Times when I think Hollywood can’t make great movies anymore, I remember Groundhog Day.
‘Course, we’re talking 1993 which doesn’t seem that long ago, but actually …
We watched GHD last night on DVD.
After I saw Groundhog Day I started to wonder if Bill Murray might be up to something larger than big bucks and cheap laughs.
Murray had also made Scrooged and the odd, mostly ignored, remake of The Razor’s Edge. Those two films, like GD, are about personal transformation.
It’s one of my favorites too.
It’s going to be cold. It’s going to be gray. And it’s going to last the rest of your life.
Sorry, I was talking about our economic forecast. What were we saying?
We watch it every year. Lots of favorite scenes: angel food cake, railroad track ride, Jeopardy! — I love it that he’s in his pajamas. Harold Ramis’s commentary is worth listening to, also.
I agree that Bill Murray was amazing in this.
Groundhog Day is a really good, and very underrated movie. One of those ones you ca re-watch regularly.
Others I would put in that very good and underrated category are “The Replacements”, “Michael” and “Constantine”, the later being a mite on the darker side than the other two.
The cheerleader dance during the game against Miami, John Travola’s dance to “Chains”, and the Devil in Constantine are all outstanding scenes.
Actually went to Punxsutawney this morning for the prognostication – while Punxsy doesn’t look much like the movie (which was filmed in Woodstock, IL) it’s still a good time, and the actual Groundhog Ceremony as portrayed in the movie is accurate. Lots of people complain that Groundhog Day is pointless, or a ‘distraction’, but I’ve made the trek twice – once with each of my kids when they were in Kindergarten – and I don’t feel like my time was wasted.
A new Groundhog Day (1993) story from Stephen Tobolowsky this morning – At the end of the movie, when Rita stays up with Phil to see if February 3rd finally arrives, Phil wakes up in the clothes he went to bed in the night before. The decision about what he’d be wearing in the morning was put up to a vote among the cast and crew – Pajamas, yesterday’s clothes, or…something (nothing?) else. The vote ended in a tie between PJs and yesterday’s clothes…and the tie was broken when one of the junior members of the crew spoke up and said, “If he doesn’t wake up in the previous night’s clothes, there’s no point to the whole movie!” Which decided the matter.
Good one, Holmes!
Looking for a romantic movie for Groundhog Day…or Valentine’s Day? Try “I Know Where I’m Going”, 1945, or “The Best Years of Our Lives”, 1946. Both are terrific films.
I confess: I am the only person who never saw GHD (it’s even got a catchy acronym). I was in Korea that year and it all just got by me…..
I think I would really like it.
and Dr Rajendra Patchouli can kiss my ass.
Holmes – it’s coooold out there every day! What is this, Miami Beach?
Neo – one of my favorites as well.
Gray: I avoided GHD for years. I couldn’t get past the slow beginning (or what seemed so to me). I was floored when people told me about the fun & games that come along later.
I watched it a few years ago with my wife & kids, and we all loved it. (We tried to watch it ON Groundhog Day, but we couldn’t — all the local rental stores were out! I’ve since bought the DVD.)
As the saying goes, it’s a wonderful film about a jerk who learns how to be a human being… because realizes that he doesn’t have a choice. The device used to make this happen is delightful… and I just love the fact that it’s never explained!
cheers,
Daniel in Brookline
Those of us who live in southwestern PA have a special affinity for Phil the Groundhog.
It’s one of my favorite movies of all time. So many great lines. “Don’t drive angry!” and “This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.”
I recently saw Revolutionary Road on cable and it occurred to me that I’d really much, MUCH rather be watching Groundhog Day. It’s funny, and deep!
Here’s a great column by Jonah Goldberg that really captures the mystique of the movie:
I too loved Groundhog Day. It’s the only movie that made me laugh so hard (and continuously) that I think I disturbed the people around me in the theater…I just couldn’t stop myself.
K. I’m in. I’ll go look buy a copy at the DVD store.
(I usually just buy DVDs I think I will like rather than rent lots of movies “just to see”. My time is valuable to me. No one can give me back time wasted on a crap movie: Do you hear me Wachowski brothers!? You owe me like 6 hours!)
All I’ve got to say is gosh I wish we could all live in the mountains, at high altitudes. That’s where I see myself in 5 years. How about you Neo?
> One of my favorite movies ever.
It’s so good even Andie MacDowell couldn’t screw it up.
And remember, folks:
“Don’t Drive Angry”.
> Groundhog Day is a really good, and very underrated movie.
Ummm, the first part is obviously, true, but the second is an overstatement at best.
It ranks #160 on the IMDB top 25.
Too low? Of obvious comedies, these precede it:
================================
Forrest Gump
Amelie
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
City Lights
Back to the Future
Some Like It Hot
The Great Dictator
The Apartment
The Sting
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Annie Hall
The General
The Big Lebowski
It Happened One Night
Life of Brian
==============
So it ranks #16 on IMDB’s list of the best film comedies, in essence — five of which were the AABP for their year… or #40 if you use the IMDB list of anything vaguely “comical”, including a number of other pics where comedy isn’t the film’s raison d’etre, like “Snatch” (very comic but an action pic, by my lights)
Most of those pics above it at least have good reason to be considered *possibly* to be better.
So claiming it’s “very underrated” is sort of like saying The Empire State Building is “very understated”, or a cross-country trip in the USA is a “bit of a jog”
I grant people don’t think about it as a comedy quite as readily as some films, because it’s not a big LOL comedy, unlike, say, “Ghostbusters” or The Holy Grail — it depends on wit and charm (like Amelie) rather than gut-busting — but that doesn’t make it “underrated”.
😉
It ranks #160 on the IMDB top 25.
LOL — “duh, the final zero didn’t make it from my fingers to the comment”.
From Goldberg’s excellent review:
> but Ramis constantly insisted that the film be funny first and philosophical second.
Which is why the film works. It doesn’t beat you over the head with the philosophy, it just makes it a part of the story. If it had been more effortless with the philosophy, it would have been preachy and probably boring. (That, by the way, was one of the problems with The Matrix sequels, Gray — the first one, the philosophy was there but not central. The sequels, it was central and not “just there”)
Good film (good anything, actually) doesn’t beat you over the head with its concepts, but fits them into a narrative where they just flow naturally.
For some people, the flow may be too fast, or too slow, but most people can adapt to the speed if it’s done right.
CV thanks for a great link!
My contrary views on “Groundhog Day” can be found here, together with an explanation of the relationship between that film and “Superman” and “The Wizard of Oz”.
Thanks. I got it from Amazon’s But It Now service. It is great! For some reason I was thinking I had seen it and didn’t like it. That was Caddy Shack. Those people who say pot smoking isn’t good for you may be on to something.
P.S. Hint: if you’re going to recommend a movie put it up on your I Recommend thing so you can collect a commission from Amazon. You can bet El Instanto Maximo gets a spiff from them for all the books and movies he touts.
We made a point to catch it on the DVR. It’s still as good as it was before.
Andie MacDowell didn’t quite ruin it. I feel bad for her; every movie she’s been in, would be better with someone else in her role, and it isn’t her fault because she’s always put in these situations in which the central character, a male, is willing to sacrifice everything to be with her.
Why did they keep doing that to us?
I’d kick her out. I wouldn’t even wait for the crackers. GD would have been m-u-c-h better with Meg Ryan, or even Shelly Long. As it is, when he’s pursuing her it just looks to me like another sign of how desperate and warped he’s becoming as the years roll by in that time loop. So it goes without saying the ending is ruined.
Love Groundhog Day, haven’t seen it for a while, just put it in my Netflix Queue. Thanks, Neo!
Love love love The Best Years of Our Lives and hadn’t known about I Know Where I’m Going (Wendy Hiller! oh boy!). Just put it in my Netflix Queue as well. Thanks, Jed!
This is like the ultimate Pick Up Artist metaphor.
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For sure, it’s evergreen.
Times when I think Hollywood can’t make great movies anymore, I remember Groundhog Day.
‘Course, we’re talking 1993 which doesn’t seem that long ago, but actually …
We watched GHD last night on DVD.
After I saw Groundhog Day I started to wonder if Bill Murray might be up to something larger than big bucks and cheap laughs.
Murray had also made Scrooged and the odd, mostly ignored, remake of The Razor’s Edge. Those two films, like GD, are about personal transformation.
It’s one of my favorites too.
It’s going to be cold. It’s going to be gray. And it’s going to last the rest of your life.
Sorry, I was talking about our economic forecast. What were we saying?
We watch it every year. Lots of favorite scenes: angel food cake, railroad track ride, Jeopardy! — I love it that he’s in his pajamas. Harold Ramis’s commentary is worth listening to, also.
I agree that Bill Murray was amazing in this.
Groundhog Day is a really good, and very underrated movie. One of those ones you ca re-watch regularly.
Others I would put in that very good and underrated category are “The Replacements”, “Michael” and “Constantine”, the later being a mite on the darker side than the other two.
The cheerleader dance during the game against Miami, John Travola’s dance to “Chains”, and the Devil in Constantine are all outstanding scenes.
Actually went to Punxsutawney this morning for the prognostication – while Punxsy doesn’t look much like the movie (which was filmed in Woodstock, IL) it’s still a good time, and the actual Groundhog Ceremony as portrayed in the movie is accurate. Lots of people complain that Groundhog Day is pointless, or a ‘distraction’, but I’ve made the trek twice – once with each of my kids when they were in Kindergarten – and I don’t feel like my time was wasted.
A new Groundhog Day (1993) story from Stephen Tobolowsky this morning – At the end of the movie, when Rita stays up with Phil to see if February 3rd finally arrives, Phil wakes up in the clothes he went to bed in the night before. The decision about what he’d be wearing in the morning was put up to a vote among the cast and crew – Pajamas, yesterday’s clothes, or…something (nothing?) else. The vote ended in a tie between PJs and yesterday’s clothes…and the tie was broken when one of the junior members of the crew spoke up and said, “If he doesn’t wake up in the previous night’s clothes, there’s no point to the whole movie!” Which decided the matter.
Good one, Holmes!
Looking for a romantic movie for Groundhog Day…or Valentine’s Day? Try “I Know Where I’m Going”, 1945, or “The Best Years of Our Lives”, 1946. Both are terrific films.
I confess: I am the only person who never saw GHD (it’s even got a catchy acronym). I was in Korea that year and it all just got by me…..
I think I would really like it.
and Dr Rajendra Patchouli can kiss my ass.
Holmes – it’s coooold out there every day! What is this, Miami Beach?
Neo – one of my favorites as well.
Gray: I avoided GHD for years. I couldn’t get past the slow beginning (or what seemed so to me). I was floored when people told me about the fun & games that come along later.
I watched it a few years ago with my wife & kids, and we all loved it. (We tried to watch it ON Groundhog Day, but we couldn’t — all the local rental stores were out! I’ve since bought the DVD.)
As the saying goes, it’s a wonderful film about a jerk who learns how to be a human being… because realizes that he doesn’t have a choice. The device used to make this happen is delightful… and I just love the fact that it’s never explained!
cheers,
Daniel in Brookline
Those of us who live in southwestern PA have a special affinity for Phil the Groundhog.
It’s one of my favorite movies of all time. So many great lines. “Don’t drive angry!” and “This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.”
I recently saw Revolutionary Road on cable and it occurred to me that I’d really much, MUCH rather be watching Groundhog Day. It’s funny, and deep!
Here’s a great column by Jonah Goldberg that really captures the mystique of the movie:
http://www.nationalreview.com/flashback/goldberg200602020835.asp
I too loved Groundhog Day. It’s the only movie that made me laugh so hard (and continuously) that I think I disturbed the people around me in the theater…I just couldn’t stop myself.
K. I’m in. I’ll go look buy a copy at the DVD store.
(I usually just buy DVDs I think I will like rather than rent lots of movies “just to see”. My time is valuable to me. No one can give me back time wasted on a crap movie: Do you hear me Wachowski brothers!? You owe me like 6 hours!)
All I’ve got to say is gosh I wish we could all live in the mountains, at high altitudes. That’s where I see myself in 5 years. How about you Neo?
> One of my favorite movies ever.
It’s so good even Andie MacDowell couldn’t screw it up.
And remember, folks:
“Don’t Drive Angry”.
> Groundhog Day is a really good, and very underrated movie.
Ummm, the first part is obviously, true, but the second is an overstatement at best.
It ranks #160 on the IMDB top 25.
Too low? Of obvious comedies, these precede it:
================================
Forrest Gump
Amelie
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
City Lights
Back to the Future
Some Like It Hot
The Great Dictator
The Apartment
The Sting
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Annie Hall
The General
The Big Lebowski
It Happened One Night
Life of Brian
==============
So it ranks #16 on IMDB’s list of the best film comedies, in essence — five of which were the AABP for their year… or #40 if you use the IMDB list of anything vaguely “comical”, including a number of other pics where comedy isn’t the film’s raison d’etre, like “Snatch” (very comic but an action pic, by my lights)
Most of those pics above it at least have good reason to be considered *possibly* to be better.
So claiming it’s “very underrated” is sort of like saying The Empire State Building is “very understated”, or a cross-country trip in the USA is a “bit of a jog”
I grant people don’t think about it as a comedy quite as readily as some films, because it’s not a big LOL comedy, unlike, say, “Ghostbusters” or The Holy Grail — it depends on wit and charm (like Amelie) rather than gut-busting — but that doesn’t make it “underrated”.
😉
It ranks #160 on the IMDB top 25.
LOL — “duh, the final zero didn’t make it from my fingers to the comment”.
From Goldberg’s excellent review:
> but Ramis constantly insisted that the film be funny first and philosophical second.
Which is why the film works. It doesn’t beat you over the head with the philosophy, it just makes it a part of the story. If it had been more effortless with the philosophy, it would have been preachy and probably boring. (That, by the way, was one of the problems with The Matrix sequels, Gray — the first one, the philosophy was there but not central. The sequels, it was central and not “just there”)
Good film (good anything, actually) doesn’t beat you over the head with its concepts, but fits them into a narrative where they just flow naturally.
For some people, the flow may be too fast, or too slow, but most people can adapt to the speed if it’s done right.
CV thanks for a great link!
My contrary views on “Groundhog Day” can be found here, together with an explanation of the relationship between that film and “Superman” and “The Wizard of Oz”.
Thanks. I got it from Amazon’s But It Now service. It is great! For some reason I was thinking I had seen it and didn’t like it. That was Caddy Shack. Those people who say pot smoking isn’t good for you may be on to something.
P.S. Hint: if you’re going to recommend a movie put it up on your I Recommend thing so you can collect a commission from Amazon. You can bet El Instanto Maximo gets a spiff from them for all the books and movies he touts.
We made a point to catch it on the DVR. It’s still as good as it was before.
Andie MacDowell didn’t quite ruin it. I feel bad for her; every movie she’s been in, would be better with someone else in her role, and it isn’t her fault because she’s always put in these situations in which the central character, a male, is willing to sacrifice everything to be with her.
Why did they keep doing that to us?
I’d kick her out. I wouldn’t even wait for the crackers. GD would have been m-u-c-h better with Meg Ryan, or even Shelly Long. As it is, when he’s pursuing her it just looks to me like another sign of how desperate and warped he’s becoming as the years roll by in that time loop. So it goes without saying the ending is ruined.
Love Groundhog Day, haven’t seen it for a while, just put it in my Netflix Queue. Thanks, Neo!
Love love love The Best Years of Our Lives and hadn’t known about I Know Where I’m Going (Wendy Hiller! oh boy!). Just put it in my Netflix Queue as well. Thanks, Jed!
This is like the ultimate Pick Up Artist metaphor.