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Showing posts with the label rick moranis

THE FLINTSTONES - REVIEW

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In 1994, for some reason the world decided it was a good idea to make a live-action movie adaptation of The Flintstones , a cartoon as old as time itself about a goofy caveman suburbia with dinosaurs and modern-day appliances thrown in. John Goodman takes on the Fred role with Rick Moranis playing his best friend and neighbour Barney Rubble. Their respective wives being Elizabeth Perkins (as Wilma) and Rosie O'Donnell (as Betty). Speaking of the actors, the cast in this movie is pretty darn spot-on and you can tell a real effort was made to make the film look like the classic show. The sets are surprisingly detailed, elaborate and impressive and, while some of the dinosaurs/animals are CGI, a majority of them are literally made by Jim Henson's Creature Shop and they look fantastic. The plot involves Barney and Betty adopting a wild child called Bam Bam after borrowing money from Fred. To make it up to him, Barney switches aptitude tests with Fred and the latter is selected

SPACEBALLS - REVIEW

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10 years after the release of the first Star Wars movie, master spoofer Mel Brooks decided to take on the epic space opera trilogy in the childishly titled Spaceballs which starred the likes of Rick Moranis (as Dark Helmet), John Candy (as Barf) and Brooks himself in multiple roles. In typical Brooksian fashion, Spaceballs was incredibly silly from start to finish and even though not all of its jokes work, it remains something of a cult comedy classic. The plot mostly uses the "save the princess" theme of A New Hope , adds a little Death Star business from Empire Strikes Back and poor old Jabba is reduced to Pizza The Hutt, a talking blob made out of pizza bits and voiced by Dom DeLuise. The film opens with a subtle, pretty clever joke as an absurdly long and intricate spaceship passes by the camera for ages and from then on it gets goofy and never looks back. Candy's Barf is half dog, Joan Rivers voices a C-3PO-style droid, Moranis' Dark Helmet is a bumbling f

GHOSTBUSTERS II - REVIEW

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It's no secret that sequels never quite reach the highs of the original films they're based on. That said, some of them do have their merits. If they manage to recapture the spirit of their predecessors while introducing audiences to fresh new ideas then they have a reason to be and their existence is justified. Which brings me to Ghostbusters II , a sequel widely recognised as inferior to the first Ghostbusters . Taking place 5 years later, the Ghostbusters, it turns out, have been screwed over by the city they once saved and are now appearing at kids' birthday parties etc. I guess it didn't take too long to re-trap all those loose ghosts from the first movie... The film basically sees everyone get back together Blues Brothers -style to battle a brand new villain and re-earn the city's approval. It's a lot of fun to see these guys again and the team's chemistry is still as strong as ever. Peter MacNichol pops up as ghost painting demon Vigo's kin

GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) - REVIEW

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If there is a prime example of how good the 80's were at making the most out of the coolest concepts then Ghostbusters is it. What if there were New York firemen but instead of stopping fires they caught... ghosts? It's a neat idea and from the offset you know you're in for a treat. A clever mix of cheesy horror movies, buddy comedy and creative 80's special effects, Ghostbusters not only introduces us to a new concept but it defines it so well, so completely that by the end you totally accept that ghost-busting could (and should) actually be a real thing. The way that concept is made three-dimensional is masterful: you've got the iconic hearse with the instantly recognisable siren, the proton packs with their unique rules (ghost traps, not crossing streams) not to mention Ray Parker Jr's immortal, catchy-as-hell theme song. Whenever those guys are driving around taking out ghosts and that music is playing, you reach a nostalgic nirvana few films manage