Ghostbusters

Darn Funny...After All These Years

In fact, did you know that the American Film Institue ranked Ghostbusters #28 in its "100 Years...100 Laughs" lists of film comedies? That's big stuff, considering, we have all likely watched an old film that was hysterical back then, but upon replay--just doesn't quite work anymore. Not so with Ghostbusters. It's proven itself to be a timeless, action packed, comedy.

When Professors Venkman (Bill Murray), Spengler (Harold Ramis) and Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) lose their jobs at a big university, they decide to use their Paranormal Studies experience to become ghost exterminators--just what this town needs, too. No sooner do they hang their shingle, when the gates of Hades are flung open and a host of apparitions are set loose on the unsuspecting city of New York. Zool (Sigourney Weaver) and her big-gun buddies come out to...um...play--oh, and... destroy the world.

I must admit that we wondered if all the good quotes would be inadvertently lost or ruined with the interruption of the filter--but to our surprise, it was fine and--again--lovely to be able to just sit back and watch this classic with my family, and not be embarassed every 30 seconds. It was great also, to read in the movie blurb that some of the best lines in the show were--spontaneously ad-libbed by the aactors AND I might add--still in the show. See? Funny and clean are still doable.

Motherly Advice: Now, I'll tell you, I don't have small children at home, who might be disturbed by a few of the ghosties starting out wispy and sweet, then turning into roaring, pointy toothed monsters. And depending on your tolerance level for creatures from the underworld, a few comically "possessed" folk, and a demon or two, you'll have to decide for yourself, what would scare your own kids. I'm sure it will work fine for many pre-teens and up, but you know your own family and their sensitivities best. Our filters were set on medium and still left in a few crude, angry terms, and a bit more of Sigourney's seductive language and clothing than I was interested in. So, I'd raise it just a bit if that bugs you.

All in all--Ghostbusters is a wacky, whild ghost chase!

Launi - I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost!

Rated PG for sequences of sci-fi action violence, frightening images, mild sensuality and language; 105 min; Directed by Ivan Reitman