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Film credit
Harold Ramis
Stats
- Episodes featuring their films
- 6
- Movies in this archive
- 6
Rewatchables episodes featuring Harold Ramis’s films
Displaying all 6 episodes
Mentioned in discussions
Casting What-Ifs
The original SNL-heavy casting wish list and alternate directors
In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:23Read transcript
- The reported initial wish list included Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and John Belushi — Bill Simmons
- Harold Ramis reportedly wrote Boone for himself but was judged too old — Bill Simmons
- Jack Webb and Kim Novak were reportedly sought as the Wormers — Bill Simmons
Apex Mountain
Dan Aykroyd, ghost movies, and ghost combat: yes
In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:42:14Read transcript
- Ghostbusters is accepted as Bill Murray's apex by some, while Groundhog Day remains a strong rival.
- Ghostbusters is treated as Dan Aykroyd's apex because he wrote it and remained the franchise's custodian, though Trading Places is considered.
- Aliens is preferred as Sigourney Weaver's apex.
- Groundhog Day is preferred for Harold Ramis as a director, while Ghostbusters remains a contender. — Bill Simmons
- The marshmallow mascot, ghost movies, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis, New York Public Library scenes, dog transformations, occult architecture, and ghost combat each receive separate apex checks.
- Ghostbusters narrowly beats Ghost as the apex ghost movie, with Poltergeist and newer horror franchises also considered.
- Ghostbusters is considered Ernie Hudson's best-known role, while Oz is noted as substantial work; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids beats it for Moranis.
- The movie is favored as the apex of ghost combat after Ghosts of Mars is raised as an alternative.
Picking Nits
Haircuts, the Pom Pom raid, EM-50 promotion and design, an impossible basketball throw, and a missing double-date scene
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:01Read transcript
- Bill Murray and Harold Ramis keeping movie-star hair while other recruits receive crew cuts is questioned. — Bill Simmons
- The reason military police raid the Pom Pom mud-wrestling club remains unclear. — Bill Simmons
- The late-arriving recruits being promoted to the military-vehicle project is judged implausible. — Bill Simmons
- The supposedly advanced vehicle looks too much like a minivan or Winnebago. — Brian Koppelman
- The indoor-basketball throw through the window follows no plausible shot trajectory. — Brian Koppelman
- One more double-date scene is requested to deepen the four central characters. — Bill Simmons
- The bag underneath his head is there and then not there, but that continuity issue is explicitly dismissed. — Bill Simmons
Apex Mountain
Warren Oates: yes; military comedies: strong affirmative case
In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:59:19Read transcript
- Bill Murray is rejected because Ghostbusters provided a stronger later peak. — Bill Simmons
- Harold Ramis is debated as a newly cool movie star here, while Groundhog Day and Ghostbusters brought larger later influence and wealth. — Brian Koppelman
- John Candy is rejected. — Bill Simmons
- Military comedies about joining and training are given a strong apex case, with the broader military-movie claim treated as weaker. — Bill Simmons
- The actress identified by the machine transcript as P. J. Souls is rejected in favor of Halloween. — Bill Simmons
- Sean Young is rejected in favor of the Blade Runner, Wall Street, and No Way Out period. — Bill Simmons
- The actor whose name the machine transcript renders as Laracette is rejected because he became a major television star. — Bill Simmons
- Goofy future-tense closing credits are discussed, with Animal House preferred. — Bill Simmons
- Warren Oates receives a clear apex verdict. — Bill Simmons
- Ivan Reitman is rejected. — Bill Simmons
- The mud-wrestling sequence is proposed as the apex of mud wrestling in movies. — Bill Simmons
The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award
Conrad Dunn’s Francis and Harold Ramis’s reaction work
In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:55Read transcript
- Francis is proposed because the performance pushes hard while remaining liked. — Brian Koppelman
- Harold Ramis is proposed for the exaggerated faces and reactions behind Murray and Candy. — Brian Koppelman
- Ramis’s relative inexperience in front of the camera is offered as a reason he may have pushed the reactions. — Brian Koppelman
Casting What-Ifs
The project began as Cheech and Chong joining the Army; Columbia preferred Dennis Quaid to Harold Ramis, and Kim Basinger was offered the role ultimately played by the actress the transcript calls P. J. Souls.
This discussion recalls a choice from an earlier episode.
In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:20Read transcript
- The initial concept was Cheech and Chong joining the Army, but their demand for creative control ended that version. — Bill Simmons
- The characters were rewritten for Bill Murray and Harold Ramis. — Bill Simmons
- Columbia preferred Dennis Quaid for Ramis’s role, and participation was made conditional on Ramis remaining in the cast. — Bill Simmons
- Kim Basinger was offered the role ultimately played by the actress identified in the transcript as P. J. Souls; the offer fell through because Basinger’s agent requested what the panel calls a crazy amount of money. — Bill Simmons
- The panel thinks Basinger’s star power and appearance would have overwhelmed the ensemble. — Brian Koppelman
What’s Aged the Best?
The breakup setup, John Candy, Judge Reinhold, throwaway jokes, the women, poker running gag, score, deleted scene, Murray–Ramis friendship, and Warren Oates
In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:36:05Read transcript
- The wet-blanket girlfriend telling the likable loser he is going nowhere is treated as a comedy setup copied for decades. — Bill Simmons
- The first training sequence, especially the log obstacle, is explicitly added as another thing that aged best. — Bill Simmons
- John Candy’s first appearance, long hair, cigarette, and Eisenhower greeting still land immediately. — Bill Simmons
- Judge Reinhold’s short role is praised as part of a strong early-career run. — Bill Simmons
- Lines such as the furs answer, the drug answer, and Ramis’s strip-search head movement reward repeated viewing. — Brian Koppelman
- Sean Young and the other actress playing a military-police character are praised as charismatic women with agency; the latter’s strong late-1970s run is recalled. — Bill Simmons
- Candy repeatedly exploiting the character Cruiser in poker remains an effective running gag. — Bill Simmons
- Elmer Bernstein’s score is praised for shifting between jaunty and lower-register military themes. — Brian Koppelman
- A deleted South American subplot has LSD, an unauthorized paratrooper mission, guerrilla capture, and escape; cutting it is judged correct because it derailed the film. — Bill Simmons
- The Harold Ramis and Bill Murray friendship is itself described as something that aged best. — Brian Koppelman
- Warren Oates and Sergeant Hulka also remain durable strengths. — Brian Koppelman
What’s Aged the Best?
The unexpectedly poignant moments and Danny Elfman's score
In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:27Read transcript
- The chemistry between De Niro and Grodin has aged best, even though De Niro reportedly did not like Grodin much, stayed in character through take after take, and Grodin, probably playing close to himself, kept trying to annoy him; that kind of two-guy chemistry is rarer than you would think.
- A list of best two-guy movie chemistry: Travolta and Sam Jackson in Pulp Fiction, Gibson and Danny Glover, Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, Redford and Newman in The Sting and Butch, Eddie Murphy and Nolte in 48 Hours, with The Rock and Kevin Hart, Farrell and Riley in Step Brothers, Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock, and Bill Murray and Harold Ramis added; it gets rarer this century because movies are usually driven by one person.
- There are 119 f-bombs in the movie though it feels like 280, especially in the last call to Eddie; the phone call where Farina has Moron Number One put Moron Number Two on while the other guy shadow-boxes the one on the phone is too short to be a rewatchable scene but slays.
- McCarran Airport, the saddest place on earth when everyone is leaving Vegas, has not changed since 1988 and makes you want to shout that Serrano has the discs; Grand Central Market in downtown LA still looks much the same, though you could not take a payphone call from a restaurant there now.
- Danny Elfman's score (transcribed once as 'Danny Offen's') is like the Bus Boys from 48 Hours doing a soundtrack, one of the best ever despite some people disliking it: it slows down and kicks back in at the right places and sounds like Steely Dan's backing band vamping before Becker and Fagan (as transcribed) walk on; anyone anti-soundtrack is called a moron.
- 'Looks like I'm walking' is one of the better last lines of any movie covered, especially since walking out of LAX is no fun; the visit to the daughter is one of the favorite De Niro scenes: awkward, he has nothing to ask her beyond what grade she is in, she offers him money as he leaves and he cannot take it, and then he holds the door of his wife's station wagon so Grodin's coat does not get caught, every beat graded A plus.
- The weird sentimental moments may be what has aged best, with several unexpectedly poignant beats including the ending; a tangent on the greatest De Niro scenes names the Godfather 2 killing, moments in Cape Fear, the Goodfellas slow-motion smoking shot at the bar, nearly every scene in Heat including the diner, and many in Deer Hunter and Taxi Driver, while Raging Bull is now a tough, one-and-out watch.
- Asked at the end what was said for what aged best, the recap is the poignant moments and Danny Elfman's music; the chemistry, the last line, the unchanged settings and the profanity were raised along the way.
Displaying all 8 discussions
Films in the archive
Caddyshack
1980
Ghostbusters
1984
Groundhog Day
1993
Knocked Up
2007
National Lampoon’s Vacation
1983
Stripes
1981