Ghostbusters (2016) Film Review

Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) is trying to be taken seriously as a science academic, but is haunted by her past with Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) and their book that dealt with the possible reality of ghosts. So when she meets up with Abby again, now working with the weird and wacky Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) and they actually see a ghost, she has to reconsider many life choices. Then things start to get a bit out of control in the ghost world; they end up hiring a very handsome and very stupid secretary, Kevin (Chris Hemsworth), get a fourth to their group, Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), become celebrities, but then quickly get shut down by Mayor Bradley (Andy Garcia) and… it continues.

Yes, there was a lot of talk about the remake of a classic film, and even more when it was revealed that the main characters would all be women. I understand the fear that the original, that so many of us grew up loving, might be tarnished by a remake. Well, I thought it was fabulous. It had much of the silly humour of the first, as well as a few of the scary shock moments. And what an awesome cast! I kind of wish that it had been more of a long-awaited sequel – I couldn’t be bothered with a whole origin story. But still, I just loved it. Especially the Holtzmann character – it’s been ages since I’ve seen such a fun 80s style crazy character.

St. Vincent (2014) Film Review

Vincent (Bill Murray) is a drunken misanthrope who has a mysterious relationship with a pregnant prostitute (played by Naomi Watts) and spends most of his time gambling, drinking or yelling at people. Then Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) moves in next door with her small child, Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher). She’s going through a nasty divorce and has to work crazy hours to keep things together for them. Somehow, Vincent ends up looking after Oliver and Oliver sees a lot more in him than most.

It’s not a new idea – a kid being looked after by someone who is perhaps not the most traditional or appropriate fit but getting a lot of good out of it… but this is such a beautiful telling of it. Bill Murray, as always, is just wonderful, but it is the way they all work together that makes it work. And Melissa McCarthy – this is what you should always do. Yes, you are good at the over-the-top comedy and the crazy characters, but it is this heartfelt yet snippy character that has totally won me over to the McCarthy camp. So, so good.

St. Vincent was nominated for Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical (Bill Murray).

The Heat (2013) Film Review

Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) is an extremely good but arrogant and unpopular FBI agent. She plays by the rules, doesn’t swear and gets cases closed. She is sent away to work on a case and comes across Mullins (Melissa McCarthy) a cop who is pretty much the opposite; slobby, foul-mouthed and flouts the rules. Yet, she too gets the job done, and she too is unpopular in her workplace. They start with a hate-hate relationship that quickly turns into a working partnership.

It’s ridiculous and stupid, and there is very little base in reality for pretty much anything that happens in the film. But I still loved it. Thank goodness Sandra Bullock still has some comedy to play, because when she stops that, I’ll miss her a lot. (Hopefully she will continue with these roles alongside the Gravity-type serious stuff) Heat 2 is apparently in the making, and I expect I’ll enjoy it, but I really look forward to seeing Melissa McCarthy doing some less over-the-top crazy roles. She’s very good at them, but I’d like to see something different.

Bridesmaids (2011) Film Review

There’s nothing I like more than being in a full cinema that is roaring with laughter. That’s what seeing Bridesmaids was like a few years ago; me, a bunch of my mates and a lot of laughing. Critics and the media were raving about how marvelous it was to have women being funny.

If you don’t know, the story is that Lillian (Maya Rudolph) is getting married and appoints her best friend Annie (Kristen Wiig) as her maid-of-honour. However, Annie is post-break-up, has recently had her cupcake business go under and is pretty much a mess, and between her own craziness and jealousy of Lillian’s new friend Helen (Rose Byrne), Annie makes a mess of all of the pre-wedding events.

So why was it that I dreaded watching it again? It was really two scenes from the film that kept popping up in my mind; the speeches at the engagement party and the food poisoning/dress fitting. These extremely over-the-top scenes were all I could remember, and I hated them. The grossness of the food poisoning scene was just totally unnecessary and on a second watch, it really brings little to the film. Although, I suppose, it got people talking. As for the one-upmanship between Annie and Helen during the engagement speech, it just felt unrealistic and annoying.

Finally, I decided to push through and just watch it and I was delighted to find that these two scenes felt very out-of-place. There was a lot of over-the-top craziness, but there was also a lot of heart. I liked it a lot more than I expected to. I especially liked the friendship between Annie and Lillian, which felt very genuine.

It was awesome to see so many strong female actors in the film, even if some were playing very over-the-top caricatures. I expect that I’ll see whatever is touted as the next Bridesmaids, but I hope it doesn’t force the comedy so much as this did.