#and all that originates from ghostbusters (2016)

[lena-oleanderson]

my version of "i wonder what else they have written - RPF hockey???" is my 22 ghostbusters (2016) fanfics i wrote within 2 of my 8 years on ao3

[thecaffeinebookwarrior]

Tbh I'm at a point where I think everyone should write whatever they want forever and we shouldn't worry about Mary Sues. Who cares, let's have fun in the sandbox

I agree, everyone should write what they want! It is ultimately an act of passion, and everyone has total creative liberty over what they produce.

However, not all writing is intended to be interacted with the same way.

A work of fanfiction or an original story that someone shares for free is different, for example, than a book you have to buy or a film you have to pay to watch. The purpose of reviews for products are not just to support the author, but to guide other prospective readers and viewers about how they'll spend their money and time.

As an author, there's also a difference between a hobbyist and a professional. I'm both! I write for fun, and I've published writing for money. I also have an MFA in Creative Writing.

I would consider it rude if someone offered unsolicited criticism of writing or art I made available for free, but when a paying publisher accepts my stories, I expect them to offer edits to make it as good as it can be for the consumption of the public.

Similarly, if I were in a critique session with my MFA peers, I'd be annoyed if they told me to just have fun without offering any other feedback. As you can see, the context changes whether writing is appropriate to criticize, and whether criticisms should be expected.

Hollywood studios should also be held to an especially high standard, I think, because of the amount of money that is channeled into funding their films, and the amount of money they charge from the public.

Now, about the term Mary Sue.

Many already know that "Mary Sue" is a satirical term, originating in a parody fanfiction from a Star Trek fan magazine, and I don't think it was ever meant to be treated as a serious literary criticism. There's also a male equivalent - the Gary Stu - but it's seldom used, and the term remains disproportionately geared towards female characters.

I don't dislike characters because they're "Mary Sues," I dislike characters because they're poorly written. And I have a pet peeve when a portion of the internet reactively claims a character is well-written simply to defend them from accusations of being a Mary Sue.

Again, this is usually in regards to big budget Hollywood movies or shows, like Captain Marvel, the 2016 Ghostbusters, She-Hulk, or what have you. The criticisms against these movies were often bad, and came from misogynistic viewpoints - but that doesn't mean these movies and shows are good. And I would have been doing myself a disservice if I overlooked their flaws simply because misogynists also didn't like them.

I think Hollywood studios often hide behind superficially strong female characters to shield themselves from criticism, and avoid having to write female characters who are actually original, complex, and interesting.

(Again, this is all just my opinion. Anyone is welcome to like the above properties! I like tons of things that could be considered questionable.)

So, to conclude: yes, everyone deserves to have fun with writing! It is usually inappropriate and rude to offer unsolicited criticism of art that is available for free. But Hollywood films and traditionally published writing that we pay money to access are not the same as free art that's shared only for passion and fun.

And last but not least, calling a character a Mary Sue is usually a stupid criticism, but not every character who is accused of being a Mary Sue is a good character!

Just my thoughts on the matter, which I'm obviously more than eager to babble about for a good half hour.

[courtneysmovieblog]

Top 10 movies I love that everyone tells me I should hate

I know we're all entitled to our own opinions. But it doesn't feel like that these days, especially on this hell site and social media in general. The loud majority of critics and fandoms seem entitled to dictate what movies and shows are good or bad. They spend endless posts on telling us exactly why these movies are either the greatest thing in the world or the worst. And God help you if you disagree, because that just proves you aren't a true fan.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? It should. Especially after the the new Avatar The Last Airbender series...

To give you a clear idea of what I mean, here are 10 movies I like that have gotten (unfairly or not) trashed:

1. Every Ghostbusters movie since the original: Seriously. Fine, nothing is as good as the original, but Ghostbusters II wasn't that bad a sequel and the latest sequels are fun, even if they coast on nostalgia. And don't even get me started on what you monsters put everyone that dared to like the 2016 movie through...

2. Star Wars: The Last Jedi: This movie was great, it's the Star Wars fandom that is the worst.

3. The Marvels: One of the best MCU movies in a long time. Cute and charming and with a strong female cast...and you guys let it bomb at the box office for reasons I'm too tired to even talk about. Enjoy getting crappy Captain Carter getting the lion's share of female MCU roles while more deserving heroines like Carol, Monica, and Kamala get sidelined, you jerks!

4. Red Notice: Fine, it was a dumb action movie. But it was MY kind of dumb action movie that I'd happily watch again. And I still want that sequel!

5. Thor: Love and Thunder: I get that people don't like the flanderized Thor, and even I'll admit that there were parts that could've been better. Yet contrary to popular opinion, this was far from the worst MCU movie we've had. A movie can be fun and flawed.

6. Thor: The Dark World: For all the complaining about goofy Thor, you don't seem to like the gritty, serious Thor movies either.

7. The live action Beauty and the Beast: It doesn't matter if the live-action Disney are good or bad. Liking both the originals and remakes doesn't make you any less of a fan!

8. The live-action Aladdin: Ditto.

9. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: I realize this stance might be hypocritical, since I don't want to dictate what movies should/shouldn't like, but come on, it was WAY better than Crystal Skull!

10. Damsel: The reviews for this movie weren't great, and I don't care. I don't make high standards for Netflix movies. A fun feminist fractured fairy is always welcome for me.

Your turn. What "unpopular" movies do you love?

[elastijubilee]

2024:

Beauty and the Beast (1946, French foreign language)

The Color Purple (2023)

Time Bandits (1981)

Mean Girls (2024)

Repulsion (1965)

The Uninvited (1944)

Rumble Fish (1983)

Alien (1979)

A Brighter Summer Day (1991, Taiwanese foreign language)

Tess (1979)

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

Aliens (1986)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, I decided in 2019 to keep track of every movie I'd watched for the first time each year moving forward. This year has been my biggest year!

Movies I watched for the first time in 2023:

Glass Onion (2022)

X (2022)

Pearl (2022)

The Witch (2015)

Fright Night (2011)

The Lighthouse (2019)

Knock at the Cabin (2023)

The Northman (2022)

Hereditary (2018)

Midsommar (2019)

Men (2022)

Saint Maude (2020)

The Wolfman (1941)

Psycho (1960)

The Birds (1963)

Vertigo (1958)

Psycho (1998)

Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 (2023)

Suspiria (2018)

Rosemary's Baby (2014 made-for-tv 2-parter)

Poltergeist (2015)

Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

ANOES 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

ANOES 4: The Dream Master (1988)

ANOES 5: The Dream Child (1989)

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

Friday the 13th (1980)

It Follows (2014)

The Flash (2023)

Oppenheimer (2023)

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023)

The Little Mermaid (2023)

The Red Shoes (1948)

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

The Blob (1988)

Paint (2023)

Mafia Mama (2023)

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Uncut Gems (2019)

The Green Knight (2019)

The Last Airbender (2010)

The Dark Crystal (1982)

The Fog (1980)

They Live (1988)

Office Space (1999)

Fifty Shades Freed (2018)

Teen Titans Go to the Movies (2018)

John Wick Ch. 1 (2014)

Super Mario Bros (2023)

Muppets From Space (1999)

Scream 6 (2023)

12 Monkeys (1995)

Bottoms (2023)

Five Nights at Freddy's (2023)

The Craft (1996, fully through)

I Married a Witch (1942)

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964, French foreign language)

Friday the 13th, Part 2 (1981)

Barbie (2023)

The Boy and the Heron (2023)

The Color Purple (1985)

Violent Night (2022)

The Stepford Wives (1975)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2022:

Staten Island Summer (2015)

Nobody's Child (1986)

This is Spinal Tap (1984)

Shawn of the Dead (2004)

The Wiz (1978)

Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Fifty Shades of Gray (2015)

Fifty Shades Darker (2017)

Cyrano (2021)

The King and I (1956)

Carrie (2013)

Carrie (2002, made-for-tv)

The Batman (2022)

Firestarter (1984)

Frozen 2 (2019)

The Fury (1978)

Firestarter (2022)

The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)

The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022)

The Deadzone (1983)

Sparring Partner (2022, short)

My Fair Lady (1964)

The Untouchables (1987)

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

The Black Phone (2022)

Barbarian (2022)

Nope (2022)

Flashdance (1983)

Crimes of the Heart (1987)

Don't Worry Darling (2022)

The Exorcist (1973)

Child's Play (1988)

Scream 3 (2003)

Scream 5 (2022)

The Fablemans (2022)

Halloween (1978)

Black Panther (2018)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Return to Oz (1985)

Newsies (1992)

National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)

National Lampoon's Las Vegas Vacation (1997)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2021:

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Dark Phoenix (2019)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

The Wolverine (2013)

Logan (2017)

Deadpool (2016)

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Watchmen (2009)

Wonder Woman (2017)

Aquaman (2018)

Shazam! (2019)

X-Men: New Mutants (2020)

Cruella (2021)

Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)

The Suicide Squad (2021)

Reminiscence (2021)

My Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising (2019)

My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018)

My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission (2021)

Dune (2021)

Poltergeist (1982)

The Babadook (2014)

A Silent Voice (2016)

Rockdog (2016)

Rockdog 2: Rock Around the Park (2021)

Lion King (2019)

Terminator (1984)

Hot Fuzz (2007)

West Side Story (2021)

Spiderman: Homecoming (2017)

Spiderman: Far From Home (2019)

Spiderman: No Way Home (2021)

Looper (2012)

Brick (2005)

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Back to the Future Part III (1990)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2020:

Mr. Mom (1983)

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Pretty Baby (1978)

Private Benjamin (1980)

The Color of Pomegranates (1969, foreign language)

Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Cunningham (2020, documentary)

And Then We Danced (2019, Georgian foreign language)

The Young Girls of Rochetfort (1967, French foreign language)

Love on a Leash (2011)

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999, fully through)

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002, fully through)

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

Blazing Saddles (1974)

The Producers (1967)

Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog (2007)

Death Becomes Her (1992)

Captain Underpants (2017)

X-Men (2000, fully through)

X-Men 2 (2003)

Dust in the Wind (1986)

Phantasm (1978)

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

I Eat Your Flesh (1971)

Serenity (2005)

Juice (2017, short, Indian foreign language)

Earth (1998, Indian foreign language)

Protocol (1984)

Voices Within: The Many Lives of Trudy Chase (1990, 4 hr full version)

Clue (1985)

Unleashed (2016)

Fright Night (1985)

Moll Flanders (1996, BBC 2-parter)

Parasite (2019)

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2019:

Irreconcilable Differences (1984)

The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)

A Very Brady Sequel (1996)

Frozen Assets (1992)

Knives Out (2019)

Doctor Sleep (2019)

Santa Claus With Muscles (1996)

Jack Frost (1997, dog sh*t horror)

Home (?, Indian foreign language film)

The Greatest Showman (2017)

Pinjar (2003, Indian foreign language)

Interstellar (2014)

Shock and Censorship (1993)

The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

Beetlejuice (1988)

Gypsy (1962)

The Shape of Water (2017)

The Favorite (2018)

A Small Circle of Friends (1980)

A League of Their Own (1992)

Shock Treatment (1981)

Empire of the Sun (1987)

[starleska]

Can we all agree that the extended version of Ghostbusters 2016 is far superior than the theatrical version, because the extended version has the dance number? 🪩

It's so weird that the theatrical version cuts that out, so the police are just... in disco poses for unexplained reasons.

it does?!?! are you kidding???? 😭😭😭 oh my god that breaks my absolute heart;;;;; honestly i can't weigh in as i've only seen the extended version (i fell in for Rowan and wanted As Much Time With Him As Possible 🙈🙈) and the idea that they didn't keep in his goofy mind-control disco is really scary 💔💔 wheeze!!!! like that thing from Star Trek where they edited out Spock getting injured one time and never explained why he had a limp!! my other frustration with it is that we didn't get much of Rowan's sinister hilarity while he was in his original body...like, perhaps that's a better demonstration of his hatred towards humanity and himself. but i always found it quite a dizzying tonal shift, how he becomes so quickly playful as soon as he's dead... ...not that i'm complaining too much 🥴💦

[sagevalleymusings]

You already know what people missed in Barbie, but I'm going to deep dive it anyway because these negative reviews are hilarious

Reading one-star reviews to the 2023 movie Barbie are genuinely hilarious. 

First and foremost, the male characters lacked any significant development. They were one-dimensional, bland, and existed primarily to either praise Barbie or act as obstacles for her to overcome. This reduction of male characters to supporting roles, devoid of any substance or complexity, was a disservice not only to the male characters themselves but also to the narrative as a whole.

Like, yes. That’s… that’s literally the point. You have correctly assessed the central criticism the movie is making about patriarchy. But you think it’s a bad thing because you haven’t realized it’s on purpose.

Mattel's CEO and corporate people started as a mockery of men having all the top positions in a company; as the movie goes, they're just there at the back of your mind, and it's an unpleasant experience because they did nothing after.

Like… yes! Mattel had to sign off on this movie. Their real-world attempts to control and influence the plot of Barbie would have been sitting as an unpleasant reminder in the back of the minds of the creators, even if they ultimately did nothing. The writers clearly responded to this pressure by just making it a part of the movie.

Overall, a movie that comes off strongly like the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters; during which year, it was reviewed as being "stunning and brave" with the same misandry-esque storytelling (that time, replacing an all-male cast mind you).

This one is just funny. The rest of the review didn’t even seem that negative, and then there’s this, “I hated Ghostbusters specifically because it had women in it” dig that’s just… so telling on yourself.

More analysis after the cut. Stick around if you want to learn something ;-) 

I want to take a break from laughing at people with no understanding of subtlety and nuance to actually look at the film. I watched Barbie last night, and I thought it was great. There were a lot of relatable moments, as someone who grew up playing with dolls. The basic setting is that there is a world parallel to ours called Barbieland, which is essentially a kind of alternate dream universe, where beings in the universe are tied to and influenced by objects in the Real World. In theory, Barbieland cannot change without influence from the Real World, but if it does, it can have echoing ramifications in the Real World. That’s a setting you could do some interesting things with, and it does necessarily require some degree of surrealism. 

Surrealism was a post World War I art movement in Europe which sought to combine dreams and reality into something Andre Breton called a super reality. The irrational juxtaposition can be nonsensical, but is often used to attempt to heighten the real by contrasting it with the unreal. It is extremely relevant that it came out of Europe post “The Great War” because it is by nature a way to grapple with feelings which feel too great to express through realism. Much like Goya, when painting the Penninsular War, painted a Colossus trampling the countryside with no real acknowledgement of the harm being caused, surrealism taps into one’s feelings, to evoke the sense that the real causes, instead of simply portraying the real with accuracy. 

And I pause to explain this because Barbieland is a land of dreams. It is literally the surreal. By opening our movie with an unambiguously surreal portrayal of Victorian girls playing with baby dolls in an empty wasteland, then transitioning to the imagined Barbieland, our writers are sending a pointed message: nothing that happens in this movie should be taken literally.

That aside, the film’s scenario is disjointed, didactic, and literal. The duration of the movie is a series of speeches with every woke cliché.

Barbieland cannot be divorced from its origins. Rather than having been created organically, it was made - by men. While looking into the character/real person of Ruth Handler, I discovered that the name “Mattel” was created by combining the names of businessman Harold Mattson and Ruth’s husband Elliot. Ruth’s contributions are written out of history every time someone says “Mattel.”

Barbieland is ostensibly a matriarchy. Barbies are dolls made for girls, so the dolls are mostly girls. With the wave of second wave feminism, there was a desire to market to a more empowered type of girl. What does that look like to the men trying to come up with it? You give the dolls jobs. President Barbie, Nobel Prize Barbie, Construction Worker Barbie. Barbieland has all the trappings of a patriarchy, just with women in the gender of power instead of men. That may sound like it is therefore a matriarchy in that case, but in fact that’s not how that works. There have been real matriarchies in the world, and they don’t function the way that Barbieland functions. That Barbieland is a playhouse run by men with Barbies acting out their roles and Kens acting out the roles of women in an idyllic fantasy for the men creating them with the intent of producing a profit under patriarchal capitalism matters when analyzing this movie.

It's a long ramble about how matriarchy is perfect and patriarchy is stupid. I agree with the latter, but the execution is just awful. 

Having said that, Barbieland isn’t exactly a one-to-one to our world - it’s more like a “good old days” subversion of our world, with a specific focus on tradwife nostalgia. It’s reminiscent of 1950s “return to the home” propaganda post World War 2 - shows like Leave it to Beaver or I Love Lucy which re-emphasized to a generation of women that had been forced to enter the workforce that what they should be striving for was a husband and a home. 

In Barbieland, Kens can’t have jobs - they just stand around looking pretty, especially on the beach. Barbies have all the jobs. Also everyone owns their own homes. The aesthetic of friendly, white-washed suburbia is deeply ingrained in how everyone knows and likes their neighbors, even while 1990s multiculturalism bleeds in.  

now if we were sticking to an actual representation of Barbie Land we would also have a BEACH barbie just like we have Crystal Barbie and Ken or Great Shape Barbie and Ken or even Animal Lovin Barbie and Ken! This perception that Ken doesn’t have a REAL job is just untrue, in fact there is many Ken Careers including DOCTOR KEN!

There’s a point in the movie that I find is deeply profound actually. The Kens have taken over the Barbie dreamhouses, which prompts the question, “where do the Kens sleep?” Not only does Barbie not know, but the question is never answered. DO they sleep anywhere? 

I’m reminded of a real world parallel. Before women were allowed to work, where did they live? That might seem like a stupid question, because of course they lived somewhere, but the fact of the matter is that if you were not allowed to generate income, you could not afford a home. Girls lived with their fathers until they were married at which point they moved in with their husbands, because of course they had husbands by that point. Women didn’t have their own homes. Kens don’t have houses. In that context, the fact that Barbie continues to reject Ken to have a sleepover with other Barbies who all have their own homes takes on a much darker tone. Kens in Barbieland, much like women were in parts of the history of the Real World, are so subjugated in society that they literally don’t have access to food or shelter without relying on the other gender.

They even point out “oh where do the Kens sleep at? I have NO idea!” basically is saying they don’t have Kens contribute at all the Barbieland and all they are is dumb dressed up side pieces for the Barbies.

But I don’t think this metaphor of “patriarchy but the genders are swapped” is the only metaphor at play. After all, at some point, Barbie and Ken enter the Real World, and discover that the playacting they have been doing is literally a lie. In the Real World, patriarchy is the rule of law. Barbie is uncomfortable. Her playacting is called fascist. Meanwhile Ken is given access to any space he wants, even while having to realize that his experience - the way he was raised - means that he’s still missing critical components necessary to enter Real World patriarchy. He decides to bring patriarchy to the play world.

In our metaphor, it seems to me that this component of the movie is a direct criticism of radical feminism. The whole movie essentially speed runs the last sixty years of feminism. This also means that the metaphor becomes strained, as we maintain the plot through lines while changing the meaning, but I think it still functions well throughout. 

As the movie progresses, we reach the Kens want power in society movement, and they go way too far with it, choosing to place themselves in power with women being subjugated instead. There were separatists in second wave feminism that called for this move specifically, who argued that men were too violent to assume any position of power, and genuinely argued that a matriarchy should be instituted instead. 

I can see why someone experiencing power for the first time might believe this was the solution. Ken isn’t concerned about equality, not really. But he is concerned about the way his gender has been treated in this world, and he wants to bring other Kens out of their status as second class citizens. 

But Kendom isn’t better. Wanting to subjugate and oppress the people who were subjugating and oppressing you is an understandable reaction, and it’s the wrong one. The goal is equality, not retribution. 

Was Barbie's Director aiming at an anti men revenge film?  The film subjugated men; demeaning and objectifying them and labelling them as dumb and superfluous. They are so worth more than that and young men today struggle to find their place in a society trying to demonise them.

But by the end of the movie, the Kens haven’t gained equality. And in an extremely barbed line directed straight at the audience, our narrator says, “maybe one day they will be as represented on the Supreme Court as women are in the Real World.”

I do think it bears noting, though, that right now, in 2023, four out of the nine justices on the Supreme Court are women, which is just about fifty percent. We are achieving equality, we really are. The point isn’t that women have not achieved equality. The point is that that happened extremely slowly. There are four women on the Supreme Court today. Those four represent nearly 70% of the TOTAL number of women who have ever served on the Supreme Court. The first woman served on the Supreme Court 192 years into its existence.

I think there’s some relevant context here, then, that Barbieland, the imagined space created when playing with Barbies, has existed since 1959. Barbieland isn’t starting from nothing, since it is importing Real World values, but it has only existed for 64 years. If Barbieland operated on the same time scale that the United States did (which we know it doesn’t but let’s pretend) then men would see someone represented on the Barbieland Supreme Court in the Real World year of 2151.

In conclusion, "Barbie" is an unforgettable journey into a realm where men are vilified, female empowerment lacks subtlety, and any semblance of realism takes a backseat. 

There’s a lot more that I could say. There’s a lot more feelings I had about this movie. But I want to keep this to responding to the unintentionally hilarious critiques of this movie. It’s endlessly amusing to me that the primary critique of this movie seems over and over again to be “the movie accurately portrayed what it was trying to portray.”

The disconnect is one that I’ve seen in an increasing amount. Barbieland’s idyllic, “matriarchy is perfect” version is extremely bad. In the end, even the Barbies don’t want to return to that version of their world. Confronted with the degree to which they’d been subjugating their Kens up to this point, they now see at least in part how harmful that version was not only to the Kens, but to the Barbies too. 

But viewers can’t seem to understand that just because something is being portrayed on screen does not mean it is being condoned. 

Such an incredible steaming pile of liberal garbage that it almost seemed satirical. The supposed intention of the film was to empower women, but instead did nothing but tear down men. 

There’s one last thing I want to say before I sign off on this fun romp through Barbie’s one-star reviews, and it’s something I didn’t see very much critique of. 

Barbie is transgender. 

Barbie wanting to be human: A theme that starts with Barbie‘s interaction with an old lady and her observing other people. That motive disappears completely until the end, Barbie has no motivation to become human throughout the movie.

I think this is a metaphor that people just completely missed on. The only real critiques I saw on this part of the movie was that Barbie wanting to be human seemed like it came out of nowhere. And in some ways I’d agree that it was not as obvious as the rest of the movie was. But if you read that plot point through the lens of metaphor, it’s much more obvious.

Margot Robbie has gone on record saying that Barbie and Ken are sexless, and that therefore, they don’t really have sex drives. In a very literal way, Barbie’s existence highlights the difference between being socialized as a woman and being born as a female. But in Barbieland, there are no ‘women’ in any sense of the term. Barbie is not a human. She hasn’t been socialized the way human women have. Her gender literally isn’t ‘woman.’ It’s Barbie. And Barbies don’t have genitals. Midge was an embarrassment for Mattel in the Real World, and she’s also taboo in Barbieland, because she’s non-gender conforming to what that means for Barbies specifically. 

With that in mind, is it really true that this comes out of nowhere? I would argue no. In fact, I would argue it is the central conflict of the movie, because there is a specific gendered aspect of Stereotypical Barbie that she is not conforming to outside of Gloria’s influence. 

She doesn’t want to date Ken. They are dating, nominally, because that’s what Barbies and Kens do. But she won’t kiss him, and she won’t let him sleep over. And it’s made clear in the beginning scenes that this strain on their interactions existed before Gloria started imagining “Irrepressible Thoughts of Death Barbie.”

Barbie doesn’t want things to change. Perhaps that’s because she can only imagine a world where things change for the worse. Where she does let Ken sleep over. And there’s something deeply troubling to Barbie about that scenario. It simply isn’t part of the version of herself this Barbie wants to be. 

Barbies playact the real world. And an extremely common and expected aspect of the playacting is the relationships they have to Kens. And regardless of the fact that all Barbies and Kens are asexual because they literally don’t have sex drives, it does seem to be the case that there’s still a gendered aspect to Barbies and Kens that they both be heteroromantic. Ken certainly has feelings for Barbie. All of the Kens are seen exhibiting jealousy. None of the other Barbies are seen as unhappy in their interactions with Kens the way that Stereotypical Barbie is. 

She’s different. She can’t playact a relationship the way everyone else can. She needs it to be… real. So she becomes real. Ken does not come along, this was never about Ken.

But that process of becoming real, of becoming human… it does mean that her gender changes. It means her sex changes. Barbieland being surreal means that this can happen instantaneously, but I do think it’s intentional on the part of the writers that the very last page of feminism - after second wave feminism, after radical activism, after reactionary conservatism pushes radical activism to the fringes, after speedrunning the last 60 years of feminism, the very last form Barbie takes is queering the narrative. Barbie has a vagina now. And she’s very proud of it. And that’s feminist too actually. 

So yeah Barbie is transgender and Greta Gerwig said trans rights, and it’s extra funny that no one noticed because they were too busy being mad that the rest of the movie was effective storytelling actually.

[is0gild]

I got tagged by @superfan44 to do his 100 Favorite Movies Challenge. Rules are simple: create a list of 100 of your personal favorite movies in alphabetical order and share it, then tag others to do the challenge.

I thought coming up with 100 movies would be hard, but once I got started they just kept coming and I actually had to remove some from the list when I was done to stay under 100 haha! List under the cut :)

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

358/2 Days The Movie (2013) *

Adventures in Babysitting (1987)

Army of Darkness (1992)

Back to the Future (1985)

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Back to the Future Part III (1990)

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

Beetlejuice (1988)

Being John Malkovich (1999)

Big Hero 6 (2014)

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Chicago (2002)

Chronicle (2012)

Coming to America (1988)

Deadpool (2016)

District 9 (2009)

Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Evil Dead II (1987)

FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Frozen II (2019) **

Get Out (2017)

Ghostbusters (1984)

Ghostbusters (2016)

Groundhog Day (1993)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Hancock (2008)

Hocus Pocus (1993)

Hook (1991)

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Independence Day (1996)

Interview With A Vampire (1994)

John Q (2002)

Jurassic Park (1993)

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) ***

Labyrinth (1986)

Lilo & Stitch (2002)

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Megamind (2010)

Memento (2000)

Men in Black (1997)

Moana (2016)

Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Princess Mononoke (1997)

School of Rock (2003)

Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010)

Serenity (2005)

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Space Jam (1996)

Spaceballs (1987)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Spirited Away (2001)

Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Tangled (2010)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

Tetris (2023)

Thank You for Smoking (2005)

The Avengers (2012)

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

The Iron Giant (1999)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

The Mummy (1999)

The NeverEnding Story (1984)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Princess Bride (1987)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

The Secret of NIMH (1982)

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Titan AE (2000)

Treasure Planet (2002)

V for Vendetta (2005)

WALL-E (2008)

Warm Bodies (2013)

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

Wonder Woman (2017)

Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Zombieland (2009)

* Does this one actually count as a movie? Feel like it's a bit of a stretch, but it does say "The Movie" right there in the title xD And it's ME, I feel like my list would be incomplete if I didn't include something starring my fave fire boi lol! ** What?! Frozen II on the list, but not the original Frozen?! That's right, it IS possible for one of a person's utmost fave characters of all time to be in a movie they thought was only okay xD Don't get me wrong, I do like Frozen, it just didn't make the cut for this list! Frozen II on the other hand came out in theaters at a time when I only had to pay $15/mo for unlimited movie tickets and I loved it so much, I was seeing it 2 or 3 times a week x'D *** I know rules didn't say to point this out, but I feel like I had to do it anyway: Utmost. Fave. Movie. Of. All. Time. RDJ and Val Kilmer in a comedic whodunit? Movie gold! Watch it. It's good!

Okay, now to tag people! Remember this is just for fun, absolutely no pressure to actually do this, only if you want to! Tagging: @basiliskonline @daughterofkyne @astranovus64 and to anyone else reading this who thinks creating a list of your fave movies sounds fun, I tag you as well! :D

[naughtygirl286]

So yes this week we went to see Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and I can say if you told me like 5-10 years ago that we would be going to see Ghostbusters 4 (technically 5 but we don't count the awful stupidness of the 2016 movie) I would think that you would be totally crazy and high on something lol but yes we went to see it and there was some collectables which you can see here.

but as for the movie I absolutely loved it! I thought it was great. I really enjoyed it I felt it fleshed out the world a bit more. They are back in the Firehouse but also they have now a research facility that studies ghosts and the paranormal and develops all kinds of new technologies and everything which I thought was really interesting.

Now the basic story is this Its 2 years after the events of the previous movie and the Spenglers have moved to New York City and are now living in the Firehouse and working for Winston Zeddemore and his Zeddemore Industries as the Ghostbusters. while some family drama takes place Ray recives a mysterious artifact of unimaginable power at the bookstore. He at others at the new research facility try to study its power is unleashed and the evil force of Garraka enters the world and plan to use its icy powers to destroy the city and the world and it up to the Ghostbusters New and Old to once again team up to save the world.

Now how I feel about these movies is With afterlife it felt like you were returning back from somewhere like you moved away and you are moving back again and your seeing how things changed and your getting use to being back and it feels new and different but familiar all at the same time. and with his movie your all settled back in and your comfortable it feels like your home. That is how I felt about this movie this is where it should be this is how it should be. So I was completely happy with this movie.

also of course there is a character return that made me laugh William Atherton returns as Walter Peck who is now Mayor Peck and when I seen him on screen I had to resist the urge to shout out "That man has no dick!" lol and of course being a Dickless Mayor he wants to and succeeds in shutting down the Ghostbusters temporarily before shit really goes down.

but there was plenty of references and call backs to the original 2 films like the Statue of liberty coming alive in Ghostbusters 2 and even real world stuff like the toys and the ceral and all the merchandising and the Ray Parker Jr. music video it was all amazing and even like the scene when they are leaving the library and Ray runs into the librarian ghost again and once again I had to resist the urge to shout out "Go get her Ray!"

The visual I thought were perfect for this the ghosts were really well done especially the return of Slimer who I thought was handled perfectly and of course the movie's main villain when you see him actually on screen he is pretty impressive. One thing I was kinda disappointed about was when the Containment Unit is opened I was hopeing for a bit of a montage when the ghosts spilled out like they did in the original movie.

but of course people online have to hate on it a bit for stupid reasons I heard some say that it is worse then the 2016 movie which is just crazy to me because with a comment like that I wonder if they seen both movies? but another complaint was that it wasn't "scary enough" which its not suppose to be scary.. Ghostbusters isn't a Horror franchise its not The Conjuring lol Ghostbusters is a Action/Comedy/Fantasy movie and there was plenty of nice action and some great comedy this will give you some good smiles and giggles and a few laughs.

another thing I didn't get was people complaining that Ghostbusters went Woke with Phoebe's "LGBQ Romance" Now I honestly didn't see it that way I didn't see it as any type of "LGBQ Romance" it is established in the previous movie that Phoebe has no friends at all and is a loner because she is "different" due to her intelligence and in this she still feels out of place because of that and that is why I think she has a close relationship with Ray and spends alot of time at the book store with him because he is similar to her and they share common interests. Then she meets the girl ghost Melody (played by Emily Alyn Lind) and here is someone who is technically her age who seemingly wants to hang out with her and supposedly thinks she is cool and they strike up a friendship being this is Phoebe's very first female friend she is somewhat award about it that is how I seen it. I don't see it as a "LGBQ Romance" or anything like that, but I do feel that people are going to see what they want to see and personally I feel that it was purely she made friends with the ghost girl and that's it.

but other then that I didn't have any real problem with this movie I thought it was great I loved it. it was fun and interesting with nice action and visuals it has some good humor and I think this is the way that the series should be going. If there wasn't anymore after this I would be totally happy because you always wanted a Ghostbusters 3 and with this you got more then you could have ever dreamed of with both a 3 and a 4! but I do feel that there could be plenty of more adventures in the future we'll just have to wait and see! and also at the end of this one it said "For Ivan" just like Afterlife said "For Harold" which was a really nice touch.

but yeah just like Afterlife the final thing I can say is it sounds like Ghostbusters it looks like Ghostbusters and it felt like Ghostbusters. also if you enjoyed Ghostbusters: Afterlife you should go see this also don’t forget there is a silly little mid credits scene too

[shadowmaat]

Ghosts, busted

I think it's genuinely sad to see what the Ghostbusters franchise has become.

The original was, in many ways, a classic. It was also very much a product of its time and its... humor has not aged well. The follow-up was fun, but suffered the usual issues with sequel-itis. There were always rumors of a third movie, but they stayed just that: rumors.

Until the 2016 lady-led reimagining of Ghostbusters was announced. Suddenly there was fire and fury and all previous obstacles (including cast grievances) were put aside in order to put those upstart fffemales in their place with their collective Big Dick Energy.

Lo and behold a third movie in the original manly timeline got made. It introduced the next gen of ghostbusters. Including Egon's grandkids. Bit of a generic setup, but not bad on its own. Until they bring back the original (surviving) members of the team to help out. Again, a pretty generic/common thing, but IMO it really hamstrings the "next generation" premise. Bit hard for your new characters to stand on their own and showcase their stuff when you keep dragging the Old Schoolers out of the storage closet. Either trust your new cast or you sit the fuck down and let someone else play in the sandbox.

I've just learned there's a fourth movie out. Now with even MOAR NOSTALGIA. It just makes me tired. And sad. Let the Old Guard nap on their laurels. Let the New Kids take over. There was already one movie with a team-up; do you really need two?

It's sad that all this came about out of spite for a movie where women were in charge of doing the ghostbusting. It's sad that instead of seizing the opportunity to really take the original franchise to the next level they just brought in some kids and tied the old cast around their necks like an albatross.

And it's sad that because a bunch of aging fanboys (and aged filmmakers) felt that their masculinity was threatened and their childhoods ruined, we'll probably never see anything more from the 2016 'verse.

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

GHOSTS AND DEMONS AND EVEN WILDER YET

Opening this weekend:

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire--This fifth feature in the franchise begins with a nice macabre episode set in 1904, like something from a creepier version of Disney's Haunted Mansion. This is followed by an extended chase through the streets of Manhattan, as the current Ghostbusters pursue, in the "Ectomobile," an eel-like flying dragon spirit up from the sewers.

It's a reasonably diverting start, and the movie goes on to deploy, in addition to Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon and the kids from 2021's Ghostbusters: Afterlife, most of the available stars from the 1984 original. Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Williams Atherton and Bill Murray show up--no Sigourney Weaver or Rick Moranis, alas--and not just in cameos but with fairly substantive screen time. I was disappointed that the all-woman crew from the much-maligned and underrated 2016 version wasn't invited to this party, but apparently fans are still traumatized.

Anyway, the old vets here are good company--Murray with his peerless sardonoic line readings, Akyroyd with his gee-whiz delivery of expository gibberish. A couple of new adds, like Patton Oswalt as an authority on the occult and Kumail Nanjiani as a clod who sells Aykroyd the spherical ancient artifact that serves as the McGuffin, also get into the proper, uhm, spirit of things.

On the whole the movie, directed by Gil Kenan from a script by Kenan and Jason Reitman, is an enjoyable lavish no-brainer. The closest it gets to any emotional weight is an intriguing plot strand in which the teenage heroine (Mckenna Grace) bonds, seemingly romantically, with a teen ghost (Emily Alyn Lind) after she's forbidden to go 'busting until she turns 18; the actors manage a touching rapport even through the special effects prism.

But if Frozen Empire--which concerns a horned demon with freezing superpowers imprisoned inside the McGuffin--doesn't feel like a home run, it may be the result of too much wholesomeness. The teen romance and bickering family dynamic didn't quite feel like Ghostbusters to me, somehow. What made the '84 film seem new was its mix of extravagant, big-budget special effects spectacle with the snarky, irreverent slacker sketch-comedy of Murray and the other stars. Only when Frozen Empire taps into this sensibility does it truly thaw out.

The movie is dedicated to Ivan Reitman, director of the original, and this film, like several of the others, includes a nod to Cannibal Girls, Rietman's 1973 shocker starring the impossibly young and adorable Andrea Martin and Eugene Levy. I hope it makes fans seek out that amusing low-budget creepshow; there's a movie that doesn't suffer from too much wholesomeness.

Late Night With the Devil--Here's another wry paranormal chiller set in New York, although it was conceived by the Australian brothers Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes and filmed in Melbourne. The premise is that we're watching the 1976 Halloween episode of a syndicated talk show, a perennial also-ran in the ratings to Johnny Carson. Desperate for a sweeps win, the recently widowed host (David Dastmalchian) stacks the guest list with a hokey stage psychic (Fayssal Bazzi), an Amazing Randi-type skeptic (Ian Bliss), and a psychiatrist (Laura Gordon) and her patient, an angelically smiling teenage girl (Ingrid Torelli). This girl was rescued from a cult and just might be possessed.

From the set to the music to the "More to Come" break cards, the Cairnes Brothers truly capture the look and feel of anything-goes '70s talk shows to a degree that will be nostalgic to those of us who remember them. The movie also evokes sources of the period from The Exorcist to Network (Michael Ironside provides stentorian narration in the manner of Network's Lee Richardson), and the soundtrack includes the likes of Flo & Eddie's "Keep It Warm."

The "found footage" conceit is quickly strained; the supposed "behind the scenes" sequences are pretty cinematic and helpfully narrative. But after a while you accept it, largely because the acting, especially the haunted yet game showmanship of the excellent Dastmalchian, keeps us involved.

It's a little scary, but mostly Late Night With the Devil is, like Network, a tongue-in-cheek satire of TV business culture, with ripe lines like "Ladies and gentlemen, a live television first, as we attempt to communicate with...the Devil. But not before a word from our sponsors." I also loved the implication that no amount of supernatural power could overtake Carson in the ratings in those days. Apparently even the Devil couldn't do that.

At Harkins Shea...

Remembering Gene Wilder--This documentary, directed by Ron Frank, does indeed fondly remember the late comedy great. Frank makes Wilder himself the narrator, using audiobook excerpts from his noirishly-titled 2005 memoir Kiss Me Like a Stranger.

Born Jerry Silberman in Milwaukee, he grew up trying to make his mother laugh, and later drew inspiration from the mental patients he worked with while serving in the U.S. Army. He wanted, he says, something a bit "wilder" for his stage name when he started acting in New York. Cast in Brecht's Mother Courage and her Children at the Martin Beck Theatre in the early '60s, he met leading lady Anne Bancroft's future husband Mel Brooks, who later cast him in The Producers.

From there, we get a chronicle of some of the highlights of Wilder's movie career--not all of them; Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx and Start the Revolution Without Me, for instance, are passed over. But there's terrific material on Bonnie and Clyde, The Producers, Willy Wonka, Young Frankenstein, his relationship with Richard Pryor, his scenes with the sheep in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (he says that Allen told him that he wanted to do a version of Sister Carrie with a sheep instead of Jennifer Jones), and more. My own favorite of Wilder's characters, Jim aka The Waco Kid in Blazing Saddles, is very well represented here.

Talking heads include Brooks, Carol Kane, Mike Medavoy, Alan Alda, Ben Mankiewicz, Rain Pryor, Harry Connick, Jr., Eric McCormack, and Willy Wonka's Charlie Bucket himself, Peter Ostrum, as well as Wilder's widow Karen Wilder, all speaking with unmistakable love. They tell good stories, but the real joy is simply the big dose of Wilder's utterly sui generis blend of innocent sweetness and strangled volatility. If the clips in this movie don't make you smile, you may need to see a doctor.

[unitedhorrorfans]

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an army of ghosts that casts a death chill upon the city, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.   Previously had a December 20, 2023 theatrical release before getting pushed to March 2024 due to the writers and actors strike. (7/28/23) Co-written and directed by Gil Kenan (Monster House, City of Ember, Poltergeist, A Boy Called Christmas). (12/6/22) Co-writer Gil Kenan gave a brief update on the project and what to expect, saying: "We’re writing as quickly as we can. We had the story before we finished Afterlife. And we have been crafting this with as much care as it took to build Afterlife into a worthy sequel." Adding that Ernie Hudson's Winston will have a much larger role this time 'round, saying: "The character of Winston Zeddemore and Zeddemore Industries figures strongly into the future of Ghostbusters." (7/5/22) Carrie Coon returns as Callie. Paul Rudd returns as Grooberson Mckenna Grace returns as Phoebe. Ernie Hudson returns as Winston. This project's codename is said to be "FIREHOUSE" which is an obvious reference to the original Ghostbusters HQ in Manhattan, which is also where this sequel is said to take place. While they haven't officially signed on yet, the main cast from the previous movie, including Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd are all expected to return. Jason Reitman (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) is back to co-write with Gil Kenan, but it's unclear at the moment if he'll also return to direct. Aside from this live-action sequel, a new animated Netflix series and an animated movie reportedly featuring all new characters is also in development. This is the latest sequel and fifth Ghostbusters movie overall (if you include the 2016 all female Ghostbusters). Sony Pictures releases Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in Theaters on March 22, 2024. IMDb Director: Gil Kenan FANGORIA:  The Final GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE Trailer Is Here Flickering Myth:  Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire gets a final trailer, posters and featurette Bloody Disgusting:  ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ – Here’s the Full Official Image Gallery for This Month’s Return to New York City     Read the full article

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

WISH Worrying

I'm seeing some folks wondering where the "marketing" is for WISH, the new Walt Disney Animation Studios film...

A movie that opens Thanksgiving week, quite a few months out from now...

I predict the trailer for this picture, a Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn-directed animated film that celebrates Disney's 100th anniversary, will debut in June. If we're lucky, we hear a little something during Disney's presentation at CinemaCon tomorrow.

Anyways, June... But that's so late, you may say?

Let's go back to 2010... TANGLED.

The teaser for that movie debuted in mid-June of 2010, in time for the release of Pixar's hotly-anticipated TOY STORY 3. Then it got a proper trailer in the early autumn. TANGLED opened pretty well and had excellent legs, and was quite popular at the worldwide box office. Hey, $590m+ is nothing to scoff at!

The same strategy was applied to 2012's WRECK-IT RALPH. That movie made over $470m worldwide.

2013. Did it again. With FROZEN... Do I even need to say more?

They also did the same for BIG HERO 6 in 2014, and MOANA in 2016.

They made an exception for both RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET and FROZEN II, though. Both November releases in their respective years, the teasers for those popped up around February.

Then WDAS circled back to that strategy for ENCANTO. They probably would've done it for RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, if it had remained a Thanksgiving 2020 release as originally planned. Before COVID-19 and other complications with Disney's schedule resulted in it being pushed back to March of 2021. STRANGE WORLD did the same thing, first look in June, movie released in November.

Difference is... TANGLED, WRECK-IT RALPH, FROZEN, BIG HERO 6, and MOANA, by various metrics, performed well at the box office.

ENCANTO dealt with the Delta and - later - Omicron variants of COVID-19, while families - tight on money - saved their dollars for something like SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME or even something like GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE. ENCANTO hit its stride after it came to Disney+, after making a so-so $96m at the domestic box office and little more than $200m worldwide (not great against a $120m+ budget).

STRANGE WORLD altogether failed, right out of the gate and couldn't really leg it up. Went quickly to Disney+ within weeks of release. Far past the Omicron variant and with many families back in the theaters, as evidenced by how amazingly MINIONS Deux did and how PUSS IN BOOTS Dos *really* legged it up, what happened with STRANGE WORLD?

People often say "it had no marketing!"

But it did... Two trailers, quite a few ads, TV spots, some merch, the usual. The problem was, none of that stuff got audiences interested in seeing it. Thus it opened badly, and audiences didn't like it much either, hence the poor CinemaScore grade and subsequently bad legs. (It had to be the homophobia, because the movie - while rushed in my opinion - is really no different from most other animated movies out there. It's not like it was some weirdo niche esoteric movie that was audience-unfriendly. Plus, for whatever reason, most sci-fi animation like this has a hard time connecting.)

WISH looks to be what the public usually associates with a Disney animated feature: A princess, cute animals, songs, apparently a traditional villain who is evil and scary, magical stuff all around. It's about where wishing stars come from, for chrissakes. Apparently it's going to be loaded to the brim with Easter eggs and references to classic Disney animated movies, too. I don't know, I hear conflicting reports from within the trenches on this one. Disney's positioning it as some major origin story for several of the iconic Disney animated movies (when the "wishing star" only really appeared in PINOCCHIO and THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG some 69 years apart from another, and I guess you could count 'Faith is a Bluebird' from THE RESCUERS), but other things tell me that this is not at all the case, and that it's just going to have some fun stuff for us nerds to keep our eyes peeled for.

Anyways, WISH seems like an easy-enough sell. That Disney can easily marathon run from June to November, like they did with TANGLED and FROZEN and MOANA and such.

The real hurdle is always the challenge of... Making audiences like what they see. That's actually easier said than done, and if I have to pull that William Goldman quote out again, I shall!

Whatever was in those trailers for STRANGE WORLD just didn't do it. And with families and audiences choosier than ever before, given how goddamn expensive movie trips are, and other stuff vying for their attention... WISH's teaser, trailer, TV spots, et al. will have to work hard to get their eyeballs. Getting the marketing started earlier doesn't mean anything. If it did, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG would've been a bona fide blockbuster and there'd be at least one sequel to it and several new hand-drawn Disney animated movies. The teaser for that movie debuted in summer 2008, about a year and a half before its December 2009 release... But the movie opened with a meager $24m, and had to rely on strong word-of-mouth to eke it past $100m domestically... With AVATAR and the ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS sequel playing next door, no less.

Again, if WISH "looks good" to audiences, then it'll open fine and leg itself up over the holidays quite nicely. I can see it opening with at least $40m over the 3-day, should audiences not determine that all their hard-earned money goes to something like THE MARVELS, or WONKA, or that HUNGER GAMES prequel, or TROLLS BAND TOGETHER even.

We gotta see how Pixar's ELEMENTAL, their first full-blown theatrical release original movie since COCO... Yes, COCO, way back in 2017... ONWARD doesn't count, it literally opened the week before everything shut down. It only lasted two weeks in theaters, and then went straight to On Demand and Disney+ right after. We gotta see how ELEMENTAL does, first. That's the one to look out for.

Disney arguably baked a lot of folks' brains, sort of training them to say "I'll just wait till it comes to Disney+." I think we're even starting to see that with the once-foolproof Marvel movies, too. Again, trips to the theaters - especially for a family - are expensive, and it's a gamble each time our. Your experience could totally suck, and it might not even be worth the hassle. But ooooh, in a few months, there it is! In our living room, on our pretty high quality HDTV! $100+ saved!

It's gotta have a real hook now, a real "you gotta see this in a THEATER" hook. Like TOP GUN: MAVERICK had last year, like AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER had. I hear-tell that returning CEO Bob Iger is trying to restore that to Disney after the previous CEO's aggressive pivot to streaming. I don't doubt that WISH is a priority now, given that WDAS movies used to make bank before COVID-19. Sometimes more so than even the Marvel and Star Wars movies. Ditto the Pixar films. COCO was Pixar's last original box office biggie, and that made over $810m worldwide. A couple of their latest sequels, like INCREDIBLES 2 and TOY STORY 4, easily crossed the big billion worldwide. WDAS' last original blockbuster was MOANA, which made over $680m, while sequel FROZEN II is the second highest-grossing animated movie for the time being.

So, it would be silly of the rearranged structure of Disney's entertainment division to disregard ELEMENTAL (which is screening at Cannes, that's a *big* deal!) and WISH. They both look very "just as you like 'em" kinda movies, in that ELEMENTAL is yet another exercise in the "what if [insert x thing here] was a big city/factory/world with feelings?" template that is often associated with Pixar, and in that WISH is all the stuff general audiences tend to associate with Disney Animation. Maybe not the most exciting things to some of us, but if they have win back paying moviegoers with these old chestnuts, so be it.

Anyways, I hope both do very, very well. If ELEMENTAL does pretty good, we might have an idea of what kind of numbers Disney-released animated movies are capable of scoring in a post-Disney+, post-outbreak world.

[wackywriterwhowriteswhenever]

Seven Favorite Movies — Spooky Edition!

@poweredbycreativityandcake tagged me to list my seven favorite movies. As it’s October, I’m gonna list seven of my horror movies/film series!

1. Scream

Scream is my all-time favorite horror franchise. I absolutely love all of the films and there’s not one I don’t like. I’m not a fan of the TV series since I haven’t watched it much, but I don’t think I will since it doesn’t involve Ghostface (not season three of course) and more importantly, the legacy characters. I’ve loved every movie in this series and it’s the only horror series where every year, I watch all the entries. I have mixed feelings about Scream 6 since Neve Campbell won’t be in it, but I am willing to give it a chance.

2. Halloween

I love most of the movies in the Halloween series. My two favorite timelines are the David Gordon Green Thrillogy: Halloween (original film), Halloween 2018, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends; Sister Trilogy: Halloween (original film), Halloween II (1981) and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (Resurrection does NOT exist in my book). I love the brilliance of David Gordon Green’s films and the effects trauma can have on an individual person as well as a community. And of course you can’t beat the Scream Queen, Jamie Lee Curtis.

3. Wes Craven’s New Nightmare

This film is highly underrated. I love how absolutely meta it is and it’s the perfect film to lead up to Scream. Heather Langenkamp gives her finest performance in this film and Wes Craven shows his brilliance throughout the entire movie. I would argue that this movie is the exception of a sequel being better than the original. I adore this movie so much!

4. Psycho

This gem set off the slasher craze. Janet Leigh gives an incredible performance as Marion Crane and she’s arguably the OG Scream Queen. Psycho paved the way for future slasher films and it’s such a classic. I love its subtlety and how it doesn’t give everything away, not even Norman Bates’ motive.

5. The Lost Boys

I often say The Lost Boys is the only valid vampire movie. Vampires DO NOT sparkle, nor are they aggressively good looking. They are violent killers who should be feared. The Lost Boys perfectly captures this. It’s a classic vampire movie and the stakes are high during it. Definitely a movie to watch in October!

6. Ghostbusters (2016)

The sexists and racists of the internet won’t like this, but I fucking love the 2016 Ghostbusters. It’s funny as hell and it’s a beautifully shot film. And an all-women ghostbusters team will forever be more iconic than the original team. I said what I said

7. The Monster Squad

This is probably one of the most underrated films ever. It’s essentially Spooky Goonies with a group of kids starting a club for monster hunting. The movie even stars The Goonies mom. It’s a fun movie featuring Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Werewolf Man and The Mummy. It’s such a fun film and perfect for those who don’t wanna be scared.

Tagging some folks. Absolutely not pressure to participate! @willthecleric @william-byers @jesper-faheyss @byliever @estelinhabb @w1llb7ers

[flipside-phoebe]

#9 & #10 for the violence ask meme!

choose violence ask game

9. worst part of canon: I have a lot of love in my heart for Ghostbusters, but there's a number of things that rub me the wrong way. Art styles I dislike, storylines I couldn't follow, and some ideas getting repeated too often. If I had to narrow it down to one thing I really didn't agree with, It's how they handled the love interests in the IDW series. That comic series carried the franchise for several years and introduced a lot of great new characters, some got better treatment than others though. Jenny Moran got to be Ray's girlfriend, even after she was (spoiler alert) killed off and brought back as a ghost. She seems to be a clever re-imagining of the dream ghost from the first film and is based on Dan Aykroyd's wife Donna Dixon. I didn't mind her becoming a ghost, but later on she had to lock herself in the containment unit for… Sci-fi nonsense reasons. It felt pretty unfair to both her and Ray to force them apart. Winston's wife Tiyah suffered too. She got to marry him, then lost her memory in a whole other series of events. So all her character development was undone and Winston lost the love of his life. Janine & Egon's dynamic was in a weird place too. Ever since Harold Ramis changed his mind about them being a couple in the original film, spinoffs have teased the audience without committing to answering "will they, won't they?" In the comics, there are moments that suggest something more is going to happen with them, but it doesn't really go anywhere. Personally, I always liked the ambiguity of their relationship, but there's only so long you can stretch that out in canon before it gets frustrating. Now that IDW lost the rights, we'll never see these plots get a proper resolution!

10. worst part of fanon: As for fanon, where do I even start? What can I complain about that hasn't already been criticized? The sexist side that reared it's ugly head in 2016 was awful. The gatekeeping in certain parts of the cosplay community is bad too. I don't know if those things count as "fanon" though. I guess one thing I don't jive with is "Modern AUs" and "Happy Ending AUs." Some people like to alter the story in a way that takes the characters out of the 80s setting and/or keep them from going out of business so they can remain successful. Few stakes and little conflict. It's cute, but rather dull for me. It also contradicts the plot of Afterlife, but I realize that many people were already making these long before that. Overall, this one is more of a personal gripe for me, but to each their own.

[thegreygale]

So ghostbusters question: do we consider the 2016 movie to be a reboot or an alternate universe version of the story?

Because I mean the fact that all of the OG characters had cameos, some of them even being integral to the plot, it feels to me like they’re just doppelgängers to the ghostbusters from the original movies but the movie also has the vibe of a reboot so I’m not sure where it actually falls in the “reboot-AU spectrum”.

[dance2xrevolution]

Thanks to @bonniesdamons for the tag!

favorite time of year: Autumn is the prettiest and it has Halloween, but I can swim in the summer, but I love Christmas- so I guess my favorite season is notspring. (Though I have nothing against Spring) [this is a hard question for me]

comfort food: Fried Chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy.

favorite dessert: pecan pie a la mode

things you collect: Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas ornaments, Christmas ornaments from places I've been, New Orleans postcards (old and new), books, apparently, because they are everywhere.

favorite drink: Constant Comment tea with Stevia. (Really it's Pepsi, but all pop is super terrible for you 😞)

favorite musician/band: I listen to Glee covers, even though that music is all super old now, Hamilton soundtrack, random pop, rock, and blues. But I don't have Pandora, Spotify, or iTunes so I'm involuntarily out of the loop, musically.

last song listened to: Saint James Infirmary Blues - Lily Tomlin

last movie watched: Ghostbusters (Original) and Ghostbusters (2016) These are October staples with me!

last series watched: I just watched the last episodes of Our Flag Means Death and She-Hulk

currently watching: Grey's Anatomy ( only for Harry Shum, Jr.), Ghost Files (on YouTube), and Interview With The Vampire (Though I don't have AMC so I have to record it at someone else's house and see it when they need a pet sitter)

current obsession: Harry Shum Jr., Sebastian Stan

dream place to visit: Ireland and Wales

places you wanna go back to: I have not traveled much, I've never left the country. But I would still love to go back to New Orleans, Louisiana and Frankenmuth, Michigan.

something you want: I really want to be able to buy whatever everyone I love wants for Christmas. I also really want Shadowhunters to be picked up, but I feel it would be unfair to the actors at this point because they've all moved on.

project working on: Getting my place into shape, then painting, then getting to the actual interior decor.

And I will tag:

@angelhummel @backslashdelta @blaineydays1 @crayonstoperfume @caramelcoffeeaddict @daltonblaine @dotjonesarmy-blog @goldmalec @harryshumjrs @iwannabeastarshipcaptain @iwillneverbeoverglee @kevinmchalenews @lookninjas @lovefaberry @l1ttl3-l0rd-g4y-b0y @littletikemoments @memeuplift @noshesdeadthisisherson @proudly-so @rilowitz @rememberingnayarivera @stripperbrittany @tuiyla @whyamiagleek @1908jmd @8laine

@monsterboyfriend @measuringbliss

@simplysebastian