Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters (1984)

Directed by: Ivan Reitman

Written by: Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis

Starring: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson

Rating: PG*

My rating: 6.5 out of 5 stars!

Hello again!

Last week, I had the pleasure of introducing one of my top 3 favorite movies to my fiancee. Over the years I've spent countless hours (105 minutes at a time) introducing people I love to Ghostbusters and I've gotta say...It NEVER gets old.

As I said, it's one of my top 3 favorites. Also, I have yet to get it on Blu-ray, so if you haven't gotten me a birthday present yet, it was three weeks ago :)

As you may recall from previous posts (though it's been awhile) the asterisk (*) next to the PG rating means that in 1984, there was no PG-13 rating. I put that on here as a disclaimer, in case by some miracle there is a parent out there who hasn't seen Ghostbusters (which would be a crime in and of itself) and is looking to advise their child. There is some language and suggestive elements to this film! It would probably receive a PG-13 rating today.

Let's move on, shall we?

Synopsis:

Peter Venkman (Bill Murray; Caddyshack), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd; The Blues Brothers) and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis; Stripes) are professors of paranormal studies at a university who are searching for work when their funding is cut. They must borrow money, but they are able to create the world's greatest start-up, the Ghostbusters. Eventually, they gain clients, starting with Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver; Galaxy Quest). Ultimately, Dana's problem turns into an apocalyptic coming, and the Ghostbusters must save the world!!


Thoughts:

What is there to say? This film is a classic. Its special effects were advanced for its time (nominated for the Oscar in Best Visual Effects, actually). Its funny, entertaining, and exciting. The cast and writing are phenomenal. Bill Murray drives the plot and the comedy as Venkman. Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters II) provide a different style of comedy, and Harold Ramis' Egon Spengler is the perfect straight man. Weaver and Rick Moranis (Little Shop of Horrors) lead the supporting players, and they all just fit perfectly.

I've seen this movie tons of times over the years, and I would not change a thing. I hope they don't try to do a remake. It's perfect as is. It's quotable, funny, and compelling.

My favorites (if I had to pick them, of course) would be Venkman (Murray) and Winston (Hudson), but I really can't pick between anyone in such a great cast.

You musn't count out the writing for this film's greatness, either. Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd are a great duo. Murray's Venkman was deadpan and perfect comedically, but all (most) of it was due to impressive writing by the Aykroyd/Ramis duo.

Overall, I just can't find anything that I don't like about it. I'm sure that I'm a little biased after the years and years of repeated viewings, but if you just watch it a couple of times, I'm sure you'll come to appreciate it like I do.


Conclusion:

In conclusion, if you've never seen this film: ADD IT TO YOUR LIST IMMEDIATELY. If it's already on your list, bump it up a couple spots!! Come on! It's not every day a seasoned movie blogger such as myself gives it a 6.5 out of 5 rating!

Great comedy movie, little bit of language, but overall a fun flick for almost any age. I laughed, I cried, and I swore up and down that I was a god.

I'd have more to say, but there's only so many times you can call something great. It is not an easy feat to break my top 10 films, let alone my top 3.

Anyway: Thanks for reading if you have gotten this far! I truly appreciate your support! If you ever have movie suggestions or want to watch something with me, please feel free to shoot me a comment, tweet me, facebook me, throw rocks at my window (not recommended, I'm grumpy when I wake up), text me, email me, call me, smoke signal me, or wire me a message in morse code. I've got a lot of films at my disposal, but I'm super indecisive.

Another successful Archvies entry complete! Thanks for the support, everyone! Leave me some feedback!! God bless!!

NAH

The Social Network

The Social Network (2010)

Director: David Fincher

Writers: Aaron Sorkin, Ben Mezrich

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara, Brenda Song

Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 5 stars!

I vowed to start writing in this more frequently, so to my million and a half readers- you're welcome! Anyhow, it's a blog kind of morning. Fourth of July at almost noon, barely been awake for 53 minutes. I watched a movie last night with my girl, and so me and my Quaker Chewy Dipps (yes, that is the correct spelling, direct from the box that's two inches to my left) bars have something to say.

I came into a copy of The Social Network via buy one get one free sale at K-mart. I bought this one, and got Easy A for free. I've already seen that one but I will happily review it should my readership vote in that direction. Anyhow, I've told enough quirky little anecdotes for one day, and it's time to get to what I thought of the movie. Again, I won't give away too much of the story, but if you really want to get it, you can look it up online. It's not exactly a secret. 

The Social Network is the fabled tale of internet game-changer Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg; Zombieland) and how he created and built the social networking powerhouse we know as "Facebook". I don't want to give away too much of what happens, but the origins of Facebook go back to 2003 when Zuckerberg's girlfriend, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara; The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), breaks up with him, and he creates an incredible "hotness rating" website, as well as trashes her by name on the 2003 blog-o-sphere, and let's face it, everyone knows that trashing someone on LiveJournal is pretty much the biggest 2003 slap in the face you can possibly receive. But Zuckerberg's "hotness rating" website that crashed the Harvard server received him some notoriety around the school, including an offer to help build "The Harvard Connection", which was a primitive social network for Harvard students only, geared mostly towards dating. Zuckerberg eventually flakes on this project for one of his own.

I thought this movie was incredibly well acted. It was clever. The story was told well. I actually learned things. For instance, that Zuckerberg and the original Chief Financial Officer Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield; The Amazing Spider-Man) were the only two listed as the founders of Facebook (meaning Zuckerberg did most of the work), and that internet innovator and creator of Napster Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake; Friends with Benefits) was a huge influence on Zuckerberg and had a major role in Facebook. The most interesting thing I learned, however, was that Mark Zuckerberg was a socially inept computer nerd who created Facebook for many reasons, but the main one seemed to be that he had to social network because he had so few friends of his own.

I gave this movie five out of five starts because I just thought it was a beautifully made film. The Oscars they won for Best Original Score, Best Achievement in Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay were well deserved, and honestly I think that Jesse Eisenberg should've gotten a second look for that Best Actor nomination he received. But 3 wins out of 8 nominations really isn't bad. 

I would highly recommend this movie. Especially if you are on Facebook. So...everyone. :)

Here is the link to the IMDB page for The Social Network in case you would like to do a little more research:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/

and here is the link to the GetGlue forum, to see what the people who watched it most recently have been saying:

http://getglue.com/movies/social_network/david_fincher

(Once again, I have hyperlinked to the GetGlue homepage. If you do not have an account, do yourself a favor and get one. I could care less about any other networking venue, but GetGlue is one that is genuinely fun, especially for movie and TV lovers like myself. Seriously though. Follow me on GetGlue.)

Alright, that wraps up my post this time. I've already received a suggestion from a reader (but it's one I have to track down a copy of, first), but keep them coming! Please comment on here or Facebook (hehe) and make a suggestion for improvement or of a review to do! Thanks so much for reading! All 3 of you!

NAH