In Contention

Tag: Harold Ramis

  • Bustin’ makes me feel good

    GhostbustersFor the video game fans in the house…

    I beat the new “Ghosbusters” game within 24 hours of picking it up.  It’s a moderately fun game, though not at all interesting from a story stand point.  I bring it up because, after all, when Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis began developing the game, they did so with the intention that it would be, essentially, the third “film” in the franchise.  But ultimately the narrative, which could have been quite ambitious given the medium, was simply rehased plot points from the first movie.

    Writing at the Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy blog, Jamin Brophy-Warren has posted an interesting item, however brief, detailing the game’s road to fruition.  I just wish there was more thought put into the actual plot.  However, there is an awesome sequence in the game that echoes both the cartoon series and the “Ghostbusters in Hell” concept that almost made it to theaters in the 1990s.

    But here’s the real question: there was an “E.T.” game on Atari back in the day?!

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  • THE LISTS: Top 10 lines from ‘Ghostbusters’

    GhostbustersAs I briefly noted yesterday, “Ghostbusters” has just celebrated the 25th anniversary of its June 8, 1984 release.  The film went on to make considerable box office dollars and launched the post-SNL careers of Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, along with co-stars Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson, further into the stratosphere.  Okay, well, Hudson’s career never really took flight, but still.

    The anniversary is certainly not going by unnoticed.  Sony is prepping the Blu-ray release of the film for next week while Atari, Inc. is all set to launch the heavily anticipated cross-platform video game on June 16.  I knew I wanted to do something special for the site, but I just couldn’t come up with the right idea.  Then it hit me.

    In my view — and this is, of course, quite the disputed opinion — “Ghostbusters” is the most quotable movie of all time.  And it’s not just the one-liners that have me howling every time I give the flick another look (which understandably dominate the list below), but it’s the thoroughness of the comedy.  Witness, for instance, Egon Spengler’s (Harold Ramis) description of the consequences of “crossing the streams,” or the way Louis Tully (Rick Moranis) rifles off the particulars of Ted and Annette Fleming’s fiscal business at a dreary clients’ party.  It is, quite frankly, one of the most ingenious comedy screenplays ever assembled.

    So…why not a list of the film’s 10 best lines?

    This quickly became a painful process.  I ended up with at least a dozen lines that, on another day, might have made the list.  Annie Potts’s “I’ve quit better jobs than this,” or Hudson’s sincere, “That’s a big Twinkie.”  I wanted to give a shout-out to “Let’s run some red lights” and “Somebody blows their nose and you want to keep it,” and especially a personal favorite that hits my funny button more firmly than others: “I looked at the trap, Ray.”  Not to mention “Yes it’s true, this man has no…,” well, you get the picture.  But you have to whittle it down, and so I have.  On to the list.

    And Happy Birthday, “Ghosbusters.”

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  • Casting the 2008 election

    Rope of Silicon has a sweet feature up today: “Casting the 2008 Election.”  It’s one of those lists I wish I had thought of, and for the most part, it’s spot on, some real zingers: Bruce Campbell as Mitt Romney, Harold Ramis as Keith Olbermann, Kevin Spacey as Mike Huckabee.  Some of the choices don’t really work, though: Tobey Maguire as John Edwards, Nicolas Cage as Joe Biden.  And though the choice of Mary-Louise Parker for Campbell Brown is inspired, I always get a Margaret Colin vibe.

    Anyway, a great diversion these days.  Head on over to Rope of Silicon for the full list.  I’ll leave you with my fave:

    Casting the 2008 Election