It is currently Tue Mar 17, 2020 2:03 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 17 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2
Go to page Previous  1, 2
Author Message
Post subject: Re: Harold Ramis gone......
Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2014 8:00 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:03 am
Posts: 9449
Location: NL Canada
Animal House is one of those movies that you could never tire of watching,no matter how many times you see it-the same could be said I guess for most of the movies that came from his brilliant imagination.I only saw Ghostbusters about 4 times but the rest-especially Caddyshack and Stripes,I couldn`t even venture a guess as to how many times I watched them,of course Bill Murray was always one of my comedic heroes,right up there with John Cleese,Eric Idle and company.

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Harold Ramis gone......
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 6:51 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:12 pm
Posts: 6355
Location: Albemarle, NC
Funny guy, but not really gone before his time. It isn't like he died young. He was 69. I just think of him as being young because at his height of productivity he actually was young, but then again so was I.

Nobody lives forever. You get sick and die a long painful protracted death over several yeas as he did or you just drop dead one day. It happens and I'm resolved to mortality and hoping for the sudden unexpected demise of a massive coronary in my sleep as opposed to a long painful passing.

Often "Cult" films are little movies that didn't make much money. Ramis' movies mostly made big money and some attained "Cult" status. To me "Caddyshack" is the funniest cult film of all time. I watch it a lot and it is right up there with "The Blues Brothers" as my personal favorite cult movies. It's one of the films I've bought 3 times! VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray. "Groundhog Day" is maybe the deepest film Ramis directed and the more you watch it and think about it then ultimately the more you wind up thinking about yourself.

Part of the genius of Harold Ramis was being open to making changes on the fly if it made things better. For example the script for "Caddyshack" (not written by Ramis but directed by him) did not have one scene written where Chevy Chase and Bill Murray interacted at all. Well into production Ramis realized the two needed a scene and it would be a travesty if they didn't have one. So the entire bit where Ty hits a ball that lands in Carl's equipment shed/crash pad was entirely improvised with no script whatsoever! It worked well in the film. Lots of scripted stuff got cut out, but that entire improv scene was left in. The movie is better because of it. It's being able to see wrongs and right them that is missing in relying solely upon inanimate scripts and story boards and blocking diagrams. Working solely by what's in the book the way it was tediously planned down to the last detail is a tunnel vision of sorts. Ramis seized every chance to throw the book away and just let the talent have fun.

Going off the page and out of the comfort zone is something we all might could stand to do more often. It could be part of why Ramis was so popular in the business and was by all accounts a true joy to work with.

Some of the funniest stuff ever on TV was on SCTV. I found it funnier than SNL. Harold Ramis wrote a lot of that SCTV stuff including some of "The Great White North" segments. Lots of people don't know that. Many of you are too young to remember SCTV at all but it was a highlight of my week for years.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 17 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2
Go to page Previous  1, 2

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: