Late last night, a little after the midnight hour, Hell froze over. Reports of pigs and other assorted swine growing wings and taking flight started pouring in from all over the country. Dogs and cats were living together — it was mass hysteria, all because the Chicago Cubs had finally won the World Series after a 108-year drought.
By the late 1990s, Bill Murray was one of the biggest comedy stars in the world, commanding a salary per picture of about $9 million. But did you know when Murray agreed to star in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, he made just $9,000, and when the studio refused to give Anderson the money he needed for a crucial helicopter shot, Bill Murray wrote a check to cover the costs. That’s just one of the facts featured in the last episode of You Think You Know Movies!
The very last line of Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters is “That isn’t terrible at all,” dialogue that can only be interpreted as a final nod to a fanbase that has worked itself into a lather fretting about this reboot’s tone, special effects, and particularly its female-centric cast. It feels sort of like when the doctor gives you a pep talk after a shot you’ve been dreading: That wasn’t so bad now, was it?
There has been a lot of skepticism about the new Ghostbusters. Would Paul Feig and his new cast pull it off? Would angry fanboys lose their minds before the movie came out? There was a lot of anxiety. But it’s hard to ignore an endorement like the one the new Ghostbusters got on Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the original Ghostbusters.
In the comedy classic Groundhog Day, Bill Murray’s curmudgeonly newscaster Phil Connors starts to lose his mind after repeatedly living the exact same February 2 over and over again. For the low price of ten pounds (approximately $14 in real money), patrons of Liverpool’s Small Cinema can now live Phil’s Groundhog Day experience for real — but not the part where he seduces beautiful women, or becomes a better person, or is Bill Murray. Really just the repetition and its accompanying descent into madness.
We know, we know. A few weeks out from Halloween, and already Christmas specials are making their presence known. Still, we’re not ones to question Bill Murray, especially if the first promo for his star-studded, Sofia Coppola-directed Netflix special A Very Murray Christmas lives up to its promise.
There’s one reason and one reason only why we’re getting a Ghostbusters remake in 2016 instead of an actual Ghostbusters 3 five years ago. That reason is named Bill Murray and he’s been the not-so-secret sequel roadblock for as long as we can remember. But then he accepted a small role in the new reboot, because he’s Bill Murray and Bill Murray does whatever he wants. Sometimes that means randomly showing up at your birthday party. Sometimes that means popping up in a film franchise that he seemingly had zero desire to revisit. Now, Murray explains his reasons for joining a new Ghostbusters movie he was so vocally against.
Granted, it’s May, but when have you ever known Bill Murray to pop up when expected? The revered and eccentric comedian has finally locked down his long-discussed Christmas special with Sofia Coppola sending holiday cheer to Netflix this December with A Very Murray Christmas.
We’re big fans of Groundhog Day here at ScreenCrush — I mean, we did just pick it as number one on our list of the 25 Best Comedies of the Last 25 Years — so this news, via The Hollywood Reporter, has us excited: Groundhog Day is coming to Broadway on January 23, 2017. A new version of Groundhog Day! It feels like we’re living the same story over and over and over again! But with, like, music this time.
‘Ghostbusters’ was a huge hit, spawning a sequel and an all-female remake, but it almost was never ‘Ghostbusters’ at all. The film was originally called ‘Ghost Smashers’ before someone realized that's a horrible title. Needs some more phantastic facts? Who ya gonna call? You Think You Know Movies! Grab your proton pack and get ready to get slimed with these gooey facts.