Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[D'Snowth]

Gee whiz, another Melissa McCarthy as a revolting fat slob jerk movie?!

 

[Mynameisdean]

Gee whiz, another Melissa McCarthy as a revolting fat slob jerk movie?!

Oh, NO... And then after that she'll be in the New Ghostbusters, which was filmed not too far from my house... Sigh... She's just not that funny, especially since she always plays the same role in everything. But, people still show up for these movies, and they'll be making them for a while.

 

[D'Snowth]

She's just not that funny, especially since she always plays the same role in everything.

They all do. I mean, how many movies has Will Ferrell made where he plays a one-dimensional, unlikeable, jerkwad, sketch show-esque character? How many movies has Adam Sandler made where he plays a one-dimensional, unlikeable, jerkwad, a--hole character? How many movies has Steve Carell made where he plays a one-dimensional, deadpan, wooden, emotionless robot? How many movies has Jennifer Aniston made where she plays a one-dimensional, single, hopeless romantic?

Even Jonah Hill has said he wishes studios would give him more serious roles like he had in that movie he did with Brad Pitt, but that everybody keeps hiring him for these lowbrow comedies all the time.

 

[Drtooth]

Gee whiz, another Melissa McCarthy as a revolting fat slob jerk movie?!

That's some breaking news right there. Comedian who plays a type plays a type in a movie. Though considering she's losing weight, I can't wait to see what she'll play when she inevitably becomes thin. That said, I never get why she'd play slob type characters. This isn't Hollywood saying, "you're only good for that," but rather this is voluntary. Her first SNL appearance is proof of this. Especially the Hidden Valley Ranch skit.

If you're referring to that new film where she's some CEO of something and the government seizes her fortune. I don't see her as a slob in that one. It's definitely something I wouldn't bother seeing, though. But I'm at least glad that we get comedy movies starring women that aren't those terrible romantic comedies where they shame a successful career woman into getting the chiseled farm boy or other "this is a man" tropes because only being married makes you fulfilled as a baby dispenser. And I'm not harping on those because of feminism, just rather those were always terrible movies to begin with. HIMYM was right to do the episode about "The Wedding Bride." Seriously, that is the worst trope there is.

Still, over-saturation. I'll agree to that. The Ghostbusters film doesn't bother me. If they went with the original line up that included the completely unfunny Cecilie Strong, I'd have more of a problem with it. Still wish Aubrey Plaza was in it, though. She seemed to be a no brainier for this kind of movie, and they oddly didn't go with her.

 

[Mynameisdean]

That's some breaking news right there. Comedian who plays a type plays a type in a movie. Though considering she's losing weight, I can't wait to see what she'll play when she inevitably becomes thin. That said, I never get why she'd play slob type characters. This isn't Hollywood saying, "you're only good for that," but rather this is voluntary. Her first SNL appearance is proof of this. Especially the Hidden Valley Ranch skit.

If you're referring to that new film where she's some CEO of something and the government seizes her fortune. I don't see her as a slob in that one. It's definitely something I wouldn't bother seeing, though. But I'm at least glad that we get comedy movies starring women that aren't those terrible romantic comedies where they shame a successful career woman into getting the chiseled farm boy or other "this is a man" tropes because only being married makes you fulfilled as a baby dispenser. And I'm not harping on those because of feminism, just rather those were always terrible movies to begin with. HIMYM was right to do the episode about "The Wedding Bride." Seriously, that is the worst trope there is.

Still, over-saturation. I'll agree to that. The Ghostbusters film doesn't bother me. If they went with the original line up that included the completely unfunny Cecilie Strong, I'd have more of a problem with it. Still wish Aubrey Plaza was in it, though. She seemed to be a no brainier for this kind of movie, and they oddly didn't go with her.

My problem with the Women Ghostbusters... The "humor". Seriously. The jokes in the movie all felt tired, and the "meh" plot just makes me look the other way. I'm not saying it's bad because it's all female, but it's pretty bad. Also, I think it's great how the official trailer for Women Ghostbusters has 485,000 dislikes, compared to 199,000 likes. Good. If a TRAILER is that poorly received, then Sony is royally screwed with this movie likely rushed (although I don't know) because of the successful reboots/late sequels in recent years. I'm rooting for it to fail.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm honestly not going to bother defending it until I actually see it. Nothing to me looks relatively bad or great. This film could go either way. I just find the concept behind this sequel stronger than "evil painting needs baby to come back to life." Like I said before, I actually really like GBII, but I do agree that the sequel was pretty weak and a missed opportunity. The original film was indescribable, an experience. The second one was alright. It had its moments, but by that time the cartoon series did way...way better.

I get the annoyance about this film though. There was supposed to be that third movie that didn't happen because Bill Murray didn't want to do it, and just when that film actually started to gain traction, Ramis died. And something tells me even if they did make that third one written by Ramis and Ackroyd, the fandom would still be annoyed by it.

 

[D'Snowth]

As far as the cast goes (aside from Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig is really starting to swell as far as her ego goes), there's always the unfortunate stigma that women aren't as funny as men, and that's been around for ages, and we know it. The female castmembers of SNL have mentioned how they're treated differently because of their gender; and likewise, the castmembers from Who's Line - on both sides of the gender spectrum - have spoken out about how the producers were always more restrictive with the female performers because they didn't want them to possibly upstage the guys (even Colin admitted that he and his wife literally fought to get Kathy Greenwood on the show). Whenever I see people comment on the women performers on SNL, of course Tina and Amy are showered with praise, but others are often the subject of complaints about not being funny, and/or only being there for the sake of sex appeal (which is what I see most people say about Cecily and Kate) -- even fans of WORLD'S DUMBEST... complain about that regarding some of their female commentators. Really, the only time I see comediennes get nearly the same level of praise as comedians is when those said comediennes act like "one of the boys." This one of the reason why Denny Siegel was so popular on Who's Line, because she could be one of the boys. And when you boil that down, a lot of comediennes figure that the best way to appeal to the male-dominated demographic is to trash themselves out because of the "sex sells" stigma . . . I mean, Amy Schumer is a walking, talking example of trashiness and classlessness, and yet she somehow became an A-list celebrity - literally, overnight - because of it.

So, yeah, I mean sure, I can see why a lot of people are upset with this "Women Ghostbusters," but really, at this point in time, Hollywood is drowning in sequels and remakes that any new Ghostbusters at this point would be nothing more than white noise. Heck, now Melissa Joan Hart is rebooting both of her old shows.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Actually, i've found the female cast members on SNL to typically be funnier than the male ones.

 

[Mynameisdean]

As far as the cast goes (aside from Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig is really starting to swell as far as her ego goes), there's always the unfortunate stigma that women aren't as funny as men, and that's been around for ages, and we know it. The female castmembers of SNL have mentioned how they're treated differently because of their gender; and likewise, the castmembers from Who's Line - on both sides of the gender spectrum - have spoken out about how the producers were always more restrictive with the female performers because they didn't want them to possibly upstage the guys (even Colin admitted that he and his wife literally fought to get Kathy Greenwood on the show). Whenever I see people comment on the women performers on SNL, of course Tina and Amy are showered with praise, but others are often the subject of complaints about not being funny, and/or only being there for the sake of sex appeal (which is what I see most people say about Cecily and Kate) -- even fans of WORLD'S DUMBEST... complain about that regarding some of their female commentators. Really, the only time I see comediennes get nearly the same level of praise as comedians is when those said comediennes act like "one of the boys." This one of the reason why Denny Siegel was so popular on Who's Line, because she could be one of the boys. And when you boil that down, a lot of comediennes figure that the best way to appeal to the male-dominated demographic is to trash themselves out because of the "sex sells" stigma . . . I mean, Amy Schumer is a walking, talking example of trashiness and classlessness, and yet she somehow became an A-list celebrity - literally, overnight - because of it.

So, yeah, I mean sure, I can see why a lot of people are upset with this "Women Ghostbusters," but really, at this point in time, Hollywood is drowning in sequels and remakes that any new Ghostbusters at this point would be nothing more than white noise. Heck, now Melissa Joan Hart is rebooting both of her old shows.

I guess you're right, but Leslie Jones is god awful in Women Ghostbusters' trailer. In fact, she made me cringe with the slap gag at the end. Also, when you have unfunny comic relief for characters who are supposed to be a bit humorous, you have FAILED.
I think the biggest problem with the remake/reboot craze is trying to do that with Comedies. I just don't see how comedy remakes or reboots work anymore. The Vacation from last year was horrible-looking, and now this?

 

[D'Snowth]

Well, unlike drama, comedy and humor evolves overtime as people and their surrounding evolve, change, and grow with the times, mainly because comedy is so much more subjective than drama is. If you have a scenario involving a dog being run over played for drama, everybody is going to find it saddening and heartbreaking (unless you're just an absolute sadist, of course); however, if the same scenario is played for laughs for comedy, different people are going to react to it differently - some will find it funny, some won't.

As far as rebooting comedies, that probably doesn't work well because, as I said, comedy can reflect the times, and when you take classics from another era and try to remake them for modern audiences, you're basically jeopardizing the credibilty of the original by shifting its comedic tone. There's that trope: Seinfeld Is Unfunny, and that plays a part in it as well, because comedy doesn't always necessarily age as well as drama might - especially if a comedy relies way too heavily on then-relevant pop culture references, because overtime, those references will be lost on younger generations: I've had to Google a number of references used on shows like Rocky and Bullwinkle and M*A*S*H to understand them, lol.

But again, since comedy evolves with the times, what may have seemed funny in the 80s may not necessarily transfer well into today, so of course they're going to try to rework the humor in a way that appeals more to today's audiences than keeping with the spirit of the original work.