Who Ya Gonna Call? Bill Murray… But he probably won’t answer

matt

Part of me is annoyed at Bill Murray, and part of me sympathizes with why he’s turned his back on the long-gestating “Ghostbusters 3.”

The latest news, as reported by IGN.com, is that production for the long-talked-about sequel will begin summer 2013 and will do so without Murray.

My inner fanboy is crying out, “Why not do this for the fans, Bill?! We all are dyeing to see you back as Dr. Peter Venkman. We love you, and we love you in this unforgettable role. We are the ones who put all that money in your pocket. We’re the ones who waited in line and spent our hard-earned money to see your movies. We made you who you are, and you owe us — even if you’re not crazy about doing it.”

But  the truth is, we paid our money to see Bill Murray because he’s an incredible talent. I’m a huge fan of his, and I trust him. I believe when he makes a movie, it’s going to be a good one. I’m looking forward to his next movie, “Hyde Park on the Hudson,” in which he plays Franklin D. Roosevelt. There’s already early Oscar buzz surrounding his name. This is a man whose made some amazing movies, has incredible range, and always delivers a good performance — even if the movie isn’t great.

So I have to trust that he’s making the right choice to not take part in Ghostbusters 3. There have been so many prequels, sequels and spin-offs that I’m confident to say I could have lived without a third installment in the franchise. I’m sure it would be much better with Murray back in the cast, but it’s not going to ruin my day.

As a public, we often get the feeling that we’re entitled to the work of an artist. We feel that authors, artists and movie makers owe us their work, but it’s really not true. The greatest creations are those born naturally. It goes back to the old saying that sequels are never as good as the original, and it’s true for the most part. The reason being is that great original works are organic. When a spin-off is born out of request by the public or the demand for more dollars by a studio, it’s usually watered down, forced, and not fresh.

All great artists produce work that satisfies them. Stanley Kubrick never set out to please studios with his films. Pablo Picasso didn’t paint more or pursue surrealism because people demanded it. They created because they were artists, and people enjoyed their work because they were great at it. Bill Murray’s his own man, and I can’t help but respect him for it.

I look forward to the rest of Bill Murray’s career much more than I long for a third Ghostbusters movie.

Fanboys

They’ve waited years for the release of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. But when one of their own discovers he’s terminally ill, a group of pals embarks on a road trip to Skywalker Ranch to steal the long-anticipated film. Sam Huntington, Chris Marquette, Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel and Kristin Bell star in director Kyle Newman’s labor of geek love featuring cameos from Star Wars alums Billy Dee Williams, Carrie Fisher and Ray Park.

Matt
Rating: 7 out of 10

This movie is a lot of fun if you’re a giant Star Wars nerd like me. If you’re not, this movie won’t really be your thing. It’s packed with all kinds of inside jokes and cameos revolving around sci-fi and Star Wars.

This is a road trip movie with a thin plot about a group of Star Wars nerds who find out their friend has cancer and doesn’t have long to live. They follow their childhood dream to break into George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch to view Star Wars Episode I before it’s been released. It’s a very sorry plot, but it’s just enough to move the story through some hilarious moments. The best of which is when they visit William Shatner’s fictitious home town where Star Trek nerds are giving tours. They show up on the tour and harass them in front of a statue of Captain Kirk fighting Kahn — and the crotch on Kirk is insanely bulbous.

If you just laughed at that, you’ll enjoy this sentimentally nerdy comedy that is flawed but fun. If you didn’t, you won’t like it at all. This is one for the fanboys.

Top 5 Bill Murray Movies

matt

I think Bill Murray is one of the best actors of his generation. He once said it’s much harder to make an audience laugh than to cry. But he’s done both and in excellent fashion. He’s long shown range in acting — whether it’s something dramatic like “Broken Flowers,” or something completely goofy like “What About Bob?,” Murray has a way of engaging an audience like few can. This was a hard list to write because he has so many great movies that aren’t on this list, like “Ghostbusters,” “Get Low” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Rushmore” “Kingpin”
“Scrooged,” and the list goes on. But these are my Top 5 Bill Murray Movies:

5. The Man Who Knew Too Little: This is a movie with a simple concept that is just beautifully played out by Murray. He plays a simple American guy who visits his brother in London. His older brother needs to get him out of the house because he has important company and gets him tickets to “The Theater of Life,” in which the audience member meets the cast on the street and take part in a realistic, life-like play. Only when Murray’s character goes to a designated payphone for his call to start the play, he gets a call from a real life spy. The rest of the movie, he’s acting like a spy, thinking he’s acting, but is actually caught up in real-life espionage. It’s brilliant, and Murray makes me laugh every time in this very underappreciated film in his large body of work.

4. Quick Change: Murray plays a bank robber in this romp of a heist movie. It’s got a lot of action and an actual smart bank robbery story at its core, but it is a brilliant comedy with excellent supporting roles by Gina Davis and Dennis Quaid. This is classic Murray from the early 90s. If you haven’t seen this movie, check it out. It’s one of Murray’s best performances in a very smart, funny movie. Oh, and he directed it, too.

3. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: This is a visually compelling film by Wes Anderson, a director Murray has collaborated with on “Rushmore,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” ” The Darjeeling Limited” and “The Fantastic Mr. Fox.” It’s a comedy, for sure, but it’s also a complex father/son story. This is one of those films where you either love it, or you didn’t care for it very much. I think this is one of Anderson’s best films and Murray gave an understated performance in what could have been a campy delivery of a character surrounded by a lot of zany imagery. It was brilliant.

2. Lost in Translation: Murray was fantastic in this Golden Globe-award winning role, for which he won best actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award and didn’t win, but sometimes getting the nomination is enough. Again, this is the kind of range great actors like Robert De Niro — who constantly flops in comedy — don’t possess. This was a simple film, but sometimes the best stories are. Murray was strong as the once-famous actor who goes to Japan to make commercials. He was engaging, funny without trying, and dramatic without effort. This could be his best performance in this group.

1. Groundhog Day: This is a great film that showcases everything Murray does well. He plays a great sarcastic jerk with moments of sincerity, drama, slapstick all wrapped in one of the most brilliant comedic scripts ever written. The Academy almost completely ignores comedy. I’m not saying this should have won best picture, but this is one of those ones that should have at least been nominated for original screenplay. Murray plays a man stuck on the same day — Groundhog Day. He’s a weatherman there on assignment and every morning, over and over again for eternity, lives the same day. He does everything all of us would do, like commit suicide, think you’re a God and go a little mad, and eventually screw around and break the law. But ultimately, he begins to figure out that he needs to change and make himself a better man to get out of his rut. It’s an unforgettable film, and Murray’s best.

Predators

Rugged mercenary Royce (Adrien Brody) inherits command of an elite team of human fighters — including dorky-but-dangerous Edwin (Topher Grace) and tough-but-beautiful Isabelle (Alice Braga) — as they are hunted by a race of ruthless alien trackers known as Predators. Director Nimród Antal’s sci-fi action explosion, which also stars Laurence Fishburne and an uzi-toting Danny Trejo, is a direct sequel to the 1987 blockbuster Predator. Directed by Nimród Antal (Vacancy).

Matt
Rating: 5 out of 10

This could have been a whole lot better, given the strength of the source material and cast, along with the fact that Robert Rodriguez (Machete) produced the film.

It wasn’t a total disaster. There were some interesting characters, which ended up being the film’s weakness. There were just too many of them. All of the characters had to be cookie-cutter stereotypes because that’s all you can develop when you have seven primary cast member in a 90 minute movie. You’ve got the ninja (who still calls themself a ninja?), a tough girl assassin, the anti-hero war vet, the surly Russian, and so on. They tried to throw in some new predator arch to the story. They use these crazy alien hunting dogs, which I liked, but they also tried to wedge in a back story about two types of predators that are warring. The only difference between them that we get to see is that one is taller than the other. Not very compelling stuff. I did like the concept of all these varied soldiers getting dropped off in the jungle and hunted by predators, though. It made for some good action.

This is not a very good movie, but it’s certainly the best Predator movie since the original, which was very good.

Machete

Hired to assassinate a politician, vigilante and ex-Federale Machete (Danny Trejo) nearly dies when a sniper shoots him during the job. Out for revenge, he’s joined by a reluctant old buddy (Cheech Marin) who’s become a pacifist priest. Written and co-directed by Robert Rodriguez, this homage to exploitation films based on his fake trailer in Grindhouse co-stars Robert De Niro, Michelle Rodriguez, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Alba and Steven Seagal.

Matt
Rating: 8 out of 10

No one else on the planet could have played Agent Machete other than Danny Trejo. He is the low-keyed, cool-as-ice bad ass with a scarred face and a body covered in tattoos. His delivery of this likable man who slashes bad guys in all kinds of disgustingly fun ways makes this movie successful.

This is an absurd action movie — as most are — but is done with a campy style, similar to “Grindhouse” where this movie spawned. It was a fake trailer that showed before the movie, also directed by Robert Rodriguez, and I was pumped to see it get its own feature-length film. Rodriguez is an intriguing director. He takes on action and horror films by and large but never loses his sense of humor. This movie is extraordinarily violent — there’s a scene where Machete cuts open a man’s stomach and uses his intestines like a rope to swing out a window — but it’s always with a tongue-in-cheek flair that made me laugh because it’s so impossible. It’s also a smart script with a fantastic cast — De Niro is in his element as the racist, Texas conservative hellbent on getting illegal aliens out, and Alba is sharp as a Latino immigration agent who is conflicted about busting her people. Michelle Rodriguez is her usual self as the tough and sexy leader of a network that helps immigrants get work and shelter. All of their worlds collide with a Mexican drug dealer played by Steven Seagal. The support roles were excellent. It was nice to see Don Johnson return in one of the most evil roles in the film and Cheech Marin’s character was a nice addition as Machete’s brother who is a priest.

Wrap a revenge action story and camp humor around a subtext of immigration and you’ve got a fun film that never loses its sense of self. It’s not for everyone, but if you liked “Grindhouse” and “Death Proof” or are a fan of 70s exploitation films, you’ll love this movie.