One movie. Five people, living or dead, at the screening. Who and why?

Today’s screening: “Ghost Busters”

This revelatory 1984 horror comedy gave the culture such enduring cinematic icons as Zuul, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Ernie Hudson.

Charles Barton (1902-1981), Actor, Director

As horror comedies go, there’s none more classic or beloved than the Barton-helmed “Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein,” an uncontestable grand slam for the titular comedians and the last great film featuring Universal’s “Big Three” monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster and The Wolf Man). It’s seems unfair Barton died just three years before “Ghostbusters,” one of the greatest modern horror comedies, was released. Granted, he did also miss “Idle Hands.”

Kate Fox (1837-1892), Medium

Kate and her sister Margaret are generally credited with inadvertently jump-starting the 19th century Spiritualist movement when, through a system of taps and knocks, they began to communicate with an alleged ghost. Kate later grew up to be regarded as the more spiritually gifted of the two. After enjoying the spooky comedic stylings of Canada’s Dan Aykroyd, I will woo Kate with some spirit rapping of my own – “I’m a big big ghost and I like to haunt, I love to rap, something something haunt. Word.”

Sammy Stephens, Entrepreneur, Entertainer

Speaking of hip-hop, Sammy Stephens made a name for himself in the (ahem) respectable world of viral Internet memes with the TV commercial rap (and corresponding dance step) he composed and performed to promote his business, Flea Market Montgomery, a 73,000 square-foot mini-mall analog. Sammy can critique the Ghost Busters’ television ads and offer some helpful pointers about how to turn their dull slogan (“We’re ready to believe you”? ZZZZZZZZ!) and amateurish TV ads into marketing gold. Or at least oxidized YouTube copper.

Robert Bess, Inventor

Bess got tons of Travel Channel play just this past weekend for inventing his “Parabot,” a containment system supposedly capable of imprisoning spirits. (Yes, I, too, thought ‘Parabot’ sounded like some kind of county-owned handicapped android designed to laser blast elementary school kids into being polite to cripples.) While we watch a movie about ghost containment system, I can tell Bess how original his idea was. Bess’ next project is inventing a bus that explodes if it doesn’t retain a speed above 55 mph. He calls it the “GimpMobile.”

Ray Parker Jr. (1954- ), Musician

Oh, Ray Parker, serenade me with your melodious Ghostbusters theme. My plan is to mute the opening of the film, say “Take it Away!” and start beat boxing. Ten bucks says Parker just glares at me while, from the other side of the room, we hear, “living rooms, bed rooms, dinettes, oh yeah! You can find them at the market. We talkin’ ‘bout flea market”.