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Ghostbusters II
Directed by Ivan Reitman
Released in 1989
Starring Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett, Bill Murray as Peter Venkman, Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler, Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz, Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore, Peter MacNicol as Janosz Poha, Rick Moranis as Louis Tully, Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz and Kurt Fuller as Hardemeyer. With Wilhelm von Homburg as Vigo.
A review by Sexy Celebrity on November 22, 2014.
I don't really get all the hate for this movie. I don't even really get all the, "It's just a movie for kids" mutterings. I always felt like Ghostbusters II was better than the first movie and I feel that way right now, although I need to rewatch the first movie again just to be sure. But I had seen that movie more recently before I rewatched Ghostbusters II. I had a great experience rewatching Ghostbusters II again, though -- out now on a stunning new Blu-ray release.
I always preferred Ghostbusters II over the first film when I was a kid. Now, you could say, "Oh, you were a kid, that explains why. It's a movie for kids." But let me remind you that I was no ordinary kid -- I was watching Hellbound: Hellraiser II weekly, okay? I know intense.
The stuff in the first Ghostbusters movie -- where Sigourney Weaver gets possessed, dogs come out of her chair and drag her into a room and next thing you know she's answering her front door all slutty -- THAT was intense, indeed. More intense than anything in Ghostbusters II. I was always oddly scared by the scene where Sigourney Weaver gets dragged into the demon room by her monster dog chair, whatever it was.
Ghostbusters II is not very scary. It's more musical. It has dancing toasters and things. It has the Statue of Liberty rocking out all over town. It has the ghostbusters singing to kids and stuff. Janosz Poha wakes up drippings in goo and even he's singing as he wakes up.
But you know what? Ghostbusters II is very entertaining. It falls flat, I think, near the end of the movie, but it's still got a lot going for it even then. This is a wonderful continuation after the first movie and I think it's good that they never made another sequel. You all may hate this movie, but I think they went out with a bang. For now, at least... until the proposed all-female Ghostbusters movie that may be starring Melissa McCarthy trots its fat ass out in theaters.
If you've got a Blu-ray player, get this movie. It's beautiful. And learn to appreciate the film if you haven't already. I don't know if I can help you understand why I like it so much. Either you understand already or you don't. People like to bitch, "Oh, it's not adult enough." I don't get this. What was so much more adult about the first movie? Oh, a ghost woman rapes Dan Aykroyd while he's trying to sleep. Nothing like that happened in Ghostbusters II. Now, while I don't mind more Dan Aykroyd getting raped in his sleep scenes, big deal if they didn't do anymore. Bill Cosby was off making Ghost Dad. He couldn't play another rapist ghost so soon, anyway.
Sigourney Weaver drives this whole movie. She's basically doing Aliens but she has to act a little more helpless. In Ghostbusters II, she now has a child and the child is constantly being abducted by ghosts. In one spooky scene, Janosz, a creepy '80s foreign character guy from the art museum Sigourney's character works at, dresses up as a ghostly Mary Poppins, complete with a bicycle and basket, and rides his way over to Bill Murray's character's apartment to kidnap Oscar, Sigourney's character's son. You know what makes this an even creepier moment now? Janosz appears to be riding directly from the Twin Towers in New York City. Watch the scene -- that's the direction he's coming from. Ghostbusters II now has a serious 9/11 complex going on with it. In fact, frequently there are frightening moments featuring the Twin Towers. I recommend watching Ghostbusters II next September 11th, or whenever you get a chance on that date.
Now, if you wanna make a case for Ghostbusters II being very racist, I will understand this. Ernie Hudson's ghostbuster character, Winston Zeddemore, is TOTALLY underused. This would not be the case nowadays in Obama's America, but in 1989, racism was still going strong in the Ghostbusters universe, it seems. It might even still be going on because why are they making an all-female Ghostbusters reboot and not an all-black Ghostbusters reboot? Ever think of that?
But watch this movie and look at how often Winston's character is such an afterthought. I know he came into the picture as a ghostbuster late in the first Ghostbusters movie, because they had to hire him first, but WTF?! Is the paperwork still not done or something? Why is Winston hardly around? There's a big court room scene featuring ghosts attacking everybody, and Winston is not even there! The white ghostbusters are there, but not the black one. I swear they should have just shown Winston driving the ghostbusters car around like he's the driver from Driving Miss Daisy. At times, you think he's gonna pop out of a kitchen dressed like Aunt Jemima with an apron and everything, ready to serve the other ghostbusters coffee and food he's been preparing all day. At one point, he does save the day when a room catches on fire -- he bursts in with a fire extinguisher. But then he becomes the main target of the evil Vigo character when they're down in the sewers -- poor Winston gets called out specifically by Vigo ("WINNNNNNNNSTONNNNNNN!") and then Vigo sends a ghost train out to run over him! Why is Winston just there to take all this abuse?! Watch this thing -- there is NO story going on for Winston at all. It's a miracle they didn't go so far as to call him a "spook" and try to trap him in one of those ghost traps the ghostbusters use when they catch ghosts.
Also, it's not a Ghostbusters movie without a sex kitten, and this time Annie Potts' Janine Melnitz character gets to be the slut, replacing the possessed Sigourney Weaver in the first film. Remember this, all-female Ghostbusters reboot: one of those women better be slutty!
This is the only explanation I can come up with for why the Janine character, the ghostbusters' secretary, dolled herself up to look all trendy and alternative and sexier in Ghostbusters II. I mean, she was kind of haggard in the first Ghostbusters movie, and in this one she's had a major '90s talk show kind of makeover. She is very ready for the 1990's, in fact. This movie takes place on New Year's Eve 1989, going into 1990, and Janine is totally ready for the '90s. She has fully prepared herself. She looked 45 in the first movie. In the sequel, she's lookin' like she's 25. But even after all that transformation, she wants to get pregnant with Rick Moranis? And in a city where ghosts are trying to kidnap your baby every two seconds, she wants a kid of her own? What a wild woman. Fearless.
Anyway, enough silliness. Ghostbusters II is a very enjoyable movie. I had a great time revisiting it. You should watch it again yourself. My only problem is the ending falls flat. The evil ghosts in Ghostbusters were better -- Vigo and Janosz are no match for that bubbly, "you need to be a God before I'll speak with you" Gozer. The ending to Ghostbusters II is all very, "okay, we're here. Get the baby. Slime the painting. Slime the foreign '80s guy. Tie up Sigourney Weaver with some kind of thick, black cord that came out of the wall. Let's go celebrate New Year's Eve."
Who ya gonna call?
Directed by Ivan Reitman
Released in 1989
Starring Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett, Bill Murray as Peter Venkman, Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler, Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz, Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore, Peter MacNicol as Janosz Poha, Rick Moranis as Louis Tully, Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz and Kurt Fuller as Hardemeyer. With Wilhelm von Homburg as Vigo.
A review by Sexy Celebrity on November 22, 2014.
I don't really get all the hate for this movie. I don't even really get all the, "It's just a movie for kids" mutterings. I always felt like Ghostbusters II was better than the first movie and I feel that way right now, although I need to rewatch the first movie again just to be sure. But I had seen that movie more recently before I rewatched Ghostbusters II. I had a great experience rewatching Ghostbusters II again, though -- out now on a stunning new Blu-ray release.
I always preferred Ghostbusters II over the first film when I was a kid. Now, you could say, "Oh, you were a kid, that explains why. It's a movie for kids." But let me remind you that I was no ordinary kid -- I was watching Hellbound: Hellraiser II weekly, okay? I know intense.
The stuff in the first Ghostbusters movie -- where Sigourney Weaver gets possessed, dogs come out of her chair and drag her into a room and next thing you know she's answering her front door all slutty -- THAT was intense, indeed. More intense than anything in Ghostbusters II. I was always oddly scared by the scene where Sigourney Weaver gets dragged into the demon room by her monster dog chair, whatever it was.
Ghostbusters II is not very scary. It's more musical. It has dancing toasters and things. It has the Statue of Liberty rocking out all over town. It has the ghostbusters singing to kids and stuff. Janosz Poha wakes up drippings in goo and even he's singing as he wakes up.
But you know what? Ghostbusters II is very entertaining. It falls flat, I think, near the end of the movie, but it's still got a lot going for it even then. This is a wonderful continuation after the first movie and I think it's good that they never made another sequel. You all may hate this movie, but I think they went out with a bang. For now, at least... until the proposed all-female Ghostbusters movie that may be starring Melissa McCarthy trots its fat ass out in theaters.
If you've got a Blu-ray player, get this movie. It's beautiful. And learn to appreciate the film if you haven't already. I don't know if I can help you understand why I like it so much. Either you understand already or you don't. People like to bitch, "Oh, it's not adult enough." I don't get this. What was so much more adult about the first movie? Oh, a ghost woman rapes Dan Aykroyd while he's trying to sleep. Nothing like that happened in Ghostbusters II. Now, while I don't mind more Dan Aykroyd getting raped in his sleep scenes, big deal if they didn't do anymore. Bill Cosby was off making Ghost Dad. He couldn't play another rapist ghost so soon, anyway.
Sigourney Weaver drives this whole movie. She's basically doing Aliens but she has to act a little more helpless. In Ghostbusters II, she now has a child and the child is constantly being abducted by ghosts. In one spooky scene, Janosz, a creepy '80s foreign character guy from the art museum Sigourney's character works at, dresses up as a ghostly Mary Poppins, complete with a bicycle and basket, and rides his way over to Bill Murray's character's apartment to kidnap Oscar, Sigourney's character's son. You know what makes this an even creepier moment now? Janosz appears to be riding directly from the Twin Towers in New York City. Watch the scene -- that's the direction he's coming from. Ghostbusters II now has a serious 9/11 complex going on with it. In fact, frequently there are frightening moments featuring the Twin Towers. I recommend watching Ghostbusters II next September 11th, or whenever you get a chance on that date.
Now, if you wanna make a case for Ghostbusters II being very racist, I will understand this. Ernie Hudson's ghostbuster character, Winston Zeddemore, is TOTALLY underused. This would not be the case nowadays in Obama's America, but in 1989, racism was still going strong in the Ghostbusters universe, it seems. It might even still be going on because why are they making an all-female Ghostbusters reboot and not an all-black Ghostbusters reboot? Ever think of that?
But watch this movie and look at how often Winston's character is such an afterthought. I know he came into the picture as a ghostbuster late in the first Ghostbusters movie, because they had to hire him first, but WTF?! Is the paperwork still not done or something? Why is Winston hardly around? There's a big court room scene featuring ghosts attacking everybody, and Winston is not even there! The white ghostbusters are there, but not the black one. I swear they should have just shown Winston driving the ghostbusters car around like he's the driver from Driving Miss Daisy. At times, you think he's gonna pop out of a kitchen dressed like Aunt Jemima with an apron and everything, ready to serve the other ghostbusters coffee and food he's been preparing all day. At one point, he does save the day when a room catches on fire -- he bursts in with a fire extinguisher. But then he becomes the main target of the evil Vigo character when they're down in the sewers -- poor Winston gets called out specifically by Vigo ("WINNNNNNNNSTONNNNNNN!") and then Vigo sends a ghost train out to run over him! Why is Winston just there to take all this abuse?! Watch this thing -- there is NO story going on for Winston at all. It's a miracle they didn't go so far as to call him a "spook" and try to trap him in one of those ghost traps the ghostbusters use when they catch ghosts.
Also, it's not a Ghostbusters movie without a sex kitten, and this time Annie Potts' Janine Melnitz character gets to be the slut, replacing the possessed Sigourney Weaver in the first film. Remember this, all-female Ghostbusters reboot: one of those women better be slutty!
This is the only explanation I can come up with for why the Janine character, the ghostbusters' secretary, dolled herself up to look all trendy and alternative and sexier in Ghostbusters II. I mean, she was kind of haggard in the first Ghostbusters movie, and in this one she's had a major '90s talk show kind of makeover. She is very ready for the 1990's, in fact. This movie takes place on New Year's Eve 1989, going into 1990, and Janine is totally ready for the '90s. She has fully prepared herself. She looked 45 in the first movie. In the sequel, she's lookin' like she's 25. But even after all that transformation, she wants to get pregnant with Rick Moranis? And in a city where ghosts are trying to kidnap your baby every two seconds, she wants a kid of her own? What a wild woman. Fearless.
Anyway, enough silliness. Ghostbusters II is a very enjoyable movie. I had a great time revisiting it. You should watch it again yourself. My only problem is the ending falls flat. The evil ghosts in Ghostbusters were better -- Vigo and Janosz are no match for that bubbly, "you need to be a God before I'll speak with you" Gozer. The ending to Ghostbusters II is all very, "okay, we're here. Get the baby. Slime the painting. Slime the foreign '80s guy. Tie up Sigourney Weaver with some kind of thick, black cord that came out of the wall. Let's go celebrate New Year's Eve."
Who ya gonna call?