Tag: Celeste O’Connor

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Review

Unlike 2016’s ballyhooed female Ghostbusters reboot or 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife (which served as a sequel to the first two), Frozen Empire doesn’t need to burden itself with spending time introducing new characters to mix with the oldies and three-year-old newbies. The fifth franchise feature, unlike Afterlife, doesn’t have to employ a long windup before it nourishes our nostalgic hankerings. Unfortunately it still does yet I found it slightly more fulfilling than its two predecessors. That’s not sizzling praise, but I wasn’t totally cold to its charms and it’s the fresher characters that often shine.

You may recall that Afterlife introduced us to Egon Spengler’s brood that he abandoned for what turned out to be noble reasons. Granddaughter Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) is Harold Ramis’s spitting image in look, spirit, and overall nerdiness. She’s moved from Oklahoma to NYC along with mom (Carrie Coon), stepdad (Paul Rudd), and brother (Finn Wolfhard) and they’ve set up shop in that iconic firehouse where their patriarch slid down the pole with the OG ‘Busters. They are carrying on the family tradition and, yes, it makes them feel good until Mayor Walter Peck (William Atherton, returning after four decades after a memorable role in the original) sidelines Phoebe. Ray (Dan Aykroyd) and Winston (Ernie Hudson) and Janine (Annie Potts, finally getting to put on a uniform) are still around as is Venkman (Bill Murray)… sort of. One gets the impression that Murray crashes the party just long enough for the paycheck and perhaps a week on set. He still fits in a drolly satisfying one-liner or two as only he can.

There’s a lot of characters to keep up with and the script from director Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman develops juggle problems. Rudd and Coon, whose romance was a focal point three years ago, are given the short shrift. Wolfhard and Celeste O’Connor (who hit it off in Oklahoma as well) fare even worse. Same goes for Phoebe’s buddy Podcast (Logan Kim).

The most promising additions are the brand new ones that factor into the plot. Lazy Nadeem (Kumail Nanjiani) sells his dead grandma’s shiny orb to Ray for a quick few bucks. It turns out to be a device that could start a new ice age while also summoning previously captured spirits back to the Big Apple. Nanjiani’s comedic spirits are a high point. Patton Oswalt’s quick work as a library employee in the New York Public Library is one of the better scenes. We have Emily Alyn Lind as a long departed apparition trying to reunite with her loved ones. In the meantime, she plays chess with Phoebe with a slight romantic undertone. Some of this material is decent enough that I wondered whether the wistful remembrances of what entertained us from 1984 is needed anymore.

Saying that Empire is the best sequel in the series is really not saying much. A more appropriate way to say it might be that it’s the least disappointing. Many of the same drawbacks of what came between 1984 and 2024 are present. I did, however, find it funnier than the schmaltzy Afterlife. Maybe there’s a little life left in this franchise after all. Frozen Empire shows that sporadically.

**1/2 (out of four)

Oscar Predictions – Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire attempts to match its 2021 predecessor’s grosses when it debuts this weekend. Chances are that it will also match its Oscar prospects. The fifth feature in the franchise that began in 1984, Gil Kenan directs with Jason Reitman coproducing and cowriting. Stars from Afterlife three years back return including Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, and Logan Kim. Cast members from 40 years ago are in attendance – Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and William Atherton. Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt additionally join the bustin’.

Critical reaction today gives it the coldest Rotten Tomatoes score of all Ghostbusters at 47%. The original nabbed 95% while its 1989 sequel only managed 55%. 2016’s reboot was rated 74% while Afterlife received 64%.

The Academy’s history with this series is limited to part 1. Ray Parker Jr.’s inescapable theme song was up for Best Song (losing to Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” from The Woman in Red) and the Visual Effects were in contention (coming up short to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom). Three ceremonies ago, Afterlife was shortlisted for VE but didn’t make the final five cut. The special effects (which some reviewers are criticizing) are highly unlikely to catch the attention of voters this time around. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Box Office Prediction

Arriving almost 40 years after the classic original, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire looks to heat up multiplexes on March 22nd. The fifth feature in the franchise serves as a sequel to 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife with Gil Kenan taking over directorial duties from Jason Reitman (the pair cowrote the script together). Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, and Logan Kim reprise their roles alongside OG cast members Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and William Atherton. Newcomers to the series include Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt.

Originally slated for December of last year, Empire looks to exceed or match the grosses of Afterlife. Nearly two and a half years ago, it started off with $44 million and eventual domestic earnings of $129 million. That is right on pace with 2016’s ballyhooed reboot with Melissa McCarthy and Kristin Wiig which premiered to $46 million and $128 million overall.

2021’s version proved the franchise still has some juice. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if this earns slightly less due to Afterlife‘s middling critical reception and audience reaction that wasn’t totally over the moon. Low 40s sounds about right.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire opening weekend prediction: $42.7 million

For my Immaculate prediction, click here:

Immaculate Box Office Prediction

Madame Web Box Office Prediction

Dakota Johnson headlines as the title character in Madame Web, Sony’s fourth feature in their Spider-Man Universe on February 14th. The studio is hoping its grosses are closer to Venom and its sequel than Morbius. S.J. Clarkson directs with a supporting cast including Sydney Sweeney (hot off Anyone but You), Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, and Tahar Rahim.

Ms. Johnson is no stranger to the Valentine’s Day/President’s Day weekend frame considering the Fifty Shades trilogy. Web will attempt to bring in a female contingent, but also a sizable male crowd craving some comic book action.

Debuting on Wednesday, my forecast includes the Friday to Monday long weekend projection along with its two extra days. A best case scenario might be in the $35-40 million neighborhood for the six-day total. I’m skeptical it gets that high. A low to mid 20s start for the four-day and high 20s to low 30s range over the longer haul sounds likelier.

Madame Web opening weekend prediction: $21.5 million (Friday to Monday); $30.7 million (Wednesday to Monday)

For my Bob Marley: One Love prediction, click here:

Bob Marley: One Love Box Office Prediction

Oscar Predictions: A Good Person

Zach Braff returns to the director’s seat as A Good Person opens in limited release on Friday before a wider output on March 31st. It casts Florence Pugh (a 2019 Supporting Actress contender for Little Women) and Morgan Freeman (five-time nominee who took Supporting Actor for 2004’s Million Dollar Baby) as individuals brought together by a tragedy involving the latter’s daughter. Molly Shannon, Chinaza Uche, Celeste O’Connor, and Zoe Lister-Jones costar.

Back in 2004, Braff’s debut behind the camera drew critical acclaim with Garden State (taking the Grand Jury prize at Sundance). Follow-ups Wish I Was Here (2014) and Going in Style (2017) drew more mixed reaction and so too has this. The drama stands at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. Based on that reaction, A Good Person is a bad bet for any awards attention. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Ghostbusters: Afterlife Review

The original Ghostbusters, lest we forget, was filled with ribald humor coming from SNL vets that were in the prime of their careers. Overloading the reboot/sequel Afterlife with gooey family drama feels, in many ways, as misplaced as the missteps that 2016’s version took or that 1989’s traditional follow-up was a fairly weak retread of the first. This franchise hasn’t succeeded in their attempts to capitalize on what made 1984’s pic special and that extends to this.

It’s not for a lack of trying as the 2021 iteration goes to extreme lengths to get our nostalgia radars working into overdrive. Jason Reitman takes over directorial duties from his father Ivan, who made the 80s blockbusters. There’s not a piece of attire or Twinkie or demonic marshmallow from 1984 that isn’t placed with the clear purpose of inspiring wild cheers. Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows the name of every nearly four decade old artifact, vehicle or gadget. In this Afterlife, it more often feels forced than welcome.

We shift from the Big Apple to the sleepy town of Summerville, Oklahoma. Egon Spangler, Harold Ramis’s nerdy scientist from the OG ‘Busters, has relocated to a dilapidated farmhouse and cut off contact with his family and former colleagues. His demise in the prologue causes his heirs to inhabit the dusty domicile. This includes down on her luck daughter Callie (Carrie Coon) and her two kids. Since I think it’s now contactually necessary for Stranger Things players to participate in these reboots, Finn Wolfhard is her teenage son Trevor. Mckenna Grace is the real lead as 12-year-old daughter Phoebe, who resembles her granddad in looks and interests. An outcast at school, she bonds with fellow geek Podcast (Logan Kim) and her summer school teacher Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd).

Trevor and Phoebe are completely unaware that Egon was a Ghostbuster (we’ll just go with that I suppose). Paranormal activities start revealing his life’s work including Phoebe’s ongoing chess game with an unseen spirit. The iconic car (yay!) is stored on the property. Of course, the late Egon was in Summerville for a reason and it has to do with familiar haunters from ’84 and preventing them from returning.

This all leads to familiar heroic faces eventually turning up (though not with significant screen time). With their limited participation, the question is whether the new and much younger generation of spirit crushers is compelling enough to warrant a feature. I didn’t think so, but there are some positives. Grace’s performance is terrific (while Wolfhard and his budding romance with his bellhop coworker Celeste O’Connor adds little). Rudd’s considerable talents (he takes a liking to Callie) add a bit of fun. The sight of Bill Murray randomly turning up anywhere is good for a smile (though not much more here than reading about how he does so in real life).

However, the tone in general struck me as off. It’s hard not to be touched by its tribute to the late Harold Ramis (a man responsible for so many laughs in landmark comedies of the past). I felt the sentiment because of that and not the absence of Egon. Afterlife seems trapped in the notion that our emotional connections to these characters run deeper than they do. Like many reboots nowadays, the mere presence of something old is meant to provide the requisite entertainment value. It made me feel mostly dispirited.

** (out of four)

Freaky Movie Review

The joy of witnessing Vince Vaughn in the body of an awkward teenage girl provides intermittent comedic thrills in Christopher Landon’s Freaky. It’s just too bad there aren’t more of them in the latest spotty but certainly watchable low-budget horror flick from the Blumhouse shop. If you have seen the director’s two Happy Death Day pictures, you won’t be surprised he’s behind the camera with this. The first Death reconfigured the Groundhog Day concept to the slasher genre while its sequel veered more toward a sci-fi Back to the Future vibe. Freaky‘s influence is simple and in the title without mentioning the word Friday.

Our body swap involves an urban legend but very real serial killer who goes by the Blissfield Butcher and is played by Vaughn. Millie (Kathryn Newton) is the high schooler mourning the loss of her father while her alcoholic mom coddles her. When the Butcher swipes a mysterious ancient dagger from his previous killing in an attempt to off Millie, it switches their forms. This is just in time for Friday the 13th and they have 24 hours to reverse the effect.

I’ll use this opportunity to praise title cards. I enjoyed how in the lead up to the big day, we see “WEDNESDAY THE 11TH” and “THURSDAY THE 12TH” in bloody scrawl font as if they’re meant to provide a jolt. When Millie does inhabit the Butcher’s 6’5″ frame and has a long pined for romantic moment with her crush, it provides the funniest scene of all (Vaughn’s humorous talents are on full display there).

Yet Freaky is also tonally challenged. Millie’s tragic family dynamics feel slightly forced. The backstory involving that mystical knife called La Dola might be something its makers hope to explain further in a sequel. I’ll credit the screenwriters for finding a couple of Friday the 13th style inventive ways to off lustful adolescents, but the film isn’t exactly scary.

This is more occasionally funny than truly freaky and it ends up being about as entertaining as both Happy Death Day experiences. It succeeds from time to time with its mashup of well known properties, but leaves a bit to be desired.

**1/2 (out of four)