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Twins (1988)
Twins (1988)
1988 | Comedy
6
6.2 (11 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Arnie usually doesn't do good comedies but teamed with a great co-star and double act in the form of DeVito it works very well even though seemingly an odd casting choice.
This is a very underrated late 80s movie that is simple clean fun but with a slight edge and masterfully directed by Ivan Reitman, shouldn't work but does and rightly so.
  
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David McK (3169 KP) rated Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) in Movies

Nov 28, 2021 (Updated Mar 30, 2024)  
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
2021 | Action, Sci-Fi
Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters 2 was released in 1989.

Ghostbusters: The video game in 2009.

At that stage, it was - unofficially - touted as Ghostbusters 3.

The (atrocious) remake was in 2006.

This was released in 2021 - so over 30 years since Ghostbusters 2 - and is now the 'official' third entry in the franchise.

Having said that, there is absolutely no mention of Ghostbusters 2 during it, so you could easily skip that if you wanted a rewatch before going to see this.

This follows a new family, who find they have ties to a Ghostbuster of yore, when they are evicted from their tenement and inherit a farmhouse out in the rural countryside: a farmhouse that has secrets of its own, as does the surrounding neighbourhood.

It's also no secret that this relies heavily on nostalgia for the original and that family is at the core of the movie, written - as it is - by the son of the late Ivan Reitman (Jason Reitman) - and paying an elegiac tribute to the late Harold Ramis (1 of the original 4 Ghostbusters - Egon Spengler - , who passed in 2014.

Oh, and the post (not mid) -credits scene? Goes some way to making up for how Ernie Hudson was treated in the original, when he saw his scenes drastically cut from what was intended.
  
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
2021 | Action, Sci-Fi
The True Successor to the Original Film
I am a huge fan of the original, 1984 Bill Murray/Dan Ackroyd/Harold Ramis GHOSTBUSTERS - so much a fan, in fact, that I devoted an entire hour of my podcast, the BANKOFMARQUIS MOVIES PODCAST (which can be found in your favorite Podcast app) last Halloween to this film (Episode #23 to be precise). I found that the next 2 follow-up films - GHOSTBUSTERS 2 and the all-female GHOSTBUSTERS from a few years ago - did not even come close to recapturing the magic of that first film.

GHOSTBUSTERS:AFTERLIFE does and is, in my opinion, the true successor to this all-time great film. This is because Afterlife is nothing more than what it pretends to be - a 2 hour homage to the first film and, most importantly, a wonderful tribute and send off to the late Harold Ramis while creating a whole new “Ghostbusters” Universe and characters along the way.

The plot is fairly simple, the daughter and 2 grandchildren of Original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler (Ramis) arrive at his remote farm after his passing, They start discovering old Ghostbusters equipment (including the Ecto-1) and strange Supernatural events begin to occur.

So…who ya’ gonna call?

This film is lovingly created and produced by Writer/Director Jason Reitman (son of original Ghostbuster Director Ivan Reitman) and it succeeds not because it reveres the first film, but because it loves and respects it and leans into whenever it needs to while also becoming its’ own animal.

Nothing shows this more than the performances in this film. Previous attempts at revising this series tried to hard to regenerate the unique chemistry of the original Ghostbusters. This film realizes that was a mistake and lets these characters do their own things in their own way.

Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon are very good - if somewhat restrained - as the “adults” in this film, but it is the kids - that shine. Finn Wolfhard (STRANGER THINGS, IT) is rock solid as Trevor - one of Spengler’s Grandkids while Logan Kim as “Podcast” one of their friends is also fun and interesting.

But, it is the performance of McKenna Grace (THE HANDMAID’S TALE) as Phoebe, the Granddaughter most like the Grandfather, that really catches your attention and holds this film together in a way that is remarkable for one so young. She really is the secret weapon in this film.

And, of course, there are some fun cameos - cameos that would be spoilery if mentioned, but you can probably guess.

Reitman keeps the action moving along at a fine clip - though the first hour does drag out a bit - and the CGI is much improved since 1984, so that helps things out here as well.

More than a nostalgia play, GHOSTBUSTERS:AFTERLIFE is a fun romp that will be enjoyed by those who know (and love) the original as well as those who are coming to it for the first time.

Oh…and make sure you stay for the 2 End Credits scene - one comes about 2 minutes in and the other is right at the end, they are both worth staying for.

Letter Grade: A-

8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)