Comments on: Early June movie round-up http://burlaki.com/blog/2009/06/07/early-june-movie-round-up/ Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:51:43 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: jason http://burlaki.com/blog/2009/06/07/early-june-movie-round-up/comment-page-1/#comment-7061 jason Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:14:39 +0000 http://burlaki.com/blog/?p=2248#comment-7061 Ilya: you should've been in the US for its first surge of popularity... oy. Talk about burn-out. Brian: I vaguely remembered that, too, so I googled. He was sued for ripping off "I Want a New Drug" by Huey Lewis and the News, which had come out earlier the same year. The case settled out of court. Interestingly, according to wikipedia, Huey recently remarked on a VH1 special that Ray had been the one who paid in the settlement, and Ray is now suing Huey for a breach of confidentiality. These things just never end sometimes... Ilya: you should’ve been in the US for its first surge of popularity… oy. Talk about burn-out.

Brian: I vaguely remembered that, too, so I googled. He was sued for ripping off “I Want a New Drug” by Huey Lewis and the News, which had come out earlier the same year. The case settled out of court. Interestingly, according to wikipedia, Huey recently remarked on a VH1 special that Ray had been the one who paid in the settlement, and Ray is now suing Huey for a breach of confidentiality. These things just never end sometimes…

]]> By: Brian Greenberg http://burlaki.com/blog/2009/06/07/early-june-movie-round-up/comment-page-1/#comment-7059 Brian Greenberg Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:37:34 +0000 http://burlaki.com/blog/?p=2248#comment-7059 I don't remember the whole story, but I'm pretty sure Ray Parker Jr. was accused and/or convicted of stealing that song from someone else... I don’t remember the whole story, but I’m pretty sure Ray Parker Jr. was accused and/or convicted of stealing that song from someone else…

]]> By: Ilya http://burlaki.com/blog/2009/06/07/early-june-movie-round-up/comment-page-1/#comment-7049 Ilya Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:38:16 +0000 http://burlaki.com/blog/?p=2248#comment-7049 Actually, I prefer the same type of comedy as well, which helps explain why I have not been impressed with recent on-screen comedies for a long time. That comedy layer is probably just too thin for me in <em>Ghostbusters</em>. Incidentally, I'm pretty sick of the theme song. There is a series of nauseating commercials for some phone assistance service in the UK that uses it as the audio track... Actually, I prefer the same type of comedy as well, which helps explain why I have not been impressed with recent on-screen comedies for a long time. That comedy layer is probably just too thin for me in Ghostbusters.

Incidentally, I’m pretty sick of the theme song. There is a series of nauseating commercials for some phone assistance service in the UK that uses it as the audio track…

]]> By: jason http://burlaki.com/blog/2009/06/07/early-june-movie-round-up/comment-page-1/#comment-7043 jason Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:11:21 +0000 http://burlaki.com/blog/?p=2248#comment-7043 I agree with Brian on this one: if we're being honest, the success of <i>Ghostbusters</i> stemmed as much from the ubiquitous "no ghosts" <a href="http://www.80stees.com/products/Distressed-Glowing-Ghostbusters-T-shirt.asp" rel="nofollow">logo t-shirts</a> and the popularity of Ray Parker Jr.'s catchy theme song as from the quality of the movie itself. (That said, I still enjoy this film very much. But then I am on record as fiercely defending stuff others find dated.) It's interesting that many so-called comedies from this time period really <i>aren't</i> as funny as we remember them being, and I don't think it's merely the passage of time that's responsible. It's more like, removed from the contemporary ad campaigns that pushed the idea of these movies being knee-slappingly hilarious, we can now see that many of them were actually more-or-less "straight" action movies with humor layered over the top, usually in the form of wisecracking leads. I'm thinking now of Billy Crystal's <i>Running Scared</i> and Eddie Murphy's <i>Beverly Hills Cop</i>, among others. <i>Ghostbusters</i> was a <i>bit</i> more of a true comedy than those, but I think you could still make a case that it's really a sci-fi/fantasy movie that just happens to have moments of goofiness, and of course Bill Murray's dead-pan smart-aleck reactions. Personally, I prefer that sort of comedy to the one-gag-every-90-seconds variety that dominates today. But again, that's just me... I agree with Brian on this one: if we’re being honest, the success of Ghostbusters stemmed as much from the ubiquitous “no ghosts” logo t-shirts and the popularity of Ray Parker Jr.’s catchy theme song as from the quality of the movie itself. (That said, I still enjoy this film very much. But then I am on record as fiercely defending stuff others find dated.)

It’s interesting that many so-called comedies from this time period really aren’t as funny as we remember them being, and I don’t think it’s merely the passage of time that’s responsible. It’s more like, removed from the contemporary ad campaigns that pushed the idea of these movies being knee-slappingly hilarious, we can now see that many of them were actually more-or-less “straight” action movies with humor layered over the top, usually in the form of wisecracking leads. I’m thinking now of Billy Crystal’s Running Scared and Eddie Murphy’s Beverly Hills Cop, among others. Ghostbusters was a bit more of a true comedy than those, but I think you could still make a case that it’s really a sci-fi/fantasy movie that just happens to have moments of goofiness, and of course Bill Murray’s dead-pan smart-aleck reactions.

Personally, I prefer that sort of comedy to the one-gag-every-90-seconds variety that dominates today. But again, that’s just me…

]]> By: Brian Greenberg http://burlaki.com/blog/2009/06/07/early-june-movie-round-up/comment-page-1/#comment-7033 Brian Greenberg Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:17:27 +0000 http://burlaki.com/blog/?p=2248#comment-7033 <i>Ghostbusters</i> was one of those movies that was more of a marketing blitz than just a movie. The song was huge at the time, there were all sorts of tie-ins with the movie, and everyone seemed to go see it simultaneously, so everyone was talking about it. Kind of the Susan Boyle of it's day, without YouTube to help it along. I enjoy it when I catch it now for nostalgia reasons, but I can easily see how you'd walk away underwhelmed. Ghostbusters was one of those movies that was more of a marketing blitz than just a movie. The song was huge at the time, there were all sorts of tie-ins with the movie, and everyone seemed to go see it simultaneously, so everyone was talking about it. Kind of the Susan Boyle of it’s day, without YouTube to help it along.

I enjoy it when I catch it now for nostalgia reasons, but I can easily see how you’d walk away underwhelmed.

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