoot him. I want to adopt him and make him play football"), and McCarthy, as Officer Mullins, claiming she's the love child of a disturbing combination that not even Conan O'Brien could imagine in his "If They Mated" bit. Joel even compares her to the Tasmanian Devil. This is barely scratching the surface, too. They fire riffs on Samuel L. Jackson, They Live, the NRA, MASH, The Deer Hunter and Neil Sedaka. They also wonder how Feig could afford to include Jack White in the soundtrack. They also have classic comments about Bullock's driving, and the scene where both girls finally let their hair down after ordering a "Scotch and Tape".

I thought Bullock was too uptight and nerdy, but she makes up for it in the last 20 minutes or so. McCarthy really goes all out as the wild cop, and once you see her family it explains everything about her.
Even if you're not a fan of the comedy, hearing the original MST3K trio comment on it makes this Blu-ray one of the best entertainment bargains in years.