New Ghostbusters? YAY!

I've been waiting for this news for a long time...Remember, I'm one of the few people on the planet who preferred Ghostbuster 2 to the original. So, I have high hopes for number 3! :-D

Read on...


Movie News - Office Writers to Pen a New Ghostbusters Thu Sep 4, 5:17 PM PDT

If there's something strange in your neighborhood, it's probably because Columbia Pictures is calling on Ghostbusters again. It's been years since it was still Columbia Pictures' highest-grossing film, but the studio's getting ready to revive it for a fresh franchise. Adding some insurance that the blockbuster begets box-office glory, Columbia hired The Office's coexecutive producers, Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, to pen the new script. The hope is that original cast members Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson would return for the redux. While a cast reunion isn't yet official, some of the key players have lately been in close proximity to each other: Eisenberg and Stupnitsky just wrote Year One, which Ramis will direct.

Is a new, ghost-fighting franchise a good idea, or a ghoulish concept? " Anna Dimond

Copyright © 2008 TV Guide All rights reserved.

FAVORITE MOVIE #1...

SINGLES

Plot: A group of twenty-somethings, most of whom live in the same apartment building, look for love, success, and happiness.

I find it to be a bit edgier than your typical romantic comedy. It's told in chapters and at times the characters speak directly to the camera, giving a little more insight into their lives. I think it works well for the film.

Here

are

a

couple

of

examples:

Steve Dunne:

Janet Livermore:

What makes this my favorite movie?

I guess it's a combination of things...

#1 The characters are great. Not in that they are fine, upstanding, admirable people, but they are so well crafted. I think my favorite is Matt Dillon as Cliff Poncier. And there are also a ton of really cool cameos, which brings me to reason #2 that I love this movie...

#2 The setting - Seattle, early 90s - at the brink of "grunge" explosion. (Hate the word grunge, but it is the best way to describe the "movement".) And that leads to my next reason...

#3 The soundtrack. At the moment, I can't think of a better movie soundtrack. Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Mother Love Bone and more. (I have to say, the exclusion of Nirvana makes me happy. A fan of Kurt Cobain, I am NOT.)

Unfortunately, all the good movie clips I could find on youtube are in Italian or French!

Fun fact: Once upon a time, my husband and I rented this movie and failed to return it on time, incurring a $90 late fee! Being the badass rebels we are, we simply kept the movie and switched video stores. In fact, I think we are actually banned from most video stores by now. Thank goodness for Charter On Demand!

Cast:

Campbell Scott

Kyra Sedgwick

Matt Dillon

Bridget Fonda

Jim True

Sheila Kelley

Bill Pullman

and many many great cameos...

Check out the movie and see for yourself!

FAVORITE MOVIE #2...

CLUE

First of all, I must say that as a child, I LOVED the board game Clue. My best friend and I would have marathon Clue tournaments. And then, when we were about 8 or 9, we discovered this movie. I loved it immediately - everything about it is just perfect! I could watch this movie everyday and never get tired of it.

It pretty much follows the idea of the game - you have the same characters, the rooms, the weapons.

I think this movie was perfectly cast and brilliantly written. I wish there were more movies like this.

YOU MUST SEE THIS MOVIE!

Original trailer:

Miscellaneous scenes:

Cast:

Tim Curry

Madeline Kahn

Eileen Brennan

Lesley Ann Warren

Michael McKean

Christopher Lloyd

Martin Mull

Lee Ving

FAVORITE MOVIE #3...

SCREAM

I've mentioned before that I am a bit obsessive/compulsive, right? Well, my friend and I went completely off the deep end compulsively obsessing about this movie. After seeing it at the theater 3 times, we scoured the internet for information about it and counted the days until it was released on video. And when it was, we rented it and watched it probably 20 times in one week -probably even in slow motion - dissecting every little detail.

Once we found out it was going to be a trilogy, we mapped out our own brilliant storyline. We had Sidney's father being the killer at the end. Much better than the horribly contrived half brother crap in Scream 3 - even Patrick Dempsey couldn't save that movie, but anyway...The first movie was brilliant! (2 was good, 3 was okay)

Trailer:

Trivia from imdb.com:

Cameo: [Linda Blair] the reporter who says, "People want to know, they have a right to know."

When Sidney comes out of the closet and stabs Billy with an umbrella, the stunt man was supposed to hit a pad on Skeet Ulrich's chest. The first hit got the pad but the second one slipped and hit him in the chest (you can see it in his reaction). Wes Craven kept it in because of its authenticity.

To keep 'Drew Barrymore' looking scared and crying, director Wes Craven kept telling her real life stories about animal cruelty. She is a keen animal lover in real life.

William Faulkner's novel "As I Lay Dying" (1930) features a character named Skeet McGowan (Scream features actors Skeet Ulrich and Rose McGowan) and a character named Dewey just as Scream does.

Wes Craven found the mask in a store while location-scouting in California.

When the killer smashes his head through a window and Casey hits him in the face with the phone, Wes Craven is actually wearing the costume and was really hit in the face.

When Bob Weinstein watched parts of the first scenes filmed (rough cuts), he said that the mask used was "idiotic". He asked the producers to film one scene with seven different masks and let him choose the one he liked the most. Producers didn't agree and threatened to shut down production. They told him to wait until the first sequence ('Drew Barrymore' 's) was completed and then he could decide. After watching it, he happily agreed to the mask used and didn't make another complaint for the rest of the filming.

Rose McGowan discovered that she could actually fit through a pet flap.

Drew Barrymore was originally cast as Sidney Prescott (eventually played by Neve Campbell). But Drew Barrymore insisted that if she played Casey then it would make the audience think anything could happen.

Melissa Joan Hart auditioned for the role of Sidney Prescott.

The film was originally to be shot at a high school in Santa Rosa, CA, but after the school board read the script they objected to the violent nature and production was moved to Healdsburg, CA.

The special effects artists used about 50 gallons of blood.

Tatum's house is right across the street from the house in Santa Rosa, California used in Pollyanna (1960). It is also across the street from the house used in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943). The house in the opening scene was next door to the house used in Cujo (1983).

Billy's surname, Loomis, is the same as that of Donald Pleasance's character in Halloween (1978), which in turn was the name of Marion Crane's lover in Psycho (1960).

The beginning of the movie is much like When a Stranger Calls (1979).

A poster of Jamie Lee Curtis (known as the 'Scream Queen' after Halloween (1978)) for the film Mother's Boys (1994) is shown prominently at the video store. Another film of hers, Trading Places (1983) is mentioned.

Janeane Garofalo turned down the role of Gail Weathers.

On "The Directors" (2007), David Arquette revealed that he presumptuously turned down the role of "Billy" in favor for playing "Dewey", which was originally written as a hunky, leading man part.

As revealed on "The Directors" (2007), Wes Craven originally turned down "Scream" because it was too violent, but reconsidered making one more gory movie for the hungry fans who continually told him that he last best movie was The Hills Have Eyes (1977).

Being a favorite of the writer Kevin Williamson, Molly Ringwald was offered the role of Sydney Prescott, but turned it down, saying she'd rather not be playing a high school student at the age of 27.

The song "Don't Fear the Reaper" can be heard; in Halloween (1978), Annie and Laurie listen to it in the car.

When Sidney is going into her house, the killer comes out of the closet the same way Michael Myers comes out of the closet after Bob in Halloween (1978).

When Casey's parents come home and see that something is wrong, her father says to her mother, "Go down the street to the Mackenzies' house..." which is a quote from Halloween (1978).

When Billy (who looks like Johnny Depp) sneaks into Sidney's room in a manner similar to a scene where Depp's character does something similar in _Nightmare On Elm Street, A (1984)_ .
Casey hanging from the tree looks like the opening of Suspiria (1977).

The school janitor Fred (played by Wes Craven) can be seen wearing Freddy Krueger's outfit from _Nightmare On Elm Street, A (1984)_ .

Tatum wears a jersey with the number 10 on it. This is the same thing Johnny Depp's character wore in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

Casey claims that all of the sequels to _Nightmare On Elm Street, A (1984)_ "sucked". Wes Craven sold the rights to sequels before the film was released and became a success and disliked many of the sequels. See also: A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985).

The mask is based on the painting "Scream" by Edvard Munch.

The cheerleader in the washroom scene was played by one of Skeet Ulrich's girlfriends.

Matthew Lillard (Stu) add-libbed the line "Ah... Houston, we have a problem" when he discovered that the gun was gone.

David Arquette's sister Patricia Arquette starred in _Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, A (1987)_ written and produced by director Wes Craven.

The Jiffy Pop popcorn in the first scene acts as a clock. It goes from normal to out of control as does the scene

A videotape box of the film Clerks. (1994) is visible during the close-up of the miniature camera that Gale has left behind during the final party sequence. Having been released by Miramax, the parent company of Dimension Films (which released "Scream"), "Clerks" director Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes reprise their roles from the View Askewniverse as Silent Bob and Jay, respectively, for a cameo in Scream 3 (2000).

These are the horror film rules as stated in the movie:
1. You will not survive if you have sex
2. You will not survive if you drink or do drugs
3. You will not survive if you say "I'll be right back"
4. Everyone is a suspect.
Two additional rules come from the killer:
5. You will not survive if you ask "Who's there?"
6. You will not survive if you go out to investigate a strange noise.

Kevin Williamson's first screenplay. It caused a bidding war in Hollywood.

Kevin Patrick Walls, who plays Drew Barrymore's ill-fated boyfriend, was given this small part as compensation for not getting the role of Billy.

The pre-credit sequence with Drew Barrymore lasts for 12 minutes.

Marco Beltrami landed scoring duties after Wes Craven' 's assistant was on an Internet chat site, asking if anyone knew of any fresh musical talent.

The use of caller ID increased more than threefold after the release of this film.

When Casey is trying to answer the "Jason...It's Jason" question in an attempt to save her boyfriend's life, you can hear a light musical score homage to John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) theme.

'Drew Barrymore' and Neve Campbell did not meet Roger Jackson, the actor who played "the Voice" before shooting commenced. Whenever they are talking on the phone to the killer, they are actually talking to him.

Two plugs for Kevin Smith's Clerks. (1994). A poster for the film can be seen in the video store and the Video Box can be seen sitting on top of the VCR when everyone is watching John Carpenter's Halloween (1978).

Rose McGowan dyed her hair blonde in order to contrast her black hair from Neve Campbell's.

The MPAA wanted to cut out the graphic shot of the killer stabbing Casey Becker at the beginning, but director Craven claimed it was the only take of it they had filmed (which wasn't true). The shot remained intact.

The bathroom that Sidney is attacked in is the same one used on the "Stab 3" set in Scream 3 (2000).

The production moved to the Sonoma Community Center in the City of Sonoma for the high school scenes. It was always scheduled to be shot in the Healdsburg area.

Originally titled "Scary Movie" which was later used for a parody of the Scream and other pop culture horror films like it.

Reese Witherspoon turned down the lead role.

In the scene when Randy is watching Halloween (1978) alone, he's constantly yelling at the screen "Jamie, behind you" referring to Jamie Lee Curtis. At the same time, the killer is lurking behind Randy, played by Jamie Kennedy.

The killer was based on a Florida serial killer, the "Gainesville Ripper".

Joseph Whipp who played Deputy Burke, was also in the original _Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)_ , where he played a cop named Sergeant Parker.

Melinda Clarke turned down the role of Tatum Riley.

Rebecca Gayheart auditioned for the role of Tatum Riley, but scheduling conflicts with her film Somebody Is Waiting (1996) prevented her from landing the role. She later turned up in Scream 2 (1997) playing a sorority sister.

Charlotte Ayanna was considered for the role of Tatum Riley.

The scene where the killer is sneaking up behind Randy is the only one where the person in the costume is actually one of the actors rather than a stunt man. Skeet Ulrich has specifically asked if he could wear the costume for once scene.

The idea of the pet door in the garage came from Williamson's assistant. Originally, Tatum's death scene was to be a fist fight with the killer, and having the door come down on her neck.

All the killer's phone calls were really done by Roger Jackson on set with a cell phone. At one point, the crew were contacted by the police demanding to know who they were because they thought there was a real killer making the phone calls.

Tatum says that the situation is like a Wes Carpenter film. This is a reference to Wes Craven, who directed the movie, and John Carpenter, who directed Halloween (1978), which is featured in the movie.

Stu's line "I always had a thing for ya, Sid!" and Sidney's response "In your dreams!" were ad-libbed by Matthew Lillard and Neve Campbell.

Contains spoilers for Friday the 13th (1980).

Courteney Cox and David Arquette met and fell in love on the set of this movie. They eventually married.

Body Count: 7

Freddie Prinze Jr. auditioned for the role of Stu.

When the phone slips out of Billy's hand and hits Stu's head, it was completely unintentional. Wes Craven kept it in because of Stu's realistic reaction.

Justin Shenkarow loved the screenplay so much that he elected to take a minor behind-the-scenes role. His name appears 25th from the bottom of the credits.

The death of Principal Himbry was added to the film after Bob Weinstein noticed that there was about 30 pages in the script where nobody died and told Kevin Williamson that "somebody must die". Subsequently, the addition of the scene gave Kevin Williamson a good reason to have all the party guests leave the party near the climax.

>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<>

SPOILER: Dewey (David Arquette) was supposed to die from the stab wound to the back. Director Wes Craven filmed the scene at the end of the film, where Dewey is alive and being taken to the hospital, just in case he changed his mind about killing Dewey. The screen-test audience loved the character Dewey so much that Craven decided to add his survival scene in the final cut. If you watch closely during the part where Gale (Courtney Cox) is knocked out by Billy (Skeet Ulrich), you can see that Dewey is not breathing when Gale lands on him because Dewey was intended to be dead. Every time Dewey is shown after he is stabbed before the final scene is intended to be his dead body, not him lying unconscious.

Cast:

Neve Campbell

David Arquette

Courteney Cox

Skeet Ulrich

Rose McGowan

Drew Barrymore

Matthew Lillard

Jamie Kennedy

Liev Schreiber

Henry Winkler

Scream 2 trailer:

http://

Scream 3 trailer:

FAVORITE MOVIE #4...

CLUELESS

I love this movie - if you haven't seen it, you should!

It's loosely based on Jane Austen's novel "Emma" - and if you're familiar with that, you'll probably get a little more out of the movie. If not, it's still a great movie. Funny, clever, irreverant...90s fashion...SO many reasons to love it!

Cher is a high school student who is very ambitious when it comes to "fixing" the love lives of others. She plays matchmaker to 2 lonely teachers... She gives a makeover to a new student in an attempt to fix her up with the most popular boy in school... But when it comes to her own love life, Cher is totally clueless.

Parody - hilarious:

Cast:

Alicia Silverstone

Paul Rudd

Brittany Murphy

Donald Faison

Stacey Dash

Breckin Meyer

Elisa Donovan

Jeremy Sisto

Dan Hedaya

Interesting side note: On my first date w/my husband, we saw this movie. Good sport, isn't he? :-)

FAVORITE MOVIE #5...

REALITY BITES

Recently 2 of my friends saw this movie after hearing me rave about it. They claimed to have turned it off after just a few minutes, unable to stand it. Frankly, they are idiots. I mean, they like Daughtry. Ew. Obviously they have no taste.

In all honestly, this is probably a movie that makes more of an impression to younger viewers. Viewers just out of high school or just out of college who can identify a bit more closely with the characters. The first time I saw it, I was 16 and I didn't really like it. In fact, I slept through most of it. BUT, about a year later, I saw it again and it was like a totally different movie. I guess I suddenly "got it" or something.

The summer after I graduated from high school, I was all about this movie. Watched it all the time, listened to the soundtrack constantly. Great memories!

Anyway...Reality Bites...

Basic Plot: Aspiring documentary filmmaker, Lelaina, struggles with life (and love) after college along with her best friends Troy, Vickie, and Sammy.

A favorite scene:

Scene from the end of the movie - SPOILER ALERT!

Cast:

Winona Ryder

Ethan Hawke

Janeane Garofalo

Ben Stiller

Steve Zahn

FAVORITE MOVIE #6...

POINT BREAK

OMG. When this movie came out, it was my life. I had to CRY to get my parents to let me go see it! (It was rated R, I was just 13). I ended up seeing it 3 times in the theater. I think this was the first movie I ever went to see multiple times at the movies, in fact.

And here's a very pathetic fact - I actually took one of those mini tape recorders with me and taped the movie onto cassette! I have no idea why I did that. Guess I was just THAT obsessed with it. Again, I was 13...Oh, another pathetic fact - in 9th grade, my best friend and I did a report on skydiving and used footage from the movie for it! We got an A+! :-)

I think I still know this whole movie by heart. Quoting lines from Point Break in an asset in everyday life, believe me.

Basic plot: FBI agent Johnny Utah goes undercover to catch a group of bank robbers who might be surfers.

Original theatrical trailer:

a big chase scene:

Cast:

Keanu Reeves

Patrick Swayze

Gary Busey

Lori Petty

FAVORITE MOVIE #7...

GHOSTBUSTERS 2

(yes, TWO)

While I liked the original Ghostbusters, I absolutely LOVE Ghostbusters 2. I've seen this movie about 100 times, own the DVD, watch it whenever it's on TV.

L-O-V-E it.

I think it's far better than the first. And I'm undoubtedly the only person on earth who thinks that...(P.S. I also like Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey better than Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - weird, right?)

I'm not entirely sure what it is about Ghostbusters 2 that I like so much. It's just a movie that I never get tired of watching. I think it's a great script - great dialogue. Funny movie.

Original theatrical trailer:

Some GREAT scenes...

The courtroom scene - possibly the best part of the movie - this is just part of it...

Cast:

Bill Murray

Dan Aykroyd

Harold Ramis

Ernie Hudson

Sigourney Weaver

Rick Moranis

Annie Potts

Peter MacNicol

FAVORITE MOVIE #8...

Heathers

It's been called "the best high school black comedy ever made". But, for some reason, hardly anyone I know has heard of it. And then once I talk them into watching it...well, the reviews are mixed. If you don't get it, you probably won't like it. For me, at the age of 13, it was an awesome find in the corner of a tiny video store on a boring Friday night. I loved it - and my favorite was Heather Chandler (aka red Heather). I dubbed the movie (thanks mom and dad for having 2 VCRs!) and watched it practically EVERYDAY for weeks. My best friend and I would quote the movie often in our daily speak. It has some pretty great, memorable quotes.

Plot: Veronica Sawyer is begrudgingly a member of the most popular clique in school, which happens to include 3 girls named Heather. When Veronica starts dating the new guy in school - a rebel named Jason Dean - she not only begins to pull away from the popular crowd, she begins killing them...accidentally?!?!

First 9 minutes of the movie:

For vids of the rest of the movie:

http://http//www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=MooMooMyOink&p=r

Cast:

Winona Ryder

Christian Slater

Shannen Doherty

Lisanne Falk

Kim Walker

FaVoRiTe MoViEs!

In general, I don't like movies very much. I prefer TV. But, there are some movies I love...

I've been told my taste is weird, but I don't care :-)

I'm counting down my top 10 movies ever.

Stay tuned!