Splitsider

[In the tune of the Ghostbusters Theme Song]

When you want to see Ghostbuster stuff in NYC neighborhoods Who ya gonna call? These guys!

Have you ever wanted to see how easy it was to go to all the external New York City locations in Ghostbusters? Well, as the video above shows, it's pretty damn easy (and fun). Also, at the end there is a list of all the locations' addresses so…what I'm saying, is if, ummm, you don't have any plans this weekend, do you maybe wanna check them out, or whatever? Yes!? It's a date.

While Harold Ramis isn’t quite a household name, he absolutely should be. As a writer/director, the man shaped the big screen personas of Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Rodney Dangerfield, amongst others, defined the comedic tastes of a generation, and had more of an effect on American film humor than just about anybody in the past few decades. Before conquering Hollywood, Ramis performed at Second City Chicago, on The National Lampoon Radio Hour, and on SCTV (where he also served as head writer). Ramis then went on to write, direct, and/or star in a string of hit comedies that includes Animal House, Caddyshack, Stripes, National Lampoon's Vacation, [...]

Here's Mindy Kaling with a pretty great idea in a new Q&A with the New Yorker: "Q: I love your idea of remaking “Ghostbusters” with a female cast starring you, Emily Blunt, Taraji Henson, and Natalie Portman. Who would be your Stay Puft Marshmallow Man? // A: That T-Mobile girl in the pink dress. Every guy I know has a crush on her — she’s pretty and pristine and not edgy at all. She looks like the best girlfriend. Either her or a bottle of coconut water. Wherever I go, there’s a bottle of coconut water."

The Hangover, Pt. II has grossed over $254 million since it was released on May 26, making it the third-highest grossing (domestic only) film of the year to date, wedged in-between Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($348 million) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($240 million). (Bridesmaids is #7, with $167 million.) As you can probably guess, the Hangover sequel is a rare R-rated comedy swimming in an unoriginal pool of children’s movies and big-budget action films, making 2011 not unlike pretty much every other year. In fact, over the past three decades plus, only 11 movies that someone under 17 would need a parent or adult [...]

Sure, Ghostbusters 3 may or may not ever become a reality, but who needs it? The trailer for Hustler's upcoming Ghostbusters porn parody really has it all. Ron Jeremy? Check. Ridiculous special effects? Check. A version of the theme song that includes the lyrics "There's lots of slime, and there's lots of cum"? Check. I have been wanting to rub one out to a guy pretending to be Harold Ramis for so long, guys! My time has finally arrived!

Dan Aykroyd has finally woken up and smelled the roses, who happen to be wearing a perfume called Eau de Bill Murray Will Never Do Ghostbusters 3. "It’s a surety that Bill Murray will not do the movie," he said. "However, there is still interest from the studio." He also promises that even in the case of a Murrayless threequel, "We’re not going to do a movie that exploits the franchise. The script has to be perfect." Perfect, eh? Well, considering that two scripts have already been attempted, those standards should ensure that this will-they-make-it saga continues until we are all real ghosts, just waiting to be [...]

I began writing the column "Lost Roles" for Splitsider in February, taking a different actor, actress, filmmaker, movie, or TV show each week and examining all of the that entity's alternate casting possibilities that almost came to be. Sure, it's fun to imagine what it would have been like if Tim Burton went through with his whim to cast Bill Murray as Batman or if Danny DeVito had played George Costanza or if Marc Maron had been given the Weekend Update anchor job that Lorne Michaels considered him for, but looking at the "lost roles" of various performers also offers a deeper insight into who these comedians are and [...]

Ghostbusters is coming to theaters! Again!

It'll be interesting to see whether a new generation of fans falls under the spell of such a well-respected classic. While it's still unclear how wide the October re-release will be, it appears to be an effort to gauge whether it's worth making a Ghostbusters 3. Cause, you know, god forbid we just make an original movie. Better to re-release all the old ones to test whether sequels will be profitable.

And at the very least, going to see Ghostbusters in theaters will be a great addition to your 1984 Theme Party (other activities: dancing to Funkytown, giving each other side [...]

It’s a miracle! I finally found a Hustler porn parody that I liked! And not just liked, but fully enjoyed! I laughed, I got turned on…I guess that was it, but hey, that’s a home run right there. I feel like a proud mother whose baby is finally walking, except instead of a baby it’s Hustler and instead of walking it’s making a great porn parody.

This Ain’t Ghostbusters XXX begins with an impressive, almost shot-for-shot remake of the opening library scene of Ghostbusters, from the establishing shot of the lion statue to the card catalog snowstorm to the hair-blowing ghost encounter. The only difference is instead of [...]

The past few years have seen an uptick in the number of big-screen remakes of Hollywood classics and non-classics, with the bulk of these films revisiting beloved properties from the 1980s. Remakes and reboots of Karate Kid, Clash of the Titans, and Nightmare on Elm Street, amongst others, were released last year, with Footloose and Red Dawn due out in the coming months. This past weekend’s new release Arthur was the first comedy to come out of this recent slew of rehashes, an effort to update the hit 1981 Dudley Moore film by replacing Moore with fellow Brit Russell Brand. Arthur's underperformance at the box office this weekend [...]

It's the one-year anniversary of "Lost Roles," the column where we take a different comedian, comedy writer, or comedic performer each week and dive deep into the movie and TV projects they almost became involved with but didn't. This column began with "The Lost Roles of Bill Murray."Even though that piece detailed over 25 roles Murray almost played, there were still enough left to easily fill another post.

As you may know, Bill Murray's never been keen to the fakeness of the movie industry, so much so that he fired his agent and manager years ago and only takes offers via a voicemail system that's hooked up to [...]

Lost Roles is a weekly column exploring what might have been in TV and film comedy, taking a different comedian, writer, or work each week and examining the casting possibilities and career moves that almost came to be.

The late 80's were a stagnant era in comedy. Besides Letterman and SNL's Hartman-Carvey resurgence, there wasn't a whole lot happening. The Larry Sanders Show, Conan, Seinfeld, Bill Hicks, The State, Mr. Show, The Simpsons, and The Onion were right around the corner, but things were looking pretty dismal at the time. Death took John Belushi and Andy Kaufman from us, while ex-SNL’ers like Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, and Chevy Chase, [...]

What's a worse idea than a new Ghostbusters movie? A new Ghostbusters movie without Bill Murray in it. But that's just what we may be getting, according to Dan Aykroyd: Yes, we will be doing the movie and hopefully with Mr. Murray. That is our hope. We have an excellent script. What we have to remember is that Ghostbusters is bigger than any one component, although Billy was absolutely the lead and contributive to it in a massive way, as was the director and Harold [Ramis], myself and Sigourney [Weaver]. The concept is much larger than any individual role and the promise of Ghostbusters 3 is that we [...]

When it was released in 1984, Ghostbusters quickly captured the public imagination and became the highest grossing comedy of all-time. Although the film was displaced from the top spot by Beverly Hills Cop just a few months later, both of these comedies ended 1984 as the year’s two highest grossing movies. I can’t stress enough how rare that is and what it says about the wide appeal and accessibility of big studio comedies like Ghostbusters and Beverly Hills Cop, and how they became cultural phenomena. It really shows how comedies today tend to cater to a niche audience, rather than attempted to satiate the masses. These days, you’d be [...]