Frozen empire in the middle of summer

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” is out. The fifth in the franchise, it is formulaic.

Note the ingredients: a return of the old cast members (save for the late Harold Ramis aka Egon Spengler) in more than just cameo roles; the incredibly likeable Paul Rudd; the TriBeCa firehouse which served as the Ghostbusters headquarters; New York City; ghosts; demons; ancient stories; younger cast members Finn Wolfhard from “Stranger Things” and McKenna Grace; Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt for more comedy; and Slimer, to name but some.

Frozen empire in the middle of summer

My friends enjoyed it so much, many of them suited up in Ghostbusters gear, or posted on Facebook, “I don’t know why the reviews were negative.”

By including all these ingredients in the formula and coming up with a predictable finale, the new “Ghostbusters” movie plays it incredibly safe, pleases the fans and has something for the kids.

If what happened in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” would happen here in Manila, I doubt we’d really need to fight the big bad ancient supernatural demon Garraka who turns things into sharp frozen shards. First of all, I’d like to see Garraka try in this heat. Second, if someone wanted to do some cooling right now, I don’t know how much resistance he’d get.

Also, there’s a somewhat interesting abandoned storyline with Phoebe Spengler (Grace) bonding with a ghost named Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), you almost think it’s turning into something special and romantic but in the interest of playing things safe, they pursue it no further.

Guy Ritchie’s “The Gentlemen” the movie is now “The Gentlemen” the series on Netflix — it’s set in the same world, with the same elements: weed, gangsters of varying stature, thugs, money, great estates, troubleshooters, troublemakers, underground life and Vinnie Jones. I much preferred the movie because it had more comedy, and once again Hugh Grant stealing every scene he’s in.

We’re 10 days away from the finale of FX’s 10-episode series, “Shogun.” The production design on this one is fantastic, there’s a lot of politics and intrigue so it takes a while to figure out who is who and whose side they’re on. The best thing about this series is Hiroyuki Sanada who plays Lord Toronaga. His screen presence and acting really keeps this elaborate story together. The actor and martial artist has been in the business for sixty years and he’s one human who I think looks better as he gets older.

Maybe the Ghostbusters should go check if he’s a supernatural entity.

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“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” is out in cinemas and at IMAX theaters while 2021’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” is out on Netflix. “Shogun” is available on Disney+.