Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

"We're all being paid... with memories."

Three years after saving the world, the Spengler family are now living in the Ghostbusters' Firehouse in New York City.  Callie (Coon) and Gary (Ruud) lead the team, with help from her children Trevor (Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Grace).  Their friend's Podcast (Kim) and Lucky (O'Connor) also moved to NYC to help reestablish the Ghostbusters.  Podcast works with Ray Stanz (Aykroyd) and Lucky joins Winston Zeddemore's (Hudson) research team.  When their latest capture leads to extensive damage to the city, Mayor Walter Peck (Atherton) threatens to shut them down unless Phoebe, who is underage, is benched.  Atherton still holds a grudge against the Ghostbusters from the 1980s.

Meanwhile, Ray and Podcast purchase a mysterious brass orb from Nadeem Razmaadi (Nanjiani).  They send the orb to Winston's team for further analysis, but strange things begin happening.  They turn to old friends for help: anthropologist Dr. Hubert Wartzki (Oswalt), Janine Melnitz (Potts), and Peter Venkman (Murray).  Can they protect the team and save the world, again?

This film is a direct sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021).  It is also the fourth film in the series, following Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters 2 (1989).

The Good:

Janine has a uniform and her own proton pack!  This is the first live-action film to let Janine in on the action, although she did get to suit up in the TV shows.  This film also marks the return of William Atherton as Ghostbusters' nemesis and fan-favorite ghost Slimer (who was a big part of the TV shows and appeared in the 1980s Ghostbusters movies).

The main cast and the writers from the previous film returned for this film, which helped with the continuity.

The Bad:

There are too many characters.  It feels like they are setting up future films, with the new research lab, but the new characters of Nadeem Razmaadi, Lars Pinfield, and Hubert Wartzki don't have enough to do...

Other Comments:

-Dedicated to the late Ivan Reitman, who directed the original Ghostbusters movies.

-The previous film was directed by Ivan Reitman's son Jason Reitman, who also co-wrote the film with Gil Kenan.  For this film, both Reitman and Kenan returned as writers and Kenan took over directing duties.

-In addition to these films, there are 2 television series in the franchise: The Real Ghostbusters (1986-1991) and Extreme Ghostbusters (1997).  There is also a 2016 reboot, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, which featured cameos by original cast members (in different roles).

-There is a mid-credits scene.

-The filmmakers are planning a sequel to this film.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) 115 minutes

Rating: PG-13 for supernatural action/violence, language and suggestive references.

Director: Gil Kenan 

Starring: Paul Rudd as Gary Grooberson

Carrie Coon as Callie Spengler

Finn Wolfhard as Trevor Spengler

Mckenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler

Kumail Nanjiani as Nadeem Razmaadi

Patton Oswalt as Dr. Hubert Wartzki

Celeste O'Connor as Lucky Domingo

Logan Kim as Podcast

Emily Alyn Lind as Melody

James Acaster as Dr. Lars Pinfield

Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman

Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Raymond "Ray" Stantz

Ernie Hudson as Dr. Winston Zeddemore

Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz

William Atherton as Mayor Walter Peck

Sinners (2025)

"You keep dancing with the devil... one day he's gonna follow you home."

In 1932, twins Elijah "Smoke" (Jordan) and Elias "Stack" (Jordan) Moore return to their home town in Mississippi.  They purchase an old saw mill from Hogwood (David Maldonado) and turn it into a juke joint,  Their cousin Sammie "Preacherboy" Moore (Caton) is an accomplished guitarist, and they convince him to play that evening alongside music legend Delta Slim (Lindo) on piano.  They also hire Cornbread (Miller) as doorman, grocers Bo (Yao) and Grace Chow (Jun Li) and Smoke's wife Annie (Mosaku) to provide food and work at the bar.  

Meanwhile, vampire Remmick (O'Connell) also arrives in town, on the run from vampire hunters.  He immediately begins creating more vampires.  They are drawn to Sammie's music and the juke joint.  Smoke and Stack also learn that Hogwood and others plan to attack at dawn.  Can they survive both the supernatural and human threats to their friends and business?

This is an original horror movie that was written, directed, and produced by Ryan Coogler.

The Good:

Michael B. Jordan has the difficult job of portraying 2 characters in the film, but he makes it look easy.  Both Smoke and Stack have distinct personalities and looks and are compelling characters.  This is Miles Caton's film debut and he is one to watch.  Both Jordan and Caton have received acting nominations from award shows and it is expected that at least one will receive an Oscar nomination.  The rest of the cast is also good.

The music is excellent and is influenced by blues, jazz, etc music from the 1930s... and some Irish .  And while I would not consider this film a musical, it does include most of the cast singing and dancing to "Rocky Road to Dublin".

The Bad:

The film makes the most of it's R rating - with gore and language (along with sexual content).

Other Comments:

-Coogler's frequent collaborator Ludwig Goransson wrote the score. 

-Buddy Guy, blues guitarist and singer, portrays Old Sammie

-I do not like horror movies and was not planning to watch this film, but due to the positive reviews and award season buzz, I decided to give it a try.  I didn't dislike the film, but I probably would not watch it again.  But it is worthwhile to see Jackson in dual roles.

Sinners (2025) 138 minutes

Director: Ryan Coogler

Rating: R for strong bloody violence, sexual content and language

Starring: Michael B. Jordan as Elijah "Smoke" Moore and Elias "Stack" Moore

Hailee Steinfeld as Mary

Miles Caton as Sammie "Preacherboy" Moore

Jack O'Connell as Remmick

Wunmi Mosaku as Annie

Jayme Lawson as Pearline

Omar Benson Miller as Cornbread

Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim

Peter Dreimanis as Bert

Lola Kirke as Joan

Li Jun Li as Grace Chow

Saul Williams as Jedidiah Moore

Yao as Bo Chow

Frank and Ollie

Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston were animators with Walt Disney Studios from the 1930s to 1980s.  They worked with Walt Disney and other animators, who Disney affectionately called "The Nine Old Men" and helped to shape Disney animation in both shorts and feature films.  They were known for expressive animation and loved their work.

But their relationship went beyond colleagues.  Thomas and Johnston first met at Stanford in the 1920s, with no plans to work in animation, although they were both impressed with the animated short films produced by Disney.  They spent decades as close friends and neighbors, with tight connections between their families and left a lasting legacy to subsequent animators.

You may not know their names or recognize them, but you know their work.  Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston worked on 23 animated features films for Disney and gave life to numerous iconic moments.

The Good:

Thomas and Johnston are charming and clearly enjoy working together.  Their stories have a natural cadence, as they tell it together.  There is a lot of care and obvious affection as they talk about each other, and no jealousy as they brag about the other's accomplishments.

It is a loving portrait of best friends with a long history, as they talk about their lives and passions (outside of animation).  In addition to Thomas and Johnston, and their wives, other animators talk about their impact on the medium and Disney animated films.

The Bad:

If you are not interested in the subject, this may not hold your attention.

Other Comments:

-Director Theodore Thomas is Frank's son. He also directed the Disney documentary Walt & El Grupo in 2008.

-In addition to their animation work, the pair also co-wrote several books about animation.

-They had voice cameos in animated films directed by Brad Bird: 1999's The Iron Giant and 2004's Pixar film The Incredibles.  In both films, their characters appeared together.

-Thomas died in 2004 and Johnston died in 2008, making them the final 2 of Disney's Nine Old Men.

-John Canemaker's "Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation" also chronicles the lives of Thomas and Johnston (along with the other 7 animators).

-An easy and enjoyable documentary that makes me want to learn more about these men and the rest of the Nine Old Men.

Frank and Ollie (1995) 89 minutes

Director: Theodore Thomas

Frank Thomas

Ollie Johnston

Sylvia Roemer

John Canemaker

John Culhane

Marie Johnston

Jeanette Thomas

Glen Keane 

Andy Gaskill

Anyone But You

"Some cupids kill with arrows, and some with traps."

"That was good. I like that."

"I just made it up."

Bea (Sweeney) and Ben (Powell) meet cute at a coffee shop.  They spend the rest of the day together, but a misunderstanding the next morning drives them apart.  They hope to never see each other again, but are forced to interact again when Bea's sister Halle (Robinson) begins dating Ben's old friend Claudia (Shipp), who is the sister of his best friend Pete (GaTa).

Claudia and Halle decide to get married in Australia.  They invite their closest family and friends to stay at the Australian home of Claudia and Pete's parents Roger (Brown) and Carol (Hurd).  Bea and Ben's bickering frustrates everyone else and threatens to ruin the wedding.  Further complicating things, Ben's ex Margaret (Fraser), who is Claudia and Pete's cousin, is also in the wedding and brought her new boyfriend Beau (Davidson) along.  And Bea's well-meaning parents, Leo (Mulroney) and Innie (Griffiths), invited her ex-fiance, Jonathan (Barnet) to the wedding.  With their family and friends trying to set them up, Bea and Ben declare a truce and pretend to be an item.  Can they survive the wedding and get what they really want?

The story is loosely based on William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing."  Quotes from the play, along with some character names, are incorporated in the film - both the dialog and background (such as store names, etc).

The Good:

Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell have believable chemistry.  The setting is beautiful, as is the cast.

The Bad:

It could be better... there are unnecessary moments and the use of language and nudity doesn't add anything to the story.

Other Comments:

-At the end of the film, the cast sings "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield - which is charming.

-It is an entertaining film, but doesn't hold up to great romantic comedies or well-done Shakespeare adaptations.  I enjoyed the film, but don't need to see it again.

Anyone But You (2023) 103 minutes

Rating: R for language throughout, sexual content and brief graphic nudity

Director: Will Gluck

Starring: Sydney Sweeney as Bea

Glen Powell as Ben

Alexandra Shipp as Claudia

GaTa as Pete

Hadley Robinson as Halle

Michelle Hurd as Carol

Dermot Mulroney as Leo

Darren Barnet as Jonathan

Bryan Brown as Roger

Rachel Griffiths as Innie

Charlee Fraser as Margaret

Joe Davidson as Beau