Nostalgia is a tricky thing, especially these days. What used to be a slice of escapism has since become the blueprint for Hollywood studios, who have seemingly molded intellectual property into a skeleton key to get projects off the ground. Indie filmmakers graduate into blockbuster reboots, veteran filmmakers stretch their limbs with unnecessary sequels, and listicles are made about all the Easter eggs and trivia and yadda, yadda, yadda. There are exceptions, sure, but this is the business today, and our rose-tinted lenses are feeling the wear and tear.
Maybe. Hopefully. Probably not.
Ghostbusters, to stay on theme here (there is a point to all of this), is no exception to this riff raff. Last year, Jason Reitman finally delivered the second sequel die-hard fans have been waiting for since the days of Chris Farley rumors. It was fine. Rather than attempting to capture the comedy of the first two entries, Reitman wisely sketched out a love letter to the franchise itself, speaking less to the critics and fans of ’80s comedies and more to those who grew up wanting to bust heads — in the spiritual sense, of course.
It worked. For the most part. Paul Rudd was charming as always. The ode to the late Harold Ramis was affecting. The kids were a riot. What didn’t work, though, was the film’s relentless attempts to make everyone go all Rick Dalton and point at the various callbacks, accoutrements, and story beats of the original. But, again, this is how franchising goes. Hell, it’s happening this very week with Halloween Ends as the marketing has made it very clear that you’ll be reminded of all the things you loved in John Carpenter’s original.
All of this only erodes the magic of the source material, and this is something that has come to mind this spooky season while revisiting many of the original movies that have since been mined and gutted by studios today. Well, except one. This past Saturday night at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre proved to be an outlier in these rewatches. (Told you, we’d get there.) The venue played host to Peter Bernstein, son to the great and late composer Elmer Bernstein, who led the Chicago Philharmonic through a live score of Ghostbusters.
To be fair, the night was fueled by the same nostalgia that prompted Sony to greenlight Ghostbusters: Afterlife and its forthcoming sequel. Attendees were invited to wear their costumes, and many did, taking photos next to inflatable Stay Pufts and Slimers, not to mention our local folks in grey who arrived with all their dazzling props. The bar even served a cocktail themed to Hi-C’s Ecto Cooler, giving a little something to the adults. It was incredibly cute, and even the most stone-cold cynic would have smiled from the palpable energy.
But, here’s where the evening turned: Bernstein. After a short introduction by his son, which was accompanied by video introductions by Dan Aykroyd and the late Ivan Reitman, the lights dimmed, the film rolled, and that familiar twinkle and chorus exploded over the New York Public Library. Right below it was the Chicago Philharmonic, though, who hit every note under Bernstein’s guide. Needless to say, the talent on display was electrifying to watch, particularly the harpist, who was tasked with one of the first quiet moments of the night.
As the film progressed — there was a short intermission shortly after things go south for Dana Barrett and Louis Tully — it became quite clear that this wasn’t entirely a celebration of a widely celebrated film. It was a showcase for the kind of magic we often take for granted. The score. Hyperbole be damned, but Bernstein’s score is one of the more underrated gems in Hollywood scoring history. It’s an eclectic compendium that juggles all the weird tones within Reitman’s supernatural comedy, and this film is a lot weirder than its reputation suggests.
Because of this, it wasn’t an easy or even enviable task for Bernstein, who said as much to CinemaScore in 1985 (via Ghostbusters News): “It was probably one of the most difficult jobs I ever had to do just to, and I don’t mean this as a pun, but to find the right note. The score was not easy. It was extremely difficult. Ivan Reitman and I must have talked on the phone every single day while I was working on it, just trying to help ourselves find the right approach.”
Bernstein’s approach and all the complexities wired to his decisions were on full display at the Auditorium, and the excitement of seeing it unfold was admittedly tough to contain. Much to the chagrin of my girlfriend (and certainly the audience), I found myself pointing not at the screen, but sections of the orchestra as they conjured all the sounds that are a given on any other rewatch. A few snapshots come to mind (even days later): the heavenly swells behind “Dana’s Theme”, the haunting minimalism within “Halls”, the jaunty march of “Stairwell”, and the eerie pivot from the Carpenter synths of “News” to the funky sendoff of “Judgment Day”.
Staggering stuff.
Even more staggering was how magnetic it made the rewatch. One friendly fan behind me said it best: “It’s like I’m watching it for the first time again.” Who wouldn’t want that? Isn’t that the high we all chase whenever we pop in the tape? Isn’t that what studios are capitalizing on with these reboots? All true. The joy in this night, in this particular performance, is that it feels earned and genuine. And, more importantly, you’re not dropping your jaw at callbacks or remember-whens, but the raw ingenuity that captured your imagination in the first place.
That’s always been the magic word.
Photography by Anne Ryan. Click here to see if this show is coming to your town.
The post ‘Ghostbusters In Concert’ Spotlights the Stealth Magic Behind the Movie [Event Report] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.