Ghostbusters

In the heart of Manhattan, Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Peter Venkman (Billy Murray) and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) are scientists who careers are all falling as parapsychologists. After an idea that seems silly, this team creates their own company. Their idea involves a company stopping the ghosts of New York City and they are a team who eventually who's has to save the world. This is the movie Ghostbusters.

What first could be said about this 1984 film is that it definitely relies on the characters. Peter Venkman is the person in the group that could be called the James Belushi of the group. He's the type of guy who basically "slacked" his way to being a scientist and who spends most of his time trying to get at Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) who's apartment was the first place Zuul, a creature wanting to take over the world was found. Egon is the smart guy who is not be messed with and it is his way or the highway. Ray is likely the most likable person of the group who seems to like everyone. Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) joins the ghostbusters group midway through their success but he's the least developed character of them all. Now retired actor Rick Moranis plays Louis Tully who's the nerdy neighbor of Dana who also trying to get Dana's interest and who eventually has his own encounter with Zuul. This is a cast that works so well together and are equally funny and energetic.


                                

The movie takes this original idea of people fighting and eliminating ghosts and gives it quite a bit of depth. The movie is filled with great special effects that are ahead of it's time and the movie also has a cool 80's New York vibe. The plot is more convoluted then it needs to be at times this is the type of story that would only come around in the 80's but is filled with so many highlights that the flaws seem insignificant.

To find someone who doesn't know what Ghostsbusters is in our society, is hard to come by. This is a type of art that will live on forever and creates new audiences daily. Ghostbusters is truly a revolutionary film that you can't get enough of. It is one of those films you could watch ten times without getting tired of it and there aren't many films you can say that about. This movie is truly remarkable indeed.

4.5/5

Aliens (1986)

Initially, I blew off the Alien series as if it was nothing. I thought it was a series that was just normal sci-fi stuff so I had with no intention to go run and watch these movies. Well, the Alien series is not just your ordinary series. This series is quality and deserves attention. Aliens which is a sequel to Alien and the second movie in the series is the movie which made me first love these films.

The plot involves Ridley (Sigourney Weaver) who is going to investigate a planet where contact has been lost with the colonists with aliens likely having attacked them. The cast led by Weaver is very good and all bring something to the table but I don't really like Bill Paxton and how the film portrays him as one of the Marines aboard the warship on it's way to the planet colony.

Released in 1986, you would expect this film and the sets to be dated and showing age of only that time period but actually it is just the opposite. Director, James Cameron has a style here that seems ahead of it's time. The ships really feel as if they are from something in space and considering this movie is over 25 years old, that makes this even more sweet and impressive.

The first Alien brought action but it never really stood out even though it was quality but the action in Aliens is what I would call "blown me away" fantastic. The pieces coming together in just right amounts including great killer aliens and I can't see anyone not liking it.

 Aliens does what most sequels don't and that is to surpass the original and helps this series stand out even more. I believe Aliens is one of the best sequels of all-time that any audience would love.

4.5/5

Cedar Rapids

As the title suggests, this movie from 2011 is set in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A questionable setting definitely as Cedar Rapids is obviously not a place where most films are set and as we know Iowa is a state more known for farming than anything. This is a comedy involving people in the insurance business. With this premise, Cedar Rapids shouldn't have worked. For me, it did though and ended up being a winner.

The movie has a typical set up for a comedy with the lead characters not connecting with each other which gives off an "enemy" feel to it. This is set at an insurance convention and deals with the issues in the workplace; so this is not a typical comedy and that makes it original. Even considering that this is a comedy and not a drama, the film has a good character study. It's shows how the leads characters played by John C. Reilly and Ed Helms build their relationship and grow together as people, and eventually become friends. This is also a film that is more realistic then most comedies and this adds to how good of a comedy this is.

As with most comedies, some of the substance of the movie here can be a little dumb and  it does get a little lost in some of the secondary ideas. Sigourney Weaver's  character really has no point and is used only for sex scenes. Some jokes also seem forced and miss the mark. These are typical flaws of this genre though so I won't hold it too much against the film.

Cedar Rapids is a surprisingly good film. It is a fun kind of uncanny film that worked against the grain. It is a film that sadly has been forgotten but it shouldn't be. I recommend it.

4/5

Leprchaun 4: In Space

Even though it is a really bad series, the Leprechaun films have always had interesting settings. The North Dakota setting in the first movie was interesting and a surprise. The second movie had a tree setting that was only fun because of how laughable it was. Las Vegas was the setting for the third movie and now for the fourth movie, the setting is.......well outer space. Obviously putting the leprechaun in outer space puts this series into a quite different perspective. While mixing it up a little, it really did nothing for the quality of the movie as it is as bad as I expected. No, I would say even worse.

Maybe the director, Brian Trenchard-Smith should have thought about his budget when making a film set in outer space. Sure this is going to be a "direct to video" movie but with a $1.6 million budget, why try to make a film like this? The problems are that the plot has too many story lines, space shots that appear to be taken off a mid-90's computer and aliens that look like they were scraped together in five minutes. The space set has so many errors that it is hard for me to describe in one sentence so I won't try. Some of the Spaceship sets are ok and that is probably where all the money went here.

Though they are obviously two very different films, Leprechaun 4: In Space does borrow, or you might say rips-off the Alien movie. It uses the same aspects and qualities of the Bill Paxton and Sigourney Weaver characters in Alien though we never really learn anything about these Leprechaun characters. The acting has a "trying too hard" quality and we really don't care about at all about these characters and don't take them seriously. There is a doctor that appears to serve no purpose and a princess who just gives us an unnecessary nude scene.

The Leprechaun played by Warwick Davis has more powers to him in this movie though that is never explained. The villain does fit here but the movie is quite uneven and has an ending that I think showed that the director frankly didn't know what to do with it.

The Leprechaun series of movies really do not fit together at all and this film really proves it. Obviously, it make no sense why the Leprechaun is in space and then back to earth in the later films. There is no timetable in place either and this is a series that still doesn't know what it is. It all leaves me kind of speechless.

I have reviewed close to 500 films in my career. Nothing really could have prepared me for this film or possibly helped me like it as it brings the Leprechaun movies to a new version of "terrible". Leprechaun 4: In Space is some of worst film making I have ever seen which makes it one of the hardest films I have ever reviewed. It is hard to take seriously. Avoid this at all costs.

0.5/5