I could understand that if you’re coming at it as a younger person who’s not impressed with the franchise and/or feels that it hasn’t aged well. But, man-- that thing was a tonne of fun back in the day, even if it wasn’t some kind of cinematic classic.
I’d argue that it was also seriously innovative, coming up with a bunch of novel tech, storytelling and plot points for that genre of movie. Lots of good acting, memorable scenes, and a truly inventive comedy adventure made for plenty of substance IMO.
Sin City (2005)
I’ll agree with that one. They did a very good job literally recreating scenes from the GN, but there was a surprising flatness to the film that really brought down the interest level for me. 2D characters might work perfectly well for comics, but when you bring in real human actors, it’s kind of a step backwards to play them the same way, I think.
I mean, Dan Aykroyd was one of the writers, and he actually has a background in paranormal investigation, so even though the entire concept is lampooning paranormal investigators, like, for the time it was groundbreaking, it’s still entertaining.
I can’t understand why somebody would say there’s no substance to the movie.
Aykroyd being able to accurately lampoon his own interest isn’t substance.
What’s the movie saying about people, life & death, NYC politics even? What’s the message or meaning of the movie? That’s what substance is. Ghostbusters is great! Classic cinema, no question. But it absolutely has no meaningful statements, or questions about anything. It’s pure fun, for it’s own sake.
No it isn’t. It’s entirely subjective whether a movie has substance.
You’re arguing that other people who found substance in their viewing of a movie are wrong because for you it had no substance for you. What’s the point? What drives you to be validated here at the cost of invalidating others?
My larger point is that people often insist substance is good, style is bad. I disagree with endowing a value judgment on either. A movie with great substance can still be a terrible movie. Movies nothing going for them but style can be fantastic. And most try to balance the two, to wonderful or horrible effect.
I’m not saying people finding substance in a movie are wrong in their opinion. They’re wrong in their definitions. I chose my list specifically to spark discussion about what does it even mean to say a movie has substance. What is style?
Movies aren’t substantive because people like them. For the word “Substance” to be useful, it must mean something else.
One of the writers knowing the subject on which they’re writing isn’t substance. What is Aykroid saying about real paranormal investigations? That would be substance.
You can enjoy Ghostbusters without answering that question. I certainly do. I can’t count how many times I’ve enjoyed watching it. Our enjoyment isn’t trivialized or wrong if it’s not a substantive movie.
Ghostbusters are probably like Beetlejuice back in the day. I did watch Ghostbusters when I was young, but only this year watched Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice is weird movie with a simple premise that somehow got a traction with children. Same as Ghostbusters I guess. They both have this weird charm that grabs your attention while having “no message”
I could understand that if you’re coming at it as a younger person who’s not impressed with the franchise and/or feels that it hasn’t aged well. But, man-- that thing was a tonne of fun back in the day, even if it wasn’t some kind of cinematic classic.
I’d argue that it was also seriously innovative, coming up with a bunch of novel tech, storytelling and plot points for that genre of movie. Lots of good acting, memorable scenes, and a truly inventive comedy adventure made for plenty of substance IMO.
I’ll agree with that one. They did a very good job literally recreating scenes from the GN, but there was a surprising flatness to the film that really brought down the interest level for me. 2D characters might work perfectly well for comics, but when you bring in real human actors, it’s kind of a step backwards to play them the same way, I think.
Ghostbusters 1984 had a lot of substance to it.
I mean, Dan Aykroyd was one of the writers, and he actually has a background in paranormal investigation, so even though the entire concept is lampooning paranormal investigators, like, for the time it was groundbreaking, it’s still entertaining.
I can’t understand why somebody would say there’s no substance to the movie.
Aykroyd being able to accurately lampoon his own interest isn’t substance.
What’s the movie saying about people, life & death, NYC politics even? What’s the message or meaning of the movie? That’s what substance is. Ghostbusters is great! Classic cinema, no question. But it absolutely has no meaningful statements, or questions about anything. It’s pure fun, for it’s own sake.
No it isn’t. It’s entirely subjective whether a movie has substance.
You’re arguing that other people who found substance in their viewing of a movie are wrong because for you it had no substance for you. What’s the point? What drives you to be validated here at the cost of invalidating others?
My larger point is that people often insist substance is good, style is bad. I disagree with endowing a value judgment on either. A movie with great substance can still be a terrible movie. Movies nothing going for them but style can be fantastic. And most try to balance the two, to wonderful or horrible effect.
I’m not saying people finding substance in a movie are wrong in their opinion. They’re wrong in their definitions. I chose my list specifically to spark discussion about what does it even mean to say a movie has substance. What is style?
Movies aren’t substantive because people like them. For the word “Substance” to be useful, it must mean something else.
One of the writers knowing the subject on which they’re writing isn’t substance. What is Aykroid saying about real paranormal investigations? That would be substance.
You can enjoy Ghostbusters without answering that question. I certainly do. I can’t count how many times I’ve enjoyed watching it. Our enjoyment isn’t trivialized or wrong if it’s not a substantive movie.
I think you should have led with this. Just saying controversial things to start a conversation is cringe.
Ghostbusters are probably like Beetlejuice back in the day. I did watch Ghostbusters when I was young, but only this year watched Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice is weird movie with a simple premise that somehow got a traction with children. Same as Ghostbusters I guess. They both have this weird charm that grabs your attention while having “no message”