450: Ghostbusters

[00:00:00] 157, let's get to the Ghostbusters franchise which you can also get now as a full bonus show at filmbuds.bandcamp.com but the first Ghostbusters came out in 1984 is directed by Ivan Reitman written by Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Rick

[00:00:21] Moranis stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts and the synopsis is three parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.

[00:00:42] So we've talked a little bit about Ghostbusters over the years not a whole lot but I wanted to go and get this whole franchise done since Frozen Empire just came out and for anyone who listens to the show regularly or has for

[00:00:57] a while knows I love Ghostbusters it's one of my all-time favorite franchises the first one here, Spoiler, is one of my really top 5 top 10 movies of all time I love it I think it's a complete total classic and so I'm very excited to

[00:01:11] finally get these movies talked about all together so thank you very much for joining us. Well even with what I just said out there already this is one of those classic films that it's obviously been referenced a lot it's really become a

[00:01:29] part of pop culture in some ways especially the logo, the theme song I think that there are a lot of modern audiences who probably haven't even seen the original but they probably know the logo and that's pretty you know with

[00:01:43] films like this and films nowadays it's easy to take for granted just how original and how clever and creative this first movie was and how it really not intentionally but set up this whole franchise and now it's become one of

[00:01:57] the most iconic ones in all of Hollywood and even though it's not been as successful as of late it's still very very well known and you know is a household name I would say and I saw it for the first time probably in high

[00:02:13] school and I've seen it countless times since then maybe six to ten times over the years and honestly every single time I watch it it gets better and better it's one of those that still feels so fresh so funny and I know that this

[00:02:31] movie similar to like the Indiana Jones franchise it's been one that's been talked about a lot so I'm not trying to say I have a million new things to say about it but it is one of my favorite movies so I do want to get all my

[00:02:42] thoughts out there so I apologize if I'm repeating what other people say but it is earnest thoughts on the movie but anyway I one of the most impressive things about it that is also sort of taken for granted is the humor in this

[00:02:58] really almost entirely comes from performance and that's really one of the reasons why it holds up so well because and this is only something that I've realized on many many rewatches is that the script itself not to say that it's

[00:03:14] dramatic and how it's written but the lines are so kind of basic that it could easily be flat and not even be really seen as a comedy if it was done in a different sort of context but the leads especially like you know Bill Murray

[00:03:30] everybody their performances make this movie so funny and with performance because you know sometimes writing can become dated not always but sometimes with performance I feel like every time I watch it I'm discovering new little

[00:03:45] bits of humor in the performances and how it's directed even in just some of the physical comedy like it's really subtly restrained humor and that's something that really you don't get very often most of the time these days

[00:04:01] with either regular comedies or big action comedies you have attempts that are way too hard way too over-the-top to try and be funny because there's really I guess out of ideas but going back to the originality of it like you got to

[00:04:16] think you know the logo everybody knows that logo that came from nothing it's such a simple idea but it's so iconic the theme song you know there's nothing really spectacular I mean it's a great song but it's one that really has

[00:04:30] infiltrated across all of pop culture and you immediately recognize it when it comes on and then everything from the green slimer ghost that design the look of the Ghostbuster costumes uniforms like all the stuff it's so really simple

[00:04:50] stuff but it works so well and it's for whatever reason right time right place it just worked perfectly and it still looks great I mean the effects are obviously very 80s but enjoyably so to me I think it's still a very good looking

[00:05:05] movie and considering it's called Ghostbusters it's okay that the effects are a little goofy and dated because that's part of the charm really but the central cast it goes without saying central cast amazing the chemistry how

[00:05:19] they bounce off of each other like everything they say I think is funny I mean there's not one joke really in this or one bit of performance that I feel falls flat like it all can work in one way or the other and some of the

[00:05:32] iconic characters of course Rick Moranis is a big big popular favorite one of my favorite scenes is when he's talking to Sigourney Weaver at the beginning and he's walking back to his apartment and he goes I gotta have a

[00:05:45] shower but besides him some specific scenes that even the beginning with Bill Murray testing these two students one girl who he likes and then this kind of nerdy guy where he's letting the woman have all the right

[00:06:03] answers even though she doesn't get it right just so she'll like him and then he electrocutes the other guy that's hysterical the scene where you first see the ghost in the library that's of course a signature part of this movie

[00:06:16] and they bring that back in some of the other films on quickly another really memorable part of the design of this movie the firehouse where the Ghostbusters work and then also the Ecto-1 like the Ecto-1 is so cool like it's such a good

[00:06:31] easy design simple design but clever the white and the red with the logo and then how it was originally a hearse love that and also the sound of the siren and I think they really make that even better in the more recent

[00:06:46] installments but I like the sound of the siren in this the hotel where they are in the hallways and you see Slimer and there's the iconic line of he slimed me

[00:06:56] and you know all that is is old stuff to say about this movie but it still works I mean it's now what 40 years later pretty much that's pretty crazy to think about still feels as fresh as ever and then the and I don't want to sound like a

[00:07:12] broken record too much there's just so many things I love in this movie I want to get them all out the moment where they actually captured the ghost in the main dining hall downstairs and Harold Ramis is shooting all over the place

[00:07:25] with the blaster and Bill Murray goes whoa nice shooting Tex I mean there's line after line after line after line after line that I could bring up I won't bore you too much some other scenes though the whole thing

[00:07:42] was Zool and Sigourney Weaver's character and the refrigerator where she opens it and there's that ghost world that she sees and then she gets possessed and I think one thing that is kind of under appreciated is Sigourney Weaver as

[00:07:56] both just a regular person you know her regular character but then also playing the possessed demon whatever you want to call it character towards the end I think both of those are very good performances that don't really get enough

[00:08:10] credit because she's really good I mean I like her in general but that's a really underappreciated part of the movie the key master as well with Rick Moranis there's the and I'd even really think about until I was older but the whole

[00:08:26] sex scene the blowjob scene with the ghost where you see Dan Aykroyd's pants being unbuckled and I'm honestly pretty glad they kept that in because if you're young you probably don't think anything of it you think it's probably just like

[00:08:40] a joke in terms of what's actually happening but then when you realize you know like when you know you know there's also where Bill Murray comes into Sigourney Weaver's apartment for the first time and he lifts up the piano and

[00:08:56] he plays the two high note keys and he's like they hate this and I know that there was so much improv on this movie too and I can't speak to exactly what was script what was improvised but it all feels natural there's nothing that

[00:09:09] feels so ridiculous that it doesn't really fit and for me I know that of course it's a completely subjective thing some people feel this way many people don't but similar to Indiana Jones for me there's something about

[00:09:24] being in this world in the world of the Ghostbusters that is so fun and welcoming and comforting and goofy and entertaining and more so than almost any other franchise out there even the weakest installments I think that

[00:09:41] there's just a comfort for me and I don't know even exactly why but I've felt that more and more and more over the years and it's really come with the Indiana Jones franchise as well there those two really stick out to me as

[00:09:54] being my comfort franchises for whatever reason but besides that the third act I think if I had to say anything that's slightly off or flawed about the movie I mean it won't affect the star rating or how I feel about it but if I had you know

[00:10:11] gun to my head I had to say something that's not perfect about the movie is I feel like and it's almost the case with really all of these movies where the third act kind of drags at points it goes on a little too long I think the

[00:10:24] pacing sort of drops off somewhat and not that the movies too long it's only maybe an hour 45 and we'll get to Ghostbusters 2 but I think even in this one the final 20 ish minutes feel a little too extended for what it is maybe

[00:10:40] could have lost five minutes something like that but even with that not a big deal at all I mean I still love the third act all considering there's also the marshmallow man that you know the puffed man another genius very simple

[00:10:54] idea and that's another element with the logo that's been ingrained into pop culture just naturally you know just instantaneously so that's another huge accomplishment that doesn't get enough I think when people are actually talking

[00:11:11] about this movie or they're looking at the franchise as a whole you got to look at how many things became kind of pop culture sensations so I am a huge huge huge fan of this movie and the whole franchise as is

[00:11:28] obvious by now try to think of other things the look of the ghost catcher like the blasters the packs love that the sound design of all that like how the actual streams sound and even the ridiculous dialogue of the different

[00:11:45] ghost terminology and lingo it just works you know how it's delivered how it's directed how it's put in the context of the story which we'll get to some of the later installments where that doesn't always work as well but in

[00:11:57] this it feels completely for whatever reason feels completely ingrained in that movie and feels alright I can go with this these guys are clearly way out there I can just go with what they're saying so if you haven't seen

[00:12:11] it I would highly recommend checking it out it's a classic holds up totally give it a revisit I think Ghostbusters is still so underrated even though of course it's a big franchise I think it's been sort of in some ways forgotten

[00:12:26] considering the last few installments have been declining a little bit box office wise which is too bad but I'll always love it even if they made one that was horrible I would still probably love it because it's helped me

[00:12:39] out a lot brought me a lot of joy and comfort so that one is a heavy 5 10 out of 5