Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Sigourney Weaver in the Ivan Reitman movie ‘Ghostbusters’

We head back to the mid-1980s by looking into the Ivan Reitman directed supernatural comedy Ghostbusters (1984). Set in New York City, New York, the film follows the ghost-catching business of three eccentric parapsychologists. The movie script was written by Dan Aykryod, Harold Ramis and Rick Moranis, each who also star in or play supporting roles in the movie.

(From left, Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler, Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz, Bill Murray as Peter Venkman and Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore in the Ivan Reitman movie Ghostbusters).

We meet the eccentric parapsychologists, Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, as employees with easy and undemanding work at Columbia University. Called to the New York Public Library to investigate what presents as a legitimate encounter with a ghost, the dean at the university nonetheless dismisses this notion as well as Venkman, Stantz and Spengler. The trio now needed to find new work, choosing to capture and eliminate ghosts from an old, disused firehouse that serves as their new business location. Business initially is slow. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis portrayed Venkman, Stantz and Spengler, respectively.

(From left, Rick Moranis as Louis Tully and Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett in the Ivan Reitman movie Ghostbusters).

The trio, with Janine Melnitz as portrayed by Annie Potts as their receptionist, cut a commercial to advertise their business. Following a bizarre paranormal experience in her apartment, cellist Dana Barrett contacts the ghostbusters with justifiable fear. This paranormal experience occurs down the hall from socially awkward neighbor Louis Tully, who makes his amorous feelings for Barrett known. Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis portrayed Barrett and Tully, respectively.

(From left, Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz and William Atherton as Walter Peck in the Ivan Reitman movie Ghostbusters).

Contacted by Barrett, Peter Venkman inspects her apartment while failing to initiate physically intimate relations during this visit. A subsequent call to remove a glutinous apparition from the Sedgewick Hotel hotel introduces the notions of the nuclear-powered chamber to hold ghosts in their basement, the need for care when using proton pack weapons to capture ghosts, and, ultimately, a flippant bordering on deadpan style of conducting business that somehow manages to work. Supernatural activity accelerates to the point that hiring additional ghostbuster Winston Zeddemore, as portrayed by Ernie Hudson, makes sense.

(From left, David Margulies as Lenny Clotch and Tom McDermott as Archbishop in the Ivan Reitman movie Ghostbusters).

With the ghostbusting business growing coupled with a suspicion of the equipment used to store the captured ghosts, Walter Peck of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) visits the headquarters of the business demanding an inspection. Venkman outright refuses. Peck, portrayed by William Atherton, gets the ghostbusters arrested. New York City mayor Lenny Clotch pulls the men out of jail, bringing the four ghostbusters to see him and the Archbishop , Gozer, and a comically big emblem of a confectionary company that isn’t in fact real. David Margulies, Tom McDermott, and a combination of Slavitza Jovan and Paddi Edwards portrayed Clotch, the archibishop and Gozer, respectively.

(Slavitza Jovan as Gozer in the Ivan Reitman movie Ghostbusters. Paddi Edwards voiced the character Gozer).

I have found endless joy in watching Ghostbusters as directed by Ivan Reitman, which helps me rate the movie at 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Bruce Willis, William Atherton and Bonnie Bedelia in the Renny Harlin movie ‘Die Hard 2’

With the theory that movies set with references to Christmas as part of the underpinnings for establishing the story might be Christmas movies, we return to the action thriller sequel to Die Hard (1988) with the Renny Harlin directed movie Die Hard 2 (1990). This movie is set on Christmas Eve with the main context for the movie being Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia.

(From left, Bruce Willis as John McClane and Dennis Franz as Captain Carmine Lorenzo in the Renny Harlin movie Die Hard 2).

With the movie Die Hard 2 having been based on the book 58 Minutes by Walter Wager, we encounter John McClane awaiting the arrival of his wife, Holly, on a flight arriving at the airport. McClane, as portrayed by Bruce Willis, uses his intuition as a lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department to act on his suspicions that a pair of men are behaving erratically. In following the men into a restricted space for sorting baggage, a gun fight ensues with just two of the three men in the encounter escaping with their lives. Bonnie Bedelia portrayed Holly, John’s wife.

(From left, William Atherton as Dick Thornburg and Bonnie Bedelia as Holly Gennero McClane in the Renny Harlin movie Die Hard 2).

The men confronted in the restricted area are part of a plan aimed at freeing corrupt foreign military leader General Ramon Esperanza, who is being extradited to from outside the country by airplane to Dulles International Airport. With the help of Sergeant Al Powell of the LAPD, John McClane learns that the man he killed was an American soldier who supposedly died in a helicopter accident two years previously. Airport police chief, Carmine Lorenzo, and air traffic control director Ed Trudeau find McClane’s suspicions unlikely when he reports what he knows. Franco Nero, Reginald VelJohnson, Dennis Franz and Fred Thompson portrayed Esperanza, Powell, Lorenzo and Trudeau, respectively.

(From left, Reginald VelJohnson as Al Powell, Fred Thompson as Trudeau and John Amos as Major Grant in the Renny Harlin movie Die Hard 2).

Former Colonel William Stuart, meanwhile, works with a group of ex-military sympathizers on the outskirts of the airport in support of causing chaos among the team operating the airport. Thrills, twists and turns follow the initial baggage claim scene with the motivations of Major Grant, Dick Thornburg and others coming into question. The seeds of McClane seizing the initiative, as cultivated with the original Die Hard movie, bears fruit during the blizzard and flight control issues that follow the shenanigans intended by Stuart and the team allied with Ramon Esperanza. William Sadler, John Amos and William Atherton portrayed Stuart, Grant and Thornburg, respectively.

(From left, Franco Nero as General Ramon Esperanza, Vondie Curtis-Hall as Miller and William Sadler as Colonel William Stuart in the Renny Harlin movie Die Hard 2).

The central appeal for the movie Die Hard is first and foremost the action and intrigue. The undercurrent of humor present with the original movie were downplayed with the sequel, though I found the movie did not require the humor to remain engaging. I grant Die Hard 2 as directed by Renny Harlin 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, December 3, 2022

Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman and Bonnie Bedelia in the John McTiernan movie ‘Die Hard’

It’s not every day that an action and thriller movie is set against the backdrop of a holiday. It has become more common to see moves themed as romances or romantic comedies set against Christmas. The John McTiernan directed Die Hard (1988) managed to mix the action thriller against a Christmas gathering. Today, we look into the happenings at the fictional Nakatomi Plaza.

(Bruce Willis as John McClane, a New York City police detective in the John McTiernan movie Die Hard).

Die Hard is set in Los Angeles, where police officer John McClane hopes to reconcile with his wife during a holiday party hosted by the employer of his estranged wife, Holly Gennero-McClane. Bruce Willis portrayed John McClane opposite Bonnie Bedelia‘s portrayal of Holly Gennero-McClane. The employer is Nakatomi Corporation, which is due to be robbed during the very event where John hopes to reconcile with Holly.

(From left, Dennis Hayden as Eddie, Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber, the leader of the terrorists and Bonnie Bedelia as Holly Gennero-McClane, a Nakatomi executive and John’s estranged wife in the John McTiernan movie Die Hard).

The movie quickly turns from a from a romantic comedy staged against a Christmas backdrop when the robbers with a violent streak, led by Hans Gruber, present the Nakatomi Plaza with a terrorist plot to rob the Nakatomi Corporation at their plaza, triggering the action thriller that we come to see. Alan Rickman portrayed Hans Gruber. Dennis Hayden portrayed one of Gruber’s henchmen, Eddie.

(From left, Alexander Godunov as Karl, Gruber’s second-in-command and Clarence Gilyard Jr. as Theo, Gruber’s tech specialist in the John McTiernan movie Die Hard).

Clarence Gilyard Jr. and Alexander Godunov serve as a pair of Gruber’s henchmen, portrayed from early in the story of Die Hard in setting the thievery and underlying action in motion. The Los Angeles Police Department joins the response to the plot in motion, supported first by sergeant Al Powell and later by deputy chief Dwayne T. Robinson. Paul Gleason portrayed Robinson as Reginald VelJohnson portrayed Powell.

(From left, Reginald VelJohnson as Al Powell, an LAPD sergeant and Paul Gleason as Dwayne T. Robinson, the LAPD Deputy Chief in the John McTiernan movie Die Hard).

John McClane had arrived at Nakatomi Plaza in a limousine driven by a man named Argyle. Argyle, portrayed by De’voreaux White, agreed to wait for John as he went to reconcile with his wife Holly. He waits on scene as the events of the movie progress, offering humor through miscommunication with McClane accompanied by other opportunities to support the story.

(De’voreaux White as Argyle, John’s limousine driver in John McTiernan‘s Die Hard).

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) plays a part in seeking to respond to the terrorist robbery plot of the movie, offering a jurisdictional power play with the Los Angeles Police Department that was the first formally requested responding agency on scene. FBI actions geared at ending the plot actually advance the plot, with the actions of Argyle, Al Powell and John McClane each championing a decisive under current that is championed throughout Die Hard. Grand L. Bush portrayed FBI Special Agent Little Johnson as Robert Davi portrayed FBI Special Agent Big Johnson in the movie.

(From left, actor Grand L. Bush, Director John McTiernan and actor Robert Davi on the set of the John McTiernan movie Die Hard).

The central appeal for the movie Die Hard is first and foremost the action, intrigue and thriller qualities of the story. The compelling undercurrent of humor juxtaposed against incompetence as roadblocks to the central robbery succeeding or failing, both externally to stopping the robbery and internally to the stealing, add substantially to what works well. I grant Die Hard as directed by John McTiernan 4-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, December 1, 2021