Ghostbusters (1984)

Obviously, this was not the first time I've seen "Ghostbusters," but it was the first time that I've seen it in a theater, and what a theater it was. The Music Box theater in Chicago is like the Paramount (minus the balcony) if the Paramount was abandoned, and illegally ran by children, which is to say, it's awesome, dark, and elegant.



Judging from this viewing though, Chicago (like Austin) has no shortage of idiots who like to talk during the movie. During the scene where Dana (Sigourney Weaver) opens her refrigerator and finds that it's filled with a floating building covered in flames and snarling creatures, there is a close up of one of the creatures. When the creature opens it's mouth and growls, a bright light shines out from it. When this scene occurred at the Music Box, the guy behind us turned to his girlfriend and said loudly, "Ha!, that's just a puppet with a flashlight in it's mouth." He said it with so much pride and superiority, as if to say "You mean those aren't real demon-dogs?"

At any rate, this dumbass got me thinking about the special effects in the movie and whether or not I thought they held up well. As time goes on, I hate hate hate CGI more and more, but as I watched the incredible State-puft Marshmallow Man walk down the street of the city, I couldn't help but notice how fake the city looked. For a moment, I was taking out of the movie, but I quickly snapped back in when I realized that of course it was a miniature city because State-puft is just a guy in a suit. I found a certain comfort in remembering that even if the illusion was just that, at least the guy in the suit was real, and at least the miniature city was real too, it wasn't just some vapid digital space.

Other than that, "Ghostbusters" on the big screen was kind of a strange one, because I didn't really gain anything from it, other than nostalgia. Usually when you watch a movie you haven't seen in years, you forget some stuff and are pleasantly surprised when you remember it, but in this case, I hadn't forgotten a single scene.

"Ghostbusters" screened on 8/22/08 at midnight at the Music Box in Chicago.