The Awkward Movie Challenge: Ghostbusters
According to Netflix, Mike and Jeffrey agree with each other on movies 84% of the time. In their weekly feature, The Awkward Movie Challenge, they search valiantly for that sweet 16% that results in big arguments and big laughs.
Jeffrey:
2009 is a spectacular year for 25th anniversaries, because 1984 was a spectacular year for movies. Besides Purple Rain, which we discussed last week, it is also the year that brought us Ghostbusters and Gremlins (to be discussed next week). In fact, not only did the last two movies come out in the same year, they came out on the same damn day: June 8, 1984. What a glorious, glorious day to be a 9 year old boy, which is what I was, at the movie theater, trying to decide which one I should see first.
In addition to Purple Rain, Ghostbusters, and Gremlins 1984 also brought us Footloose (February 17), Repo Man and This is Spinal Tap (March 2), Splash (March 9), Police Academy (March 23), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (May 1), 16 Candles (May 4), Bachelor Party (June 19), The Karate Kid (June 22), Revenge of the Nerds (July 20), The Terminator (October 26), A Nightmare on Elm Street and Stop Making Sense (November 16), and the top-grossing film of the year, Beverly Hills Cop (December 5). Not to mention The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (August 15), both Breakin’ (May 4) and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (December 21), The Neverending Story (July 20), Romancing the Stone (March 30), and Tim Burton’s first major(ish) effort, Frankenweenie (December 1). Nearly every month of 1984 saw the release of an iconic film that has lived on in cinematic history. Was it the best year for film ever? I have no idea. I just spent 30 minutes on IMDB looking up those dates and I’m not venturing back in for a comparison. But in terms of quality mainstream Hollywood movies that have stood the test of time, I doubt you’re going to find too many years to rival that one.
Now, please note that I use the phrase “stood the test of time” loosely. Very few of these movies stand the test of time in the way that, say, The Godfather or Chinatown stands the test of time. But there is undoubtedly something compelling about them that keeps us watching. Is it mere nostalgia? Or are these movies actually good? In some cases, there’s no question: Stop Making Sense is one of the best music documentaries of all time, and This Is Spinal Tap is the movie that both defined the mockumentary genre and surpasses pretty much every effort since. In other cases, the quality of the film is so overshadowed by its place in culture that it becomes very difficult to look at it with fresh eyes.
There are surprisingly few Ghostbusters pictures to be found on the web.
I’m sure everyone already knows the plot, but I’ll give a quick overview: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis are parapsychologists at Columbia University. They get kicked out of their cushy academic jobs because the university deems their work to be unimportant. So, they start a ghost-capturing company. Coincidentally, just after they start their ghost-capturing company, ghosts start appearing all over the city. The ghostbusters are suddenly everywhere and completely necessary. (One of the few jokes I caught during last night’s viewing that I was too young to understand when I was a kid: during the montage in which the ghostbusters are becoming famous, one of the magazine covers shown is an issue of The Atlantic with the question, “Do Ghosts Have Civil Rights?” Which is funny because liberals are always concerned about bullshit issues like civil rights.)
Meanwhile, a building that Sigourney Weaver lives in is a giant ghost antenna and her apartment is a portal and she gets possessed by a ghost dog and so does Rick Moranis and she’s the gatekeeper and he’s the keymaster which means that they’re supposed to have sex or something … I didn’t quite get that part … and then they finally get together, I guess, while the ghostbusters are in jail, and the building becomes a portal into the sky or something. The ghostbusters get out of jail and go to the building and they’re attacked by a giant marshmallow man and then they cross the streams which you’re never supposed to do because it will end all life on earth but this time it doesn’t and New York is saved. The end.
My dad took us to see this car in Flint when I was younger. It was somewhat disappointing.
So that’s the movie. Accept it, reject it, do what you gotta do. A balanced review is nearly impossible for me, so I’ll just leave you with a few observations and then turn it over to Mike.
1) There are at least 5 phrases from Ghostbusters that have either found their way onto t-shirts or that are almost universally recognized catchphrases:
- “Back off, man, I’m a scientist.”
- “But the kids love us.”
- “He slimed me.”
- “We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!”
- “Dogs and cats living together …”
Every single one of these catchphrases was said by Bill Murray. What is it about Murray’s performance that is so captivating? Is it that he doesn’t seem to give a shit about anything? If Bill Murray didn’t exist, would we have to invent him?
One of many unnecessary products generated by the Ghostbusters phenomenon.
3) The special effects hold up pretty well. The ghosts look great. According to Wikipedia, Aykroyd’s original idea was for the ghostbusters to travel through time and defeat ghosts with magic wands. I’m pretty sure that would have been a step in the wrong direction.
4) The final line of Ghostbusters is Ernie Hudson shouting “I love this town!” It is not a memorable final line.
That’s all I got. I’m pretty much dry on this one. Let’s give it, I dunno, 4 or 5 stars on the scale of pizzas. Mike, you got anything clever to add?
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Next page: Mike ruins Jeffrey’s day with his mean-spirited opinions!
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Every time I see Ghostbusters, I think it's funnier than I remembered it. Are you sure you guys didn't accidentally watch Ghostbusters 2?
1Maybe you guys should watch "Men in Black" next, if only for Gentle Rosenberg. He's the best Jewish alien ever! And I am not biased!
Or maybe you should watch "The Holiday." I'm still deciding.
2I strongly disagree with you guys. Ghostbusters is a classic piece of film. Bill Murray is nothing short of brilliant. Rick Moranis puts in his finest performance ever. I've seen this movie over 20 times. Of course it doesn't have the same impact as it originally did, but I re-watch it and savor the jokes as if they were a favorite Merlot: when I want something comfortable and familiar it's there for me. I always manage to find something new too. When Ray shows Peter the car and is listing off the problems with it, watch Peter's face. At one point it drops into depression ever-so imperceptibly that when i finally discovered it it was golden. I showed it to Harmon and he agreed.
Basically I'm saying you guys suck donkey dick. Maybe you should review donkey dick.
3I'm confused. When did I say I didn't like it?
4I think the problem is you didn't say you love it, nor that it's funnier every time you see it. This lack of gushing is confusing to we Jons.
5I gotcha. Well, to be clear, I do love Ghostbusters. It's just very difficult of me to assess how much of that love is based on my fond memories of growing up with it. I definitely have to disagree with Segretto on the special effects ... I don't know if it's possible to create special effects that look amazing forever, and the effects never took me out of the story the way that many CGI effects do today.
I guess the fact that I can still watch it and enjoy it means that it is simply a good movie. Agreed on Rick Moranis: a stellar performance. The "meet-cute" between Weaver and Murray is underdeveloped and somewhat creepy, but I blame Hollywood's need to insert a half-assed love story into everything over any particular missteps on the part of the writers.
That being said, I think we can all agree that the decision to make the Environmental Protection Agency the enemy is pretty strange.
6Oh, and I really like Men in Black, too.
Whaddya say, Mike? Do we watch the Holiday when I'm in New York to appease your ball and chain?
7Depends. How drunk will we be?
8Yes, the EPA thing was definitely weird... but it was the 80s. People did a lot of dumb things in the 80s. I'm almost saying a lot of very apologist things, though.
9One of the best comedic screenplays ever written, I think. The goal of every writer is to write a line of dialogue that A) establishes character B) moves the plot forward and/or C) is entertaining. You always strive to nail at least two of those, and if you can hit all three buttons with a line once and a while, you're doing pretty good. But practically every line in Ghostbusters manages to convey both character and be entertaining, and the majority of them also move the plot along as well. I can't remember the exact running time, but I think the movie comes in around 90 minutes, an absolute shark of a movie, especially given the fact that the audience has to be introduced to the whole "Ghostbuster" concept of capturing ghosts. There's no point where the movie slows down, there's no boring bits chunks of exposition to wade through (even Egon's "Tobin's Spirit Guide" stuff is funny) there's no irritating side characters.
10One word on suspension of disbelief. I can believe Gozer the Gozarian has come back to earth looking like a Prince backup dancer to destroy the world. I can believe you can capture ghosts using a beam of charged plasma. I can even believe Sigourney Weaver finds Bill Murray attractive. What I absolutely do not buy is the EPA having enough authority to shut down so much as a lemonade stand. C'mon, the Reagan era EPA? I don't even think they let those guys have desks...
Harmon, you nailed it. I clarified that exact position to Jeff last night.
So...
Where did we land with the whole donkey dick thing?
11Jef: totally right on with the screenplay analysis. I was thinking that as I watched it, that there is no dead air in Ghostbusters. Everything matters. The sheer number of characters and subplots they are able to fully realize within that framework is pretty incredible.
Maybe I should start outsourcing the Movie Challenge ... you guys are doing much better with this one than we did.
12Speak for yourself, Dinz. I stand by every single thing I said. As I said in our piece about 'Blair Witch', comedy has a job to do: make me laugh. 'Ghostbusters' did not make me laugh. I still enjoy it 'Ghostbusters', but I think it was more to do with nostalgia than anything else. It certainly isn't dull, though.
13That's a tall order, though, on a movie that is such a huge part of the cultural zeitgeist. I don't really laugh at Preston Sturges movies, but I can still recognize and appreciate the quality of the craftsmanship.
14Sarah August 27, 2011 Okay – I guess I’m just going tgrouhh all your posts and commenting this morning! So audio books are expensive, but they are really great for commutes. I highly recommend audible.com. It’s great, seriously. You can get a membership for like 14 bucks a month and that entitles you to 1 credit a month. You trade in the credit for whatever book you like, and you can buy additional books if you need them for a reduced price (way, way less than bookstores). They have a massive selection. I love the service. I download them and put them on my iphone and then listen to them in the car, at the gym, and most importantly – around the house when I’m cleaning! I hate cleaning, but it is not a chore when I’m totally engrossed in a book. I really recommend “The Help” for your first listen – the narrators were amazing. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver was also awesome and well narrated. I think the narration makes all the difference!
15Cultural zeitgeist alone doesn't make it for me. Otherwise, I wouldn't loathe "Forrest Gump" and "Titanic". Also being a part of the cultural zeitgeist and being funny are not mutually exclusive. I watched "This is Spinal Tap" for the zillionth time a week ago, and it still made me laugh. Even when I didn't laugh at the jokes that have lost some power due to over-repetition, I still recognized them as being funny and recalled them making me laugh the first time around. Honestly, I don't recognize much in "Ghostbusters" as being very funny. Even when I was 10, I didn't understand what was funny about "He slimed me." Seriously, if someone can explain to me why that is such an indelible movie quote, I'll be forever in your debt.
16Wait, on the "Everything matters" point... does this mean I'm the only one who thinks Aykroyd's ghost dream thing in the theme song montage was pointless? I love that movie, but it wasn't *perfect.*
17Yeah, fair enough on the weird Succubus dream. That scene sticks out like a sore thumb. But I think it sticks out because it really is about the only moment in the movie that doesn't fit in with an otherwise sharp, efficient script.
As for not making Segretto laugh, well, I think comedy is like sex: you can't really explain WHY something turns your crank. And the thing that turns one person on is going to be completely flat for someone else, like Jeff says about Preston Sturges movies (embarrasing movie geek moment: uh, who?).
On the other hand, let's give it a try:
Bill Murray's character is confronting a ghost. A ghost. Some weird green dead thing is floating in front of him. He's alone. The last time he saw one of these things was in the basement of the New York Public Library, and it turned into some hellspawn demon that chased him and his colleagues straight back to Columbia. And this thing doesn't look anywhere near as nice as a kindly old librarian.
It notices him. It's been...eating things.
It opens it's mouth. It heads toward him.
He screams.
He expects to get eaten. Or feel the icy hand of death. Or be bodily dragged to hell. But he isn't. "He slimed me." As the tension of the potentially fatal moment is released through a classic reveral of expectation, what had appeared dramatic and tragic reveals itself as farce. The audience responds to the release of tension through laughter.
Ok, I can explain why it's funny to ME...
18Well explained, Jef. I suppose this means I'm forever in your debt. Should I start with the windows or the bathroom floor?
19Whichever one is a metaphor for "penis."
20Wow. I was about to admit that line wasn't funny (and it's one that really isn't anymore)... but now I remember why it was funny the first time. Thanks, Jef!
Seriously, though, I laugh every time I watch Ghostbusters. And I've even watched it *sober* recently, not like the last time Mc and I watched it at the same time (and totally got Chipman blitzed, which was also hilarious).
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