‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ Ain’t Afraid Of No Jokes (Movie Review)
After several delays due to COVID, Sony Pictures is finally releasing director Jason Reitman’s direct follow-up to the Ghostbusters movies from the Reagan era, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. OG ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd had supposedly tried to resurrect the beloved series for decades but could never get a script into an acceptable state for the other cast members, most notably Bill Murray. In 2016, director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) released an all-female remake to theaters. The film was a box office disappointment made worse by fanboys who can be less than gracious towards women trying to play with their toys. For the record, I enjoyed the Kristen Wiig/Melissa McCarthy-led feature as much as the 1984 original. So here we are in 2021 with Ivan Reitman’s Oscar-nominated son, Jason Reitman, attempting to deliver more magic than jokes in a franchise that has had a tough time being relevant in the 21st century. Is this another nostalgia-focused attempt? More of what certain middle-aged dudes have been clamoring for? Not at first, and then, sure.
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Spencer stars Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana Frances Spencer. Yes, THAT Diana. Fans of Netflix’s award-winning series, The Crown, will no doubt remember Lady Di having a blast at Buckingham Palace, jamming with her Walkman on roller skates. Pablo Larrain’s indirect follow-up to Jackie, another film about an extremely privileged white woman from another era, is about as far from the good times of that roller skating scene as one can get. More a gothic descent into madness than the fairy tale of the royal family, think Black Sawn, and you’re in the right ballpark. No amount of KFC buckets can hide Diana’s psychological torment on a three-day Christmas getaway at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, in 1991. As a horror fan, a lot of this is right in my wheelhouse. I wonder, though, how such a claustrophobic tale saddled with intentionally unflattering photography will play for anyone expecting a tasteful costume drama. 
Wes Anderson’s tenth studio feature, The French Dispatch, opens wide this weekend. Several regulars, such as Bill Murray, and newcomers like Jeffrey Wright fill the screen cover to cover in an unofficial sendup of The New Yorker. The news that Anderson grew up reading the Big Apple staple should shock no one. What might surprise, however, is how the film uses the layout of a magazine to tell multiple stories anthologically. Officially titled, The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun, this is a Wes Anderson film through and through. For better and well, honestly, there is no worse to be had. It’s a delight. 
Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho opens this weekend just in time to deliver October scares in swinging sixties London, baby (I had to make with an Austin Powers reference, right?). The film stars Jojo Rabbit’s Thomasin McKenzie and Anya-Taylor Joy as two British women who share a link from the present to the past – as well as stunning period-era outfits, fancy cocktails, and a big butcher knife. Infused with wall-to-wall décor that amps up the color grading to eleven alongside punchy editing, there’s no doubt Soho is crafted by the same bloke whose previous work included Baby Driver and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Still, this is first and foremost a horror tale, a first for the director. His debut, Shaun of the Dead, may have included zombies but more laughs than scares. Are you ready for excellent mod-era tunes, dancing, and blood?
So the curtain may be closed for this year’s Los Angeles based 
Dune, the much-anticipated epic, based on Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi novel, opens this weekend on the biggest (and smallest) screens in North America. As director Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) has stated in interviews, anyone eager to drink in the vast desert vistas of the planet Arrakis, IMAX is the intended viewing experience. For those less inclined to venture out to theaters just yet, one hopes they at least have a big 4K TV to stream such a ginormous film on HBO Max. The all-star cast includes Timothy Chalamet, Oscar Issac, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, and even Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, just to name a few. If you’re thinking, “HBO? Why isn’t this a series in the vein of Game of Thrones instead of a movie?” Well, for starters, I’d wager signing on the aforementioned cast of A-listers for several seasons of a series would not have been possible. But the real reason? This is big screen entertainment the likes of which Hollywood hasn’t attempted since arguably, Warner Bros’ own The Lord of the Rings trilogy two decades ago. Yes, I love the MCU like everyone else on planet Caladan… I mean Earth, but those movies aren’t even close to the scale of this project. Breathtaking set pieces, political intrigue, and the biggest space worms ever await on Arrakis, Dune, the desert planet… 
Halloween Kills, the 12th entry in a series that began in 1978, is finally opening in theaters and on Peacock after a now de-facto COVID-19 delay. Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode for this second entry of a new trilogy from Blumhouse and Universal Pictures. The final installment, Halloween Ends, is set for release in October 2022. Following 2018’s aptly titled Halloween, David Gordon Green returns for his second at-bat as director. The iconic slasher series had been dormant for nearly a decade before Green and co-writer Danny McBride took a stab with a fresh take that raked in an impressive $255 million worldwide. A sequel was inevitable. However, the question of whether a planned trilogy could fare better than the “let’s just make another” motto that many slasher movies often fall victim to was up for grabs. The premise for the middle installment is a big swing. With that said, it’s time once again to return to Haddonfield…
No Time To Die, the 25th film in the long-running James Bond series, finally hits theaters this weekend. Nearly two years after its initially scheduled release, Daniel Craig’s final outing as Her Majesty’s favorite “blunt instrument” features the longest run time yet, at 163 min. Other fun tidbits? Six years is the biggest gap ever between films, with Spectre released way back in 2015. As such, ex-president Donald Trump is the only Commander-in-Chief to not have a Bond film released during his term. Finally, pop phenom Billie Eilish is the youngest artist to record a James Bond theme song. That song is also the only one in Grammy history to be awarded before the movie was released. Okay, okay, but how is the actual film???
This year’s recipient of the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes International Film Festival, Titane, is filmmaker Julia Ducournau’s follow-up to her 2016 feature debut, Raw. That film focused on a vegan who becomes a predatory cannibal after her first experience with meat. Turns out Raw was merely a (excuse the pun) tasty appetizer to the kind of dread, violence and, ultimately, heart delivered by this year’s award winner. Clearly, such a film was never going be for “the masses” but what exactly is Titane anyways?
Exactly three years after the original film made a whopping $856 million at the global box office, Spider-Man’s gooey nemesis returns to the big screen. Venom: Let There Be Carnage opens after numerous delays and finally, a confidant “let’s open this early!” from Sony. The original was dismissed by critics, but what the heck do they (or yours truly) know about appreciating Marvel’s take on body horror. I, for one, did appreciate Tom Hardy’s double duty as lunkhead human Eddie Brock and as the voice of the funny symbiote from another world, Venom. Is more of what worked in the first installment enough to sustain an 82 min follow-up? Read on…
Universal’s big-screen adaption of the Broadway musical, Dear Evan Hansen opened at this year’s Toronto International Film Fest earlier this month. The reception was mixed, to say the least. Then again, the studio’s last foray into song and dance was 2019’s disappointing Cats, so “mixed” is definitely a step up, right? The story concerns a teen who struggles with depression and anxiety (Ya know, THAT kind of musical). However, Ben Platt, who originated the role when it debuted off-Broadway in 2016, is now twenty-seven. Social media has tossed a fair amount of shade at the actor for being too old for the role in 2021. Sometimes advance buzz is exciting, other times less so. As someone who still watches CW teen shows starring actors in their twenties (and thirties!) Platt’s age is hardly a reason to toss out such an affecting albeit flawed production. As the performers take their places, let’s dive in…
This weekend, Searchlight Pictures’ dramatic adaptation of the similarly titled documentary from 2000, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, opens exclusively in theaters. The doc was narrated by RuPaul, while this film, at the very least, features a single lip sync for your life moment. It also sports a strong cast that includes Jessica Chastain as Tammy, Andrew Garfield as her husband Jim Bakker, and Vincent D’Onofrio in a smaller role as the larger-than-life Jerry Falwell. In their heyday, these three individuals were massively successful televangelists. Will that be enough to satisfy Tammy’s fans, especially in the LGBTQ community? Like 2017’s I, Tonya, director Michael Showalter is aiming for an empathetic look at Tammy Faye Bakker, a woman who might very well have been the lone advocate for the gay community during the AIDS crisis among the ultra right-winged Christians.
What’s weirder: a studio horror film that’s not screened for critics or one that’s screened mere hours before release? James Wan’s Malignant is a little of both as some members of the press didn’t get invites while others did, but the screening was, as already mentioned, only hours before the film opened at your local theater and via your TV on HBO Max. Coming off its first weekend, the film has a healthy 74% at RottenTomatoes. Audiences weren’t as kind, though, with Cinemascore being a paltry C. As yours truly hit play at midnight last Friday on HBO Max, I didn’t know what I was going to experience. Would it be a trainwreck from arguably the past decade’s biggest name in horror? Or a masterpiece that would change the scare-fest landscape? At the very least, I’d get to see Anabelle’s own Annabelle Wallis donning a ridiculous raven wig, so that’s something to behold. 111 minutes later…
Ever since the trailer for Candyman dropped last year with the slowed-down version of Destiny’s Child’s 90s hit “Say My Name” used to underscore his return, I’ve been eager to see this new take. Jordan Peele was producing (and co-wrote the script!,) and hot new director Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) had just been announced to be helming Marvel’s The Marvels. If Kevin Feige and Peele had faith in this new talent, how could I not be excited to return to my hometown of Chicago’s Cabrini Green for an update to the iconic 90s slasher flick? Alas, COVID happened, so Universal had to shelve the pic until 2021. It was definitely a smart move on the studio’s part to wait to release the film in theaters. Seeing dumb teens and adults with questionable judgment say his name fives times in the mirror is better with an audience. But, is the essence of his hookedness return worthy of buzz like his loyal bees? You have gotta say his name to find out…
