Ghostbusters II (1989)

“So, you're saying that the supernatural is your exclusive province?”

“Kitten, I think what I'm saying, is that sometimes, shit happens, someone has to deal with it, and who ya gonna call?”

            So, continuing on a Ghostbusters kick here is the second movie.

            Five years after the Ghostbusters saved New York City from utter paranormal destruction they are all barely making ends meet and rarely see each other due to being run out of business by the very city they saved. Ray (Dan Aykroyd) runs a paranormal book store and dons the Ghostbusters gear on occasion with Winston to do birthday parties. Peter (Bill Murray) runs a cheap and silly psychic show on local cable. Egon (Harold Ramis) is the only one to have a legitimate job as a scientist.

            Peter unfortunately did not end up with Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver). She wound up marrying someone else and having a baby named Oscar. The movie begins with Dana walking Oscar in his carriage. The carriage glides over some pink goo that bubbles up out of the sidewalk. As Dana picks up her groceries the carriage takes off with the baby in it dodging people, bikes and cars before it stops just as a bus comes speeding past. Dana visits Egon at work to ask him to look into what could have happened since the carriage just took off by itself. She also asks Egon not to let Peter know what they are up to. Egon and Ray take the job for Dana and of course Peter winds up finding out.

            Dana has been working as a conservator in an art museum. She works under a foreign man named Janosz. A large painting of a creepy looking medieval guy is brought up from storage for an exhibit. The painting is of a guy named Vigo the Carpathian. Dana is not thrilled with the painting it is very unsettling. That night as Janosz is working on the painting, Vigo comes to life in a way and zaps Janosz into doing his bidding. Vigo needs a baby so he can come back to life and rule the world. Guess the baby Janosz goes after?!

            Egon, Winston, Peter, and Ray find slim underneath the city streets running through an old New York City subway line. They get arrested and the slim put into evidence in court. As the judge starts yelling, the slim starts bubbling and two ghosts pop up. The judge throws out the case if they can get rid of the ghosts. After this the Ghostbusters are back in business.

            One night while Dana is giving Oscar a bath the pink slim comes in through the spout instead of water and tries to grab Oscar. Dana takes the baby over to Peter’s. Egon, Winston, and Ray investigate the subway line with the slim. Winston gets dragged into the slim so Egon and Ray jump in after. All three come out in front of the museum where the painting of Vigo is.

            Eventually the Ghostbusters figure out that Vigo is behind the slim and they have to stop the weird Carpathian bad guy from getting to Oscar.

            Again the cast was awesome. They were all crazier than the first one. I find it funny when I watch movies over and over as I get older because I notice more things. I notice some hilarious dirty or sly lines or funny looks. Egon’s sarcastic faces were even better and so was his line delivery. I realized how annoying Bill Murray is as Peter in some scenes. It is as if he was trying to steal all the scenes away from the other actors and characters. But I still love Venkman for some reason, he will always be one of my favorite movie characters. I was totally not crazy with the whole Lewis/Janine being in love with each other. That was silly and really not necessary but the cartoon was really popular and they had to come back. Oh, and I had no idea until this viewing that Max Von Sydow did the voice for Vigo. Sydow plays the Knight in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal which is one of my all time favorite movies. Thought that was pretty cool.

            For some reason when I was young I used to watch Ghostbusters II all the time. The movie is so cheesy and silly to me now! It is like to the point of campy almost but dear god do I love this movie with all my being! I love the scene where the goo kind of takes hold of the city and there is mass chaos. I always laugh when the police get a call from the docks that the Titanic has just arrived and the guy at the dock says “Better late than never.” When the Statue of Liberty walks the streets of New York City still makes me totally excited it is awesome! Again, I have fond memories of watching this with my cousin. At twenty-six (me) and thirty (him) we still love these movies maybe even more than we did when we were little. I will also repeat that if you have not seen Ghostbusters II you are un-American and should be ashamed of yourself and your childhood must have been depressing. 

Ghostbusters (1984)

“There's something very important I forgot to tell you.”

“What?”

 “Don't cross the streams.”

            When I read of Harold Ramis’s passing yesterday it was very sad. My cousin told me it is as if part of his childhood died. Ramis played Egon Spangler the super nerdy scientist in Ghostbusters. There was something about Spangler that always amused me. Maybe because he was nerdy and totally into what he was passionate about and that was science (I am no way into science whatsoever but I appreciate and love his passion). Ramis was a comedic genius. So many of America’s greatest classic comedies were either written or directed by him. I believe it should be mandatory for all Americans to watch Caddy Shack at least once their life. So in honor of Harold Ramis for this day’s post I have decided to watch Ghostbusters one of my all time favorite movies and the movie I know Ramis best from.

            When I think back to my childhood what sticks out in my mind are the movies I used to watch. There were some that I would watch over and over again. I used to watch the Ninja Turtles movie all the time and still know at least the first one by heart. There are several Disney movies I cherish and adore from when I little, but who does not have a Disney memory from when they were little. My fondest memory of a movie I have is watching Ghostbusters. This is so because I used to watch both movies with my older cousin all the time. Of course since he was older than me I adored him and wanted to do whatever he did and he used to watch Ghostbusters all the time. Even the cartoons we loved together (to this day I still have the firehouse and figures from the cartoon!). The Ghostbusters movies are cherished in my house. No matter how many times we have all seen them we always laugh hysterically.

            If you do not know the plot to Ghostbusters then there is something wrong with and means you have been a sheltered person all your life since you have never seen it. But for those sheltered individuals here is a summary.

            Doctors Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Egon Spangler, and Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) are parapsychologists. They were working at a university until they were let go when the college dropped their funding. They decide to go into the business of catching ghosts. Their first client comes from a hotel where a green ghost is causing havoc in the dining. After this they are inundated with calls for help with the paranormal.

            One day a woman named Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) comes into their office seeking help. The day before she came home to her apartment after grocery shopping and the eggs she just bought jumped out of the carton and were frying. When she opened her refrigerator there was this nasty looking dog and she heard the name Zuul. Peter takes the case thinking he has a chance with Dana.

            Pretty soon the Ghostbusters figure out that Dana’s apartment is a paranormal portal that had been built by worshipers of the ancient god Gozer. And of course they wind up saving Dana and the entire city of New York.

            The more I watch Ghostbusters the more I love the characters. I love how Venkman is a bit of a jerk and seems to just be along for the ride. Ray is like an oblivious little kid. Spangler is nerdy as hell but totally funny with his dryness. Lewis Tully played by Rick Moranis is probably one of the best and under appreciated characters in all of movie history. I die laughing when he becomes the Key Master and he is brought to Ghostbuster headquarters. Janine, played perfectly by Annie Potts, asks Lewis if he wants coffee, Lewis looks at Spangler and Spangler says “Yes, have some” and Lewis repeats what Spangler said.

            The dialogue is genius. There are so many good lines it is hard to pick which line is my favorite. So much of the dialogue, especially Bill Murray’s, was adlibbed. This is one of my favorite lines: “We've been going about this all wrong. This Mr. Stay Puft's okay! He's a sailor, he's in New York; we get this guy laid, we won't have any trouble!”

               Rewatching this I love the library scene because I am currently working in one. I will admit I am a nerd because when I first went into the New York Public Library I was hoping I would see the Gray Lady that caused the trouble there, ha ha. I cringed seeing the card catalogs fly all over the place, I would not want to be the person who has to pick them up and order them again. Thank God everything is all computerized now! 

            Ghostbusters is just a genius movie all around. This is the only movie where I become a jerk and cannot even speak to anyone who has never seen it to me it is unfathomable to believe. It seems un-American to me if you have never seen this. Ghosbusters is nerdy, hysterical, wonderful, perfect, and enduring. It is a timeless movie that has become a great staple in my life.