It’s still…
…Groundhog Day!
Let’s watch it again and again and again and…
…again, till we get it right.
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
…Groundhog Day!
Let’s watch it again and again and again and…
…again, till we get it right.
Thanks for the reminder…. its a modern classic. (Is that oxymoron?)
BTW, the remake of The Razor’s Edge with Bill Murray is better than the original. If you haven’t seen it, check it out.
I put the trailer on my FB page. Nice comic relief in a time of trouble. “I met a girl in the Virgin islands…Why couldn’t I repeat that day over and over?”
Gosh you’re an upbeat lady!
Happy Groundhog Daysssssss… 🙂
I think we have largely lost sight of good, clean comedy. I can crack up uncontrollably at old Laurel and Hardy movies. Jackie Gleason was a hoot. Lucille Ball was brilliant. Tim Conway was a gas. Abbott and Costello were great. Could any of these people do well in today’s entertainment world?
I dunno, Mr. Frank. I had the pleasure the other day of introducing my girls (10 and 11) to some classic Marx Brothers routines on YouTube; they laughed hysterically.
In short, I think there’s hope for us yet.
Oh, and we all sat down yesterday to watch “Groundhog Day” again. (It was a snow day, after all…) Brilliant movie. I especially like the aspects that are left to the viewer’s imagination. (Why does Bill Murray get stuck in Feb. 2? How long is he there? What finally breaks him out? We’re never told; we get to work out solutions that are satisfying to us. My 11-year-old solemnly told me that it was “true love’s kiss” that “broke the spell”. I solemnly agreed with her, of course.)
respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline
Daniel in Brookline: your daughter is correct, IMHO.
He got stuck there till he got it right. He finally got it right.
It is indeed a brilliant film. Just take one part, the part where he learns how to play the piano (that’s really Bill Murray playing, by the way). How long does it take him? We don’t know, but it’s pretty clear that that segment alone must represent years. There aren’t too many romantic comedies that really make you think. This one does.
I have you to thank for Groundhog Day, Neo. I watched it once, not very attentively, and thought it just another opportunity for Murray to be wild and wacky.
After your recommendation last year I watched it again (I really do value your opinions and manner of expressing them). And again. And again.
And, like Murray, after several times I finally got it.
I went through the piano lessons and the ice sculpture and the French poetry and kept thinking
and so I did. And then The Scene finally reached out and grabbed me.
I found I was not alone. When I mentioned to a couple of people that I had finally got the movie they all said something like Oh, yeah, he has to keep doing it over until he gets the girl.
They didn’t get it either.
It’s that scene outside where he is completely crazed, furiously running around declaiming his intention to marry her and adopt all the orphans and discover a new planet while he’s at it.
And, you know? It seemed there was nothing so much like that as the current crop of Liberals with their comprehensive this and their comprehensive that and let’s stamp out poverty and carbon dioxide and everybody’s a racist / sexist / phomohobe and all countries must love us.
So – thanks.
One of my favorite movies. along with “The Notebook”
It reminds me of Frost poem, “The Road Less Traveled”. Murray had an opportunity to come to that same fork in the road day after day. And only when he selected the road that led away from himself was he able to find himself.
Most of us probably long to revisit those decision points in our lives again. To grab the opportunity lost or to take the chance not taken.
kaba: The Road Less Traveled is a book by Scott Peck. The title is taken from a line of the Frost poem, which is entitled “The Road Not Taken.” Here is my take on “The Road Not Taken.” You might find it of interest.
Right you are Neo. My bad. I’d forgotten that you’d written about it earlier but had read when initially posted.
I remember the poem from my 10th grade English class. It didn’t mean much to me at the time. Now at the age of 61 I begin to grasp a little of what Frost was trying to say.
I remember another line, from Rod McKuen, (I think), “I analyze life rather than live it.” Or to that effect. Probably too true of yours truly.
kaba: well, I certainly don’t expect you to be a poetry scholar! I wasn’t chastising you, just trying to call your attention to the link in case you hadn’t read it.
Like many of my age I went through my Rod McKuen and e.e. cummings phase in my early twenties. Trying to gain at least a veneer of sophistication. Didn’t work though. I’m still a Kentucky hillbilly born in a house without plumbing.
There aren’t many movies — and especially not many romantic comedies — that work on the level of a great novel. “Groundhog Day” does. I’ve lost track of how often I’ve seen it, and every time I find something new.