I can still remember seeing the original Ghostbusters movie for the first time. It was the hot topic at school at that time, and I can remember 'playing Ghostbusters' with my friends during lunchtime, where I mostly ended up as the Rick Moranis character, while I, like everybody else, would much rather be Bill Murray! The sequel wasn't as good but still fun enough, and after that things were quiet. A sequel was announced but never made, at least not until Dan Aykroyd dropped a bomb just last week: Ghostbusters 3 will be made, and it will be all cgi! Quite a coïncidence, since I had no idea of this when I e-mailed Ghostbusters fan-supreme Paul Rudoff about his love for the movie. Incidentally perfect timing then for this interview!
It's clear from early on that Paul Rudoff is a big fan of the Ghostbusters. If not just from the fact that he has a huge website for the movie, then surely from the fact that some of the answers he sent me to my questions are longer than whole interviews I've had with other people. Luckily, he knows how to tell an interesting story about the movies, which makes this interview a lot of fun to read if you are interested in either reminiscing about the movies, cartoons and comics, or looking forward to what might become Ghostbusters 3.
Q: An obvious question to start with: what is it that makes Ghostbusters so special to you?
A: Like most things in life, I've never actually stopped and thought about why I like Ghostbusters. I guess part of it has to do with the concept of these guys who go around and eliminate ghosts, just like it were any other ordinary 9-to-5 job. It's done in such a very mundane way, that you get the feeling like the Ghostbusters business could actually exist. You have a fire in your house, you call the fire department. You have some kind of criminal problem, you call the police. You have a ghost or demon in your house, you call the Ghostbusters. You almost expect to see them listed in the phone book under "Emergency Services." The writing is another reason that I really connected with the film. I don't think that there's a single instance where you have any drab dialogue. Even when Egon has to explain something as potentially boring as the rising PKE levels in the city, he uses one of the most unusual, and memorable, analogies ever committed to film - the size of a Twinkie! Although the film is marketed today as a family film, there is a lot of risque humor.
An obvious example would be the Peter and Dana bedroom scene ("Do you want this body?" and "I want you inside me"). Less obvious would be the exchange between Peter and Dana when he first checks out her apartment. Dana: "That's the bedroom, but nothing ever happened in there." Peter: "What a crime." It took me a long time to finally get that joke. Most films have one or two memorable quotes. Practically the entire film is a memorable quote! Lest I forget about all of the great creatures. You have a green ghost that eats, drinks, and slimes anybody it wants. You have two large, ferocious dogs that will make you roll over and play dead. You have a woman with hair literally standing straight up, dressed in bubble wrap, jumping and flipping all over the place. And then there's a giant 100-foot marshmallow man! What's not to like?!?
Q: What did you feel when you saw Ghostbusters for the first time? Did you catch it in the cinema, on TV, or somewhere else?
A: I honestly don't remember where or when I first saw Ghostbusters. The film came out seventeen days before my seventh birthday, so it's possible that I saw it in the theater and simply don't remember. Chances are that I first caught it on its ABC network television premiere showing, which I think would have been in 1987. My earliest Ghostbusters memories are of watching "The Real Ghostbusters" Saturday mornings on ABC and playing with the toys. I probably saw the animated series before I saw the film.
Q: Do you feel like the movie has, in one way or another, changed your life?
A: Well, since I doubt that you would have asked to interview me had I not had a Ghostbusters website, I'd have to say "Heck Yes!" Actually, my website is probably the biggest way that it's changed my life. It's introduced me to people that I wouldn't have known otherwise. Mostly that's a good thing, though there have been a few nutballs who've come in off the street. :-) In some ways the website gives me a sense of belonging, like I'm part of a community, even though there are times when I feel like I'm living on the outskirts.
Q: How many times have you seen the movie?
A: I really wish that I could give you an exact number, but I've never counted or kept a record. I could guess over 100 or 200, but that might be overestimating or underestimating.
Q: What is your favorite character from the movie? And your favorite moment?
A: I'd like to say Peter Venkman (Murray), because he's witty, charming, and gets the girl at the end, but I think that I probably like Onionhead (aka Slimer) more. He was just a fun-loving guy, who did anything he wanted, without any care or regard for anyone else. He saw food, he ate it. He saw a target (Peter), he slimed it. I'd love to be that carefree. Of course my favorite moment is his big scene where he slimes Peter. I don't think the special effects technology in 1984 was good enough to realistically show him actually sliming Peter (as we just get the before and after), which is a shame, but it's still a pretty cool moment nonetheless.
Q: What did you think of the sequel? Many people were very disappointed with it, I thought it was quite okay but nowhere near as good as the original. What did you think?
A: Unlike the first film, I clearly remember seeing this in the theater back in June of 1989. In fact, if you'll bear with me for a minute, I can go into some detail about it. My mother took my sister and I to the movie theater at Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, Long Island, New York. Since it was a multiplex, after the film was over we snuck into the theater showing Star Trek V. Not exactly the best Star Trek film to sneak in to, but none of the good ones came out that year. Anyway, I would have been about twelve years old at the time, so I LOVED the movie simply because it was Ghostbusters and I was REALLY into Ghostbusters at that point.
I remember some really cool scenes in the theatrical version of the film that weren't included on the home video release, such as Slimer (he adopted his cartoon name for the film) flying out from the Statue of Liberty's crown and heading straight towards the camera, ala the ending of the first film. Now that I'm older, I see the film for the abomination that it really is. Like most sequels, IT SUCKS! In fact, I'd say that it's a textbook example of how NOT to do a sequel. The folks at i-Mockery put up a list entitled Ten Things I Liked About Ghostbusters II. I have been planning on working on my own counter-point list about the ten things I disliked about the film, which will eventually be added to my site. Here are a couple of the items that will be on my list.
* Janine & Louis: She looks like a clown and acts more like a hooker than Julia Roberts did in Pretty Woman. This is NOT the same nebbish woman who was pining for Egon in the first film - or the animated series, for that matter. He should not have had anything more than a cameo in the film, as he only exists in the Ghostbusters universe simply because he lived in the same apartment building as Dana, whom he had a stalker-esque crush on, yet he's given a major role - AND gets to don a Ghostbusters uniform!
* Slimer: Thanks to him hijacking "The Real Ghostbusters" animated series, he was given an unnecessary and really stupid cameo in the film. Why is he driving a bus? Why is he buddy-buddy with Louis? He actually had a larger role in the film with Louis trying to bust him, but thankfully it was deleted.
* The New Logo: It makes no sense in their universe. Why would a successful company change their logo? What does the two fingers mean - victory, peace, 2-for-1 special?!?
* Oscar: Did we really need a baby in the film?
That's not to say that I absolutely hated everything in the film. I liked Vigo (potentially cooler than Gozer), Janosz Poha (well played by Peter MacNichol), and the Ecto-1A (more visually appealing than the Ecto-1). The plot was decent enough, and would have been better had they made it a darker PG-13-type of film, but instead they chose to go close to the "family film" route, to keep the film in line with the animated series. In fact, that's the cause of most of the film's problems. The new look of Janine and the unnecessary appearance of Slimer are specifically due to the animated series, which at this point was renamed "Slimer and The Real Ghostbusters." As much as I dislike Ghostbusters II, I would still love for it to get a Special Edition DVD release with REAL extras: deleted scenes, 1989 making-of featurettes (such as those on the original Electronic Press Kit), still photos, etc.
Q: And what do you think of all the other tie-ins? Like the cartoon shows, the videogames, the comics...
A: I loved the first two seasons of "The Real Ghostbusters," which were story edited by sci-fi writer J. Michael Straczynski (aka JMS), who would go on to create Babylon 5. He brought several of his colleagues onto the series to pen episodes, which meant that the stories were leaps and bounds above the usual Saturday morning drivel being shown back then. David Gerrold (Star Trek: The Trouble With Tribbles), Michael Reaves (Gargoyles), Marc Scott Zicree (The Twilight Zone Companion), Richard Mueller (Ghostbusters movie novelization), and many more great writers contributed episodes to the series. Mr. Straczynski himself wrote two of my favorite episodes: "Take Two" and "Citizen Ghost." Each deals directly with the first film. The first is about the REAL Ghostbusters being hired as consultants on the live-action film. JMS actually had some kids convinced that the animated series came first and that the Bill Murray film was based on them! The second is about the events that take place immediately following the Gozer incident, where the contaminated uniforms take on a life of their own - literally.
These two seasons are before a fanatical religious group pressured the suits at ABC to change the series for the worse, and before Slimer hijacked the series and brought the quality down even more. One of the changes the religious group made was to change the now-redheaded Janine from a feisty Brooklyn gal to a "softened mommy figure." I loved the original Janine. I has such a crush on her, and still kinda do, and was deeply saddened by the change in appearance and voice. A new animated series entitled "Extreme Ghostbusters" premiered in 1997, five years after "The Real Ghostbusters" ended. It featured a new cast of 18- and 19-year-old Ghostbusters, including the first physically challenged (read: he's in a wheelchair) member and the first official female member of the group (Janine occassionally donned a uniform in the previous series, but was never an official member). If it were not for the internet and the online community I would not have known that this series ever existed, because it was BARELY advertised! It was shown in this rinky-dink syndication package, with the only advertisements for the series being shown DURING the two-hour block of shows in the package.
I don't mind the politically-correct nature of the new crew, though when I first read that one of the guys (Garrett) was going to be in a wheelchair, I was really scared that it would suck beyond belief. I could not imagine a scenario where a wheelchair-bound person could do the things required of the job without being a hindrance to the crew. Thankfully, the Garrett character was handled well, and his wheelchair never, in my mind, became an issue. The new female Ghostbuster, Kylie, was one of the best aspects of the new series. She's a goth girl with a sultry sexy voice provided by Tara Strong (then Tara Charendoff). That voice, and that voice alone, is the reason I became a Tara Strong fan. There was romantic tension between Kylie and fellow teammate Eduardo, which even led to some steamy dialogue that I'm shocked was allowed to air in a "kids" show. Here's one of my favorite exchanges.
Kylie: Are you happy to see me, Eduardo?
Eduardo: Ahh, sure.
Kylie: Because I'm really happy to see you. From the first time I saw you in the lecture hall, I felt an attraction. Did you feel it too?
Eduardo: Well, I don't know, sort of. I mean, you could stand to put on a couple of pounds.
Kylie: A good looking guy like you who's really hard to resist. Kiss me Eduardo. I want you to.
Roland: Back off Eduardo.
Eduardo: Why? She legal.
Roland: She's a ghost!
The series ended after 40 episodes in a single season. Although the episodes weren't as great as some of the best from The Real Ghostbusters, I still would have liked for it to have continued on. Continuing on to another part of your question, there have been several different Ghostbusters comic book series over the years. NOW Comics published three series ("The Real Ghostbusters," "Ghostbusters II," and "Slimer!") from 1988 to 1993. Marvel published many of their own issues of "The Real Ghostbusters" in the United Kingdom from 1988 to the early 1990s. Some of these were recently reprinted in four graphic novels by Titan Books. 88MPH Studios published a four-part series entitled "Ghostbusters: Legion" in 2004. I have every single issue, including variants, of every title published by NOW and 88MPH. I also have the four Titan Books graphic novels and a few of the original Marvel UK books. However, I haven't read many of them in such a long time, that none of the stories sticks out in my head for me to comment on. Overall, all of them are enjoyable.
Q: I can remember from when the movie came out that Activision had a really popular game out, that I even went to a friend's house to be able to play it. Did you ever play that game? And what did you think of it?
A: Oh, yes I played the Activision game. They had the license back then, so they actually produced a few Ghostbusters games, namely for the first film, the second film, and the animated series. The best known one is for the first film, created by video game legend David Crane (who also created the classic "Pitfall"), which is probably the one you're referring to (Yes it is - Patrick). The very first video game system I owned was the Atari 2600. Sad story, my family did not have very much money when I was younger (heck, we still don't), so I got my Atari 2600 and two dozen or so games used in a garage sale (many without instruction manuals) around the time that all of the other kids were getting the new Nintendo Entertainment System. Imagine how bad I felt that I was stuck with this old system with crappy block graphics and they had this new system with fantastic graphics. One of the games I had for the Atari 2600 was Ghostbusters.
I don't remember if I had an instruction manual or not, so I don't know if I ever knew what I was supposed to be doing in the game. I know now that the game is a Ghostbusters business simulation, with your character going around the city busting ghosts, buying equipment, and trying to raise enough money to enter the Temple of Zuul in the middle of the map screen in order to defeat Gozer and complete the game. I don't know if I ever made it into the building, but I sure as heck know that I never made it to the roof to battle Gozer. The game was ported to many different systems, and I got to play it again on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which my family bought just as the Super Nintendo was coming out in the early 1990s. The graphics were far superior to the Atari 2600 version, and this time I had a manual, but that still didn't make the game any better. You see, both versions suffered from an incredibly high difficulty level that was not suitable for a little kid, as I was back then. Even the Game Genie cheat device didn't help as it was limited to a maximum of three codes, which meant that I could have a code to protect me for one area, but then I'd be unprotected for another area. Although I DID make it up to the roof to see Gozer, and the ascending Mr. Stay-Puft, I never did defeat her. From what I've read, the ending is so crappy that it wouldn't have been worth it anyway.
There was a completely different Ghostbusters game for the Sega Genesis, which was produced by Sega and not Activision. This one was a side-scrolling platformer and was actually pretty fun, especially since I like those types of games (the Super Mario Bros. series was always a favorite of mine). The characters looked like their movie counterparts, and the bosses in each house were pretty cool. The one I remember the best is a wall of fire with a face. Personally, I think a firefighter would have been more suited for the task than a ghostbuster, but who am I to argue? I've played and owned several more Ghostbusters games. A few different versions of Ghostbusters II on the NES, the Gameboy, and on the PC. The Real Ghostbusters puzzle/platform game for the Gameboy. Extreme Ghostbusters: Code Ecto-1 for Gameboy Advance, Extreme Ghostbusters: Zap The Ghosts for the PC, and Extreme Ghostbusters Creativity Workshop for the PC. I still own the three Extreme Ghostbusters games, the last two I had to import as they were only released in Europe. Plus I used to own The Real Ghostbusters board game.
Q: There seems to be a sort of a rivalry between fans of Gremlins and fans of Ghostbusters. I can remember from when I was a kid that there was always a "No, Ghostbusters is better!"-type discussion going on in the schoolyard. What do you think of this rivalry? And what do you think of Gremlins?
A: I was not aware that there was such a rivalry. Of course, it's been a long time since I was a kid and had those types of schoolyard discussions :-) Since both films were released on the exact same day back in 1984, I could see why a rivalry might have occurred amongst some groups of kids back then. "Kid logic" might have been that you could only like one or the other, not both. Personally, I like Gremlins very much. Like Ghostbusters, I think the Gremlins films have a perfect mix of horror and comedy/satire. Obviously I'm not a Gremlins devotee, but I've thoroughly enjoyed both films, have both on tape somewhere, and even had some of the merchandise - which I've either sold or I'm currently trying to sell. The Ghostbusters and Gremlins universes could easily cross-over, with the Ghostbusters coming to Kingston Falls to help the town with their "little" problem. The Ghostbusters dealt with imps in The Real Ghostbusters episode "Janine's Day Off," so they are no strangers to creatures of that ilk. I've love to see a face-off between Slimer and Stripe. I think that would be fun, plus both characters are voiced by Frank Welker (he voiced Slimer in The Real Ghostbusters), so that would also make it interesting.
Q: Personally, I miss the movies from that period in time. You had Ghostbusters, Gremlins, The Goonies, Back to the Future, Weird Science... It's a cliche, but I feel like they just don't make them like that anymore. What are your thoughts on that?
A: Agreed. The movies back in the 1980s seemed fresh and original, even if they had roots in past films. Ghostbusters is an updated version of the Walt Disney short Lonesome Ghosts (1937), Gremlins seems to be inspired by the 1950s sci-fi B-movies, Weird Science is clearly a modern take on Frankenstein (1931). Today, most of the movies that are released are thought up by suits who are more interested in the bottom line then in creating an enjoyable film. They're processed, cliched, and in way too many cases, remakes of previous films or television series. The only movie in recent years, and it's already ten years old, that is very much like an '80s film is Men in Black (1997).
Q: Have you been involved with the online Ghostbusters-fandom from the beginning? How has it evolved from the moment you first became involved?
A:My website, Spook Central (now subtitled "The Ghostbusters Companion"), was created in August 1996. There were a few sites already online at the time, but since I don't know how long they were around before me, I don't know if I've been here since the very beginning. I'd safely say that I've been here since about the beginning of the online community. I only recall there being four Ghostbusters fan sites when I ventured out into the vast unknown of this thing called The Internet. There was a general fan site created by Bill Emkow, a Real Ghostbusters artwork site by Adrian "Burning Knight Raven" Adams, a Real Ghostbusters fan fiction site by Sheila Paulson, and a site that started to do an image-enhanced version of the Ghostbusters film script. Only Sheila's site remains online today. I decided to create my own website because none of those sites had what I was looking for in a Ghostbusters website. Like Bobby Brown said in his theme to the second film, "If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself." In the over ten years that I've been a part of the community, I've seen it grow exponentially. It started out with just a few sites, and now has well over a fifty, some of which are very specific to a certain aspect of the fandom, like the comic books, or building replica props. My site has been surpassed in terms of popularity (from what I can tell based on links on other sites and search engine placement), but not in sheer size. I think that I can safely say, without any bravado, that my site still has the largest amount of (non-news) content of any Ghostbusters site online. The good news is that I have a lot more content to add to it. The bad news is that I have very little time to do the work necessary to add that content.
Q: How far does your love for Ghostbusters go? Do you have the website and for instance the dvd-editions that you watch a lot, and that's it, or does it go further than that?
A: Ghostbusters is one of the few things I loved as a child that I still love today. In 1988, I dressed up as Peter Venkman for Halloween (using Kenner's toy proton pack). In 1989, with my friend Ernie, I wrote little "plays" (including one or two Ghostbusters plays) and performed them for an audiotape recorder. Also in 1989, using my Real Ghostbusters toys, I took "action" photos of the Ghostbusters in battles with the ghosts. In 1991, when my family bought a camcorder, I started making some short films using The Real Ghostbusters toys as the actors. The result was crude, but since I was the only one who would see it, I was satisfied with it. When I realized how to connect the camcorder to the VCR, I started to make music videos using whatever footage I could get my hands on. I started putting footage from the Ghostbusters films and animated series to music. These videos were also very crude, but not bad for a first attempt.
Over the years, I would make several more music videos (all non-Ghostbusters), each time perfecting my craft even more. In December 1997, I made my second all-time best music video -- "I Go To Extremes" by Billy Joel (with "Extreme Ghostbusters" as the video's theme). Sadly, I don't think that I have the audio plays, toy photos, or toy movies anymore... not that I would show them to anyone anyway. I may eventually put all of my music videos up on YouTube, but I don't know if or when I will do that. Besides my creative endeavors, my love for the franchise can be seen through the large amount of selected merchandise that I've purchased or attained. I decided a few years back that I would limit my Ghostbusters merchandise collecting to items that I could watch, read, hear, or use in some manner on my website. To that extent, my collection includes (but is not limited to):
* Both 1999 and 2005 DVD editions of both films (including a second 2005 box set so I could keep a mint copy of the "scrapbook" found inside).
* All of the RCA/Columbia VHS tape and Sony DVD editions of The Real Ghostbusters, and the three EP speed Sony VHS tapes of Extreme Ghostbusters (with the special slip-sleeve box they all were supposed to be packaged in on the retail shelf). I have almost every episode (including alternate versions) of all of the animated series on tape from my own recordings and trading with others. I'm only missing one alternate (redubbed) Real Ghostbusters episode and one Slimer! episode/short.
* Way too many magazines, novels, storybooks, comic books, souvenir programs, and other assorted printed materials that are either all about the films and animated series, or contain articles about them.
* All of the soundtrack and score albums to the two films on CD and The Real Ghostbusters soundtrack on cassette (two copies, one still factory-sealed with a sticker book inside). A few cassette and CD singles of alternate versions of the film's hit songs.
* The Extreme Ghostbusters video game for the Gameboy Advance, and the two pieces of Extreme Ghostbusters software (a game and a "creativity workshop") for Windows, which I had to import from Europe as they were never released in the United States.
* Several dozen glossy 8x10 photos from the films, 8x10 lobby cards, official photos, press kits, and other things of this nature.
* A 3-D three or four feet tall video store display for the first film (similar design as the larger one that was displayed standing on the floor in the theater), and a large Ghostbusters VHS box video store display.
* Although I no longer have the large assortment of Kenner's Real Ghostbusters toys that I played with extensively as a child (I've sold most of them and I'm trying to sell the rest), I still have a box full of (mostly) mint-on-card Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters action figures, Neca's Gozer and Slimer figures, the small and large-size die-cast Ecto-1, the set of Extreme Ghostbusters Kentucky Fried Chicken kids meal toys, and other assorted toys and things. I try not to collect many toys, though I did want a few. The "Fright Figure" line of Kenner's Real Ghostbusters toys were always my favorites.
* One of my hobbies is autograph collecting, so I've amassed a large collection of signed items by known, lesser-known, and unknown members of the cast and crew of the films and animated series. I have a dozen or two signed Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters episode scripts, I have original copies of a Real Ghostbusters series bible and rough drafts (with hand-written notes) of episode scripts and outlines that I got from one of the series writers. I have a hand-written letter from one of the main voice actors on Extreme Ghostbusters that tells about the recording sessions. Not to mention all of the signed photos from the actors in the film and television series. I probably have the only extensive collection of Ghostbusters-related autographs in the world. I still have to get signed items from many folks, though it will never be a complete collection, as some cast and crew members have passed away. Before you think that I'm nuts, I am aware of Star Wars and Star Trek fans who collect the autographs of every person associated with those franchises, no matter how small their role or contribution may be.
Oh, and in case you're wondering... I plan on eventually adding these items to my site, when I can find the time to scan, OCR, or transcribe them into digital form. Don't expect for that to happen any time soon :-) That just about covers my collection, which shows you the depth of my love for Ghostbusters. I may have left an item or two out, but I think you get the point :-)
Q: There has always been talk of a new Ghostbusters movie. Do you think it's a shame that it never happened? What would you have liked to have seen in a third Ghostbusters movie? Do you think it could have worked without Bill Murray involved?
A: It's funny that you ask that now as just last week Dan Aykroyd went on record to confirm that a third film is being made, albeit in CGI, with Bill Murray on board to voice his character (and grant permission for his likeness, I assume). I've always said that Ghostbusters 3 should be an animated movie, though I've been saying that it should feature The Real Ghostbusters characters in their original first and second season designs (get J. Michael Straczynski to adapt Dan's "Hellbent" script to the Real Ghostbusters-style). Still, CGI versions of the original actors is a good way to go, too. I'm guessing the "CGI human" versions of the guys will look similar to the characters in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (which was released by Sony/Columbia Pictures). I wonder if it will be released theatrically (like Final Fantasy) or direct-to-video. I don't care either way, though given the cost of ticket prices, and the fact that I'd buy the DVD release anyway, direct-to-video would be quicker and cheaper for me. The film shouldn't be called "Ghostbusters 3," but rather "Ghostbusters: Hellbent" so that it doesn't seem like a direct sequel to the two live-action films. That should quell any issue about the series going from live-action to animated, plus that would allow for more films to be made without going through lots of numerals, which make sequels seem inferior right out of the box (see the Friday The 13th film series).
I would like for the opening scene to be a recap of the events of Ghostbusters II, which is then revealed to be a dream/nightmare of one of the characters. Either that, or one of the Ghostbusters is interviewed in the new film and mentions that Ghostbusters II is a complete Hollywood fabrication and never happened in "real life." That would make the animated version to be the "real" version, ala The Real Ghostbusters episode "Take Two." By making Ghostbusters II into a dream or a lie, it would allow for the continuity in the new film to follow the first film, such as Janine being the brown-haired nebbish woman in love with Egon (if they want to make her a redhead ala the animated series, it should look natural, not like the clown hair in the second film), and the original No Ghost logo instead of the two finger version. Plus it would take care of all of the things that I hate about the second film. I don't have any immediate ideas as to what else should be in a third film, as I really like Dan Aykroyd's "Hellbent" idea and would support that. It sounds darker and grittier than the first two films, which should help move the franchise away the "kid-friendly" tone it had on the big and small screens back in 1989. I just hope that Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis (if he co-writes again) learned their lesson from the second film, so that they DON'T screw around with the personalities of the characters again, and they DON'T rehash the first film again.
Note to Dan or Harold: There doesn't have to be a 100-foot something-or-other plodding down the streets near the finale, or at any other point in the film, for that matter. Oh, and slime does NOT equal Ghostbusters. Just because it was memorable in the first film, doesn't mean that it even has to be in the third film at all, much less the "star" of the film like in Ghostbusters II. Both animated series very rarely featured slime, and they had some very well written episodes that featured none at all. Should Bill Murray choose not be involved, I still think the film could be good, it just has to be written well enough so that the audience doesn't feel like they're missing the Peter Venkman character. And if the movie is never made at all, that's not the end of the world. There's lots of good times to be had in the films and animated series that currently exist.
Q: Have you followed the careers of the actors from Ghostbusters after that movie's success? Do you feel it's the best thing they ever made, or are there any other movies by these actors that you also enjoy a lot?
A: I don't follow any of the actors careers religiously, but I've seen many of their post-Ghostbusters works. Since I'm biased, I'm always going to think that Ghostbusters is the best thing that any of the actors ever worked on, now matter how much I may love something else that they've done since. However, here's a brief rundown of some of my other favorite films featuring the Ghostbusters cast since 1984.
* Bill Murray (Peter): Scrooged (1988), Groundhog Day (1993), Wild Things (1998), and Charlie's Angels (2000). He received lots of acclaim for Lost in Translation (2003), but I found it to be very boring and pointless (Gasp! That's my favorite movie! - Patrick).
* Dan Aykroyd (Ray): Spies Like Us (1985), Dragnet (1987) (I seem to be one of the few who liked it), The Great Outdoors (1988), Loose Cannons (1990), Coneheads (1993), and Casper (1995) (in an uncredited cameo as Dr. Ray Stantz!).
* Sigourney Weaver (Dana): Aliens (1986), Dave (1993), Galaxy Quest (1999), and Holes (2003).
* Harold Ramis (Egon): He hasn't done much acting since Ghostbusters, but he's directed a few good films, namely Groundhog Day (1993), Multiplicity (1996), and Analyze This (1999).
* Rick Moranis (Louis): Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Spaceballs (1987), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), and The Flintstones (1994). He also released a country comedy album called "The Agoraphobic Cowboy" a year or two ago. It's very good.
* Annie Potts (Janine): Designing Women (tv series, 1986-1993), Who's Harry Crumb? (1989), and Toy Story 1 & 2 (1995 & 1999).
* William Atherton (Walter Peck): Die Hard 1 & 2 (1988 & 1990).
* Ernie Hudson (Winston): The Crow (1994), The Substitute (1996), Red Letters (2000), and Miss Congeniality (2000).
* Slavitza Jovan (Gozer): Of the nine films she's done, other than Ghostbusters, I've seen her in her brief appearance as a ghoulish nurse in the 1999 remake of House on Haunted Hill. It was actually a pretty good film, and Slavitza was good in her brief (less than a minute) role.
Q: In closing, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
A: How about this?
- BIRTH DATE: June 25th (try to guess the year)
- BIRTHPLACE: Syosset, New York (Long Island)
- EYE COLOR: Brown
- HAIR COLOR: Brown
- AMBITIONS: Being a movie director and/or working in the field of computers, making a more than decent income, having a nice family (a few kids -- two boys, one or more girls), living in a large house/mansion.
- HOBBIES & INTERESTS: Computers, Movie Making, Video Technology, Women (Hey, I'm a normal guy -- normal being a relative term), Video Games (PlayStation 1 & 2).
- FAVORITE DIRECTORS: Steven Spielberg, Ivan Reitman, Wes Craven, James Cameron.
- FAVORITE MUSICIANS: Weird Al Yankovic, Billy Joel, Paula Abdul.
- FAVORITE FILMS: Ghostbusters 1 & 2, Jurassic Park, Men In Black, too many more to mention.
- FAVORITE T.V. SERIES: The Real Ghostbusters, Extreme Ghostbusters, Tales From The Crypt, The Twilight Zone, too many more to mention.
- FAVORITE VIDEO GAMES: The Grand Theft Auto series on the PlayStation 2, the Super Mario Bros. series on the NES & SNES, the brick-smashing games Breakout (Atari 2600) and Sorcerer's Maze (PlayStation 1), and of course many of the Ghostbusters games on the various systems.
- FAVORITE CAR: Any car used in a film or T.V. series -- especially the Ecto-1 & Ecto-1A used in the "Ghostbusters" films.
- FAVORITE FOOD: Rice -- Fried or White
If you haven't read enough about Ghostbusters after this interview, make sure to visit Paul's excellent site Spook Central: The Ghostbusters Companion, or check out his other website, where, amongst other things, he sells a lot of cool Ghostbusters merchandise.
This is Awesome News! Thanks to Bill Murray to voice his role Ghostbusters 3 in CGI WILL BE HERE! I Can't wait to head to the Theater and see it!
Posted by: Patrick | February 26, 2008 at 12:57 AM