Welcome back! As midterms approach, the semester is beginning to get seriously stacked with work this month. I don’t know how it’s possible, but online classes are way more stressful and all-consuming than in-person ones. I like the four foot commute to school as much as the next student, but is it worth it? I am overwhelmed and under-rested.
As I study, cloistered in my festively decked out bedroom, the prospect of having something to celebrate soon gets me through the late nights (for reference, it is currently 2:18 a.m. as I write this intro). So here’s to our first Halloween movie. This is the Bitchin’ Bio on Ghostbusters.
Release Date: June 8, 1984
Synopsis: In New York City, scientists Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Akroyd), and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) lose their positions at Columbia University following a ghost encounter gone wrong. The three then move into a beat-up firehouse where they begin to advertise their business as “Ghostbusters.” When Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) comes to the office with an account of paranormal activity at her apartment, it is not just her story that catches Venkman’s attention. He makes it his mission to get a date with Dana, but as the Ghostbusters’ stardom grows, so does the size of their jobs. The team, including newest member Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), soon discovers the looming threat of an ancient godlike creature called Zuul.
How I Watched It: I watched it in theaters over the summer! It was playing for free at Jax Jr., a small theater my family loves to visit when we go to New Hampshire. Everything was still very socially distanced and safe, but going to the movies made me feel the most normal I’d felt in almost half a year.
Degrees of Kevin Bacon: 1. Bill Murray is in Wild Things (1998) with Kevin Bacon. I genuinely hate how often Wild Things comes up.
Come For: The classic draws—theme song, Stay Puft marshmallow man, and fearsome foursome.
Stay For: Janine! Annie Potts is always hilarious, and she luckily has some fun one-liners to make her own here.
Had I Seen It? Yes, but it is one of the many movies in my life that I forgot much of before I saw it again.
Do I Like It? Mostly, yes. But it’s hard for me to really like Venkman. His early scene of hitting on his student is just plain gross. The way he pursues Dana without really taking her concerns into account is not charming. It isn’t that I don’t like Bill Murray, because I do. A lot of his jokes are great, and he is genuinely funny in his delivery, as always, but the way he treats women just grinds my gears. It prevents me from fully supporting his character. What can I say? I’m a Spengler fan all the way.
I hope you get a little time to relax and enjoy a movie this week. Maybe that movie will even be this one! Next time, we’ll continue with Halloween Week 2: Poltergeist (1982). But until then, I leave you with the Ghostbusters-inspired truth I saw in a meme: “There is no social contact, only Zoom.”
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