Ghost Town Movie: He sees dead people, A love story

Ranked #1,621 in Relationships & Family, #194,146 overall

Ghost Town: Ricky Gervais trades The Office for the big screen

There are films and television shows where Death, The Grim Reaper and the like are personified. They're similar but each one has its own twist. Death is a universal experience and it's a subject writers and filmmakers continue to explore. Whether the show or film is a comedy, drama or dramedy, if done thoughtfully, they often hit home on some level with a poignancy to which many of us can relate.

This an offshoot of a series of lenses of mine. The lenses discuss times the character of Death has been seen on film and TV. As we baby boomers get older and those in our lives get on in years as well, maybe we stop to contemplate these things more often?

These lenses are about films and TV series. There will be spoiler info in each lens. This type of story can cover a broad spectrum from Caspar, the Friendly Ghost into genres such as horror and suspense. In some movies it is the whole plot and in others, it's just one thread woven through.

People hate to leave unfinished business. It keeps us up at night. It distracts our lives. The unsaid, undone, un-dealt-with, all of our unfinished business comes to a head as the end of our life approaches. If your life ends abruptly, those ducks that we didn't have in a row will go waddling off out of our control. What we fear most is sometimes what we actually cannot get off our minds.

This lens is my first to delve into the Here Comes Mr. Jordan/Heaven Can Wait-type of plot. A recent film in this genre that I liked very much was Ghost Town.

Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni, Greg Kinnear

in a scene from Ghost Town

Image from amazon.com

You Won't See Me MP3

Do you see that person standing to your left?

... Can they see you?

Take a Listen. If you like you can click and buy on Amazon.

Ghost Town DVD

Ricky Gervais is brilliant in Ghost Town, playing an unnervingly rude dentist, Bertram, who dies for a few minutes during surgery and acquires the unwanted ability to see ghosts. Chased throughout Manhattan by a gaggle of restless spirits begging him to take care of their unfinished business on Earth, Bertram turns them all away except Frank (Greg Kinnear).

The latter, a rogue who cheated on his archaeologist widow, Gwen (Tea Leoni), wants Bertram to intervene in a romance between Gwen and a starchy activist (Bill Campbell). Misanthropic Bertram has to polish his relationship patter, but ends up sounding a lot like Gervais' infamous character in the original The Office, unable to complete a sentence without making others uncomfortable. In time, of course, Bertram falls for the wonderful Gwen, setting up a bunch of overlapping conflicts.

Cowritten and directed by David Koepp (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Ghost Town walks a fine line between comic freshness and a story idea with elements that have become overly familiar in movies and on television. Kinnear and Leoni have never been better on screen, but Ghost Town is well worth seeing because no one like Gervais has previously played the hapless hero in a high-concept film such as this one. With Gervais doing his familiar, hilariously discomfiting thing, it really doesn't matter what kind of movie Ghost Town is. Happily, it's a pretty good film in every respect. --Tom Keogh

Ghost Town

Amazon Price: $2.82 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

Heaven's Waiting

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Estate Planning

Quicken Willmaker Plus 2010

Quicken Willmaker Plus 2010

Write your will with America's No. 1 estate planning more...0 points

Estate Planning for Blended Families: Providing for Your Spouse & Children in a Second Marriage by Richard Barnes

Estate Planning for Blended Families: Providing for Your Spouse & Children in a Second Marriage by Richard Barnes

In almost half of all stepfamilies, each parent brings more...0 points

How to Write Your Will: The Complete Guide to Structuring Your Will, Inheritance Tax Planning, Probate and Administering an Estate by Marlene Garsia

How to Write Your Will: The Complete Guide to Structuring Your Will, Inheritance Tax Planning, Probate and Administering an Estate by Marlene Garsia

Essential reading for an executor and anyone think more...0 points

The Mom's Guide to Wills & Estate Planning by Liza Hanks Attorney

The Mom's Guide to Wills & Estate Planning by Liza Hanks Attorney

Estate planning basics to help you protect your young more...0 points

Splitting Heirs: Giving Your Money and Things to Your Children Without Ruining Their Lives by Ron Blue, Jeremy White

Splitting Heirs: Giving Your Money and Things to Your Children Without Ruining Their Lives by Ron Blue, Jeremy White

You can't take it with you. But the wealth you lea more...0 points

Strange Things Happen (The Sweater Song) Laurie

Laurie (Strange Things Happen) - Dickey Lee

Last night at the dance I met Laurie
So lovely and warm
An angel of a girl
Last night I fell in love with Laurie

Strange things happen in this world

As I walked her home she said it was her birthday
I pulled her close and said
Will I see you anymore
And suddenly she asked for my sweater
And said that she was very very cold

I kissed her goodnight at her door and started home
Then thought about my sweater
And went right back and said
I knocked at her door
And a man appeared
I told him why I'd come

And he said
You're wrong son
You weren't with my daughter
How can you be so cruel
To come to me this way
My daughter left this world on her birthday
She died a year ago today

A strange force drew me to the graveyard
I stood in the cold
I saw the shadows gleam
And then I saw my sweater
Lying there upon her grave

Strange things happen in this world


Listen to the song. If you like, you can click and buy on Amazon.

Ghosts, Mystery & Horror, Lights Out Radio

Radio is the ideal medium for horror and mystery entertainment. In the minds eye, old time radio horror and mystery shows can conjure the most frightening of scary sensations. With sound effects, good timing, and the power of suggestion horror and mystery in classic old time radio created some of the scariest and most memorable horror productions in history.

In many ways, horror radio shows differ from horror in film. In film, when the monster or antagonist is shown, it diminishes its veracity--especially if the monster suit looks fake or silly. Images that the listener pictures in his own mind-eye are often scarier than what a make-up artist or producer deems as visually frightening.

Another reason why radio is scarier than film is lighting and perspective. If we see the person stuck in a pitch black haunted house or stuck in a coffin, the fear is slightly diminished. If we picture ourselves stuck in a dark room or coffin, the intensity of the fright is much more genuine.
Mystery-Horror Old Time Radio Shows OTRCat
The boundaries of horror blur with other genres including drama, crime, science fiction, and even comedy known as black humor. Any topic was made available and spooky, building suspense and danger in the listener's ear. Topics of the horror genre vary widely including monsters and ghouls, noir horror, and the scariest of them all: man.

Born to Be Wild/Teen Angel/Tell Laura I Love Her/Strange Things Happen MP3

Steve Goodman

Give it a listen. If you like, you can click and buy on Amazon.

Ghost Town : He sees dead people

image from amazon.com

T-Shirts Sale!

Big Daily Holiday Sales on Zazzle!
New Sales happening on Zazzle through the Holiday Season!
More details on their web site

Ouija You (white print) shirt
Ouija You (white print) by AdamCampen
Browse other t-shirt designs made on zazzle.com

Got Ghosts? shirt
Got Ghosts? by Ghost_Town
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Ghost Town in the Sky Amusement Park Maggie Valley shirt
Ghost Town in the Sky Amusement Park Maggie Valley by mtdstudios
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Ricky Gervais Tickets, DVDs and more on eBay

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Vintage Photo Print Poster

Available different sizes, prices, framed, unframed

Macy's Department Store Detectives with Their Backs Turned So as Not to Reveal Their Identity



Macy's Department...

Nina Leen

Buy This at Allposters.com



Macy's Department Store Detectives with Their Backs Turned So as Not to Reveal Their Identity

This image from the archives of LIFE magazine first appeared on January 3, 1949.
From the archives of LIFE magazine, this image is digitally printed on archival photographic paper resulting in vivid, pure color and exceptional detail that is suitable for museum or gallery display.

Mr. Death, Just doing his job: Other Lenses in This Series

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Scrooge Receives a Visit from the Ghost of Jacob Marley

His Former Business Partner

Ricky Gervais CD Set

Three CD set featuring the very best of Ricky's podcasts plus a previously unreleased 'new' one hour show exclusive to this CD box set. Gervais is beat known as the creator and star of the BBC hit comedies The Office and Extras (shown in the U.S. on HBO).

He also stars in the hit film Night At The Museum and has been involved in many other funny shenanigans over the years. (NOTE: Gervais was once a member of an under-appreciated New Wave/Synth Pop band in the '80s called Sedona Dancing, who released a few singles). Universal. 2007.

Ricky Gervais Show Podcast

Amazon Price: $21.71 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

Ghost Songs : Teen Story / Fated Love Stories MP3s

Give them a listen. If you like, you can click and buy on Amazon.

A Party of Alleged Spooks

The Office - Ricky Gervais - Complete UK Series

It feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describe The Office as a comedy. On a superficial level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks, and no cute happy endings.

More profoundly, it's not what we're used to thinking of as funny. Most of the fervently devoted fan base watched with a discomfortingly thrilling combination of identification and mortification. The paradox is that its best moments are almost physically unwatchable. Set in the offices of a fictional British paper merchant, The Office is filmed in the style of a reality television show.

The writing is subtle and deft, the acting wonderful, and the characters beautifully drawn: the cadaverous team leader Gareth (Mackenzie Crook); the monstrous sales rep, Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson); and the decent but long-suffering everyman Tim (Martin Freeman), whose ambition and imagination have been crushed out of him by the banality of ! the life he dreams uselessly of escaping. The show is stolen, as it was intended to be, by insufferable office manager David Brent, played by codirector-cowriter Ricky Gervais.

Brent will become a name as emblematic for a particular kind of British grotesque as Basil Fawlty, but he is a deeper character. Fawlty is an exaggeration of reality, and therefore a safely comic figure. Brent is as appalling as only reality can be. --Andrew Mueller

The second series exceeded even the sky-high standards of the first. Indeed, it ventured beyond caricature and satire, touching on the very edge of darkness. Ricky Gervais is once again excruciatingly superb as David Brent, but in this series, Brent's to-the-camera assertions concerning his management qualities and executive capabilities are seriously challenged when the Slough and Swindon branches are merged and his former Swindon equivalent Neil (Patrick Baladi) takes over as area manager.

To compensate, Brent cultivates his pathologically mistaken image of himself as an entertainer-motivator-comedian whose stage happens to be the workplace. Meanwhile, Tim, who can only maintain his sanity by teasing the priggish Gareth, continues to wrestle with his yearning for receptionist Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis), a sympathetic character persisting in a relationship with a man about whom she still maintains unspoken reservations.

As ever, it's the awkward, reality TV-style pauses and silences, the furtive, meaningful and unmet glances across the emotional gulf of the open-plan office, that say it all here. As for Brent, his own breakdown is prefaced by a moment of hideous hilarity--an impromptu office dance, a mixture of "Flashdance and MC Hammer" as Brent describes it, but in reality bad beyond description. Then, when his fate is sealed, he at last reveals himself in a memorable finale to perhaps the greatest British sitcom, besides Fawlty Towers, ever made. --David Stubbs

The brilliant and devastating comedy of The Office is brought to a satisfying conclusion in The Office Special, originally a two-part Christmas special on the BBC, set three years after the end of the faux-documentary's second season. The former office manager David (Ricky Gervais) now ekes out a desperate existence as an oblivious quasi-celebrity, making awkward, humiliating visits back to the office staff he still believes loves him.

Gawky Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) has risen to manager and become a petty tyrant, while the sweet but snide Tim (Martin Freeman) continues to pine for former receptionist Dawn (Lucy Davis), who fled to Florida with her fiance. When the documentary crew pays for Dawn to return for the holiday party, an unpredictable reunion looms ahead. The Office fuses scathing humor and genuine empathy, turning excruciating social discomfort into inspired satire. Fans will find this special rewarding in all respects. --Bret Fetzer

Ghost Town - Making Of; Ricky Gervais Interviewed

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Estate Planning for People with a Chronic Condition or Disability

"In each chapter, Shenkman, in clear and concise terms, explains the basic concepts of estate planning, including the topics of wills, living wills, power of attorney, HIPPA laws, and health care proxy, among others. He also includes examples of various estate planning problems that people with chronic illnesses and/or disability may encounter and gives solutions to each issue and summarizes each chapter stressing the important issues covered... This book is very well written and would be a highly useful resource in public and consumer health libraries."-CAPHIS, Medical Library Association

"I can't think of a legal, accounting, financial planning, or charitable planning practitioner that would not find ESTATE PLANNING FOR PEOPLE WITH A CHRONIC CONDITION OR DISABILITY both a valuable practice tool and a precious gift to share with select clients."-Steve Leimberg, Leimberg Information Services

"Reviews the basic components of estate planning while emphasizing the important nuances that must be considered when an individual is ill or disabled Conveys complicated information clearly and uses specific examples to connect it to common situations. Highly recommended."-Library Journal

"In this easy-to-read but no-nonsense primer, Martin Shenkman delivers a wealth of information to help you organize your financial, legal and health-care matters and protect yourself during your lifetime and beyond." -- Anne Davis, Program Director, Legal Services, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, New York City Chapter, Momentum Magazine, Winter 2009-2010 issue

Product Description
Though the task can be daunting, arranging for the eventuality of death is a necessary undertaking. The planning of one's estate takes on even greater urgency for those living with chronic disease or disability. This practical guide clarifies the process and addresses all pertinent topics - from the establishment of preferences regarding convalescent care in the event of further disability to the management of assets after death.

In addition, questions regarding life insurance, living trusts, power of attorney, and when to work with a lawyer are answered. Though legalities can be intimidating, this final and most important of legal tasks need not be fraught with confusion. - Amazon

Estate Planning for People with a Chronic Condition or Disability

Amazon Price: $12.40 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

The Office - UK clip

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The Steve Goodman Anthology

Incl. Born to Be Wild/Teen Angel/Tell Laura I Love Her/Strange Things Happen

This may be the best "compilation" album of all time. It captures the refined purity of lyrics and music on the studio disc, and the unbelievable connection Steve made with audiences through his music and humor on the live disc.

I am not the least bit objective about Steve Goodman; we were friends together at the University of Illinois ("City of New Orleans" was the Illinois Central train we most frequently rode between Champaign and Chicago), and I was one of his strongest supporters when he started his professional career in 1969. I was actively involved in organizing his "memorial concert", and I would sell his CD's door-to-door if I could.

If you do not buy this CD, you will miss the essence of one of the greatest songwriters, best performers, and sincerest human beings that ever graced the cover of an album, or walked on earth. -- Amazon

The Steve Goodman Anthology

Amazon Price: $17.98 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

Unfinished Business in Films

~ around and about ~

The Sixth Sense (Collector's Edition Series)

The Sixth Sense (Collector's Edition Series)

Hollywood superstar Bruce Willis (ARMAGEDDON, THE more...0 points

Casper (Full Screen Special Edition)

Casper (Full Screen Special Edition)

A TEEN WHO LOST HER MOTHER BEFRIENDS FRIENDLY GHOS more...0 points

Heart and Souls

Heart and Souls

A FATAL BUS ACCIDENT TIES THE SOULS OF FOUR STRANG more...0 points

Ghost [Blu-ray]

Ghost [Blu-ray]

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 12/30/2 more...0 points

Ghost (Special Collector's Edition)

Ghost (Special Collector's Edition)

Patrick Swayze plays a ghost who teams with a psyc more...0 points

Hikaru No Go, Vol. 1: The Go Masters Descent

Hikaru No Go, Vol. 1: The Go Masters Descent

Debut DVD Release on the SHONEN JUMP DVD Library more...0 points

The Sight

The Sight

Michael Lewis, is a young New York architect who h more...0 points

The Ring (Widescreen Edition)

The Ring (Widescreen Edition)

An inquisitive reporter views a mysterious videota more...0 points

The Others (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

The Others (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Screen sensation Nicole Kidman (MOULIN ROUGE, EYES more...0 points

Beyond Tomorrow

Beyond Tomorrow

Beyond Tomorrow (1940, 84 minutes) When three agin more...0 points

It's a Wonderful Life

Now perhaps the most beloved American film, It's a Wonderful Life was largely forgotten for years, due to a copyright quirk. Only in the late 1970s did it find its audience through repeated TV showings. Frank Capra's masterwork deserves its status as a feel-good communal event, but it is also one of the most fascinating films in the American cinema, a multilayered work of Dickensian density.

George Bailey (played superbly by James Stewart) grows up in the small town of Bedford Falls, dreaming dreams of adventure and travel, but circumstances conspire to keep him enslaved to his home turf. Frustrated by his life, and haunted by an impending scandal, George prepares to commit suicide on Christmas Eve. A heavenly messenger (Henry Travers) arrives to show him a vision: what the world would have been like if George had never been born.

The sequence is a vivid depiction of the American Dream gone bad, and probably the wildest thing Capra ever shot (the director's optimistic vision may have darkened during his experiences making military films in World War II). Capra's triumph is to acknowledge the difficulties and disappointments of life, while affirming--in the teary-eyed final reel--his cherished values of friendship and individual achievement.

It's a Wonderful Life was not a big hit on its initial release, and it won no Oscars (Capra and Stewart were nominated); but it continues to weave a special magic. --Robert Horton

It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition)

Amazon Price: $11.49 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

It's a Wonderful Life

Donna Reed, James Stewart, 1946

Images Handmade & Vintage Items on Etsy

(see above)

A Christmas Carol - Scrooge

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

Christmas elicits nothing more than "Bah, hum more...0 points

Scrooged

Scrooged

A modern, comedic telling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas more...0 points

The Muppet Christmas Carol - Kermit's 50th Anniversary Edition

The Muppet Christmas Carol - Kermit's 50th Anniversary Edition

'Tis the season for love, laughter, and one of the more...0 points

A Christmas Carol (Ultimate Collector's Edition)(B/W & Color)

A Christmas Carol (Ultimate Collector's Edition)(B/W & Color)

Alastair Sim's tour-de-force performance as the ul more...0 points

Diva's Christmas Carol

Diva's Christmas Carol

No Description Available.Genre: ChristmasRating: PG more...0 points

I See Bones MP3

Alan Sherman

Take a listen. If you like, you can click and buy on Amazon.

Magic 8 Ball

* The original Magic 8 Ball has all the answers you need
* Ask any question, turn over the Magic 8 Ball, and you'll get its answer
* Answers questions about romance, friendships, school, work, and more
* Great fun for kids and adults
* Get a sneak preview into the future

Magic 8 Ball

Amazon Price: $5.39 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

Lovely Bones - Book

Film version expected out 12/09

Once in a generation a novel comes along that taps a vein of universal human experience, resonating with readers of all ages. THE LOVELY BONES is such a book -- a #1 bestseller celebrated at once for its artistry, for its luminous clarity of emotion, and for its astonishing power to lay claim to the hearts of millions of readers around the world.
"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."
So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, THE LOVELY BONES succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.
The major motion picture version of THE LOVELY BONES, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, and Saoirse Ronan is scheduled for release on December 11, 2009.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Once in a generation a novel comes along that taps more...0 points

The Lovely Bones: Deluxe Edition by Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones: Deluxe Edition by Alice Sebold

This deluxe trade paperback edition of Alice Sebold's more...0 points

Do you have favorite Ghost movies?

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