The Film Experience™ was created by Nathaniel R. All material herein is written by our team. (This site is not for profit but for an expression of love for cinema & adjacent artforms.)
Murtada here. It’s been a full 3 days since Ghostbusters has been released. The reviews, including Nathaniel’s, are respectable but not euphoric. Same with the the box office. It could’ve been much worse. The Ghostbros still won’t shut up, so let’s rank how their so called childhood heroes, did this time around.
Ghostbusters tried to blend nostalgia with a new story and characters, the same way that Star Wars did successfully last year with The Force Awakens. While I liked the movie and thought it was the best blockbuster released this lackluster summer season, I would say that its nostalgia blend was not successful. All of the original cast - except for Rick Moranis and Harold Ramis - came back for at least one scene each. But most of the cameos were extraneous to the plot and could’ve easily been cut. The actors’ commitment also left a lot to be desired.
Hit Me With Your Best Shot Working Girl (1988) Director: Mike Nichols Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus
I wasn't fair to Working Girl in 1988. When it won the reader poll easily for coverage here on Best Shot, the old grudge flared up again. 'Why do people love this movie so much?' I thought. You see the Oscar race is often distorting. In 1988 Working Girl was a last minute disrupter with its Christmas bow, and I never forgave it for costing Bull Durham, Running on Empty, or Who Framed Roger Rabbit major nominations and prizes. There's no proof of course that it did -- but I believed it wholeheartedly.
But watching the film again, away from that distorting horse race, I could enjoy it fully without name-checking those films I held more dear. There's so much to enjoy all told. "It plays," as they say. It plays beautifully. Now don't get me wrong. I still wouldn't have nominated it for six Oscars. Six! But let's not return to the grudge and let's enjoy this mainstream bullseye and the cinematography by Michael Ballhaus, one of the cinema's greatest DPs. He's 80 now and still doesn't have an Oscar. He should be near the very top of Oscar's list for an Honorary.
See Nathaniel's 3 favorite shots and other Best Shot choices 'round the web after the jump...
This review was originally published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad
One of the best things about breakout supporting characters is that the fandom surrounding them comes honestly. Scene-stealers aren't handed their movies, but earn them. So it went with Dory, Ellen DeGeneres's forgetful blue tang who swam circles around every other character in Finding Nemo (2003), figuratively speaking, though she did sometimes swim in actual circles since she couldn't remember where she was going.
Thirteen years later, though Finding Dory takes place just after Finding Nemo ends, we're swimming in circles again with Dory, via a suspiciously similar movie. Let us count the ways...
Laurence here. Have you checked the children? Landing somewhat quietly in a week of splashy comic book trailerswas something that looks, frankly, altogether more interesting than both. J.A. Bayona, director of The Orphanage and The Impossible, seems to have found the narrative intersection between both for his new film, A Monster Calls. We only have a teaser trailer so far so we won't give it the full YNMS treatment just yet, but it's an enticing, Burtonesque first glimpse.
Some more information on the film after the jump...
With the new riff on the ol' Ghostbusters property nearly upon us, what better time to look back at the original comedy smash? While the film's comic tone and dialogue are well remembered its visuals are less often discussed. The film was shot by the Hungarian cinematographer László Kovács. He logged a lot of quality time in the romantic comedy genre (What's Up Doc?, My Best Friend's Wedding, Say Anything...) but made his name in the 70s on scrappy, famous and/or ambitious pictures like Five Easy Pieces, Shampoo, New York New York, and Paper Moon.
Without further ado, let's see what the Hit Me With Your Best Shot club thought of the look of this picture and what slimy memories this revisit stirred up...
GHOSTBUSTERS Directed by Ivan Reitman. Cinematography by László Kovács. Starring: (in order of billing) Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, William Atherton & Ernie Hudson. Click on the 12 images to read the 15 corresponding articles
The look on their faces tho... -Daniel Laferriere*first time participant*
Grown white men have their fun while the rest of the world cleans up their mess... - Bennett Prosser*first time participant*
A good old fashioned 80s Improvement Montage, complete with a song that is either brilliantly awful or secretly genius... -Scopophiliac at the Cinema*first time participant*
It arguably has endured as a beloved classic precisely because the people in it are so full-heartedly human. -Nebel Without a Cause
I'm well aware that this is nobody's idea of a scary movie... - Antagony & Ecstasy
it’s fun to see things pop in and out of frames, especially when the frames are static. It’s almost like seeing a painting being disturbed... -Coco Hits NY
It’s useless to try to deny my love for her and it’s inescapable that my best shot features her... -Magnificent Obsession
Bill Murray's chemistry with everyone... and I mean everyone in the movie. -Movie Motorbreath
The images of Sigourney keep getting richer and sexier as the insanity mounts -The Film Experience
We Need to Talk About Dana Barrett’s Apartment. -FilmMixTape
Recreating the Exorcist as a screwball comedy date... -Bohemian Cinema Salon*first time participant*
The movie doesn't really get interesting, narratively and visually, until midway when Weaver's character gets possessed by the spirit of Zuul. -Sorta That Guy
Most of my favorite shots are when the movie embraces its crazy and over the top nature. -Wick's Picks*first time Best Shot participant!*
Ghostbusters is a perfect '80s blockbuster version of the classic 50s monster B-movies... -Dancin Dan on Film
NEXT WEEK: Joe Wright's adaptation of Ian McEwan's Atonement (2007) with James McAvoy, Keira Knightley & little Oscar nominated Saoirse Ronan. [Keira Knightley Voice] "Come back to me it."
Monday, July 18, 2016 at 1:15PM 
