The Cynical Cinephiles

As someone who has only watched the original Ghostbusters  for the first time last year (and admittedly I wasn't enamored with it - sorry 'bout it), the prospect of a re-boot/sequel did not have me demanding the head of whoever was responsible for the decision whilst many others were appalled by the notion of an all-female Ghostbusters team. The film's director Paul Feig seems to have assembled the perfect comedic cast to assume the mantle of Bill Murray and co, including;  Bridesmaids star Kristen Wiig, Feig staple Melissa McCarthy and Saturday Night Live! darlings Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. Feig has delivered with every film he has directed (most recently Spy ) so he seemed like the natural choice to revive the franchise. Needless to say, my expectations for the first trailer were high. The trailer begins on a more somber and mature note, with a piano lead score and title cards that read, "30 years ago, four scientists saved New York. This summer, a new te...

With tomorrow’s much anticipated release of Hail Caesar, let’s look back on arguably the most popular and certainly the most quotable of their previous works… It’s tough to boil down the colourful narrative of the Co-bros’ 1998 cult comedy; with pornography, kidnapping (a regular for the Coens), bowling, and rug urination all thrown in. The cast is rife with golden nuggets; Goodman’s gun-toting Vietnam veteran, willing to threaten any man who disgraces his adored craft of bowling; Jeffrey Lebowski, the wheelchair-bound over-achieving multimillionaire, with a nymphomaniac trophy wife and brownnoser of a PA – an hilarious turn from the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman. Julianne Moore is the avant-garde feminist, flashing the flesh as per usual…and there’s Donny. Who could forget Steve Buscemi’s pitiable tag along? I often substitute my friends’ names into Goodman’s simple but effective exclamation, ‘Shut the fuck up, Donny!’. Works every time. Push aside the embellishmen...