505 - That Was Then: Ghostbusters

Who ya gonna call? Gobbledygeek! For the first installment of our That Was Then series, taking a look back at movies celebrating anniversaries in 2024, Paul and Arlo take residence at Spook Central for 1984’s Ghostbusters. Turning a frightful 40 this year, Ivan Reitman’s classic comedy began as a high-concept riff on the “slobs v. snobs” template made popular by Animal House before becoming an inescapable pop cultural juggernaut. The boys discuss the thoughtfulness of Reitman’s direction in tandem with the great László Kovács’ photography, the perfectly structured script by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, how much of Pete Venkman is just Bill Murray, and why the right-wing backlash to the 2016 remake is ironic in light of the original’s sketchy politics.

NEXT: a little of this, a little of that.

BREAKDOWN

00:00:48  -  Intro / The Year That Was 1984

00:18:19  -  Ghostbusters (1984)

01:36:29  -  Outro / Next

MUSIC

• “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr., Ghostbusters (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1984)

• “Cleanin’ Up the Town” by The Busboys, Ghostbusters (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1984)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ 

• Abortion Funds in Every State: https://bit.ly/AbortionFundsTwitter

• Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate

• Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

• The Trevor Project provides information and support to LGBTQ youth: thetrevorproject.org

• Trans Lifeline: https://translifeline.org/ 

• National Center for Transgender Equality: transequality.org

• Advocate for writers who might be owed money due to discontinuance of royalties: https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/ 

• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/

• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/

• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/