Meet The All-Female Ghostbusters Team

[terror55]

OOH! I wonder who will be playing the fat loudmouthed one?

 

[o_d]

I'm more excited for this than if it were an all-male reboot, or - heaven-forbid - a threequal involving the remaining original cast.

 

[Gdek]

I can't wait to see the reviews of this train wreck, should be a lot of fun.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Holy lookie at all these tiring, moany (yes, i refuse to be more literate today!) comments. Im not gonna lie...i read the first page and just zipped to the end, as my eyes were starting to badly glazing over with despair.

So this film. Hmm i had a positive opinion to write but now all i can think is comments! Negativity in waves of comments about race/gender/change, in 2015? On the escapist?? Ooooohh it is a bad day to not have my medication.

*Obligatory giff appreciation to someone i cannot quote now, or remember their username. Im sure it was Chris Evans running into a shop window though. Made a laugh happen. Thankyou.*

 

[Therumancer]

As I recall, the original Ghostbusters were more about being New Yorkers than being men. If the new cast can keep that up, rather than focusing on women's problems, then it might be something I'd watch. Otherwise, maybe I'm not the target demographic, and I'm fine with that. Women need more role models, and maybe some of them will be Ghostbusters now.

EDIT: Oh no. Fuck no. There's going to be a scene where they're looking at the old uniforms, and maybe the fat one will try one on, but they're going to be like "Nope, they're ugly", and go on a shopping montage. Argh it's going to happen, and it will cause so much rage.

Well, that's not true actually. I think the gender and the location were secondary. At the end of the day the thing that drove The Ghostbusters is that they were all underappreciated scientists who were not taken seriously, trying to make a business out of something that nobody else took seriously if they had even heard of it. Every one of these guys was supposed to have a degree, and they were all professionals. Even Venkman who was the closest thing to a team goof was at the end of the day a doctor (as in he had a legitimate doctorate in parapsychology) and wanted the business to succeed. The whole story arc of "Ghostbusters" was that they started out broke and hated, and really had to dig to find any work, their first serious client even tried to screw them on payment (which they dealt with by threatening to led the ghost go again). The whole second act is about their success, and how they have to rally to become heroes of a sort when things suddenly get really serious, their success being due to a rising evil that only they can barely confront. It's a sort of "rags to riches and beyond" story. One of the big problems with "Ghostbusters 2" was that it pretty much just retreaded the same story as the first one, inventing a reason for them to be mocked again, and then having them get their groove back, right in time to save the world from yet another major evil in the 11th hour.

The guys who created "Ghostbusters" and understand we're actually dealing with some major comedic geniuses here, almost all of whom have had massively successful careers writing and performing (the success can't be argued with even for people that don't like these particular guys). One of the reasons I've been reluctant on any revival of this is because if Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Raimis, and Rick Moranis can't come up with decent ideas for it, I doubt this team is going to do anything better, especially if it's true that a shopping montage making fun of the previous movies is to be taken seriously. None of these ladies is that talented to begin with, and I'm not even sure with that crew who is supposed to be writing this. That said I get the basic idea you have the pudgy girl to be Ray, the smart wallflower girl to be Egon, the pretty girl to be Peter, and the black girl to be Winston by way of analogy and have them do a similar schtick. However having someone act like a female version of Bill Murray to be "hilarious" is more sad, I'd rather them just get Bill Murray and do some thing where they bring the REAL Ghostbusters out of retirement. Indeed I'd argue they could actually recycle the old story a third time and have it work by simply playing up the age of the characters. Indeed that is the movie I'd probably try and make. I'd have most of them retired, successfully as opposed to sadly, having made tons of money, but having run out of Ghosts to bust (going with the theme that the Supernatural tends to come out in force when some major evil is rising). When the ghosts start coming back they need to rebuild the team to confront the threat knowing from experience that something big has to be coming.... but this is a major digression.

At the end of the day part of the "fun" of Ghostbusters is that as absurd as it is the characters are consummate professionals (except for maybe Venkman who tends to be sarcastic and piss people off). The Ghostbusters go for functional not "pretty uniforms" which basically means that this movie is doomed to failure if that's accurate as it's an attempt to make things not only girly, but faux-girly, in an almost humerous direction implying that in the movie the girls aren't being taken seriously in these roles and stepping into the initial shoes. For the Ghostbusters, the uniforms were part of the charm, they were basically wearing exterminator outfits, replacing the stereotypical back tanks of bug gas and stuff with proton packs... which was amusing because that's what they were... a pest control service for ghosts... that's why you can't mess with this, it was actually pretty well thought out which is why it came together. By playing it straight it made it possible to suspend disbelief (well partially, in context) in a way that few things this absurd have even been able to achieve.

At any rate, the big test here if they want a girl ghostbuster team would be to ask... could any of these ladies convince you they would logically have at least one Doctorate, never mind possibly multiples (Engineering and such as well as Parapsycology, remember The Ghostbusters made all their own stuff). They could make a joke out of how unlikely seeming it is, but that's not really Ghostbusters... all of the characters, including Bill Murray, were portrayed in a way you could see them as intellectuals. The exception being Winston who was largely brought in as muscle at the end.

 

[Therumancer]

I'm more excited for this than if it were an all-male reboot, or - heaven-forbid - a threequal involving the remaining original cast.

Well as I said in my rambling, I might be able to stomach a threequel but I'm guessing a big part of why nobody has actually done one was that the people involved can't think of a way they could make a good product out of it. With "2" they retreaded the same basic arc of the first movie with mixed results.

See, the thing is that with Harold Raimis, Bill Murray, and Dan Ackroyd all involved in this they had some great comedic writers and actors all of whom had successful careers even when this was going on. The ladies they are selecting don't have the same chops, and honestly I can't see them having written anything great, and I notice they aren't exactly trotting out some big name writer with a pedigree to try and convince us they could out do the original team. I mean heck the other movies even had Rick Moranis and he's another guy who has had a pretty bloody successful comedy career. These guys also played their roles straight, it was all about the situations they set up in the movie, as opposed to them doing stand up routines, which is an important distinction since a lot of "funny guys" are not that versatile.

Opinions vary of course and I don't begrudge you yours.

Personally if I was going to try and do another Ghostbusters as I said I'd probably have the original team happily retired with decent amounts of money, the supernatural situation on earth being well under control, and there just not being any ghosts left to bust seemingly. The team having caught most of the ones that were known, and there being no great evils to cause a spike in the activity. Of course when there IS a spike in the activity they would have to rebuild the team as old geezers knowing it means some big evil is coming. Done correctly they might even make a mystery out of what the evil is (as opposed to making it obvious from the beginning) until the final act. Given that these guys are more academics than action heroes conceptually anyway them being old doesn't make that much of a difference. What's more the passage of time can account for Egon's death (due to the actor dying), and one big thing might be Ray needing to step into his shoes, Ray being the other "big brain" who worked with Egon but wasn't quite as smart, of course he could be shown as having come into his own, and perhaps needing to prove he's just as good to himself. The only one of the team who was a meathead (so to speak) was Winston who was a mercenary picked up as muscle (pretty much) even Venkman was a Doctor.

To me this reboot just from what little I see, seems to miss the point. What's more if they want to tell a whole new story, using all new characters, why even call it "Ghostbusters" why not simply create a similar movie for this ladies with a different title and franchise. It might even go over better by not directly inviting direct comparisons. That's my problem with a lot of "reboots" and "re-imaginings" they always strike me as being inherently stupid, coming from people that don't have the confidence in their own product or performance to really do their own thing and try and piggyback off of someone else's past success.

It will probably not happen, but if this DOES get made, the first thing I'm going to be looking for is what Bill Murray and Dan Ackroyd think of this interpretation of one of their most famous, if not most financially successful (though it might be) products. I could be wrong, but I've always been under the impression part of what made Ghostbusters was that these guys wrote it as well as acting in it, and being who they were, it turned out great as a result.

 

[Souther Thorn]

SO....more 'Ballbusters' than 'Ghostbusters'....amirite?

 

[Souther Thorn]

Nice try, but your strive for women's equality changes nothing about the fact that this is just another 80's nostalgia plunder. Make another movie with an all-female team, but for fuck's sake, leave Ghostbusters alone. The Ghostbusters are Egon Spengler, Ray Stanz, and Peter Venkman (Winston Zeddemore was just a joke character), or more specifically, they were Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray.

And maybe this is me just not being very intune with American female comedians, but the bulk of their material generally consists of 'Look how out of control we are, eventhough we're women, WOOOAH!' I'm fucking looking at you McCarthy, you're 'obnoxious fat person' routine is old and stale. Replace McCarthy with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and throw in Catherine Keener, and maybe we'll talk... just maybe.

I beg your pardon, I object. Winston wasn't wonderfully developed on screen (and Ernie did what he could with what he was given and gave it a surprising amount of depth), but Winston earned a doctorate while working with the Ghostbusters, even wrote a couple of books if I remember right. I'd love to have him in a new one, as a kind of 'Neil Degrasse Tyson' of the paranormal, being the great weirdscience communicator and educator.

 

[wulf3n]

So who wants to start taking bets on who's playing who?

 

[Souther Thorn]

So who wants to start taking bets on who's playing who?

From the synopsis I've read posted at other movie sites, they won't directly relate at all to any of 'Our guys', it's two academics that fracture and go their own ways, hook up with others, and then have to get back together to beat the bad guys.
...and they want Dinklage for the bad guy.

 

[nightmare_gorilla]

Mckinnon i like, she's very funny at least to me, wiig i could take or leave, she's fine, been in some good stuff and some bad stuff as long as they don't hammer on and on about "omg i'm awkward" which is never funny, those two will be fine by me. Mcarthy i flat out do not like, not because she's fat but because her whole gimmick is "look i can be disgusting too just like a guy!!!!!" listen sugar tits be the best you you can be don't try to be the best guy a girl can be. leslie jones, the black one, eh, she's been on snl for like a month and she's not bad but she was hired more or less to tick a box and keep people form protesting no black chicks on snl. no matter how funny she actually is that's WHY they hired her and it's probably why she's in this.

I do so love watching these though, studios basically gaslight their whole audience by going "We made this character black/female/gay/trans I DARE you to complain about it!" then idiotic internet activists who think they're saving the world with a retweet yell at everyone for what bad people they are no matter what the response is and the movie gets millions of dollars worth of advertising for free. some chick on facebook shared some jezebel article about how this movie is "a punch in the dick to all mankind!!!!!!" and i'm just sitting here going, seriously guys? i could give a fuck have fun. same with that annie remake, I joked about how a rich dude saving an orphan with the super power of his fortune might not play the same way to today's audiences that think all rich people are guilty of....something.... and it took about 3 seconds for it to be decided "wow this guy's such a racist what's his problem." congratulations movie studio you've done it again, enjoy all the free advertising, unless i hear something about the movie itself that makes it sound good i'm pretty comfy staying home.

 

[wolfyrik]

I want to be on board with this. I want to be excited for a new Ghostbusters.

But I can't. I just....can't.

It's not the all-female cast that gets me. I'm absolutely for that. I love that idea, though I'm not entirely sold on this cast reveal. It's not even that it's a reboot. Some reboots work and are as good or better than the originals.

No. What gets me is that Paul Feig is writing and directing. The guy's the definition of hit-or-miss[footnote]With far more in the "miss" category.[/footnote]. And for me, even his hits are bad.

Now, had a better writer and/or director been involved like, say, Edgar Wright, I'd be incredibly hyped for this film. As it is?

I mostly agree but I don't know why it has to be a reboot. For the most part every reboot I've seen has been a moneygrabbing, soulless mess of ideas designed aimed at the lowest common denominators, manufactured soley for the purpose of exloiting the audiance, treating the general public as little more than mindless cash machines. Not to say that some sequals weren't also that, of course.

As for Edgar Wright, FUCK YES! He and/or Simon Pegg would actually have a chance at doing Ghostbusters some justice. They actually care about the films they make and the people they are making them for. And it shows.

 

[Mikeybb]

Always liked McCarthy.

The only thing I wish they'd change is making it a fresh reboot.
There could be some reference to a group of old con-men who ran a scam in NY way back when.
Maybe a cameo for an insane, hermit like Akroyd who's still claiming it was all real.
Perhaps even that cameo of a ghostly Murray...
He could be the new teams version of slimer.
"Finally, I get to do the sliming."

I guess I still have such fond memories of the originals that I'm grasping for ways they could tie the two together while still passing the torch.

 

[Poetic Nova]

Hollywood loves rebooting the crap out of every franshise, consider this one I guess.

True, that! And the creation of two priceless reboots (21 Jump Street and Evil Dead) does not a mediocre trend forgive.

While I had no emotional investment in the existence or non-existence of a female-led Ghostbusters, I was at least curious to see what they'd make of it. These casting decisions give me no reason to believe that the creators are looking to take any chances. I'll continue to keep an open mind until contracts are set in stone and they release some promo material, but I can't give enough fucks to raise even half an eyebrow after reading this news.

(It was SOOOO easy, you pea-brains: Emma. Fucking. Watson! Casting director needs to be fired already.)

Mhm, off-topic but your avi and username are familiar.

I agree with the crowd that the wrong people got cast.

 

[Vigormortis]

I mostly agree but I don't know why it has to be a reboot. For the most part every reboot I've seen has been a moneygrabbing, soulless mess of ideas designed aimed at the lowest common denominators, manufactured soley for the purpose of exloiting the audiance, treating the general public as little more than mindless cash machines. Not to say that some sequals weren't also that, of course.

I dunno. I can think of a few specific film or series reboots/remakes that were not only fantastic, but also better than the original in some cases.

Casino Royale
Rise/Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Dawn of the Dead
Dredd
Fright Night
Ocean's Eleven
Insomnia
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht


And quite a few more.

This is not to say I don't agree that most are simply shameless, heartless cash-grabs, but good ones do exist out there.

As for Edgar Wright, FUCK YES! He and/or Simon Pegg would actually have a chance at doing Ghostbusters some justice. They actually care about the films they make and the people they are making them for. And it shows.

Shame Pegg is busy with Trek 3 and Wright is busy with Grasshopper Jungle.

Otherwise, I'd think they'd be at the top of the list for script writers.

 

[wulf3n]

So who wants to start taking bets on who's playing who?

From the synopsis I've read posted at other movie sites, they won't directly relate at all to any of 'Our guys', it's two academics that fracture and go their own ways, hook up with others, and then have to get back together to beat the bad guys.
...and they want Dinklage for the bad guy.

I'm legitimately surprised.

 

[ace_of_something]

I like this idea better than those constant 'remakes' that just try to make the same movie. I hope it's really different keeping only the core idea/themes.