Bill Murray and Harold Ramis have some serious army training in store in the quotable classic STRIPES
BAMcinématek, BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
Saturday, September 15, and Sunday, September 16
Series runs through September 17
212-415-5500
www.bam.org
This weekend, BAMcinématek’s rousing “American Gagsters — Great Comedy Teams” focuses on one of the craziest duos of the 1980s, Saturday Night Live veteran Bill Murray and SCTV star Harold Ramis. In Stripes (Saturday at 2:00 and 6:50), ne’er-do-well John Winger (Murray) and ESL teacher Russell Ziskey (Rami) have nothing better to do with their lives than join the army, where they meet a sad-sack cast of characters that includes Dewy Oxberger (John Candy), Francis “Psycho” Soyer (Conrad Dunn), Elmo Blum (Judge Reinhold), Captain Stillman (John Larroquette), and the cuddly Sgt. Hulka (Warren Oates). The first half of the film, one of the most quotable of the twentieth century, is outrageously funny. Things slow down considerably in the second half, but you’ll still be laughing so hard from the earlier jokes that you’ll barely notice it. And that’s the fact, Jack. Murray and Ramis also teamed up on-screen in 1981’s Ghostbusters (Saturday at 4:30 and 9:15), the franchise starter about a bunch of goofy guys who make a living ridding Manhattan buildings of spooky demons. Joining in on the ectoplasm slimefest are Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson, with Sigourney Weaver as the damsel in distress and Rick Moranis desperately searching for the Keymaster. “This reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole through your head. Remember that?” Peter Venkman (Murray) asks. “That would have worked if you hadn’t stopped me,” replies Egon Spengler (Ramis). And in the all-time sports classic Caddyshack (Sunday at 2:00 & 6:50), Ramis is behind the camera, directing Murray as Carl Spackler, the none-too-swift assistant groundskeeper at the Bushwood Country Club, which features such members as the bombastic Judge Smails (Ted Knight), the off-color Bishop Pickering (Henry Wilcoxon), and suave ladies’ man Ty Webb (Chevy Chase). When the hard-partying Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) shows up, everything gets turned inside out and upside down, all while Spackler is trying to track down and kill a destructive little gopher. And as far as memorable quotes go, Caddyshack is the Masters champion, from beginning to end. It’s in the hole, all the way.