I Ain't Afraid Of No Burn

Recently saw this teaser poster for Ghostbusters 3, which is a sequel to the ORIGINAL films that will feature all the surviving cast members.

Take a look at that top tagline. "You Know Who To Call." Wow. That's definitely a little FU to the execrable Ghostbusters 2016.

Don't agree? Then check out the second tagline. "You've Waited 35 Years For This." Ouch! Now that's a burn! Somebody get Ghostbusters 2016 some Solarcaine, stat!

Ghost Busted!

This week Columbia Pictures announced plans to produce Ghostbusters 3, to be released sometime in 2020. The film will be a direct sequel to the original franchise, and most likely reunite the surviving stars of the two original films. It will NOT be a continuation of the execrable 2016 Ghostbusters remake.

Ghostbusters fans the world over were delighted by this news. As for myself, I've been burned too many times in the past to let myself get too awfully excited about it. For now, I'm remaining "cautiously optimistic."

Not everyone was happy with the announcement though. Actress Leslie Jones, who starred in the 2016 abomination, took to Twitter where she had this to say:

Sigh...

Yes, Leslie, the fact that Columbia's ignoring your cineturd is absolutely because of men, toxic masculinity and donald trump. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that your movie wasn't funny, got a 51% Rotten Tomatoes score and cost the studio millions by underperforming at the box office.

And I guess it must have skipped your mind that your movie was a remake which ignored the original films. I guess there must be some twisted logic in play that makes it OK when you do it?

In my review of Ghostbusters 2016, I praised Leslie Jones as one of the very few good things about the film, "In fact she was the least annoying of the four main characters, and my favorite thing about the movie. She was the only one who seemed to be an actual person, rather than a character (or caricature, in some cases)."

I now officially regret those words.

Answer The Call!

Just when we thought the mediocre Ghostbusters remake had finally faded into obscurity and we'd never have to hear about it again, it's back, much like the unstoppable villain in a slasher film.

Apparently when the film comes to home video, it'll now be titled Ghostbusters: Answer The Call.

I assume they made this change to differentiate it from the original, and avoid confusion in inventory catalogs and online shopping sites. 

I'm actually OK with this! I appreciate the fact that from now on, anytime I want to order the one true Ghostbusters online, I won't accidentally choose the second rate, uninspired reboot.

But "Answer The Call?" What the hell does that even mean? Did they ever say that at any point in the movie? I honestly can't remember, as I've already forgotten most of the film. I'd have to see it again to find out, and that ain't happening.

Maybe "Answer The Call" is supposed to be a response to the original tagline, "Who You Gonna Call?" Or maybe it refers to the Kevin character in the remake. I seem to dimly recall he was so stupid he didn't understand how a phone worked, and Melissa McCarthy screeching (the only way she can communicate) at him to "Answer the call!"

Sony insists that they're not renaming the film, as it's been subtitled Answer The Call all along. Eh, that's not quite true.

The first trailer didn't feature the title at all, simply ending with a shot of the slightly revamped Ghostbusters logo (grrr…). It then cut to a quick shot of the original "Who You Gonna Call" tagline over the word "SUMMER."

It wasn't until the second trailer hit that the "Answer The Call" Subtitle appeared. I saw this trailer, but I honestly never noticed the change. Or realized it was supposed to be part of the title.

It popped up on some (but not all) of the posters as well. Once again though, it's so small that I just assumed it was a tag line, not a title. Why were they doing their best to hide it?

This isn't the first time a movie title's been changed after it premiered. Raiders Of The Lost Ark now goes by the incredibly succinct name of Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark (even though no one but George Lucas ever calls it that). And the horribly titled Edge Of Tomorrow was retitled Live, Die, Repeat when it came to home video.

I'm puzzled by that "Certified Fresh by Rotten Tomatoes" label on the blu ray cover. Is that some sort of ersatz Good Housekeeping Seal Of Approval, added in a desperate attempt to convince me to buy it?

If you mosey on over to the Rotten Tomatoes website, you'll see that the movie got a 73% score from critics. That's really not anything to crow about. On the classroom grading scale, a score of 73 equals a middling C+. And audiences gave it 57%, which is lower than an F! Is Sony sure they want to link their film to this site?