Ghostbusters: Afterlife

A family struggles financially and is forced to suddenly relocate, an estranged relative having recently passed but not without having left them his eccentric land.

They make the chaotic move and soon must adjust to small town life, the teenagers somewhat grouchy at first until serendipity inspires motivation.

Curiosity inquisitively roams and there's an abundance of toys on the farm, some of them socioculturally familiar in terms of old school narrative phenoms. 

Mom soon finds herself amorously pursued by her daughter's lackadaisical comic teacher, while her son looks for work at a diner with the happenstance hopes of dating the waitress.

Meanwhile, ye olde particle-accelerator is awkwardly discovered in a secret chamber, and ghosts are spotted nearby who require electronic sequesterization. 

They take the old ghostbuster mobile for a reanimated spin around the sleepy town, leaving quite the mischievous mess as they chase the frenzied febrile phantom.

They have a certain knack for ghostbusting even if trouble ensues enthusiastically however.

Being Egon Spengler's grandchildren!

Without having lost the archaic touch.

I have to admit, this style of filmmaking seemed endearingly familiar, and I found myself wanting to watch the film in one go instead of splitting it up into 2 nights.

It was like that old Ghostbusters magic had been rediscovered by the next generation, and although I don't really recommend making sequels decades later, this one worked well, intergenerationally speaking (still hoping for another with the all female cast). 

Of course ghostbusting can't stray from the horrors of cynical dismissive trajectories, the public school an unfortunate gong show, with no genuine leadership, it was tough to watch (they have good public schools in Canada and Québec [higher taxes]).

And dispiriting, I know it's just a comedy film that makes light of serious realities, and that systemic critiques are wincingly welcome to avoid too much hyper-reactive self-obsession, but teaching is an incredibly difficult job as I've mentioned before several times, another layer of obtuse scrutiny only adds to the associated difficulties (YouTube is making it impossible to get through to some kids). 

I like to watch both comedies and dramas so the uptight cynicism never sets in, instead the tragedy associated with progressive endeavours becomes much more sublime and worthwhile correspondingly.

I think for a lot of people it's generally one or the other however.

Don't sell yourself short, take the well-rounded approach.

Take another look around at what we've achieved. 

Tully

Exhaustion complicates a dedicated mother's life as neverending chores, responsibilities, and appointments demand too much of her limited time.

It's tough to pay attention, secondary tasks remain unfinished, it's difficult to swiftly recall precise details, and sleep beckons with tempting uncompromised reverie.

She takes care of business, she's tough, creative, dependable, reliable, Tully empathetically and realistically characterizing resilient motherhood while emphasizing that Marlo (Charlize Theron) could use a break without suggesting she can't take care of it.

Then, as the clouds disperse and the heavens burst forth with luminous starlit magnanimity, a nanny is hired to manage her household during the night, reprieved, so that she can catch up on that sleep, clad in peaceful angelic dreams cheerfully composed with reflective serenity.

Or, pyjamas, love that word, the industrious Tully (Mackenzie Davis) still fully charged by the carefree energy unconsciously sustained throughout one's twenties, seemingly effortlessly excelling beyond Marlo's highest expectations, agilely working throughout every nocturnal moment, mindfully crafting with spontaneous endearing glee.

It's win-win-win-win.

The best character I've seen introduced midway through in a while.

Tully.

Rich with thought compelling interpersonal detail convincingly narrativized with multitudinous emotional commitment, like an unpretentious bourgeois folk band reflecting upon family life, it intergenerationally synthesizes to produce joyous rhythms, before unfortunately succumbing to dire judgmental decree.

I suppose a lot of storytelling tends to include a traumatic ending which hauntingly calls into question everything that has previously taken place, in Tully's case it seems as if the story is saying that it's fine for Tully to imagine a role she might play in the future, but foolish for Marlo to decide to revisit her past, but it was such an uplifting film before the final fifteen minutes or so, so uplifting I don't see why things suddenly became morbidly intense.

They could have just kept chillin'.

Still a wonderful film though, my favourite moments condemning a school that would harshly judge a child so young (solid John Hughes), and discussing the checks and balances occasionally associated with socializing post-29, Mackenzie Davis and Charlize Theron work well together and their conversations are full of lively invention, several deep characters diversify a shallow pond with flora and fauna and sun and shade that tantalizingly makes you wish you could symbiotically camp nearby, a thoughtful well-written, directed and acted comedic drama that I'd love to see again, bold print brainiac style.

Pioneering off the beaten track.

Huggable.

Up in the Air

Flying high, city to city, your life in a suitcase, firing people for a living, aware of every hotel/car rental/flight deal in the USA, trying to save up 10 million air miles, lovin' it. That just about sums up Ryan Bingham's (George Clooney) life in Jason Reitman's new film Up in the Air, a romantic comedy that probes the depths of the resolute "can't be tied down" bachelor. Bingham works for a company that flies its workhorses around the country 24/7 firing people for firms who don't have the gusto to do it themselves. But technological complications arise in the form of a lively young graduate (Anna Kendrick as Natalie Keener) whose videoconferencing ambitions threaten Bingham's comfortable lifestyle. But before taking her revolutionary ideas to heart, manager Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman) decides she needs to learn the ropes herself and sends her "on the road" with the veteran Bingham. During their trip, experience meets education in an age-old rivalry designed to test the limits of both their idealistic life plans. Throw Bingham's love interest Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) into the mix, along with a troublesome wedding, and you have a multi-layered quizzical examination of the platonic nature of values, thoroughly saturated with longstanding larks.

A thoughtful, entertaining, somewhat unpredictable story, Up in the Air demonstrates how things work out when they don't work out while deconstructing the concept of love. Whether or not it considers the subjective life to be ideal is up for debate insofar as its heartbroken protagonist sustains his uncommitted lifestyle by suavely spreading misery as the crow flies.

Juno

Jason Reitman's Juno is a fun and engaging film containing quaint down-to-earth characters. There's the docile air conditioning and heater installing ex-military dad (J. K. Simmons), the can't-grow-up perennially juvenile heart throb (Jason Bateman), the cool, tough, and acerbic stepmom (Allison Janney), and the hopeful, grown-up, pre-matronly mom (Jennifer Garner). These characters are all given their chance to shine but Juno MacGuff steals the show, unilaterally portraying a troubled and confused artistic pregnant teenager.

Don't really know whether or not she's artistic, but she's funny and different, and thoughtful and independent, and the way in which she informs her impregnater Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) of her pregnancy is intelligent, and witty, and damned impressive.

Juno is a tough little working class suburban darling, who deals with shattering developments with the calm, tranquil repose of a successful CEO. Her observations are occasionally confused, often adolescent, and frequently forgetful, like most of your highschoolic philosophy, wherein lies her beauty, her presence, her terms of endearment. She's 17 stuck dealing with the demands of a professional, yet she doesn't miss a beat; she keeps her self perfectly in tact, leaving you certain that if she were to raise this child on her own, he or she would definitely have a wonderful mother.

And father, potentially. I don't why Juno was nominated for best picture when similarly touching films such as The Station Agent, Elephant, and La Grande Séduction were not, but hopefully its nomination represents a new trend within Hollywood, one which recognizes comedies that deal with disenfranchised life, valuing its vigorous, universal qualities, sticking up for lifestyles that aren't represented by the opening moments of an episode of Desperate Housewives. It's a great film representing many different sociological threads that one can encounter as time goes by, while offering a number of positive role models for such sartorial circumstances. Worth checking out.