Half in the Bag: Ghostbusters: Afterlife

WTF is this random copyright claim by smoky mountain ghostbusters

Joshua Cubbin

Everything about this movie feels like it’s a parody of pathetic installments of a franchise or a brand. Like the fake trailers for Adam Sandler’s character in Funny People….

R_Pupkin

How much did I miss? I walked in when they arrived at the house.

It's not weird if you remember how "fans" reacted to luke skywalker showing up in mandalorian. They only care that it's there, and not about any of the important details surrounding it.

Ross Nugent

Hey, do you guys know about the recent documentary "Ghostbusters - Cleanin' Up the Town"? It was really fun, loads of stuff about how they made the creatures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9oUffYmCIU

Mel

How about the kids mail the proton packs and jump suits back to the ghostbusters for them to come help them. **Funny scene at the post office**

Aye, we're not cross Rhea, I can be a fan of the thing, and also a fan of 'spirited' criticism of the thing. Like the prophet John Dalton once said, "Pain don't hurt". I'm ok, it's just a movie.

Damon Killian

Sorry they didn't like your favorite toy commercial king

Rhea

Good lord haha. "White Trash", have you fucks looked in a mirror?

Damon Killian

As long as the mom's an alcoholic and the daughter's a crack whore, I'm fine with this...

Manuel Johnen

Also... I think there’s another cut of this movie with all the Red Herrings making sense in the end. My guess is they used the Aztec Evil Spirit whistle thing to show that Muncher is actually a good ghost and becomes their Slimer which is why it didn't really work on him. I also think the Map of the town in Ancient Sumerian was actually a map of the mining tunnels made in a certain way to channel Gozer's energy or something like that. My guess at the ending is Podcast tries the whistle again and it actually works on Gozer and at least distracts it for a second so all of them can use their proton packs and open the traps. I also think it would have been cooler if Egon made the house itself into a trap by replacing the beams and such with selenium beams over the years...

StarMan2112

In the Spirit of Red Letter I gave this a treatment with the idea that a studio exect. told you the only way this move would be green lit is by bringing back Ramis. How about a version of this movie in which we have the same set ups with Egon going to a farm and being a crazy dirt farmer, the estranged family, setting up the farm to be a trap for Gozer, etc. BUT... for the third Act Gozer does the whole "Choose the Form of the Traveler" and then Egon's daughter just catches a picture of her father in the corner of her eye... "You have chosen..." A knock comes to the door and it's The Traveler but in the form of Egon. Then you can homage "Animal House" because he just goes nuts on the town like that third act in that movie. He also knows the house is a trap because he has all of his memories... because why not... you can get a pay off for the "there are more dead people here" line with a scene like "we can get him... he's just one guy! "Oh am I?" and then he raises all the dead in the town and chaos ensues! They can try to cross the streams again but Egon expects this and has a solution for it because reasons... I really don't have an ending other than it's a double-edged sword that The Traveler has all of Egon's memories because they bring him back with Love or some crap like that right at the moment he's about to open the last door to Hell or something... So... you can subvert expectations with bringing Egon back, you can pay homage to Ramis's more crazy roots with a chaos scene he leads at the end, and his grand daughter doesn't need him to step in to help at the end because she's fine on her own. It's rough but what do you think?

StarMan2112

Why does Rich Evans have that weird blue tinge in the thumbnail?

Zachary Snowdon Smith

Grade: D I didn’t care for it. I went in with the best intentions too. I really believe that some movies just don’t lend themselves to sequels. GB2 proved it. And now this movie definitely proves it.

Mike St Louis

I feel like the Jack and Jill half in the bag was when it really clicked with me, these films are products, the art component is secondary, and always has been. Inspiring you was just a mechanism to ensure you gave them money into the future.

Midnight Blue

They have a video comparing it to the Lynch version in the pipeline.

Midnight Blue

Yeah, kind of like young Anakin at the end of Return of the Jedi.

AllGoodNamesRGone

Sure they will. The previous post mentioned that they will do a Re: View comparison video. So, buckle up!

AshesBoomstick

https://youtu.be/Qdhk2qXSduk

You joke, but someone over at the RLM subreddit posted an action figure two pack selling at Wal-Mart with the little girl and Egon Spengler's ghost. Which sounds tasteless, doesn't it?

AllGoodNamesRGone

Obsidian Jones, villain of The Western Ore Musical, the musical about rocks. A goldmine of puns. I dig it.

Marvin Falz

When the Icheb torture clip shows up in a discussion, you know you’re in a bad place (my soul is still crying too). At this point, I’m utterly terrified of all remakes, reboots, spin-offs, and 20+ year later sequels.

Because, as horrible as it is to say, emotions tends to equal more money?

Jessie Zimmer

Considering that Ghostbusters Afterlife is everything the guys hate, it makes me wonder again why they were so reluctant to talk about Dune. It represents the kind of risk-taking you don't get from Hollywood much these days.

Josh Wright

Thank you for succinctly describing all the thoughts I had while watching the movie. I honestly thought the first half had potential and then from Walmart on it went to shit. As someone who cosplays as a Ghostbuster at major events, I'm always amazed at how many young kids recognize and love Ghostbusters, considering I wasn't even born when the first movie came out. Are these kids watching the original movie (which doesn't seem kid appropriate to me) or are there still cartoons on? I guess I bring this up as a commentary on this new movie being for the "kids" since it seems like the kids already know them/love them. But that might be the parents pushing it on them too, just always found it interesting.

Maureen Vallette

Am I crazy - or is the CGI Egon not a true depiction of Harold Ramis later in life? He was heavier set towards the end, no? It’s like they artificially aged up his younger Ghostbusters-era self. They took an actor well loved who has passed away and made a fictional older version of them that didn’t really exist… that feels waaay weird to me.

Nate Miller

I know I just said above that I'd like to see you guys talk about a new movie you actually really liked, but I also think it would've been fun if you brought back Macaulay Culkin for a video trashing Home Sweet Home Alone.

Michael Parker

I think my perspective is more aligned with Rich. I enjoyed the movie. It's not perfect. I would have done a different threat, or kept Gozer but avoided any Gatekeeper/Keymaster to avoid the parallels to the climax of the first movie. Like Gozer crawling up a death pit would be enough. It needed more character moments with the family (I'm betting they were cut out from Reitman second guessing himself) and the each of the 3 Ghostbusters needed a scene similar to the one Ray got. It needed a setup. I don't know about crying at the end of this movie, but I still tear up at the end of Rocky. And I balled my eyes out during that Mr. Rogers documentary a few years ago. This movie is E.T. with ghosts.

I saw it too. I thought it looked gorgeous, the casting was great, it followed the original book very well... and I nearly fell asleep twice while watching it.

bubba123

There needs to be a clean term for these nostalgia sequels (nosquels?) that are 25% fan-service and 75% a movie that feels in no way like the original, aside from the fan-service.

DonMac

I actually don't think these hack frauds will ever review Dune.

Ghostbusters was a one-time kind of a deal, and a lucky accident at that, considering how different the finished product was from its initial ideation. Remaking, soft rebooting are just symptoms of an industry that was already low in imagination in its heydays, and now seems completely depleted. I agree with Jay that the success of "The Force Awakens" has a lot to do with this beat-by-beat recreation of old IPs.

Alessio Roic

Dude it's okay to like a movie

Rhea

I do have my own thoughts and opinion but when someone breaks it down for me to see the error of my ways that makes absolute sense, I have to admit how wrong I was, which truthfully who wants to be wrong? I can't help that I sobbed at the ghost Egon scenes. I mean this is RLM's job is to analyze a film and disect it and give it criticism or praise whichever how they think about the finished product. They all paid the admission price to see it. They didn't pull a Cinnemasacre James Rolfe with a 2016 announcement on how he was doing a non review. They went and did a review on the 2016 version as well. I think they wanted to like Afterlife but Hollywood keeps shitting on franchises and it has to be a bitter experience. I knew I should of kept my opinion about the film to myself but I decided to pipe up. Truth of the matter I am conflicted. Still better experience than the new Bond or the last Star Wars trilogy.

I fully expect you guys to rip Dune a new one too, it was pretty boring to me. Good, well acted, but.... boring.

Brandon Shane

Now you guys've got to talk about Dune to maybe restore some faith in modern mainstream movie-making. Still I can't deny how much joy I derive from the sardonic humor that comes from you guys being so jaded and cynical.

Michael Parker

Thank you for your work.

Benway23

I think the term you can never go back should be tattooed on the foreheads of Hollywood executives as I'm always reminded of the Two attempts at Lone Ranger movies and the 10 years too late sequel to Zorro as evidence it's not going to work, still at least this isn't Ghostbusters 2016 and critics aren't being lynched on twitter.

The Thinking Cat...Former Cthulhu Pofit Neo Normie and Masked fat guy but now a Cat ??

Very odd lil editing thing I noticed, I wonder why they did it: at 30:32, mike says "well, youre wrong" and then they freeze frame him for about a second while Jay laughs. I cant imagine a way to do this by accident, I wonder what they're splicing here.

Angry ghosts of people who died underground: “Poltergeist II”

andrew

The black void videos are always captivating. Great points and the editing was hilarious.

Andréanne Dion

"Not enough meth addicts" can be said about a lot of movies I think. I definitely get where Rich is coming from regarding not having to fit the same tone as the first movie. This probably could've worked just fine as a straight adventure film with some sci-fi/fantasy flavor. Just this kid from a shitty home discovering her family history and realizing her potential as a young scientist. It's almost like fanfiction, these new characters in the same universe as the original work, except that the best fanfiction also manages to tell its own compelling story. I don't even have an issue with creating back stories for things that were initially just throwaway lines or props. I think it's cool to take something mundane and establish a history for it that makes it actually matter. But it has to matter in world, it can't feel forced, and it can't just act as a selling point for nostalgia seekers. Which means some modicum of effort has to be made. But I have 0 attachment to Ghostbusters at all I'm just speaking generally.

Rhea

Will watch the HITB next weekend. And I'm really not sure if I want to watch the movie before...... I don't expect much anyway and I'm leaning towards just watch the HITB and then watching the movie once it's on streaming instead of spending money for a movie that will probably disappoint me.

schopi

Absolutely! The 80s and early-90s was a weird time for kids media and advertising. Even hard R movies like RoboCop and Terminator had toy lines. I think that it’s unfortunate that nostalgic pop media is so often employed as manipulative cash grabs that feed a kind of addiction to the past. Nostalgia pop can have creative progressive uses: some Ghostbusters fans (and other fan groups) use the iconography to raise money or awareness of good causes, charities, or do things like ‘make a wish.’ I believe that has social value beyond cynical marketing ploys.

Nate Miller

An alcoholic deadbeat mother with an drug addicted 17 years old daughter who inherits the franchise rights to the Ghostbusters, tries to make money off of it and in the end has to team up with her daughters ex-convict boyfriend to save her home village from the ghosts of evil miners sounds amazing. I want to watch THAT movie now...

Manuel Johnen

It’s interesting, with regards to Rich’s point about our generation not being able to let go of our toys, that we were the first kids who were marketed to so heavily as a result of Reagan era child advertising deregulation. From cartoons and toys, to happy meals and cereal. I think a lot of the fandom and “memberberries” reboots that we see so much of are a product of that. Hook them while they’re young, and you’ll have them for life.

Aliciasheesh

Don't let these hack frauds tell you what to think. This is just THEIR perspective.

Brandon Shane

My nostalgia about the first Ghostbusters movie has to do with dingy stickers of creepy but funny monsters and adults starting a scam business that ends up saving the world. I don't understand why now everything has to be cute and tearful.

Juan Calvo

If so, then latter day Harold Ramis...

Manuel Johnen

"It's not moral. I imagine someone taking a CGI version of me after I'm dead, putting me into some commercial for something disgusting..." Adult diapers! Absolutely adult diapers...

Manuel Johnen

By the way, I have to admit it... I always liked "Ghostbusters II". Loved it when I saw it as a kid in the theater. seen it 30 times since then, still enjoying the hell out of it. It's one of those movies I just keep watching every time I stumble over it on TV. I realize it's the original all over again with the exact same beats, but I just don't care, I think it is almost as good as the first movie... :P

Manuel Johnen

Todays movies DO need more cocaine... honestly, I was just thinking about this yesterday. Stephen King was a better writer in the 80s, too... :/

Manuel Johnen

Haven't watched it yet (the movie or the review). Just tell me right now, rip the bandaid off - is the thing in the thumbnail image Harold Ramis?

Chris L

Jay, your introduction sequence on this is brilliant. 👌

Aliciasheesh

I couldn't even try Jungle Cruise, the trailers hurt enough. I salute you for making it through.

Jessie Zimmer

I felt those tweets, especially the one that says 'this is mainstream cinema.' I'm kinda glad that I'm not attached to those old movies, like Ghostbuster, which is not to say that I'm better or something. I think this is actually a cultural difference, because American pop culture has never been that prevalent in Germany. No cons, no cosplay, only TV, cinema, a few toys, and print media, like MAD magazine. I bought my first MAD magazine in 1986, when I was 10, because they parodied Star Wars. And that was about two years after they aired the Star Trek series. ----- It felt good, to hear Mr. Plinkett's voice. From time to time I revisit the old Mr. Plinkett videos, where he announced new reviews, and banters with Palpy, Boss Nass, and Jar Jar Binks. ---- I really hope that we'll overcome the depression soon. ----- Thank you!

Marvin Falz

I can't wait for the Wal-Mart exclusive Ghostbusters toys featuring the Wal-Mart from the movie!! Glad Rich joined the discussion! Thanks for this review. I think you guys confirmed my skepticism towards this movie. Seems it's going to be a hard pass watching this "nostalgia bukkake". Just listening to you guys talk about it, especially the Wal-Mart cross-promotion/sponsorship/brand placement had me gagging. Thank you for your service gentlemen!

rachel

I liked it. Having just suffered through Jungle Cruise, I asked myself, "Which family movie would a parent want to watch on repeat for the next year?" Definitely Ghostbusters. It's not perfect, but it's a cute movie that kids will like and parents won't hate. Now when's that Dune review coming out?

Amy Hitchner

I went and saw it yesterday, came home then seen your review. I was hating myself for liking it, knowing full well how right you 3 were. I have some guilty pleasures I cant say this is one of them. I was one who hated Force Awakens when I saw it opening day. I was told by everyone how wrong I was. Tried to return to it a second time, still felt the same way. I am mixed on Last Jedi. I was told I was wrong for giving that film on any credit. Then Rise came and it was exactly as I expected. I felt for Rogue One that I did for this no expectation and was pleasantly surprised. I did feel uneasy that everything I liked about Ghostbusters (84) was retconned for kids with this. I am guilty for letting the nostalgia cloud my judgement within the 3rd act. The post credit scenes were better than majority the film. I have to say I wasn't quite sure how I felt about the film as a whole and maybe I let the nostalgia fool me into appreciating the product at face value. I went with my girlfriend who had no relationship to any of the Ghostbuster films. So I couldn't really have a true conversation on what I saw.

I also felt very Star Wars Force awakens. In that sense I also feel over it, I don't think I will go out for any other of these kinds of sequel. I actually think as a kids movie without the Ghostbusters stuff (especially the end) this would have been a decent halloween flick for the family kids.

Michael Matzat

Who is the person in the black hoodie sat next to Mike in the thumbnail?

I usually watch the movie beforehand, to avoid spoilers. But after the first seconds of this episode, after seeing those sad, resigned, defeated faces... I completely gave up any hope and sat through the entire thing. 'cause fuck it, it doesn't even matter anymore. Thank you, Hollywood!!!

Lelio Mulas

Hilarious video. Excellent work as always. Thank you so much guys

Amy Nelson

You guys need to bring back Macaulay Culkin as Grand Moff Tarkin but call him Grand Moff Culkin! Haha! Whoa!

Steve Can Still Believe

I got no dog in this fight, I think the original Ghostbusters is overrated (come at me mob, I will still maintain my opinion) but any RLM review is better than none.

Marcus Adams

I hope you guys are ok.

Yen Labuda

Okay, a couple things. Great job guys. it's interesting that RLM tends to go to the dark room when dealing with these big budget "nostalgia" sci-fi films. At 4 minutes in, I thought Mike's quote about the twisted version of a movie was a great quote about big budget film making and how RLM has evolved over the last ten years. Really there's some great lines from the crew: Mike's quote, "nostaglia bukkake", Jay's "They're all pawns!", and Rich's "This isn't nostalgia for the first movie, it's nostalgia for you playing with the toys. It's nostalgia for your experiences with the merchandise". Man, Mike and Jay are praised for their takes and rightfully so, but Rich has some great takes. Next, I wouldn't be surprised if Kevin Smith responds to the video. I hope the twitter RLM fans don't bother him about it, but he seems to be fairly thin skinned about certain things. Kevin Smith gets emotional about anything from his childhood portrayed on the big screen. Finally, I was surprised to see the animation of Rich in there. Thanks again, RLM crew!

AllGoodNamesRGone

"They won't do that." Oh, Rich. You sweet, sweet, innocent man. Jay, you can't say you didn't warn us.

Jessie Zimmer

Both agree and disagree with the generational thing. You're right, we are two generations out and that gives some leeway, but a lot of these reboots feel like trying to have your cake and eat it too. Is it possible to make a film that gently nods at nostalgia without overdoing it, and makes something fresh for the new generation? And does "these are new viewers" excuse laziness and/or schmaltz? Regardless of the answer, I enjoyed reading your comment.

Jessie Zimmer

This is how I feel about Rogue One. I enjoyed it and think it's better than the sequels, but all their points still make complete sense. Also, I think people - in general - need to remember, anything RLM says is just an opinion.

Jessie Zimmer

I really loved the movie, but I actually agree with everything you guys say in this discussion. I actually think your plot pitch would have been a better movie. BUT, I just think I’m giving it an overall approval stamp, because it did have some heart, and at least they maintained some respect for what once was … oh, and I’m also happy that, at least for now, the Ghostbusters franchise didn’t ended with Paul Feig’s steaming turd!

Jesper Lindberg

Love these guys but they are full of shit — they constantly move the goal posts and are incapable of joy. But truly lovely lovely people, just the best kind of people.

Jeremy W

"it's a disgusting shell of that idea" Mike describing me vs my parents' expectations of me

Carly

so fast! I usually watch the movie before the review but I can't do it this time!

Peter Varga

If you make “nostalgia bukkake” merch I will buy it.

Big_Yogurt999

I pretty much completely disagree with you guys on this one. I think the "nostalgia bukkake" was actually justified this time, for once. It was pretty good. *shrug*

Brandon Shane

I love how Mike, Jay, and Rich B.S.’ing about movie plots and character arcs is way more interesting than most recent movies

Nick Cameron

DO THEY FLY NOW???

Stephen Navarrete

This was a fantastic discussion - the empty Christmas Vacation turkey is a perfect metaphor. It’s such a bizarre sequel for all of the reasons you cover — and the emotional fan response has been soooo weird. I love Ghostbusters but this fell really flat for me.

Nate Miller

See I hated the nostalgia crap. A little bit I'm OK with but they needed to tone it down by at least 30%. The damn twinkie, the who you gonna call, the are you a god, the tin hat. All of that crap had to go. And honestly when I get a copy of this I'm making a fan edit that nukes it. But the more I think about it the more I'm OK with bringing back Gozer. This is really a continuation of the first movie. That character was never killed. So yeah they are using Gozer + Keymaster + gatekeeper from the original movie. But they changed it up enough that it wasn't a complete and total copy of the story. The fact that Egon gave up everything because he knew what was coming was THE movie. Its the story before this story. But it was obvious within the first 5 minutes who the demon dogs were going to be because duh. Here is the thing that I'm starting to realize. Even if this is another rehashing the original GB. We have almost 2 generations of people removed from when the original Ghostbusters came out. I know for a fact my 18 year old cousin has never seen Ghostbusters. So for her this is nothing that has been rehashed. You go back to the 1980's and you can find movies that were redone from the 1960's. The Thing is a perfect example. Hollywood has pulled this over and over again. And its almost 2022. Redoing an idea or a movie......For me who is 45.....its eye rolling. For someone who is in their teens..........*shrugs*. SPOILERS . . . . What really had me was the damn ending. I did not mind bring back Egon. But Hollywood has lost the ability to be subtle. The hand on her hand and holding her up. *chefs kiss* perfect. But then they had to have the whole closure scene BS. It wasn't needed. Simply trap Gozer, Egon looks over at his daughter, the guys, smiles for a second and dissolves. His work was done. Finish. You didn't need this closure scene. Its was sentimental BS. If you wanted to make up for the loss of Harold Ramis maybe you should have done that 25 years ago before he freaking died.

Kellic

Dibs on Nostalgia Bukkake as the name of my progressive bluegrass Bon Jovi tribute band.

bertsy

Yay, a upload release during my daytime! Damn Jay, that intro was a grand slam.

Bort Ward

"A nostalgia bukkakke." Bra. Vo. I salute you, gentlemen.

LB876

Well I was going to take something for this head cold and hit the sack early but they say laughter is the best medicine so here I am watching.

Katy

I enjoyed this movie and value your opinion but respectfully disagree with your opinions. P.s. my daughter is 3 and she loves the 84 ghostbusters and knows them when she sees them.

Amanda Foster

Can’t wait to walk into the office tomorrow morning and try to work in the phrase “nostalgia bukake” with my boss.

Toby Harrmann

I saw this in my email and spent 30 seconds laughing. Then I came here and spent a lot more time laughing. I haven't watched one second of this vid. There's something about Mike/this ghost that's fucking killing me. I'm in pain.

Benjamin Forman IV

Great. Was gonna go straight to bed after this nightshift was over. Guess I'm torturing myself by staying awake an extra two hours and eating junkfood instead. Thanks guys.

Sounds like this broke new ground

Joshua Cubbin

Ominous title card, I'll watch tomorrow while I drive to the asbestos quarry.

Damon Killian

I wonder what they’ll chose for the 200th Half in the Bag? Hell they might not even see it as a milestone and there will be no fanfare unlike their awesome 100th episode which was The Force Awakens

hamish smith

But...I'm about to go to bed...

Joshua Mannix

Thank you for your courage.

Thanks movie daddies

Rhea

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