Two Questions Inspired By Ghostbusters
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at 6:00PM I'm off to a Ghostbusters (2016) screening and these questions and a desire to hear your answers suddenly struck me:
1. Which male heavy movie would you most love to see rethunk with a female heavy cast?
2. If you had a vote for Best Original Song in 1984 which of the hit single nominees would you have gone for? (They were all huge hits)
"Against All Odds" (Against All Odds)
"Footloose" (Footloose)
"Ghostbusters" (Ghostbusters)
"I Just Called To Say I Love You" (The Woman in Red)
"Let's Hear It For the Boy" (Footloose)
...or would you have chucked out the nominees altogether to have "I Can Dream About You" (Streets of Fire) "The Heat is On" (Beverly Hills Cop) "Love Came For Me" (Splash), "Together Again" (The Muppets Take Manhattan), "Almost Paradise" (Footloose), "The Never Ending Story" (The Never Ending Story), "Together in Electric Dreams" (Electric Dreams), or maybe five songs from Purple Rain (even though it won an Oscar for Song Score - more Oscars for Prince!!!
Reader Comments (29)
1. I know they tried with "Now and Then", but I think "Stand By Me" with young girls could be really good. But they might have to be even younger than the leads in the original, as 12-year-old girls are psychologically in such a different stage than 12-year-old boys, y'know?
2. If we're counting "Purple Rain", then I am here for "The Beautiful Ones" all damn day.
Of the five, I vote "Against All Odds".
Both "Against All Odds" and "The Beautiful Ones" were amazingly covered by Mariah Carey on her first two post-Tommy Motolla albums ("Butterfly" and "Rainbow", respectively).
I want to give "Streets of Fire" a nod just on principle, but as soon as you said "Purple Rain" that kind of shut out the other options for me.
No one will care but me, but not respectively!! "The Beautiful Ones" is on Butterfly (1997) and "Against All Odds" is on Rainbow (1999). Mariah didn't know that Prince wasn't a fan of people covering his songs, and when she asked if he heard the album, he only said, "I liked 'Honey'."
Streets of Fire is one of the most delectable pieces of trash out there. Saw it for an episode of the podcast "How Did it Get Made" with Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas. All should listen to the podcast. Hilarious take to a crazy movie.
@ jakey
He liked the covers if they were a) good and/or b) chart-topping hit$ (see "I Feel for You" and "Nothing Compares 2 U").
1. There Will Be Blood.
2. The nominees should have been "Let's Go Crazy," "Take Me With U," "When Doves Cry," "Purple Rain" and the winner, "The Beautiful Ones."
What about a female-centric "My Favorite Year"? Set it in a different nostalgic era (maybe a Lucille Ball type in the late 70s), keep it light and zany but allow for a different take on aging in the entertainment industry.
There aren't enough good parts for women in movies about Wall Street (I know that Anna Gunn movie is coming out, but it looks kind of formulaic to me), so how about Trading Places? A gender-swapped, updated version of that film could be great material for someone like Paul Feig (or Adam McKay, if he cares about women).
Of those nominees, I would choose Against All Odds, but I love Let's Go Crazy, so in a perfect world I would give the Oscar to that.
Of the five, I'd go with Against All Odds, easy, but when you factor in Purple Rain.... it just HAS to go to Prince. Just don't ask me to choose one of those genius songs (although, gun to my head, I'd probably go with When Doves Cry).
"Streets of Fire" is a crazy cool movie with a great soundtrack.
The Untouchables would be amazing with an all-woman twist. Anachronistic perhaps if kept to its original time period, but easy enough to make modern. I vote for a cast headed by Sigourney Weaver as Erin Ness and Marisa Tomei as Alessandra Capone.
I'd love to see 12 Angry Women.
"Against All Odds" would still be my choice despite Ann Reinking's awful rendition at the Oscars.
So u were ineligible for Original Song if you were nodded in Original Song Score? I mean, if not, then WTF Oscars? No offense to Stevie and everyone else in the field, but it's like "Purple Rain" and all those others. Cool there were so many hit songs in thy running. How long exactly did the Original Song Score category last?
A female version of "Twins" could be hilarious!
You could swap gender roles of the principal cast of The Fisher King without diluting its story.
My first choice would probably to swap genders in "Interview with the Vampire"...
Of the nominees, I'd have gone with "Ghostbusters" or "Let's Hear It for the Boy". I can only assume the song score/original song categories had something that made them unable to be nominated together because both Purple Rain and Muppets Take Manhattan missed.
Realistically, there are few movies I watch where I don't think they should swap some male characters for some female characters. But if I have to pick one, I'd love to see an gender flipped Weird Science!
Against All Odds is the better song, but for me the award should be a for a song that elevates the film, one that's entwined with it. Which is why I'd give the win to Footloose.
Against All Odds or Let's Hear It for the Boy. So much love for those two.
Reservoir Dogs
I'd replace "I Just Called to Say I Love You," (I honestly can't stand that song), "Let's Hear it For the Boy," and (although it really is a great song) "Against All Odds" with "Almost Paradise," "Neverending Story," and "Together in Electric Dreams"...sorry, Prince! As great as "Purple Rain" and "When Doves Cry" are, I love my alternative nominees more...
Big Bottom from This Is Spinal Tap
1) L.A. Confidential with a female cast
"Almost Paradise" should have won, even though not nominated. And a close win over "When Doves Cry", also not nominated. What gave that year?
My nominees i think woulda been hogged entirely by Footloose & Purple Rain
FOOTLOOSE
ALMOST PARADISE
WHEN DOVES CRY
PURPLE RAIN *winner*
LET'S GO CRAZY
i haven't seen purple rain in so long though that i might change that depending on how the songs are used in the film -- i'm not crazy about best song category being all end credits song. I prefer 'in the narrative' songs.
This 1984 lineup for Best Original Song was the first time (and as far as I know the last) in which all the songs were No. 1 pop hits. The Fixx also had a badass tune from Streets of Fire--Deeper and Deeper. I do love The Never Ending Story. Sigh.
From these nominees, I think Against All Odds should have won. Ironically, Phil Collins won the Best Male Pop Vocal Grammy over Stevie Wonder that same year.
The Dirty Dozen
Sorry I sent too soon. The Wild Bunch, and on the opposite end of the spectrum The Boys in the Band.
Big yes to The Boys in the Band, as long it's a period piece set in the late '60s.
1) The Godmother
Now that would be something great.
Also something like RED with a main female cast, including Dame Helen again.
2) I'd go with Ghostbusters too, because that would be a quite original and un-Oscar-y choice. But I like the actual winner a lot.