Quick Review: Ghostbusters

I have to say I was a bit concerned with the social media and other commentary regarding Ghostbusters, the latest franchise reboot, being a bad idea because the Ghostbusters are now women. After all these years Hollywood is still unfair to women, whether it's the type of roles and scripts they're offered or their pay compared to male actors. So I made sure I saw it during opening weekend, and the box office report says it earned $46 million.

And it deserves it, because despite a bit of a slow start to set things up, it's quite funny. The new 'busters (Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones) work well together, and Chris Hemsworth gets to ham it up as their receptionist, hired despite being dumb as a post but pretty to look at. The plot involves a scheme to open a portal to release malevolent spirits and bring on the apocalypse. There's a post-credits scene to set up a sequel, and though I tend to frown on them I want one in this case. If nothing else, it may help shut up the sexist Twitter trolls...no, they're like the cockroaches that will survive nuclear holocaust. My grade: B-plus.

P.S. Classic title song >>>>> New theme song.

Quick Review: Thor

This is not a comic book I read, nor am I going to begin now. (For one thing, it's a Marvel character and you've probably figured out by now that I'm way more of a DC person.) But "Thor" was a lot more entertaining than I expected based on the trailer. The plot sort of made enough sense despite its sci-fi leanings. After nearly starting a war, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), god of thunder, is exiled from Asgard by his father (Anthony Hopkins) until he proves himself worthy again. The hammer that gives Thor his power is also sent to Earth, but separately, and with a spell that keeps it from being wielded by anyone unless they're worthy. (So of course Thor needs to redeem himself so he can lift that hammer.) Meanwhile, Thor's brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) learns something interesting about his heritage and, as you'd expect from the god of mischief, gets to plotting. Back on Earth, a budding romance develops between Thor and a scientist (Natalie Portman) but it isn't all that interesting, and it doesn't actually take up much of the movie's time. It's reasonably well-acted, and moves along at a decent pace. My grade: B.