I could understand that if you’re coming at it as a younger person who’s not impressed with the franchise and/or feels that it hasn’t aged well. But, man-- that thing was a tonne of fun back in the day, even if it wasn’t some kind of cinematic classic.
I’d argue that it was also seriously innovative, coming up with a bunch of novel tech, storytelling and plot points for that genre of movie. Lots of good acting, memorable scenes, and a truly inventive comedy adventure made for plenty of substance IMO.
Sin City (2005)
I’ll agree with that one. They did a very good job literally recreating scenes from the GN, but there was a surprising flatness to the film that really brought down the interest level for me. 2D characters might work perfectly well for comics, but when you bring in real human actors, it’s kind of a step backwards to play them the same way, I think.
I’m 45, and a massive Ghostbusters fan. But all it is, is a super fun zany romp. There’s nothing else of any meaningful substance. No major character arch’s or touching moments of humanity. Nobody reflecting on the nature of “living” vs “dead” if it’s all just different states of being. And the movie is certainly no worse off for the lack of it. In fact adding more meaningful scenes or concepts to it would probably make it worse.
A lot of people seem to believe a “low substance” movie is synonymous with being a bad movie. It’s not.
In my mind “Style” is entertaining and “Substance” is meaning. Ghostbusters and the rest of the movies I listed are all about only being some form of interesting entertainment. They’re lacking in any other real message, meaning, or point. (Or making it so unintelligible as to be meaningless) Some of them are very popular movies. Movies people don’t realize have no actual meaningful substance. Others are not. I would argue they’re all good at being the movies they want to be, and recognizing that sometimes substance isn’t actually worth anything.
So yes indeed, coming at it as a younger person? 🙂 You would have been like 3yo when it came out, right?
No major character arch’s or touching moments of humanity.
In terms of the former, you’d be looking for something that’s rarely there in that genre of film, so… of course not? As for the latter, I think there were some memorable humanistic moments, primarily driven by Bill Murray, and really, all the better for the movie avoiding dipping in to maudlin sentimentality and whatnot, the way other comedy-type films have done, past and since.
In my mind “Style” is entertaining and “Substance” is meaning.
Yeah, I see what you’re saying with that. GB was certainly not about meaning, per se. But where I depart from you is that I take substance as being other things as well, such as the innovation I mentioned above. The film did fall in to a certain, fairly shallow type of entertainment, yet was still outrageously novel, interesting and even ground-breaking. That’s certainly “substance” to me.
Ghostbusters are probably like Beetlejuice back in the day. I did watch Ghostbusters when I was young, but only this year watched Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice is weird movie with a simple premise that somehow got a traction with children. Same as Ghostbusters I guess. They both have this weird charm that grabs your attention while having “no message”
Ghostbusters (1984)
Ultraviolet (2006)
Torque (2004)
Sin City (2005)
Drive (2011)
The Lighthouse (2019)
I’ll probably come back to add more.
Incredibly strong disagree
What’s the substance of The Lighthouse?
What’s the meaning? The message? What’s the point of it?
I could understand that if you’re coming at it as a younger person who’s not impressed with the franchise and/or feels that it hasn’t aged well. But, man-- that thing was a tonne of fun back in the day, even if it wasn’t some kind of cinematic classic.
I’d argue that it was also seriously innovative, coming up with a bunch of novel tech, storytelling and plot points for that genre of movie. Lots of good acting, memorable scenes, and a truly inventive comedy adventure made for plenty of substance IMO.
I’ll agree with that one. They did a very good job literally recreating scenes from the GN, but there was a surprising flatness to the film that really brought down the interest level for me. 2D characters might work perfectly well for comics, but when you bring in real human actors, it’s kind of a step backwards to play them the same way, I think.
I’m 45, and a massive Ghostbusters fan. But all it is, is a super fun zany romp. There’s nothing else of any meaningful substance. No major character arch’s or touching moments of humanity. Nobody reflecting on the nature of “living” vs “dead” if it’s all just different states of being. And the movie is certainly no worse off for the lack of it. In fact adding more meaningful scenes or concepts to it would probably make it worse.
A lot of people seem to believe a “low substance” movie is synonymous with being a bad movie. It’s not.
In my mind “Style” is entertaining and “Substance” is meaning. Ghostbusters and the rest of the movies I listed are all about only being some form of interesting entertainment. They’re lacking in any other real message, meaning, or point. (Or making it so unintelligible as to be meaningless) Some of them are very popular movies. Movies people don’t realize have no actual meaningful substance. Others are not. I would argue they’re all good at being the movies they want to be, and recognizing that sometimes substance isn’t actually worth anything.
It’s true, your honor, ☝️ this man has no dick.
So yes indeed, coming at it as a younger person? 🙂 You would have been like 3yo when it came out, right?
In terms of the former, you’d be looking for something that’s rarely there in that genre of film, so… of course not? As for the latter, I think there were some memorable humanistic moments, primarily driven by Bill Murray, and really, all the better for the movie avoiding dipping in to maudlin sentimentality and whatnot, the way other comedy-type films have done, past and since.
Yeah, I see what you’re saying with that. GB was certainly not about meaning, per se. But where I depart from you is that I take substance as being other things as well, such as the innovation I mentioned above. The film did fall in to a certain, fairly shallow type of entertainment, yet was still outrageously novel, interesting and even ground-breaking. That’s certainly “substance” to me.
What are your thoughts on the Avatar movies?
Are they substantive?
No idea. I’m much more of bandes dessinées reader than film-watcher, in general.
That said, I’m with you in terms of films that contain meaning. I do appreciate it, and tend to rate such films higher.
Ghostbusters are probably like Beetlejuice back in the day. I did watch Ghostbusters when I was young, but only this year watched Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice is weird movie with a simple premise that somehow got a traction with children. Same as Ghostbusters I guess. They both have this weird charm that grabs your attention while having “no message”