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Ghostbusters hit the New York State Fair
Theresa sends in this little snippet, unfortunately she didn't pick up any pictures!

"Just wanted to let you know, at a parade I saw at the NY State Fair the 4 ~ 13 year old street sweepers at the end has GB jumpsuits with the GB logo on the back and sleeves. They'll probably be there for the other parades at the fair, which end on Labor Day." - Troy

Coming soon, more bad sequels?
Cinsound continues pumping in the news articles, this one from Beer.com (don't enter if yer under 21 kids, sorry) but we'll post the article here so you don't have to run over there:

By BILLY WARDEN beer.com

Say you're dating a girl, and one night at dinner you come out and say something extremely witty and wise. Now should you take her to the same joint the next night and come out with the same witty and wise comment? Maybe throw in another glass of wine and a few new words?

Hell no. If you want to keep the girl interested, you got to work your mind to the nub trying to come up something equally witty and wise, but different. But saying the same thing just guarantees you a hole in the dating dumping ground.

Yet in the great courtship between Hollywood and consumers, Hollywood is always repeating -- almost verbatim -- the stuff that catches our attention. There's a name for this tendency. Not "creative bankruptcy." Or "money hungry." Or "desperate" -- although all often apply. The official name is "sequel," and last week the town went nuts with an explosion of them. Already the most interesting plot twists are unfolding -- behind the scenes. Here's the official news: Harrison Ford will wrestle with snakes, rats, probably Nazis, maybe aliens and a few other ugly critters in a fourth Indiana Jones movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger will wrestle to get his tongue around a few more pithy one-liners in a third Terminator. And Sharon Stone will wrestle her way out of a few pairs of undies (I'm betting) in a follow-up to Basic Instinct. Amid this sequel-mania, there is one man in Hollywood who's holding out on a third installment of a very popular franchise. More on him later. Right now, let's get the dirt on the aforementioned Big Three and the dirty business of making Xeroxs, sorry, sequels. First, the basics. Sequels fall into four categories:

1.Sequels that top or equal the original. In the entire history of mankind, only three of these exist: Godfather II, The Empire Strikes Back and Terminator

2. 2.Sequels so bland and repetitive, you can't really remember them at all. In the history of mankind, many of these exist, but they're so forgettable it's tough to name them. What happened in all those Lethal Weapons? Well, there were lots of explosions and, um, lots of explosions. Same goes for The Back to the Futures and the Scream franchise.

3.Sequels you wish had never been made and try to forget so they won't damage your love of the original. Remember squirming through Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Another 48 Hours, Arthur 2, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Caddyshack 2 and Grease 2?

4.Sequels so bad they're not only unforgettable, their stench taints the original. Many of these involve Sylvester Stallone: the Rockys, the Rambos, and the Sly-directed Saturday Night Fever sequel, Stayin' Alive. Horror franchise like Halloween and Friday the 13th usually fall into this category also. (There's another category, which is still being researched in some Hollwood labs. It's when every other movie in the franchise is good like Star Trek, Die Hard and the Pink Panther movies. There is no known explanation for these movies.) So in which of these categories is each of the three upcoming sequels likely to land? The Indiana Jones sequel is generating the most buzz, partly because the names attached are so huge (Ford! Spielberg! Lucas!), but also because the rumored plots are so bizarre. One has Indy seeking out some magical mumbo jumbo in the lost city of Atlantis. Another involves Noah's Ark. Another Indy's long lost brother -- evil brother, that is. But the weirdest rumored storyline finds Indy using his trusty bullwhip to rip the lid off the whole Roswell thing. Any of these plots will do. All the filmmakers really need is an excuse for four chases, six brawls and one kiss. The wild card is M. Night Shyamalan. The writer/director of The Sixth Sense is in talks to work the same black magic with the next Indy script, which must have everyone involved thinking, "I see lots of ticket-buying people." Bringing hot, fresh talent in on a sequel isn't new (John Woo just rocked Tom Cruise's M:I 2 world), but it's a good indication the honchos are looking for more than a hit-and-run job. Still, whatever Shyamalan comes up with will have to go through Spielberg, whose work of late (Saving Private Ryan, Amistad) has been bloated. Not a good sign for Indy 4. But Ford could make this a keeper. He's getting a little old for this action hero stuff, and if he decides to let the years show, Indy 4 could take on the touching spirit of John Wayne's great True Grit. Touching, but still kick-ass, of course.

Don't expect anything touching out of Ah-nuld. After losing his Midas touch with Junior and End of Days, the former action champ no doubt wants to blaze back to glory with Terminator 3. But though Ah-nuld was born to play the part (which doesn't say a lot for his parents), he's not the most important guy in this sequel equation. That distinction belongs to franchise creator and famed hell-raiser James Cameron, who has not yet signed on to direct. Cameron's wacky, epic vision made T2 a must-see freak-out. Trouble is, that wacky, epic vision costs lots and lots of money. Cameron has said he'll only do T3 in conjunction with Fox (the studio that helped him keep Titanic afloat). But Fox already has committed to a True Lies sequel. Can the studio afford another Cameron extravaganza? That's the billion dollar question. Bottom line: with the maestro of mayhem in the director's chair, T3 could be a classic. Without him, it's a "Wish They Hadn't Made It" or worse. And that leaves the most cringe-inducing of the Big Three, Basic Instinct. It just doesn't seem possible that this will be anything but a hoot. See, Basic Instinct worked as an over-the-top case study in exploitation filmmaking. It took a lot of cheesy cliches and played them to the max: a troubled cop, an exhibitionist nympho, a kinky murder, an exhibitionist nympho, a shocking lesbian twist and an exhibitionist nympho. At least the sequel-makers got the exhibitionist nympho back. Sharon Stone will topline the Basic sequel for a chilling $15 million plus lots of the superstar treatment, I imagine. All that fuss will no doubt feel just grand to Sharon, who nearly put herself out of the movie star business with clunkers like The Mighty, Gloria, and that weird thing called Simpatico. But is Sharon still willing to do the dirty deeds that made the original such a smash? After all, she cried a river explaining how director Paul Verhoeven tricked or bullied her into doing the full monty in the famous interrogation scene. Verhoeven won't be around to capture Sharon's full glory, but no doubt someone will try. Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is also AWOL. He's too busy preparing a memoir on Hollywood, which reportedly contains a nasty depiction of Stone. Right there you have a more interesting drama than the Basic sequel promises. Anyone for an all-cheese burrito smothered in extra hot sauce? Didn't think so. With so many big names jumping on board the sequel train, it may give you the impression that lame follow-ups are inevitable in Hollywood. You're right, of course, but sometimes someone surprises you. There's a legendary comic actor in town who is standing firm about not doing another installment of one of the most successful comedy franchises of all time.

Here's a hint, "Who ya gonna call ..." Yep, a proposed Ghostbusters 3 is getting careful scrutiny from the principals. The original, you'll recall, defied industry projections to become a smash. The sequel wasn't nearly as fresh, but still raked in more than $100 million. Ghostbusters 3 would follow Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis as they turn their spook business over to the next generation. The monkey wrench is Murray. Reportedly, the amount of money he wants is just too scary for the suits. I also like to think that the man who turned in an Oscar-worthy performance in Rushmore just doesn't see the artistic merits of more ghostbusting. Murray may come around. Money's money. But it's heartening to know that -- for a little while, at least -- the great Everyman dweeb stopped the Hollywood sequel express in its tracks.

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