← Back to Reviews
in
Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters
Fans of the 1984 instant comedy classic should be enthralled by a 2019 documentary called Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters
A former film editor and cinematographer named Anthony Bueno was the creative force behind this meticulously detailed look at the creation of the surprise box office smash of 1984 that revolutionized movie comedy, an intoxicating combination of improvisational comedy and state of the art special effects. Bueno and his wife, Claire, who co-wrote the screenplay, put 12 years into the making of this documentary
The documentary follows the film from conception, which is believed to have been Dan Aykroyd's idea, who reveals in this film that the idea for the ghostly comedy actually came from his grandfather, who was a psychologist who studied psychic phenomena. Original casting choices for the film were revealed. Murray, Eddie Murphy, and John Belushi were originally slated to play the three starring roles and John Candy was originally offered the role of Louis Tully.
The only other "making of" documentary that I've seen was a television special about the making of Raiders of the Lost Ark and I'm not sure why, but that documentary ruined that movie for me and I never had any desire to watch it again. The Buenos have enhanced the power and magic of the film instead of diluting it.
I was also impressed with the choices of some of the people that the Buenos chose to interview for the film. We are not only privy to interviews with Aykroyd, the late Harold Ramis, Sigorney Weaver, Ernie Hudson, William Atherton, and Annie Potts, we also get thoughts on the film making experience from Ann Drummond, who played the librarian in the opening scene, David Margulies who played the Mayor, Michael Ensign who played the hotel manager, and Jennifer Runyeon who was the college student in Murray's opening scene. It became apparent early on that we weren't going to hear from Bill Murray, which was a bit of a disappointment, but it didn't hurt the film.
What this documentary does nail is the extraordinary technology involved in bringing this comic classic to the screen and there's a whole lot of technical talk that spins the head at times, but, just as effectively, conjures up memories of this classic comedy, reminding us what a special film it was.
Fans of the 1984 instant comedy classic should be enthralled by a 2019 documentary called Cleanin' Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters
A former film editor and cinematographer named Anthony Bueno was the creative force behind this meticulously detailed look at the creation of the surprise box office smash of 1984 that revolutionized movie comedy, an intoxicating combination of improvisational comedy and state of the art special effects. Bueno and his wife, Claire, who co-wrote the screenplay, put 12 years into the making of this documentary
The documentary follows the film from conception, which is believed to have been Dan Aykroyd's idea, who reveals in this film that the idea for the ghostly comedy actually came from his grandfather, who was a psychologist who studied psychic phenomena. Original casting choices for the film were revealed. Murray, Eddie Murphy, and John Belushi were originally slated to play the three starring roles and John Candy was originally offered the role of Louis Tully.
The only other "making of" documentary that I've seen was a television special about the making of Raiders of the Lost Ark and I'm not sure why, but that documentary ruined that movie for me and I never had any desire to watch it again. The Buenos have enhanced the power and magic of the film instead of diluting it.
I was also impressed with the choices of some of the people that the Buenos chose to interview for the film. We are not only privy to interviews with Aykroyd, the late Harold Ramis, Sigorney Weaver, Ernie Hudson, William Atherton, and Annie Potts, we also get thoughts on the film making experience from Ann Drummond, who played the librarian in the opening scene, David Margulies who played the Mayor, Michael Ensign who played the hotel manager, and Jennifer Runyeon who was the college student in Murray's opening scene. It became apparent early on that we weren't going to hear from Bill Murray, which was a bit of a disappointment, but it didn't hurt the film.
What this documentary does nail is the extraordinary technology involved in bringing this comic classic to the screen and there's a whole lot of technical talk that spins the head at times, but, just as effectively, conjures up memories of this classic comedy, reminding us what a special film it was.