Reel Entropy

I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed

Posted on July 14, 2016 by reelentropy

Photos courtesy Columbia Pictures.

At long last, it’s time for one of the most anticipated movies of 2016. They’ve been talking about Ghostbusters 3 for more than 20 years, and the announcement that they’d be remaking the first movie instead of bringing together a nostalgia-driven second sequel was met with outrage. The leadup to this movie has been filled with controversy, with fans railing against the concept for artistic, nostalgic and sexist reasons, and given that the cast and crew were clearly aware of the vitriol they faced and, dismissing it all as sexism, proceeded anyway, there was anticipation of that “fuck tha haterz” sentiment making it into the movie as well. This was going to be chaos. There was so much that was about to happen here — an explosion of special effects, appeals to nostalgia, heavy-handed misandry and possibly very bad or even very good filmmaking.

Well, it’s here, and it is so fucking boring.

Ghostbusters details the assembly of a new quartet of ghost-hunting wisecrackers. It starts with Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) being kicked out of her job teaching at Columbia University when a scientifically unfounded book about ghosts she wrote with Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) several years ago resurfaces. Gilbert confronts Yates and her new research partner, Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), and they discover that everything in their book is completely true. At Yates’ insistence, they set up a company to help people catch ghosts. Later, walking stereotypes named Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) and Kevin Beckman (Chris Hemsworth) show up to help, and the group faces off against a men’s rights activist named Rowan North (Neil Casey).

Continue reading →

Posted in Entropy | Tagged #(500) days of summer, #bill murray, #bridesmaids, #chris hemsworth, #eraserhead, #ghostbusters, #it follows, #pixels, #racism, #sexism, #the amazing spider-man 2, ear damage, eye damage, fuck tha haterz, Ghostbusters is full of sexist and racist caricatures, Ghostbusters is so fucking boring, Ghostbusters is the most disliked trailer in Youtube history, Ghostbusters isnt a movie it's a multimedia franchise, Ghostbusters uses gender as a gimmick, Ghostbusters uses gender as a shield against criticism, Improv and hope, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Leslie Jones delete your Twitter account, Melissa McCarthy, Misandry, MRA, Paul Feig, Paul Feig is a bad director, Poor editing, Robocop, The Secret Life of Pets | 3 Comments

Swiss Army Man is the funniest thing in theaters, but only if you’re into fart jokes

Posted on July 12, 2016 by reelentropy

Photo courtesy A24.

The thing about comedies is, like any joke, they ultimately comes down to the joke-teller’s sense of humor.

Co-writer/directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan have a really weird sense of humor.

Swiss Army Man opens on Hank (Paul Dano) cast away on a deserted island and about to hang himself, having long-since run out of food. Before stepping off, he sees a bloated corpse (Daniel Radcliffe) has just washed ashore. Hank investigates, thinking he may be alive, and discovers that the corpse is farting. But these are no normal farts — they come in an endless stream, and are powerful enough to propel the corpse across water. Hank rides the corpse across the ocean, but must still get through a vast wilderness to get to civilization. The corpse reveals more and more useful tricks at every turn and eventually begins to speak and keep Hank company. Hank dubs him Manny, the Swiss-army man, and begins to teach him about love, sex and civilization.

Continue reading →

Posted in Entropy | Tagged #A24, #ghostbusters, #jurassic park, #mary elizabeth winstead, #reservoir dogs, #stalking, Anatoly Moskvin, bible covered in shit, bottle movie, Central Intelligence, corpse surfing, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Daniel Radcliffe, Daniel Radcliffe wouldn't use his dummy, dummy, everyone poops, farts, Hank, I don't get it, implied necrophilia, jet ski, let's go surfing now, McGiver, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Paul Dano, Paul Feig, really weird, Remember when Jeremy Renner was gonna be the next big thing?, song, Swiss Army Man, The Daniels, the neon demon, theme, trash, vocals | Leave a comment

Secret Life of Pets is… you know

Posted on July 9, 2016 by reelentropy

I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have to Secret Life of Pets because I found out about the Dallas shooting halfway through. However, the movie should have been engaging enough that I wasn’t idly checking my Facebook in the middle of it, so… you know. Photo courtesy Universal Pictures.

I mean… you know…

The Secret Life of Pets follows Max (Louis C.K.), a Jack Russell Terrier who is way too in love with his owner, Katie (Ellie Kemper). This becomes a huge problem when she brings home another rescue dog, Duke (Eric Stonestreet), who establishes himself as the alpha. Max tries to get Duke thrown out, and while out for a walk with an absent-minded professional walker, their fight brings them out of the dog park and they end up lost in the streets of New York City.

Continue reading →

Posted in Entropy | Tagged #albert brooks, #despicable me, #disney pixar, #fight club, #illuminati, #illuminati confirmed, #illumination entertainment, #inside out, #jurassic world, #kevin hart, #minions, Central Intelligence, Dallas Shooting, finding dory, I want you to hit me as hard as you can, Independence Day, Louis C.K., low-quality animation, low-quality movie, low-quality story, open your eyes, Secret Life of Pets, Tyler Durden | Leave a comment

INDEPENDENCE DAY EXTRAVAGANZA: Everything you need to know about the movies that couldn’t beat a three-week old cartoon about a talking fish

Posted on July 4, 2016 by reelentropy

It’s actually nowhere near as bad as we first thought.

2016 has been bad enough to finally cause Hollywood to re-examine the sequel-based business model, but this is the single weekend everyone will be pointing to. The biggest weekend of the year yeilds three new releases — the second sequel to a bizarrely popular horror franchise, a Spielberg-Dahl adaptation and a live-action Tarzan movie — all expected to finish second place to leftovers, despite the latter two of them costing a combined $320 million to make.

Over the three-day weekend, the expectation was the inexpensive one would pull in $30 million, Tarzan would bring in around $25 million and The BFG wouldn’t break $20 million, and that’s kind of what happened, but the actuals have a couple of key differences that completely change the narrative. One, the totals are all a few million higher — the weekend’s total gross was expected to come in at just under $200 million, but as of Monday morning it’s already at $214.6 million and expected to add another $7 million over the holiday. The other difference is that Legend of Tarzan, expected to be another big-budget embarassment for Warner Bros., almost doubled expectations with current estimates putting it at a $45.6 million four-day total. We’ll get into the economics of the situation during the week, but first, here’s some reviews.

Continue reading →

Posted in Entropy | Tagged #christoph waltz, #frank grillo, #mark rylance, #samuel l jackson, #steven spielberg, Alexander Skarsgard, Anarchy, CGI sucks, David Yates, Doom, Election Year, finding dory, green screen sucks, Harry Potter, Hollywood sequelitis, It's not that bad, July 4 weekend, kidnapping, Legend of Tarzan surprisingly successful, Motion-capture sucks, Roald Dahl, Tarzan continuity errors, Tarzan's action doesn't work, the BFG, The BFG is an example of Stockholm Syndrome, the big fucking gun, The Legend of Tarzan, The Purge, Warner Bros can't buy a win | Leave a comment

Deep horror, shallow exploitation

Posted on July 2, 2016 by reelentropy

Lively pushes herself to the limit here and does a fantastic job, but this script is so reliant on the lead role I can’t help but wonder how much further a stronger actor could have elevated it. Photos courtesy Columbia Pictures.

Looking up The Shallows, you notice a few things — it stars Blake Lively, who can’t act, it’s directed by Juame Collet-Serra, who only directs awful Liam Neeson vehicles that aren’t even the famous ones, and it’s sitting at a respectable 75 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, far-and-away the highest-rated live action movie out right now.

The movie follows Nancy Adams (Lively) through a nightmare trip to the beach. Adams has recently lost her mother, a fellow surfer, and to get away from it all, Adams has come to the far reaches of Mexico to a beach her mother said was where she found out she was pregnant. After a day of catching waves on the secluded strand, Adams is attacked by a shark, hobbled, and stranded on a rock just out of earshot from the shore. In several hours, the tide will come in and she will be submerged again.

Continue reading →

Posted in Entropy | Tagged #jaws, #liam neeson, Blake Lively, Blake Lively's Oakland booty, butt shots, Juame Collet-Serra, sexploitation, the cgi shark is awful, The Shallows, The Shallows is both stunningly good and juvenile | Leave a comment

Reel Entropy

I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed

Swiss Army Man is the funniest thing in theaters, but only if you’re into fart jokes

Secret Life of Pets is… you know

INDEPENDENCE DAY EXTRAVAGANZA: Everything you need to know about the movies that couldn’t beat a three-week old cartoon about a talking fish

Deep horror, shallow exploitation

Recent Posts

Archives

Meta