The Birth of the Nation My friend Scott Smith sent me the picture above of the "Nat Turner Lives" outdoor billboard on the south side of Chicago. The movie didn't fare well at the box-office, and "Why?" has spurred a thousand hot takes about it movie from the standing ovation it received at Sundance earlier … Continue reading Picking Up the Spare: Birth of the Nation, Suicide Squad, Ghostbusters
Looking Back at Ghostbusters
I contributed to a post on the blog of Gruvi, an entertainment advertising firm, with a post-mortem on Ghostbusters that looked specifically at the fallout from the harassment star Leslie Jones was subjected to: When the new Ghostbusters movie, directed by Paul Feig and featuring a cast made up of comedy powerhouses Kristen Wiig, Melissa … Continue reading Looking Back at Ghostbusters
Picking Up the Spare: Hell or High Water, Suicide Squad, Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters A really interesting op-ed at The Ringer about how the really weird expectations for Ghostbusters are informing the (reported, not confirmed) reality that it won't get a sequel because the movie didn't shatter records. I firmly believe the same narrative plays out much differently for movies with a male cast all the time since … Continue reading Picking Up the Spare: Hell or High Water, Suicide Squad, Ghostbusters
After the Campaign: Ghostbusters
I never understood the push back to the trailers for Ghostbusters. I'm not even talking about the Men's Rights Advocates who saw a remake of the movie featuring women in the starring roles as opposed to men as part of some social justice warrior conspiracy and so aggressively downvoted the trailer on YouTube. I'm talking … Continue reading After the Campaign: Ghostbusters
Picking Up The Spare: Star Trek Beyond, Ghostbusters
Star Trek Beyond Paramount and Atom Tickets are running a co-branded campaign offering first-time users a free ticket to the movie to raise awareness of the app, which encourages group moviegoing coordination. Select theaters are offering exclusive posters through a partnership with Gallery 1988. The movie's San Diego Comic-Con premiere gave it a big lift … Continue reading Picking Up The Spare: Star Trek Beyond, Ghostbusters
Movie Marketing Madness: Ghostbusters
Want to get Movie Marketing Madness via email? Sign up here. Then connect with MMM on Twitter and Facebook. There’s this notion - I think it first really came up in 1999 when the Star Wars Prequels were released - that something new that’s an extension of what you loved as a child can ruin … Continue reading Movie Marketing Madness: Ghostbusters
MMM Flashback Friday: Ghostbusters
By the time 1984 came around, Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis were, in their own ways, some of the biggest comedy names around. Murray, of course, had starred in Meatball’s, Caddyshack and Stripes. The latter also features Ramis, who’d made his name on “SCTV” as well as as the director of Caddyshack and … Continue reading MMM Flashback Friday: Ghostbusters
Who you gonna build?
There's nothing that's not awesome about these LEGO Ghostbusters. Nothing. I wonder if kids today know what it was like to grow up in the days before LEGO licensed all kinds of awesome properties? Can you imagine sets based on Dukes of Hazzard, Goonies and everything else we loved in the 80's? Wow.