First and foremost: It was better than I expected. It’s not totally worthless. But…

Ghostbusters 2016 can easily be dismissed as a “lazy, uninspired rehash of pre-existing iconography”, as I read elsewhere, which is true when it comes to all Hollywood remakes/reboots, but it cannot be dismissed just because there are female leads (as I’ve read countless of times); that’s just plain stupid.

For me, this is fairly easy: There are different kinds of comedy, and comparing the reboot with the original, anyone should be able to spot the difference.

I watched the original Ghostbusters (1984) the other day and I enjoyed it like I did when I was 9 years old. Nostalgia, but even more than that: It’s my kind of comedy. The subtle humor courtesy of Egon Spengler and Peter Venkman is hitherto unsurpassed in my book. It still holds up.

32 years later, Ghostbusters is the total opposite of subtlety. It’s like that annoying, loud, attention seeking idiot in highschool trying way too hard to be quirky, making funny faces and stupid voices 24/7. STFU, please.
The humor is at surface level at best. I mean, fart jokes? Really? Or to be more precise: Queef jokes. I think “cringeworthy” is the word here. And “face palm”. And that’s just the beginning. (And I’m not even going to start with gender politics here. Or cheap product placement. Or the awful business people at Sony (stop making movies, you twats). I could write an essay, but that’s already been done.)

With that said, the ensemble cast probably made the best of a very weak script. Paul Feig fucked it up.

As for the comedy: I laughed three times (the hot dog logo, the Jaws joke and the man shrieking…), which makes it obvious. This wasn’t made for me.

Rated: 1,5 /5

A decent, slow psychological drama about a sociopath about to break. The photo and editing is top notch, presenting a subtle study of a young Swedish man who in his own mind thinks he does good.

“Flugparken” has been compared to “Taxi Driver”, “Falling Down” and even “American Psycho”, but even though this is more than your average Swedish movie, it’s still average.

Well worth watching for the great photo, though. And the acting is not that bad either.

Rated: 2,5 / 5

Wow, what an amazing achievement! One take, no cuts. 140 minutes of realtime movie magic. And in contrast to the extremely overrated ”Birdman”, this one isn’t fake, and it also has content.

Victoria, a lonely Spanish girl having spent 16 years, seven hours a day, practicing the piano, seeks adventure in the nighttime Berlin underground. Desperately naive, she decides to hang out with four shady guys and things escalate quickly. The ”Pusher” trilogy comes to mind.

Sure, it’s unrealistic at times (the story needs to move forward), but it’s still authentic. Most of the dialogue is improvised, and the camera work is fantastic.
Also, ”Victoria” makes me wanna return to the Mitte district in Berlin.

Rated: 3,5 / 5

Great story, nicely done and Alicia Vikander shines.

But this is obviously unrespectfully made for an audience not at all familiar with transgender. It’s like people not into heavy metal trying to act heavy metal-ish. It’s untrue and ignorant, flat and simplistic. Does Tom Hooper even know what transgender means? It just comes out as pseudo-progressive at best, and shallow Hollywood melodramatic fake at worst. Too bad, because the actual story is truly captivating.

If 1920’s scenography is what you fancy, then “The Danish Girl” is a beautiful looking movie.
But transgender is not about looks.

PS. ”Laurence Anyways” by Xavier Dolan. Identity.

Rated: 2 / 5

Emotional, gruesome but important documentary about Boston comic Barry Crimmins.
It starts off like it usually does, with friends and colleagues praising this genius, but halfway through it takes a very dark turn.

Ultimately, “Call Me Lucky” is about Barry being subject to sexual abuse at a very young age, and his ongoing fight against child molesters, the Catholic church and the American government.

Knowing what he’s gone through, it’s incredible to see what a good man he is today. Because like he says: ”Had I been raped a few more times I might have become the rapist”. And like his sister says: ”Half the reason why Barry’s so funny is a gesture of healing”. Depressing, but very powerful.

I have a new role model. I wanna be like Barry Crimmins.

Rated: 3,5 / 5

Wow. I really liked “Anomalisa“. Such a simple story, yet so complex. You’ll notice there’s something slightly surreal about it right away. Why do the female characters have a male voice? Actually, there are only three different voices in the whole movie, but we still meet a lot of characters. Hmm…
And talking about voices: It’s so nice to hear real conversations in a movie. This is how people actually talk, and yet it’s slightly bizarre, cuz it’s puppets talking.

I definitely like the idea with stop motion and puppets, not just because it’s done brilliantly, but also because it adds to the surreal atmosphere in a deeply social realist film. Some of the scenes in this animated movie capture reality better than any other movie featuring human actors. Crazy.

Highly recommended if you’re into social realism with a twist.

Rated: 4 / 5