Ghostbusters
We went to see Ghostbusters (1984) at the local theater yesterday night.
It was so much fun! The theater was almost completely full (just a few empty seats here and there) and everyone was really into it. It's such a blast to see a movie with a good crowd. There was a commercial for the re-re-release of Star Wars in 3D. Someone yelled "Why!" and another person yelled "Stop ruining my childhood!" It was hilarious. After a trailer for Twilight: Breaking Dawn there was a lot of booing and hissing.
The movie wasn't remastered, so it was a bit fuzzy, though not too noticeable. I've only seem Ghostbusters pan-and-scan, so seeing it on a widescreen was really neat, and there were small details in the backgrounds that were really funny. One that I recall from the scene in the hotel, where they accidentally zap a maids cart. While they're having a discussion in the foreground afterwards, she's trying to put out a little fire on the floor with a spray-bottle.
My favorite scenes were the ones in the library. Man, the parts with the books flying around and the cards shooting out of the card-catalog are a librarians nightmare. I kept thinking about some poor page having to re-file everything. And the slime!!! I especially liked when the Ghostbusters first see the floating librarian ghost. She looked GREAT on the big screen. E said afterwards that they should have just asked the librarian!ghost for a book on getting rid of ghosts (or any reference question). Hey, she probably knows the collection really well, if she's been haunting it for who knows how long.
The score was really good, again mostly in that opening sequence. The rest of the music was super eighties, but in a fun way.
The special effects held up really well, and I really enjoyed the in camera and analogue effects.
The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man got a great reaction from the audience. I'd never noticed it's expression changing on a small TV. It looked fabulous on the big screen.
The movie was even funnier than I remembered, probably because I understood more of the jokes that just sailed over my head as a kid.
That said, there were also some things that I was so oblivious to as a kid:
*All the sexual references. I just did not get Ray's ghost woman dream AT ALL when I was younger. Or when Peter and Zuul!Dana are in her bedroom.
*On that note, how did I not notice/remember how skeezy Peter Venkman is?
*All the gendered insults and weirdness with Gozer. She looked awesome (the hair, that outfit, the eyes) but just didn't like the sequence. :(
*How little Winston is in this. My concept of Ghostbusters when I was a kid was primarily through the cartoon, where, if I remember correctly, the four were equal team-members. Here, he's a late hire, working-class guy that's a foil to the hyper-educated Peter, Ray and Egon.
*All the other people of color are basically a maid, a hotel waiter guy, and people in prison
*All the women were: the love interest/victim, the love interest/secretary, the student test subject/victim of Peter's sexual harassment, and the main villain.
I felt really bad for Dana. She's this successful musician and a really intelligent lady. She turns to the Ghostbusters out of desperation and fear because of a unexplainable experience. Peter is a real jerk, and barely any help. Dana agrees to a date with Peter, so I guess she's finally decides she's charmed by him, only to be possessed by Zuul, possibly have off-screen unconsensual sex with a neighbor she's always trying to avoid, and used to bring about near Armageddon.
So, all in all a very fun way to spend an evening.
This entry was originally posted at http://jenna-marianne.dreamwidth.org/10270.html. Comment there using OpenID wherever and whenever you want.
It was so much fun! The theater was almost completely full (just a few empty seats here and there) and everyone was really into it. It's such a blast to see a movie with a good crowd. There was a commercial for the re-re-release of Star Wars in 3D. Someone yelled "Why!" and another person yelled "Stop ruining my childhood!" It was hilarious. After a trailer for Twilight: Breaking Dawn there was a lot of booing and hissing.
The movie wasn't remastered, so it was a bit fuzzy, though not too noticeable. I've only seem Ghostbusters pan-and-scan, so seeing it on a widescreen was really neat, and there were small details in the backgrounds that were really funny. One that I recall from the scene in the hotel, where they accidentally zap a maids cart. While they're having a discussion in the foreground afterwards, she's trying to put out a little fire on the floor with a spray-bottle.
My favorite scenes were the ones in the library. Man, the parts with the books flying around and the cards shooting out of the card-catalog are a librarians nightmare. I kept thinking about some poor page having to re-file everything. And the slime!!! I especially liked when the Ghostbusters first see the floating librarian ghost. She looked GREAT on the big screen. E said afterwards that they should have just asked the librarian!ghost for a book on getting rid of ghosts (or any reference question). Hey, she probably knows the collection really well, if she's been haunting it for who knows how long.
The score was really good, again mostly in that opening sequence. The rest of the music was super eighties, but in a fun way.
The special effects held up really well, and I really enjoyed the in camera and analogue effects.
The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man got a great reaction from the audience. I'd never noticed it's expression changing on a small TV. It looked fabulous on the big screen.
The movie was even funnier than I remembered, probably because I understood more of the jokes that just sailed over my head as a kid.
That said, there were also some things that I was so oblivious to as a kid:
*All the sexual references. I just did not get Ray's ghost woman dream AT ALL when I was younger. Or when Peter and Zuul!Dana are in her bedroom.
*On that note, how did I not notice/remember how skeezy Peter Venkman is?
*All the gendered insults and weirdness with Gozer. She looked awesome (the hair, that outfit, the eyes) but just didn't like the sequence. :(
*How little Winston is in this. My concept of Ghostbusters when I was a kid was primarily through the cartoon, where, if I remember correctly, the four were equal team-members. Here, he's a late hire, working-class guy that's a foil to the hyper-educated Peter, Ray and Egon.
*All the other people of color are basically a maid, a hotel waiter guy, and people in prison
*All the women were: the love interest/victim, the love interest/secretary, the student test subject/victim of Peter's sexual harassment, and the main villain.
I felt really bad for Dana. She's this successful musician and a really intelligent lady. She turns to the Ghostbusters out of desperation and fear because of a unexplainable experience. Peter is a real jerk, and barely any help. Dana agrees to a date with Peter, so I guess she's finally decides she's charmed by him, only to be possessed by Zuul, possibly have off-screen unconsensual sex with a neighbor she's always trying to avoid, and used to bring about near Armageddon.
So, all in all a very fun way to spend an evening.
This entry was originally posted at http://jenna-marianne.dreamwidth.org/10270.html. Comment there using OpenID wherever and whenever you want.