The three movies I chose to watch were “National Lampoons Vacation”, “Caddyshack”, and “Analyze This”all of which are directed by Harold Ramis. Most people don’t know who Harold Ramis is by his name, but if I tell you what acting role he is most famous for you’ll know exactly who I am talking about. Harold Ramis is the intelligent Egon Spengler from “Ghostbuster” and “Ghostbuster two”. Harold Ramis was born November 21,1944 in Chicago Illinois. Married twice and a father of four, this accomplished actor, writer, and director has to date directed over ten movies all did fairly well. Besides the three movies I chose he directed “Groundhog Day”, “Multiplicity”, “Analyze That”, and the “Ice Harvest”. It’s obvious that Harold Ramis favorite genre to work in is comedy. Will Harris said in a interview with Ramis that there are very few individuals in Hollywood who have been directly connected to so many classic comedies as Harold Ramis (bullz-eye). Ramis graduated from Washington University with is Honorary Doctorate of the Arts degree (Answers.com). His first job was a mental-ward orderly. He also was a joke editor for playboy magazine. Comedy has been a large part of his life. Ramis had a long association with Canada’s Second City Comedy troupe. He also performed in the National Lampoons Radio hour show. Ramis has be important to the film industry because of his ability to make us laugh. His movies find humor in everyday situations that would normally stress the average person. .

The first movie I watched was “National Lampoons Vacation”. “National Lampoons Vacation” is a 1983 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron, Randy Quaid, and Imogene Coca (Wikipedia). This wacky comedic movie is about a family trip to Wally World. This family of four is driving 2,460 miles from Chicago to L.A. for the ultimate family fun vacation. Clark Griswold is an enthusiastic husband and father who desperately wants to plan the greatest summer vacation for his wife and kids (Bullz-eye). Clark is always wanting everything to go perfect but always messes things up along the way. The movie is basically about what happens to this family on their trip all of which go array. For instance Aunt Edna dies and they tie her to the car roof, their car is damage badly, they lose their money, get lost, and then at the end Wally World is closed. Up until this point Clark is staying positive and is ready to have fun but when he sees the park is closed he loses it and makes sure that his family gets to ride the rides. This movie is very funny and a classic comedy.

The second movie I chose to see was “Caddyshack” also starring Chevy Chase. Some of the other actors in the movie are Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, and Michael O’Keefe (19^th Anniversary). This movie is also a comedy and deals with human relationships and one gopher relationship. There are Many different thing going on in this movie but they all take place at the golf club. There is a feud. going on between Ted Knight’s character Judge Smails and Rodney Dangerfield’s Character Al Czervik. Al is a crude over powering character and Smails is a snobby “Ass”. Danny Noonan is Michael O’Keefe’s character and he need to get the caddy scholarship and gets advice from Ty Webb Chevy’s character. One of the funniest things going on is Bill Murray playing a not so smart grounds keeper by the name of Carl Spackler and he is having trouble catching this smart gopher that likes to dance. This movie has a lot of the same humor that “National Lampoons Vacation” has. It’s this type of dry sarcastic laugh your butt off humor. All the actors in this movie have great chemistry together. They are some of the best comedic genius.

The third movie I chose to watch was one of Ramis’s newer movies “Analyze This”. This movie stars Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Lisa Kudrow and Joe Viterelli. I also really like this movie. Same type of humor and laughs as the other two and same type of personal relationships. Its about a gangster that is having panic attacks and depression. He finds a therapist Billy Crystal that he forces at gun point to help him, but they both learn a lot of each other and develop a friendship. The truest moments are when we get a peek at Dr. Sobol’s fantasies about his patients: they’re so boring and whiney, he wants to put them out of their misery (filmscouts). Crystal an De Niro are hilarious together and Ramis does a good job of showing their interactions together. Ramis has made a fleet, unself-conscious, eminently enjoyable picture, where one-liners carom merrily like stray bullets, and where there’s casual ease, like the drape of a sharpter’s trousers, in the rapport between its two stars (Zacharek).

These three films fit together because of there comedic style. In all three movies Ramis allows his actors to use improv were they feel it is necessary. In Caddyshack most of the movie is done in improv. For instance when Bill’s character is putting the explosives together to catch the gopher every thing he say was though up at the moment. In each of these movies there are significant personal relationships. There is a certain type of humor that Ramis uses in his films it’s very sarcastic and dry. I also noticed that Ramis uses actor that he has worked with in the past. Bill Murray and Ramis worked together on the National Lampoons Radio hour. Billy Crystal also worked with Ramis on SCTV which is a comedic show. Ramis also uses Chevy chase in two of the movies and Ramis and Chevy were going to be on SNL together but Ramis went to Canada to work instead. Ramis also uses a lot of every day issues and I think gives humor to them. For instance a gangster who suffers from panic attacks and depression. Ramis likes to use music also in these movie. In “National Lampoons Vacation” Clark and Ellen like to sing songs when the are driving and in “Caddyshack” the gopher has his own theme music and Tony Benet is used as a gift to Billy’s character. I think that these three movies fit into Ramis’s style very well because Ramis said that the investment that a director makes in a film is huge in terms of time and energy and commitment, so I really have to believe in something if I’m going to work on it (IGN). I think you see the effort that he puts into his films.

 

                               Work Cited

 

Meet the Stars”. Caddyshack 19^th Anniversary. 1999.  

     Warner Bros. 9 April 2006.

>http://caddyshackthemovie.warnerbros.com/cmp/meet.htmhttp://caddyshackthemovie.warnerbros.com/cmp/meet.htm Zacharek, Stephanie. “The King of Comedy”. Salon

Zacharek, Stephanie. “The King of Comedy”Entertainment. 1999. 5 April 2006.

>http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/reviews/199/03/cov-05reviewa.html 

“Harold Ramis”. Answers.com. No date. 5 April 2006.

>http://www.answers.com/topic/harold- ramis “National Lampoon’s Vacation”. Wikipedia. No date. 10 April 

“National Lampoon’s Vacation” No date. 10 April       2006.

>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National-Lampoon%27s-

Vacation“Vacation (1983)”. Bullz-eye.com. No date. 5 April 2006.

No date. 5 April 2006.>http://www.bulz-eye.com/mguide/reviews-1983/vacation.htmhttp://www.bulz-eye.com/mguide/reviews-1983/vacation.htm “Harold Ramis Interview”. ING Interviews. No date. 5 April 

“Harold Ramis Interview”. ING Interviews. No date. 5 April      2006.

>http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/670/670496p3.html  Harris, Will. “Interview with Harold Ramis”. Bullz-eye.com. 24

Harris, Will. “Interview with Harold Ramis”. 24     Feb. 2006. 10 April 2006.>http://www.bullz-

eye.com/mguide/interviews/2006/harold_ramis.htm Harris, Will. “Interview with Harold Ramis”. Bullz-eye.com. 24

Harris, Will. “Interview with Harold Ramis”. 24     Feb. 2006. 10 April 2006.

>http://www.bullzeye.com/mguide/interviews/2006/harold_ramis.htm 

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