Ghostbusters has been, since I was a wee lad, a favorite movie of mine. It would be hard for me to review the flick objectively because of my deep seated love of it going back to my younger years. I loved the cartoon, played Ghostbusters on the playground, had all the toys and my favorite was always Egon for some reason. Maybe because of that cornucopia looking hairdo he rocked in the cartoon. The great thing about this movie is that the reasons I loved it when I was little are different than the reasons I love it now. Back then, I loved it due to the massive scale, cool ghosts and the idea that one could entrap them. Also it had a giant Marshmallow man. Nowadays, it's the humor that I didn't catch then, the great performances of the leads and the blue-collar idea of equating busting ghosts with that of being a fireman. Also it has a giant Marshmallow Man. It's a big comedy that puts all of these elements that I loved as a kid and as an adult and fuses them so seamlessly that makes it work as well as it does for as many people as it does. I can't think of another high concept comedy off the top of my head the blends everything together so magically. The special effects work very well for the time period and don't age as badly as you might think, but the movie doesn't work because of those effects. Mainly it's the cast riffing on a terrific script and idea that's so absurd, they can make it seem a normal everyday thing. Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson ground this thing and make it relatable to anybody who's just doing their job. Their job just happens to be catching ghosts.
The blu-ray at first glance doesn't seem like it offers much, but after a quick look you'll find that its full of goodies. It still has the commentary from the original DVD release that's very good, though now it no longer has the MST3K effect of their shadows watching the movie, but I can live with that. You'll find a lot of fun docs, like the restoration of the Ecto-1 and an 1984 produced behind the scenes look. There's a lot here about the making of the video game that I found interesting, as it reunites the cast and writers, even if it really has nothing to do with the actual movie. Also available is the "Slimer Mode", which allows you to watch the movie with a trivia track and picture in picture interviews at pertinent moments of the movie. It's very cool and informative.
Picture quality is great. Yes, there is some grain to be had, but that seems to be how the movie was originally shot, so I'm not gonna complain about it. The fact is, the movie is about as crisp and clear as it's ever been and it's the kind of movie you would definitely want to upgrade from the original DVD release to the blu-ray.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time, and the blu-ray version is, barring a chance to see it in theaters, is the only way I would want to watch it from now on. I'm very happy with it and it's a great price to boot.
isn't my favorite Ernest movie, but it is easily one of the better in his never-ending catalog. The crown, for me, goes to 
, but as with many, my movie introduction to the man came when he went to camp and made the staggering leap from inept handyman to inept, but caring, camp counselor. Of course, I'd known Ernest for a while because of the prevalent commercials on tv at the time, but his brand of wacky and physical humor always did it for me. I firmly understand that this humor isn't for everybody, but I enjoyed it. I found Jim Varney to be, despite the quality of the movies he was in, a very gifted creator of characters. The movies really took off when he was able to riff on different personalities, but unfortunately, he didn't do too much of that in his debut film. Instead, he inhabits his character with the very quality of the name he'd given him and injected him with a massive amount of heart. He may bumble around like a fool, but like the wayward kids he was put in charge of, he wins you over with his unending optimism and good nature. It's refreshing to find a good, clean movie that you aren't afraid to show your kids that puts forth a nice message amongst all the silly goings on. Best of all, you will learn what to never, ever do if you run across a mess of badgers.
has been sent down from the gaming deities to bless your wear worn Nintendo Wii and unleash the power of the Master Sword unto it. As per usual when it comes to these types of things, I have more important things to put my money into right now (like a new used car so I can get to work and back) other than what could be the most awesome thing that could come in contact with any gaming system I've ever owned. Sigh.
is so good, it would be worthy of a console release. If I have one problem with it, it would be the length. It is simply too short. But what there is of it, is Gameboy Advance bliss. It takes the look and character models of Wind waker and sets them in a Link to the Past style of "look down" perspective. The merge works very well. As Link, you are sent on a quest to repair the Picori blade, stop the evil Vaati and turn Princess Zelda back from stone. Typical Zelda fare, I suppose. Except you are joined by Ezlo, a wizard of sorts that looks like a green hat that you get to wear. He drops hints now and again. You are also aided by the Minish, a race of tiny folk living unknown amongst the humans and doing most of their dirty work for them (leaving them to think they did it somehow). You can shrink down to Minish size and explore Minish villages hidden throughout the land. Another cool side quest is the fusing of Kinstones. You find a half of a kinstone and look for someone that has a matching half. Together, you fuse them and something happens in another part of the land that will be helpful to you like revealing a new path to explore along your journey. This game is tons of fun and deserves the Zelda trademark.
to be the very best of the series, and I won't argue with them. Being the best of this series generally comes down to taste of tone, graphics or gameplay. I like this game a lot. It is truly epic in scope with hours upon hours of exploration and dungeon crawling to be had. The graphics are what a lot of Zelda fans have been looking for since they began their trek through the series. I have the Wii version, so I was impressed with the motion controls. A quick waggle of the Wii Remote and Link attacks with his sword. I love how you can map your items to the D-Pad and quickly equip them to use. The use of the bow and arrow has never been more fun and a lot of the puzzles are very clever. I'm a big fan of the spinner tracks. All that said, it did feel like at times I was playing an updated version of Ocarina of Time. A lot of the temples were very familiar in that way and the look of the game kind of felt a little OOT retread. There is also a bit of time spent as a wolf early on in the game, sending you on a fetch quest before you can shed your canine identity. Later in the game when you could switch back and forth at will, this was no problem. I just wasn't a big fan of some of the wolf levels. That being said, this is still probably the most epic in terms of scale in the Zelda family up to this point and provides hours of fun.
, I have at number 3 just in its series. Do not get me wrong. I appreciate this game for what it is and how it brought Zelda swinging into a 3D landscape. I love the storyline and the play on time throughout. For it's time, this game was huge, with cavernous dungeons and bosses that had to be seen to be believed. For me, this Zelda found its place in history because of how it totally updated the gameplay with Lock On targeting and great use of the other items. As usual, points must be taken away because of your annoying fairy guide, Navi, who is downright obnoxious in the way she tries to get your attention. "HEY!" indeed. Still, she did usually have some helpful advice, if only she had a more subtle way to dispense it. I also like how it put Link in a believable fantasy world with a captivating story line with quirky and endearing characters. It made Hyrule come alive in a way that it never had before; it put a realistic spin on things. You felt like you were Link, the Hero of Time, called into action to save the kingdom. It did that very well. One day, when I am able to get a 
is easily one of my favorite games of all time. It takes the proven Zelda formula and shakes it up a bit. Instead of trudging through Hyrule for the thousandth time, you find that the land has been flooded for a hundred years. The events of Ocarina of Time have been put into legend and Link is of age where he must wear the costume of the Hero of Time on his birthday, as is tradition for boys his age. Turns out, of course, that he is the chosen one and is sent off into an adventure that includes Sailing, pirates, post office workers and giant birds. What Ocarina of Time did by bringing Link and Zelda into a believable fantasy world, Wind Waker takes them through a more swashbuckling adventure with fantasy mixed in. I love the story and execution of this game. It takes what Ocarina did, control wise, and perfected it. This thing controls like a dream and requires very little to master it and get comfortable. I don't know why I dug this game as much as I did. Maybe it was because, like many before me, I was a a little put off by the initial reveal of the cartoony cell shaded graphics. Because of that and the fact that the story didn't seem to be super traditional Zelda, my expectations were lowered. Turns out those couple of issues were the biggest selling points of this game for me. The graphics work so well, you feel like you're playing a cartoon. Movements, flow, character expressions, these are all unmatched in the series (including Twilight Princess). The story is not kid dumbed down at all, it is epic in it's own way with a lot of good surprises and moments. Playing a game where Ocarina of Time is part of it's ancient history and seeing the characters discover that history and how it pertains to them is a good story move and keeps you interested throughout your play time. I can't quite remember when I've had this much fun playing an adventure game.
. I played the original Legend of Zelda when I was younger. Loved the heck out of it, the exploration, the "being a hero" aspect of the whole deal. When this game was released for the Super Nintendo when I was about 11 or 12 years old, it was like the culmination and perfection of everything you could ever expect from a Zelda game. As I hinted at in the Ocarina section, I was at the perfect impressionable age when this game came out. I loved fantasy, and this game was like an interactive fantasy novel in which you were the protagonist. Surely no experience in the world could match such a feeling at such an age. The story was huge, in comparison to the original. You weren't just collecting shards of the triforce to rescue Zelda and save Hyrule, you were called to collect crystals so you could go about finding the Master Sword, so then you could really begin your quest. And what a quest it was. Traveling between the light world and the dark world where something you did there would affect the other world were just gameplay mechanics that blew my young mind. This game wasn't about the journey of a hero, but it was the epitome of the Hero's Journey, from frightened farm boy to savoir of Hyrule. There's really nothing else I can add to this, other than to say that it is the perfect adventure game, even if the graphics aren't as awesome as it's later cousins or gameplay mechanics aren't as refined. This game was about the journey and what a journey it took you on.