by Grace Crawford

All images courtesy of Black Rhino, Delphi Productions, and Columbia Pictures.

For the latest installation in this summer’s series, “Movies Older Than I Am,” I decided to take a crack at the classic supernatural film that scared the pants off everybody with its story of possessed people and powers beyond the norm. I am, of course, talking about Ghostbusters.

In the film, as you probably know, three down-on-their-luck scientists (and Ernie Hudson) stumble across a ghost infestation in New York, and they decide to take advantage of the opportunity by marketing themselves as paranormal exterminators. This leads to the fame and celebrity, as well as to the discovery of a looming otherworldly being who’s determined to bring about the end of the world. Armed only with jumpsuits and proton packs, it’s up to these guys to save everyone.

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Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of… Doctor Frasier Crane

by Thom Yee

Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures

There’s little doubt in my mind that the movie director’s job is incredibly difficult and demanding. The level of vision and ability, the attention to detail and dedication to a cause must be incredible, and one need look no further than the end credits of pretty much any movie — packed to the brim with thousands of individuals who all had to come together to form what we’ve just watched — to get a glimpse of the enormity of the director’s duties. Having to deal with producers, delegate tasks to second-, third-, fourth- (and so forth) unit directors, direct hundreds of individuals in charge of things like decorating, costuming, grips and various other hanger-on duties, and appeasing the egos of fabulously wealthy actors would all be enough to leave any middle-management-type (say, like YOU, with the two- to four-member team you’re “responsible for”) curl up into a fetal position, ready to return to whatever womb-like structures you can in your attempts to find protection at the most primordial level. There are so many things to go wrong, so many variables in play far your beyond control and far more wide-reaching than the simplistic notion that having a good script will make for a good movie, and it must take an enormous amount of talent, perspective, and experience to put together something that entertains and stimulates. Even our most celebrated directors have their Godfather Part III’s (Coppola) Ladykillers (Coen Brothers), and Color of Moneys (Scorsese).

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by Grace Crawford

All images courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Sometimes I feel like I missed out on a lot of critical high school experiences. I never did anything that would qualify as a senior prank (although a group of guys either dropped a couple of crabs down the school toilets or set them loose in the hallways; I’m always fuzzy on the details). I never went to any crazy parties, joined the glee club (my school didn’t even have one), or got a makeover and became the most popular girl in school overnight even though the beauty was inside me all along.

But most relevant to this review, I never skipped class for the sake of skipping class, or because I was in grade 12 and it was expected of me. So maybe that’s why I had a little bit of trouble identifying with the titular character in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

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by Grace Crawford

All images courtesy of Carolco Pictures, Lightstorm Entertainment, Pacific Western, StudioCanal, and TriStar Pictures.

For a long time now, Terminator 2: Judgment Day has been on my list of movies to watch. I kept hearing comments like, “It’s even better than the first one!” So given how much I liked the first one, I was pretty sure I would enjoy this one even more. And yet when I sat down to watch T2 for the first time, something that might seem insignificant, but in fact is a symptom of a larger problem, bothered me right off the bat. But I’ll get to that.

Ten years after the events of The Terminator, Sarah Connor has been institutionalized for her stories of time-travelling robots, and her son John Connor is in foster care. The self aware-computer Skynet has sent another Terminator back in time, this time to kill John, and the future version of John has sent back another protector to save himself. But it’s different this time, because Skynet’s Terminator is a T-1000, an advanced shape-shifting model, and John’s protector is a reprogrammed T-800—the same kind that tried to kill Sarah the first time around.

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by Grace Crawford

All images courtesy of Hemdale Film Corporation, Pacific Western Productions, and Orion Pictures.

I’ve found that it can be difficult to separate personal feelings from movies when I’m reviewing them. For reasons I won’t go into, I have a bit of a soft spot for The Terminator. So that’s always going to flavour the way I view the movie and the story it communicates.

The Terminator begins with a naked Arnold Schwarzenegger appearing in a flash of light before beating up a group of punks and stealing their clothes. Shortly after this, another naked guy appears in his own flash of light and has a much harder time getting his own set of clothing. These strange gentlemen both proceed to phone booths, open up the phonebook (haven’t they heard of just Googling someone?), and search for the same person: one of three women named Sarah Connor.

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