Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Who You Gonna Call??? -- They're Baaaackkkkk!

GOPHER-BUSTERS!

Well that's what my 2-year old was saying, at least....

It's the Ghostbusters and they're ready to believe you!

This is, without question, my favorite film of all-time.  I saw it first in the theater in 1984.  I was eight.

So I am about to weave a yarn, like my grandma used to tell about a spectral-locomotive that would rocket by her farmhouse as a little girl...but let me be clear...my point here is to let you know that this Thursday, October 27th, 2011, GHOSTBUSTERS is back.  It has played the last two Thursdays on a special Halloween re-release, and this Thursday is it the end of the run.  Your last chance (for now) to see this film on the big screen.

So as I was saying...I was 8 years old.

The film came out in June.  We spent the rest of that summer trying to fashion proton packs from miscellaneous scraps of metal and wood and nuts and bolts from my dad's leftovers from his constuction business taken clandestinely from my garage. Of course some of the best stuff came from the Mulvin's shed up the street.  They had scrapped electronics, sheet metal, and everything needed to make a real sweet proton pack. 

But as it went, we were eight.  Instead of getting a decent pack built, we nearly burned down that shed, thinking we could replicate some wicked Hot Wheels stunts if we trenched out a track and filled it, moat-like, with gasoline.  That day things went a bit awry.

Now a few years later, when we were in 6th grade, a friend of mine's older brother had actually made a proton pack.  I can't promise that it worked (heehee) but it looks effing awesome.  He made it in shop class and bought a GB-like jumpsuit, got creative for the patches, and for my money, he was a fire-breathing pimp who as far as I knew, was sure as hell ready to bust some heads, in a spiritual sense, of course.

(Note: these days, for anywhere from $50 to several thousand, you can actually by a pre-made proton pack...just remember if you do, you may be walking around with an unlicensed particle accelerator on your back!)

Smash cut to high school...in eleventh grade, I had moved handily past trying to create a respectable Ghostbuster costume...or as I would have referred to it, a uniform.  But I was admitted into "The Vault' that year.  Named after the in-joke to Seinfeld, The Vault consisted of a group of close friends, who had the unfortunate pleasure of spending junior prom night shooting hoops in Mike Wargo's driveway.  They would be there for the Zima incident of 1994 and for the record, initiation for me was strutting into Victoria's Secret and asking if they had a crotchless teddy in my size.  By the time I did it, dozens of my classmates had gathered outside the store, by the time it was over, security had been called and I left a little piece of my dignity inside of the Millcreek Mall that day.  Although many shuvs and zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the slor that day I can tell you, but it was worth it.  (C'mon, you remember, the last of the McKetrick supplicants!)

So one night, I am at a volleyball game with some of my fellow vaultians.  I turn to take a picture and the flash fires, with my friend Mike uttering, I looked at the trap Ray.  Golden.

For either my one of my birthdays or graduation, my best gal pal Lora got me a VHS copy of the flick.  You can read more from Lora here: http://www.afever.com/.  She's pretty awesome and to her credit, she knew exactly what I would need foraying to the big city (College Park, MD)...yes, I know, its not that big, but leaving McDowell High School in Erie, PA...really any city is a big city.

I watched that copy of Ghostbusters a lot and I estimate today that I have see the film in general no less than 500 times.  I watched it falling asleep, watched it studying for tests, I watched it a lot.

Between high school and now, I have always come back to this film.  One of my best friends Eric and I would quote GB back and forth like we were breathing.  Like the ebb and flow of the tide, I haven't seen Eric in some time, well over a year by this typing, actually a bit closer to 18 months.


Eric, Reel Rhino, and John (l to r)
I bet next time we get together, I'll drop the Gozer the Gozarian speech...he may say something or another about "the twinkee," and perhaps one of us will agree that 'yes, this is true....this man has no dick." 

I love the film Ghostbusters.  It is the embodiment of a type of film from that era that at the same time were sweet, well-written, well-shot and re-donk-u-lously funny.

SEE ALSO: Stripes, Caddyshack, Spies Like Us, The Three Amigos, Animal House, Meatballs, Vacation, Fletch, and a handful others that in the spur of the moment, I am certainly forgetting.

As the pre-production work for Ghostbusters 3 is reportedly underway, who knows if we will ever get to see that film.  I for one would like to...while I enjoy Ghostbusters 2, it is the far lesser film.  It would be nice to renew enjoyment in this series for a new generation of viewers....

Oh wait...maybe instead of waiting for Ghostbusters 3, you could get out to the theater and go see the original...in theaters for one last showing this month....OCTOBER 27th, 2011...

GHOST BUSTERS (yep, I used the original spelling...)

People, get out there and see this film.  What's ironic is that this is a digital copy, so I figured it would be crisp and clear along the lines of the Blu-Ray release...THANK GOD, it was not.

It had the filmic look as though the film reels were spinning up in the projection booth and it looked glorious...let me say that as a big guy, I typically save the term glorious for only the most savory of treats (or whatever I happen to be jamming down my gullet) so you can rest assured that I really, really mean it.

Ghostbusters is playing at AMC and Cinemark theaters nationwide...it may be at more theaters elsewhere, but those are the two carrying it around my parts.

Do your duty folks...go see this movie because it is great.  Go see it to reinvigorate interest in this great franchise.  Take your kids, take your friends...go see this movie.

If you hadn't guessed, this flicks gets pretty high marks from The Reel Rhino...I'd give is a 5 of 5, but I would say that it probably deserves a 6.

Until next time...always remember...they're ready to believe you!!


1 comment:

  1. I was watching GB the other day and thinking about your copy. I was wondering if it was a DVD or VHS. Or maybe BETA. Ha ha. We're old.

    Thanks for the press!

    Also, Happy Halloween. This weekend as always, when someone asks you if you are a god, you say yes!

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