The Steves discuss the 2016 reboot, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, along with what's making them happy in pop culture today!
What's making us happy?
Movie Discussion
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
The Steves discuss the 2016 reboot, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, along with what's making them happy in pop culture today!
What's making us happy?
Movie Discussion
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
Hello, returning Happys and new listeners. This is Steve Bennet-Martin. And this is Stephen Martin-Bennet and welcome to a Lifetime of Happiness, the podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping keep us. Happy while hopefully it bring a smell to your face along the way. And
Stephen:today we're going to find out the answer to who you gonna call as we destroy the childhoods and misogynistic incels everywhere. When we cover the 2016 reboot of
Steve:Ghostbusters. I can't wait and was gonna give it at least a minute before you mention incel, so I lose that bet.
Stephen:Yeah. I decided to get it right off the bat so that if somebody that's. Listening to this right now and they're like, I don't wanna listen to that thing about fight female Ghostbusters. You can go ahead and turn it off cuz that's what we're gonna talk
Steve:about. All right. Excellent. Love. But before we talk about that, my love, what's been making you happy?
Stephen:Recently it's Black Lady Sketch show, Uhuh Black Lady Sketch Show, Uhuh. So. I am absolutely in love and have been for several years now with the Black Lady Sketch Show on H B O creator Robin Thek Yes. Is just absolutely brilliant. She has a wonderful cast of people on there. I mean, it's because of her that Quinta Bronson I,
Steve:I said Abbott
Stephen:Elementary. Yeah. And she created Abbott Elementary. And then we also had Ashley, Nicole Black, who was incredible on there and it appears she has moved on in the fourth season. But Gabrielle, Dennis and Sky Townsend are just. They're all so good. I mean, Gabrielle Dennis, as Mary Magdalene Yeah. Gets me every time.
Steve:I it. I love it and I know that it was certainly not meant for us, but I feel like we can enjoy it nonetheless. And it is just definitely, you don't have to be a black lady to enjoy it, but it certainly won't
Stephen:hurt. Right. And if you, and
Steve:I also realize that US gays take a lot from black lady
Stephen:culture. Yes. I think they call that appropriation. Oops. Yeah. But what's been making you happy? My darling? Cocaine. No bear. Oh
Steve:yes. Cocaine bear. Yes, I am. I am still sober, but I did enjoy watching cocaine. Bear with you. Yeah. It was exactly what you would think. And nothing else, more or less than that. It is about, it took place in what the eighties Uhhuh and they're like in the forest and there's a bear on cocaine and shenanigans and suits. And it delivered exactly what you would expect from that. And nothing more, but nothing
Stephen:less. Elizabeth Banks was a brilliant director for this, and this just goes along with the movies right now that are just saying, Hey, come watch us. It's gonna be fun. Like Megan. Megan was one and they're both on Peacock. Yep. And Violent night. Yes. They told you in the trailer this is gonna be. Ridiculous. Campy fun. And it was, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. So, and now it's free. And now it's free. If you have peacock watch cocaine bear. It's a good time. Yes.
Steve:All right. I think it's time to get into it though. What is a ghost buster?
Stephen:So Ghostbusters are people. That capture ghosts.
Steve:Okay. Yes, I'm familiar. This was an original movie back in the eighties, right? It was it was created, I learned like yesterday. Yeah, that it was created by Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis. And those are two of the Ghostbuster dudes. Yes. I didn't realize that. They were the ones who created it as well, which is wild and cool. I know. And while only there was this one and then the second one, but it also ha created a franchise that expanded with theme park attractions or cartoon series video games, comic books, action figures and more. Which begs me to ask, how big were the Ghostbusters in your childhood?
Stephen:So big like. The Ghostbusters were just a huge thing in the eighties. I watched both movies when they came out in the theater. That was actually my first Introduction to Sigourney Weaver was, ooh, in these movies. I watched the Saturday morning cartoon, the real Ghostbusters. I had all the action figures including the Firehouse Play set. Nice. I played the video games on the Commodore 64, and then on the we and I'm now again on the switch and the Ghostbusters were just a huge. Huge part of my childhood. Like so in the real Ghostbusters cartoon, Slimer was their sidekick. Yes.
Steve:And I do remember like the Ghostbusters movies I had never seen before You, but I did watch the cartoon and like I had a Slimer toy. I don't think I had like all the action figures and sets and everything like that, but I definitely had like at least a Slimer toy or two. Like, so I was familiar with the Ghostbusters as a brand, but it was only when we met that you were like, This is proof that you were abused as a child. Yeah. You can't
Stephen:have been born in the eighties. And never seen the Ghostbusters,
Steve:but I did do the Disney experience at the theme park and I was one of the little kids when I was little that was called up on stage to participate in hunting ghosts. Well, that's phenomenal. Yes. So the question though, with this whole reboot concept we're going with this month is why reboot the Ghostbusters?
Stephen:So there had been talk forever and a day about a third Ghostbusters movie. Because Ghostbusters two in 1989, huge success again. Yes, it was thoroughly enjoyable. I personally think Ghostbusters two was a more enjoyable film overall.
Steve:I do remember liking it more.
Stephen:Yeah. But Bill Murray had gotten so successful they couldn't nail him down to commit to the project and like, as. Impressive as all the other people were that were in the movie and they were great. Gil Murray was the one that took off.
Steve:Yeah. Excellent. Yes. And then with Harold Ram's death in 2014, that's what kind of prompted Sony to reboot the series instead. So in 2015 it was announced our Ghostbusters were all women, which was an issue for a show of istic pigs everywhere. Do you want to talk about why or why not does the gender of our Ghostbusters matter? Okay. So you
Stephen:would've had several different things. If it had been all male Ghostbusters, you would've had comparisons to the original, but I think people would've eventually have accepted it. Mm-hmm. If it had been a mix of men and women, Probably the same of people accepting it, as long as the woman wasn't the best one of the bunch. Or you would have a situation like you do with captain Marvel or Ray from the Star Wars movies. Mm-hmm. But because it was all women, not only would it never be quote as good, it would be the woke agenda destroying the childhood of fragile males everywhere. Ignoring the fact that all the currently living original cast made cameos in the reboot, in essence, giving their approval to the film and the reboot. But this didn't matter to angry keyboard warriors.
Steve:All right. Do you feel better now? I do. Okay. Sounds good.
Stephen:So if it, but if it hadn't have been a Lady Ghostbusters, what kind would it
Steve:have been? The obvious answer is drag queen Ghostbusters call us Sony for your next reboot. I would love some drag queen Ghostbusters.
Stephen:So, and I've, I would actually love to see that as well. Honestly, I think the movie would've gone over more smoothly if it was in the same universe. As the originals, if one of the new Ghostbusters was related to the original, or if one of the originals was still running the office or had been their mentor. Yeah, something like that. But by making its own universe and not related to the als, Minnie felt cheated. So I,
Steve:well, I think they feel better later on. Yeah. But yes, this movie was released July 9th, 2016 with a budget of 144 million and a box office of 229.1 million, and it's considered a flop. Yes. And I mean, 229.1 million is something I would accept in the bank account, any today, but in all seriousness, does$144 million for the movie that we saw Sound. Like money well spent or executed, or does it seem bigger than normal?
Stephen:It seems a lot more expensive than normal. I mean, honestly the special effects are absolutely incredible, but I think their biggest issue mm-hmm is that they have five A list actors that were at the height of their popularity in all lead roles. So I can imagine that the salaries for the cast. We're a big
Steve:part of it. Yes, and I mean, I can also imagine that some of the issues that you encounter when you have Four Lady Ghostbusters, you have to worry about the production cost of Civil H tampon and women products. You have to make sure that they can take off when they have their period. There's monthly abortions going on, clearly, obviously. So, I mean, th this is part of the risk of having all female Ghostbusters. That's what I read on the message boards, right?
Stephen:I mean, yes. So just so you know,
Steve:he is, I do not kidding. I do not believe any of that. Sorry, ladies in our lives, we love you. Yeah. And this is, but that's what people were
Stephen:saying. That's ridiculous. But I mean, they had these. Four Amazing women and Thor. Yeah. Like that's not gonna be cheap. Yes. Well
Steve:it was also directed by Paul Fig. Yep. And written by him and Katie Dalt. And we know their names because Fig did Bridesmaids, which was very, very funny. Yeah. And Dalt did Parks and Rec, which I hear good things about, but never fell in love with myself.
Stephen:Correct. And it stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Chris Hemsworth. Huge.
Steve:Yes. And Melissa McCarthy actually was originally set to play the role of Patty, which ultimately went to Leslie Jones. Paul realized that McCarthy had already played similar characters in his previous films, like in Bridesmaids. Yep. And said I wanted to unleash Leslie on the public in the same way we unleashed Melissa on the public in bridesmaids, which is what really blew up her career. With a very showy role. And
Stephen:honestly, I love what they did with Patty's character. She may not have been a scientist, but they let us know that she's extremely intelligent when it comes to New York City and its history, and that's an impressive amount of knowledge.
Steve:Yes. Well, why don't we talk about that knowledge and what happened with the movie. So what
Stephen:had happened was, yes, a group of people are taking a tour of the Aldridge Mansion in New York City. The tour guide Garrett tells the group. Of Gertrude Aldridge, a disturbed woman that was kept locked in the basement by her father. A candlestick falls over on the table near the basement to creep the group out, but is just part of a trick. Garrett played. What he doesn't see is a device beneath the nightstand that is flickering and vibrating.
Steve:Yes. Now my love. Would you want to go on a tour of the Aldridge Mansion?
Stephen:Yes, 100% because like, They, they tell us that there's a clock that took the place of a Romanian woman and her child on a lifeboat of the Titanic. And it also has the room where PT Barnum first had the idea to enslave elephants and a mass murderer was locked in the basement. Yes,
Steve:please. Yeah, that sounds like fun for us. Yeah. Now, as these is closing up shop, Garrett hears a noise in the basement. The door begins to shake, and he runs for it. Garrett tries to run out of the mansion, but the doorknob has been heated. He tries to break out a window with a stool only for the stool to be thrown back at him. Garrett runs back towards the basement. The floor is filling up with greens, green slime, and the stairs break apart. Garrett holds on his, he sees a ghost rise up from the floor, and I think that Garrett was dead at first
Stephen:and, but we do know that he pooped his pants. He
Steve:did poop his pants, but yes. Have you ever witnessed anything paranormal like this?
Stephen:Yes. But whether they were actual, like whether the visuals I saw were paranormal or if it was sleep paralysis. Mm-hmm. I'm not sure because you remember my times like when we were in the apartment Yeah. In Laurel Park and I would say there was a dark figure at the door and it came towards the bed. And then I also vividly remember there was a night when I was growing up, That I had had a nightmare. And so I went to sleep in mom and dad's bed, and I woke up in the middle of the night and there was a glowing orbi thing coming from their closet towards the bed. And like, I still remember to this day seeing that. Wow. But there was also this time on an overnight ghost hunt where we were in a room and it was July. So I want to make it clear that it's, Hot. Mm-hmm. And there were pockets of freezing cold air. Not the whole room, just sections, and the AC was on, so it's not like the air wasn't circulating. And also our phone batteries were losing a percentage without use, like 1% every three minutes. So you could just like look at your phone and watch the percentage drop. That's not normal. And also flashlight, batteries went dead. After about an hour though I had bought. A new flashlight just the month before and put brand new batteries in that day. Spooky? Yeah. What about
Steve:you? No. But I knew you had stories, so I wanted to give you the chance to share. I appreciate that. Yes, you're welcome. Would you like to, what happens next?
Stephen:Sure. At Columbia University, Derek, Dr. Aaron Gilbert, Dr. Theoretical Particle Physics is approached by Ed Mulgrave, a historian at the Aldridge Mansion. Who also ha happens to have a book that Erin wrote some years ago on the existence of ghosts. It looks
Steve:like her. I mean, it it also has her picture in it. I don't know if it's actually her. Yeah. Oh
Stephen:it is. It is. She's not proud of having written it, and she's even less than pleased to learn that it's resurfaced. Erin knows it was done by her former friend and colleague, Abby Yates. Ed approaches Erin because of the haunting at the Aldridge mansion and asks her to look in on it. As Erin looks up Abby's current workplace, she learns from the university's Dean Harold Fillmore, that she is up for tenure, so she does what she can to hide knowledge of the book.
Steve:Yes. Now the, although Harold Remus passed away in 2014, thus could not make a cameo alongside his fellow castmates, there's a bust of his head just outside of Aaron's University office near the beginning of the film. The bus was later donated to the Harold Remus Film School at Chicago's second City where Ramis became, began his career. And I didn't know that Chicago actually had two different cities named Chicago. What's their second city? Second
Stephen:City is like that, so you know how Saturday Night Live started as the not ready for primetime players? Uhhuh Second City is a comedy and improv troop.
Steve:Oh, I thought like there was Chicago and then there was the other Chicago, right next to Chicago that was called Second City. That makes more sense.
Stephen:Yeah, no, so it, and it's kind of like the two lead characters from Schitt's Creek first met while doing that sort of thing in
Steve:Canada. Yes. Now, have you written or done something in your past that makes you cringe now?
Stephen:No, not that I can think of. Even my old American Idol blog still makes me smile.
Steve:Well, there you go. What about you? I, I, I'm like my own worst cri critic with anything I write. So even when I write it, if I'm like, this is brilliant, if I go back like three months, six months, a year, 10 years later, I'm like, this is garbage. What was I thinking?
Stephen:I'm never that hard on myself. I'm like, look what I created.
Steve:Well, there you go. Now Erin invites Abby in her lab with her new work partner, Jillian Holtzman, a brilliant engineer who's also a bit eccentric and nutty. My kind lady. I love Kate McKennon. Yes. Erin and Abby are still upset with each other over the book and how Erin abandoned their work and Erin demands. Abby takes the book off Amazon. Erin then brings up the Aldridge mansion. Haunting, inspiring, Abby and Holzman says, spring into action with Erin. Reluctantly joining them because she doesn't really have much of a choice. Yes. Now, are you team Erin or Abby on this conflict
Stephen:team Abbey? A hundred percent I believe. If you have strong beliefs on something and a best friend who was right there with you. And you give up your passion to follow mainstream success while ignoring your authentic self, that it's just sad. Bravo to Abby for sticking to it. What about you?
Steve:I mean, ultimately Abby has the right attitude on life, but I don't know how I would feel if I did this whole project with someone back in my twenties that I put behind me and switched directions, and then someone without my consent published it and put my picture and information up on Amazon saying, look what I did with this dude back then.
Stephen:You also seem to have abandoned your friend too.
Steve:Well, my friend can suck it. That's why I abandoned them. I.
Stephen:Yeah, I'm Team Abbey though. Okay,
Steve:fine. The three
Stephen:ladies arrive at the mansion with some equipment. The basement has been locked tight. Aaron steps on some gooey green slime, and the P K E meter goes crazy. Suddenly the three do notice that the basement door is now open and emitting an eerie blue glow. They are then face-to-face with the ghost of Ger Aldridge, who looks beautiful and relend and are old-fashioned. And Erin approaches her calmly, but Gertrude's face turns demonic and she spews ectoplasmic bile all over. Aaron, the ghost flies out of the building. The ladies record a video with Aaron proclaiming that ghosts are real. Ghosts are real. Unfortunately, this falls into Fillmore's hands and he fires Aaron for being a bad representation on the school. Leading to a long and awkward walk of shame. There you go.
Steve:Yes. And I found it funny when I researched it. Kristen Wigg had to get spewed on twice the, the first time, I forgot what happened. The second time her wig came off, so they had to actually splice the two together because the idea of having to do it a third time, she was like, no, thank you. Can you make do with the two you have? And they're like, yes, yes we can. That's funny. Now have you, can you relate to Aaron with what it feels like to get in trouble at work for your beliefs?
Stephen:Why? Yes. Yes, I can. So I stood up against transgender bigotry and ignorance, and I was told that I had made everyone uncomfortable by me voicing how wrong they were and that I should learn when to, and I quote, keep my damn mouth shut.
Steve:Ooh. I wouldn't wanna work for a company like that anymore, and I don't. There we go. Now that Erin is jobless, she decides to join Abby and Holtzman in their research, just in time for them to also lose their job. After talking to the dean, who happens to be quite the dick, they steal equipment from the school's lab and decide to open up their own facility, and there's a little jab because Abby says, unlike Columbia, this institute is a hundred percent behind us. And this is a reference to the original Ghostbusters movie where Columbia allowed its facilities to be used for filming as long as its name was never mentioned.
Stephen:Yeah. I think that they probably used the whole Empire State University that a lot of places use when they're talking about New York. Yes. On the video and the comments, there were many things like, ain't no bitches gonna hunt, no ghosts. And so it's like when they were filming this, they knew exactly what the online people were gonna
Steve:say. Oh, for sure. And then we meet MTA worker Patty Tolan. She is approached by a weird guy named Rowan North. He rambles on about a fourth cataclysm, which Patty pays no mind to because she's an MTA worker in the city and probably hears worse than weirder stuff every day. 100%. She sees him climb down the platform and onto the tracks and into a tunnel. So it's her job to go after him. Behind her Rowan implants in another device similar to the one we saw in the mansion. Patty then sees a ghost in a prison suit. She runs like hell away from it as she should. And then we see Rowan talking crazy to himself at work about being bullied in the universe, bending to his will. Charge the lines, create the vortex, break the barrier.
Stephen:Yeah. That's absolutely not the weirdest thing that she's ever seen at the mta. Oh, for
Steve:sure. Yes. Yeah. But this time she goes to the Ghostbusters.
Stephen:Yes. Erin Abbey and Holtzman set up shop in a new location above a Chinese restaurant as the Department of Metaphysical examination. A young man named Kevin Beckman shows up for a receptionist job. That's Chris Hemsworth. Yes. Aaron thinks he's hot, but during the interview, Kevin rubs to be the epitome of a Jimbo. Yeah. Still they hire him on the spot. He's also the only one that applied. Yes. The ladies are then visited by Patty, who mentions the ghost. She spotted in the subway.
Steve:Yes. Now, before settling on the restaurant, they toured the firehouse from the original, from the first two movies, but it was out of their price range,$21,000 a month. In the original movie, it was a dump and rundown, and Dan Akroyd had to convince the others to take it. And this is they, they were like, we want it, and they couldn't have it. Yeah.
Stephen:Abby creates an ad that says, if you see something, say something. But that's the anti-terrorism ad. Yeah. So she says, Well, what about if there's something strange and then she gets interrupted? Yes.
Steve:And in the interview scene, Chris was concerned having to face off against three comic geniuses. Yeah. As he doesn't consider himself much of an improviser. But when the time came, he actually improvised the bit with the lens free glasses as well as the mo the dog named Mike Hat. Yeah,
Stephen:my cat, his dog adds with the ghost, with the boobs and the hot dog flying over the house. When they tell him don't listen, he covers his eyes and when he, and when he strikes the gong to block out the loud sound, he again covers his eyes. Is.
Steve:I know, but at the same time, it's amazing. At work, I am recharge in charge of receptionist and I have to tell you that if Chris Hemsworth came in and applied to be my receptionist, even if he was that dumb, I would probably still hire him. Oh. And work with him every day and just put up with it. Cuz they'd be like, oh, but you're Chris Hemsworth.
Stephen:Yeah. Like if we, I would hire him to do accounts payable. Even if I had to go behind him and redo it. Yeah, exactly.
Steve:Now, Patty leads the ladies to the tunnel where she spotted the ghost. Patty tells them that above that part of the subway was a prison where people were put to death. Holtzman brings along some equipment she built to catch the ghost. They see the same ghost that Patty saw hovering above them. They record the ghost with their HD cams while Aaron is given a proton laser to capture it. The laser isn't strong enough to hold down the ghost and the train is coming fast. The ladies run to safety as the train hits the ghost, causing them to get splattered with ectoplasm slime while the ghost is stuck on the train. Okay.
Stephen:Something that I love in this Yeah. In the, she doesn't get the weapons right the first time. Yes. In the original they do. Which seems
Steve:unlikely.
Stephen:Yeah. And so I love in this that she tries one and then, and then it gets better and then it gets better. And then she does new versions of the things and I'm like,
Steve:and you also see them like te testing it on the alley, which I really like throughout the movie. Yeah. This
Stephen:all makes sense. I really like it. There was a grati graffiti artist too, is the bane of Patty's job, and he does art on the wall of no ghosts. Which is the Ghostbusters logo.
Steve:Yes. And on you loved the effects on the Blu-ray, huh? Because I think that this was shot for 3d.
Stephen:I, it may have been, and I don't remember. But you know how when you're watching a Blu-ray on your tv, you have the black bar at the top and the bottom? Well, the sparks from the proton pack or the lightning from the prison ghost, they go out of the main part of the screen into the black area at the top of the bottom. And I think that's such a fun
Steve:touch. Yes, it certainly was. And the video of the ghost goes viral and the media dubs the team of the Ghostbusters to their chagrin fame. Debunker Martin Heis. Bill Murray. Bill Murray goes on to record, goes on record to dismiss the subway. Ghost is fake. Which is funny cuz he's one of the original Ghostbusters. Yes. Patty decides to join the team since she knows how to get around the city and knows all of its history. And she provides the team with a vehicle for carrying all the equipment. It's a Hershey borrowed from her uncle, and it becomes the new ecto one. Very nice. Now, if you were Patty, would you wanna join the
Stephen:Ghostbusters? 100%, no question without hesitation. Yes, please sign me up. All right. So what about
Steve:you? I, I would too. I would, I would be like the one who'd be like, I'll start off as the receptionist and I'll work my way there. No,
Stephen:as soon as Holtzman later is like, okay, and so we have these proton gloves that I need to do is punch the air. Yes. Yes, that one was
Steve:super cool. Would you let them turn your, your Jeep into a ecto one if that is what, what was required? Absolutely. Okay. There we go. Now Rowan assures Mrs. Pat Moore that the ghost growing on her back is no biggie at the hotel where he works before talking to the ghosts in the mirror. Meanwhile, Holtzman shows off some new equipment she made to catch ghost, as you mentioned. Yeah. Including a new laser gun, a grenade, and a proton glove. Ugh. It's all untested. So most of it turns out to be dangerous, but the team thinks it's all cool and we agree and they perfect it for later. Yeah.
Stephen:Melissa McCarthy is so good at physical comedy and when she uses the new proton gun out in the alley, like we were just talking about, and she flies around like a deflating balloon, it still makes me laugh every time. Yes. And I keep thinking about. Like if I were there and all of a sudden that laser that could kill you is flying around. Yeah. I would not have stayed to make sure she landed okay. I would've run for my own safety. Oh no. I would've
Steve:watched from afar. I would've probably video recorded it.
Stephen:The team is called to investigate a ghostly siding at a heavy metal performance where Rowan is seen planting another device in the theater. Abby Specter detector goes off near the dressing rooms where she finds Rowan's device. Patty is chased by a mannequin possessed by a ghost, and the Ghostbusters hit the mannequin with their proton lasers releasing a huge flying ghost Dragon monster into the theater. They follow it up to the stage where a band called the Beast of Mayhem are performing. And they don't actually sound that harsh like I was their song. I was like, it's actually pretty good. Yeah. I wasn't mad at all. The Ghost Dragon gargoyle thing flies out making everyone think it's part of the show. Like a laser light show. Yeah. Until the Ghostbusters rush the stage and try to hit it with their lasers. And the theater is art deco. You can't fix that type of thing. Be
Steve:more careful. Yeah. It doesn't go well for the, the building
Stephen:itself. No. Abby stage dives and goes after it. Patty says, I'm gonna save you sweaty freaks. And she stage dives, but nobody catches her. And she goes, I don't know if this is a race thing or what. But as she's getting up, she has the ghosts perched on her shoulders, and the other three have to wait for Patty to be still so they can hit it with their lasers, hold him, and pulls out the trap and they have the ghost sucked into it. Everyone cheers. The team on while Ozzy Osborne is backstage thinking he's having a flashback, which adds up. Yes. Now when Patty's investigating and she sees the room of mannequins, She calls it a room full of nightmares. Would you have gone in there held to the, no.
Steve:Yeah. Not, no, not even a little bit. Yeah. Like, even though I know that there's probably some important loot, shining in a little like Yeah. Display thing right behind them. I'm still like, I don't need that little bit of ammo. I will survive the night without it. Thank you. Or like, I
Stephen:might have stood at the door and used my laser to take down all of the mannequins, but I, I mean, after I know what you did last summer. I think we all know a room full of mannequins are not safe.
Steve:No. Now the team celebrates their first capture with some pizza. Abby and, and pizza was a thing in the originals, right? Like on the show, wasn't it? It's like we love catching ghosts and pizza or is that Ninja Turtles? That was Ninja Turtles. Okay, well, whatever. I'm getting my eighties stuff mixed up. Abby and Erin discussed how they were friends since high school. Erin also mentions how when she was a child, the ghost of her mean neighbor would stand at the foot of her bed every day for a year. Nobody believed her when she said it. They're then visited by Martin Heist so he can prove that the team is faking the capture. Aaron gets annoyed and decides to prove heists wrong by bringing out the trap and releasing the ghost. The ghost flies out and pushes him out the window as it escapes into the city.
Stephen:Erin really didn't think that one through, but after a lifetime of people not believing her and make fun of her, she just reacted. And like the whole time, I'm like, girl, no, no. Don't do it. No. Yeah. And now he's dead.
Steve:Yes. Now after the police arrived, the team is escorted by Agent Hawkins. And Rourke to meet with Mayor Bradley and his assistant Jennifer Lynch, played by Cecily Strong. While they are thankful for the team's capture of a ghost, they want them to say they are fraud, so as not to cause a stir in the city. Now, if you learned ghosts were real, but were told by like the city or the government to keep it a secret, would you? Nope,
Stephen:not even a little bit. I feel like that's one of those things that people have a right to know. Like if there were a, like if I had proof of aliens, I'd be like aliens, they're over there in Bradenton. I can show you. I'm not
Steve:in Bradenton. That's where I work. Send them over somewhere else they give you in Tampa. Okay. All right. When the team is alerted to a new ghost sighting, Aaron realizes there's a pattern to all the appearances in the city. It's discovered that all the devices found are along lay lines that intersect at the Mercado Hotel. They find a picture of the staff and Patty recognizes Rowan among them, knowing he's their guy. Patty also lets them know that the site of the Mercado Hotel has been the site of horrific happenings over a hundred years, even before the hotel was built. Ugh. Now lay lines. I know the term in the concept from video game. Yep. Nonsense. Do you, is it anything in your magical pro
Stephen:practices? Yeah, it really is totally a thing. Like if you look at maps of lay lines Allegedly they cross at the Bermuda Triangle and some other different places. I absolutely believe they're a thing, and I think it's similar to the energy vortex that we have here in Sarasota. That is very much definitely a thing with our, also our magic protection hurricane
Steve:bubble. There we go. Now the team heads to the hotel and finds Rowan in the basement with a device he built in which he plans to release a hoarded ghost unto the city to pester people to death as payback for being constantly mistreated. Abby tries to convince Rowan to stop his plans, but then she mentions the police are on their way and he freaks and jumps to his next phase of his plan. He grabs the two pillars and electrocutes himself before the police arrive. After his death, Holzman turns off the machine and they believe they averted the disaster. But wait, it's too soon. In the movie, Jennifer, the mayor's assistant, thanks them on behalf of the city quietly before fake arresting them and saying they realtor towed their car. Their image doesn't improve either. After Aaron punched a guy who had it coming for calling her ghost girl a fraud and that she needed more therapy. Meanwhile, with the basement closed off, the specter detector is left behind and goes haywire. Oh, now I was surprised that Rowan died quickly at
Stephen:first, so I was as well because he seemed like he was gonna be the main villain before the ghosts came along. Like Peter McNichol, that's on Ally Mcbe. Was the main human villain helping out vial lathen in Ghostbusters two. So I kind of figured that's what Rowan was gonna do. So I was kind of shocked when he died. He also, he was
Steve:shocked too.
Stephen:He definitely does not know the definition
Steve:of the word pester. No, not at all. And you added a little note. Yeah. Annie
Stephen:pops from the original Ghostbuster movies was the receptionist of the hotel. Similar to how she was a receptionist for the Ghostbusters and how in this movie she goes, Mercado Hotel, what do you want? She would say, Ghostbusters, what do you want?
Steve:There you go. Now at home, Erin reads through a copy of her book that Rowan was keeping to orchestrate his plan. She looks through the drawings and sees that he had always planned to electrocute himself so that he become a ghost. And eventually bring about the fourth cataclysm to lead the ghosted terrorize the world from the other side.
Stephen:See, what I'm seeing though, is he was truly a fan of her work and I think that part gets overlooked.
Steve:And also that he's a, not an all-star graphic artist, but he's a pretty good, absolutely illustrator. He could definitely make his own comics.
Stephen:I 100%. That's some great original art. Yes. At headquarters, Abby hears a knocking at the door, but no one is there. And then there's a rattling on the sinks pipes after she hides herself in the bathroom and she sees a green glow in the drain. Rowan's ghost then possesses Abby, and the worst part is the ooze coming from her nose and ears. She starts breaking holzman's equipment and then grabs holtzman by the throat to dangle her out the window. Patty intervenes and rescues Holtman holtzman before she bitch slaps her own out of Abby because the power of Patty compels you to leave her friend. Moments later, Kevin pulls up on his motorcycle and Rowan possesses him and rides off back to the
Steve:hotel. Yes. Now, in terms of options to possess, Chris Hemsworth is not a bad option, but if you were a ghost, who would you want to possess most out of those five? No, just out of anyone ever. Any go. Any and he, any living human that you would wanna possess?
Stephen:Okay, so for purely evil reasons, Uhhuh Trump, just to get in front of all the cameras and start like admitting to so many things and. I
Steve:think that would be funny. Yeah. Mine was gonna be more like going into a sex thing direction, so just, we have very different ideas of how to use this opportunity, so we will just leave it there. I was trying to
Stephen:help the
Steve:world. I was like, whose body do I want to just masturbate with all day long?
Stephen:Yeah. I was going for the helping the world. Okay, there you go. Now Erin runs to a restaurant where she finds Mayor Bradley. And Lynch eating. She frantically tries to warn them to evacuate the city and turn off the power, but she comes off as crazy and she's taken away. He's so like the mayor in Jaw.
Steve:Oh, totally. Now Rowan in Kevin's body makes it to the hotel basement and attacks the two guards standing outside. He manages to break the barriers, keeping the ghosts trapped to allow them to fly free, beginning the ghost invasion upon the city. A portal opens in the sky, releasing more and more ghosts upon the city. Aaron tries to get a cab, but the cabby, Dan Akroyd that mis dismisses her and drives off telling her, I ain't afraid to know Ghost. Which is funny because he co-created Ghostbusters and that was part of the theme song. Yes.
Stephen:And after seeing all the originals, it does make me wish that this was connected to the original timeline and that they had made cameos as their characters. I don't need them to be the stars of the movie. But yeah, I do fully admit it was nice to see them as cameo was in this no matter
Steve:what. Correct. Now Abby Holtzman and Patty gear up and head off to fight the ghost. There's a whole bunch of action next. No, just kidding. They run into none other than Slimer the Green Ghost eating from a hotdog cart. He seals the Okta one and drives off to find his misses. Abby and Patty get ready to shoot at the car. But Holtzman says the equipment on top of the car is basically a nuke and definitely won. Can come back into play later. Yeah. They then spot a bunch of ghosts that look like giant Macy's day parade floats, which they start popping with their proton packs, which was so cool. It was. And the last one, wa, was a float in the shape of the stay puff marshmallow man, which we'll know from the first movie. Yep. Rolls on the three, rendering them immobile, and Aaron saves them by popping him with a Swiss army knife that Holtzman gave her. The team then faces off against dozens of ghosts, including Gertrude, the subway ghost in the theater ghost, and it is magnificent. Yeah, I mean, these scenes clearly seem to be where most of the budget went. Was it worth it? 100%.
Stephen:Totally worth it. The weapons in this movie are so much cooler than just the basic proton packs. Mm-hmm. Of the original. The proton gloves, the ghost chipper? Yes. I mean, in the original it was all about using the things and capturing the ghosts. And this one, they can destroy the spectral energy and the spirits. It makes for much more interesting battles, like it's not even close. This is so significantly cooler than the
Steve:original. Yes, I agree. And the Ghostbusters head to the hotel to find us Still possess Kevin having frozen the police in military after a dance mob. Yay for
Stephen:the flash mob dancing. It was
Steve:fantastic. Yes, Rowan leaves Chris Kevin's body and decides to take on a more familiar, friendly form. The Ghostbusters, however, it quickly grows into a humongous, gross, scary beast that burst out of the hotel and begins wrecking havoc on the city. Crossing their streams doesn't shut down the vortex, which is weird cuz it always works when we pee together. But they see Slimer, his misses and other ghost riding down the street Street. So the team gets the idea to hit the ecto ones nuclear reactor into the portals for reverse it and actually close it. They fire their lasers that the ghosts have them steer in before hitting their reactor. It works and the ghosts start getting pulled back into the portal. Rowan holds onto two buildings, so the team hits him in the groin with their lasers to loosen his grip. He starts to get sucked in, but he grabs Abby and pulls her into the portal. Aaron hooks herself up to the wire and jumped into the portal firing her laser at Rowan's hand to release Abby, and she grabs her while he's pulled into the abyss Holtzman, and Patty pulled the two out and they return with totally bleached white hair to show for it. Yes. Thoughts on the
Stephen:climax? A the white hair totally works for Abby. Melissa McCarthy Looks great with it, so now I can't wait to see her as Ursula. Yes. B that was a great climax. It was exciting. It stayed true to the storyline of the two and their friendship and how they've healed things and the special effects in this movie have been truly amazing. The color schemes, everything. It was done so well. Yes.
Steve:Nothing like a satisfying climax. Now I see what you did there. Thank you. Now afterwards, mayor Bradley continues to deny the ghost problem, but secretly gives the team funding to continue their work. They upgrade their headquarters to the firehouse from the original movie. Patty's Uncle Bill ends up being Ernie Hudson, who pulls in our new hearse. He's not happy about what happened to the other one. I love that
Stephen:they upgraded to the firehouse, and you know that Holtzman and Abby are gonna have a blast sliding down the fire pole.
Steve:Oh, for sure. Now during the credits, we see the team being visited by Holzman's Mentor, Rebecca Gorin. Sigourney Weer, yes. Who's who inspired her to be crazy and I love her for it. Yeah. Patty then calls the team to the roof. The city's buildings are lit up saying, I love GB and other, yay. Thank you Ghostbusters. Yes. There's also a dedication at the end of the movie to to Harold Remus.
Stephen:Ugh. I was so like all the whole movie. I was like, come on, Sigourney Weaver. She has to be there. She has to be there. And so I was very happy she finally
Steve:showed up. Yes, and after their credit, the team is doing work. While Patty is listening to a recording, Aaron walks over to see what's up. Patty simply asks, what's Zul? And because I have the memory of a Phish,
Stephen:Zul was one of the main villains
Steve:from the first song. From the first movie.
Stephen:Okay. No, Dana, only
Steve:Zul. There you go. Now, thoughts on the ending?
Stephen:I like the callback to the original movie. I think it's fantastic. And I do wish we would've gotten a sequel to these amazing women.
Steve:Well, we do get a sequel to the Ghostbusters. It was actually rebooted again with the original group in Ghostbusters Afterlife, which came out two years ago. But we haven't seen it yet because you hate Ghostbusters.
Stephen:I do not hate Ghostbusters. But N we are right. We have not seen it, but
Steve:we need to. Sure, we think, I don't know, listeners, tell us what you think of this episode and if we should tune in to Ghostbusters Afterlife. You could do that by emailing us to happy life pod gmail.com or
Stephen:you can get in touch with us on all the socials, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok at Happy Life
Steve:Pod. And until next time, everybody stay happy.