This is what happens with a Malay director (hilariously nicknamed “Chunk”) gets a special effects budget and a hankering to make a supernatural comedy - demons, semi-magical proton-pack-type weapons, and martial arts. Yay!
Speaking of Empire Magazine, they have their 100 top characters, and it was a safe bet at least one Ghostbuster was going to make it in. And if you have to pick one, it’s probably going to be the wise-cracking one.
“Back off, man. I’m a scientist.” Peter Venkman
Played By: Bill Murray
Film: GhostbustersWhy He’s On The List: Empire’s Nick De Semlyen summed up Peter Venkman - the leader of the Ghostbusters and Bill Murray’s finest character - perfectly in this month’s magazine when he said that Venkman is the ultimate New York hero: cynical, sarcastic, secretly sweet-natured. From his relentless and devilishly charming attempts to hit on Sigourney Weaver’s Dana to his aversion to anything resembling work, Venkman is the template for virtually every character Vince Vaughn has ever played.
Finest Hour: Venkman works his powers of persuasion on the Mayor Of New York - and the Ghostbusters are back in business.
John DiBiase sent in a heads-up that the latest issue of Empire Magazine (who recently put Ghostbusters inside the top 200 of their top 500 films of all time) have a bit of a tease on their front cover - “Ghostbusters 3: News That Makes You Feel Good”
Now, there’s been a lot of chatter out there about Ghostbusters 3, all of it amounting to, “Great idea, but nobody’s said yes.” It could be that the game getting re-picked up, plus all the positive talk about a third movie (including no-more-sequel stalwarts like Bill Murray) are the only thing this article has to say. But then, maybe they’ve got a little more to add to the discussion - if anybody finds the article, let the rest of us know what the deal is!
With the recent update of the Xbox 360 dashboard, which now allows Xbox users to stream Netflix films to their gaming system, a small hitch arose. Netflix had a distribution agreement with Sony and their Columbia-Tristar film catalog and now those films would be available to consumers who bought the competitor to Sony’s PS3 system.
Well, money talks, and as fast as it began, the issue is mostly resolved - older Sony titles, including Ghostbusters, are now available to Xbox users, while newer titles, such as Superbad, are not. Which, if you read between the lines and take a good guess, means Sony wants to hold their newer, hotter titles for their own potential PS3 use (or want people to buy on Blu-Ray/DVD), but older titles, particularly one that will soon have a game one EVERY gaming system (and thus creates more revenue for Sony), are there for the taking.
Andy Mangels, cartoon DVD wizard and the mad genius behind the RGB DVD sets post on PC to clarify that the slow, surreal playback on some episodes/discs from the set, are not because the came from PAL masters;
I can guarantee you that they are not, and I don’t know why Paul thinks they are different.
I spent 10 days at Technicolor going through over 600 1″ Master NTSC tapes, finding the most complete and best set of ORIGINAL masters I could.
These are 100% from NTSC masters, and AS ORIGINALLY AIRED, unless the labels were lying. Some of the ABC shows even had the original commercials in place.
Best,
Andy Mangels
http://www.AndyMangels.com
Which then begs the question, is it a problem with the encoding the discs themselves? Is it a problem with the whole disc or just certain episodes? Are those episodes affected consistent in all sets? As usual, the comments are there for everyone to help provide feedback.
I hold in my stubby little fingers one of the Real Ghostbusters DVD sets. I expect I will have more to say as I work through the content, but that’s going to take awhile. This is just an initial look - and I’m impressed. Just to be clear, this is an advanced copy, not part of the initial pre-order shipping - so if you bought one, it’s still a few days off yet. However, we can confirm they exist - and they’re fantastic.
For starters, it’s heavy - slightly bigger than a box of crackers, the set feels solid. In fact, I put it into a GameStop bag on the way to work, and it started to stretch the handles. While easy to fit on your video shelf, you do not doubt there’s a lot packed inside. This is confirmed once you open it, but I took a moment, first, to admire the box, which is plain geometry (hence the easy-to-shelf nature of the set), but the design is excellent. Animated panels show Slimer and the No-Ghost trying to saw himself loose, while windows have a laminated coat to make them shine compared to the rest of the “building.”
Inside are five SteelBook cases, each with a handful of discs inside. Mock-ups of what to expect can be found here, but seeing it first hand is impressive. No wonder the set is so heavy! All that casing, plus 25 discs in one small space.
Along with the cases are a cardboard sleeve Bonus Disc and a perfect bound series guide - the bonus disc, the only disc I’ve looked at so far, has the original four minute promo video (from what looks like a better-than-average VHS master), plus the same video with video commentary. There’s also alternate credit sequences, which is a plus, as the end-credit sequence doesn’t have credits! You can view the whole thing, sans titling. As well, there’s a gallery of title cards - every episode name from every episode, as it appeared at the start of each episode.
I had a quick look at the storyboards and series bibles also included on the disc, and if you haven’t seen them before, you’re in for a treat. The bibles are marked as First and Third, which begs the question, “where’s Two?” But that’s just curiosity talking - the two included are already chockablock of goodness.
OK, that’s for starters - I’m off to watch more. If you haven’t picked it up already, you should really consider
Remember, the code for both Canadian and US buyers - SLIMER - gets you $15 off of the order
and is good until Nov. 26th, so even if you missed out on the pre-order deals, you can still buy at a reduced price. Another handy code is LKFS86 - Free Shipping on orders over $50 (no expiry known.) Orders made before the first week of December should arrive in time for Christmas, in case you’re thinking of picking one up for someone special as a present.
[UPDATE] Someone asked about how it’s packed, concerned that the bonus DVD would be at risk of damage from the steelbooks around it - I’ve added a picture of how the package is put together, and as you can see, the Bonus disc is in no danger. I can’t remember if the sleeve was turned 90 degrees, so the disc couldn’t slip out, but even if it wasn’t, and even if it could slide out of the sleeve, the disc would only encounter the episode guide, not a steelcase.
[ALSO] Each episode listing has a bit of trivia included, as well as episode synopsis and production notes! Neat!
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The archived posts for Proton Charging were always there, accessible through the drop-down menu on the sidebar, but the bar didn’t want to play nice in the layout, and the links to past posts at the bottom of the page were rendered inoperable - but not no more - the archives are back (and very slick), and as they use a different interface system, I was able to take out the ugly drop down menu.
The archives can be accessed on the sidebar (I’ll likely put in a better link button at some point) and at the bottom of the main page’s posts. Yay!
Profiles In History’s next Hollywood auction features Bill Murray’s screen-seen jumpsuit and one of the stop-motion maquette Terrordogs used to create the rooftop scene. And they’re really cheap! (Just kidding - No they’re not!)
414. Original khaki “Ghostbuster” jumpsuit from Ghostbusters. (Columbia, 1984) Original khaki ripstop fabric jumpsuit with zippered pockets and “Ghostbuster” logo patch on right shoulder. Marked “TBS” on the inside with “Warner Bros.” barcode label below. This jumpsuit was discovered at Warner Bros. with the included “VENKMAN” (played by Bill Murray) name patch detached and in one of the pockets. Comes with Warner Bros. certificate of authenticity. $5,000 - $7,000
415. Screen-used Terror dog Stop-motion puppet from Ghostbusters. (Columbia, 1984) This is the Terror Dog animation puppet used as Sigourney Weaver’s alter ego in the hit Academy nominated comedy Ghostbusters. The figure is constructed of foam latex and measures 20 in. long and stands 10 in. high. It was designed, sculpted and stop-motion animated by Randall William Cook, who went on to win three Oscars® for his animation supervision of the characters in the Lord of the Rings series. Once the Terror Dog shots were completed, this puppet was stripped from its armature, then touched up, encased and given to visual effects wizard Richard Edlund by the Boss Film Creature Shop. Accompanied with a signed letter of authenticity by Richard Edlund. $12,000 - $15,000
Big thanks to Kristopher for the heads up!
While talking to Oprah Winfrey yesterday, Rob Lowe mentioned seeing Ivan Reitman and his family packing up and fleeing the recent fire tearing through the hills around Santa Barbara. Oprah later confirmed speaking to Reitman, who said the house and their belongings are insured and the family is safe and that’s all that matters.
No word on GB produer Joe Medjuck and family, who also live in Santa Barbara (but may or may not be in the path of the fire.)
As a regular watcher of the UK’s pop music panel game, Nevermind the Buzzcocks, I was pleasantly surprised by this week’s show, when regular Phill Jupitus and guest L’il Chris were given a familiar tune to hum during the intros round (when the panel performs the non-verbal opening to familiar tunes.) I suspect this one was way too easy, as it’s pretty apparently that everybody knew what it was, and Phil and Chris just wanted to have fun with it.
Don’t forget that issue two of IDW’s Ghostbusters: The Other Side hit stores Wednesday (or Thursday, if Remembrance Day delayed shipping to your store, like it did mine.) Two issues down, two to go!
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