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Groundhog Day Quite possibly the greatest film ever...

#1 User is offline   Just your average movie goer Icon

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Posted 18 May 2004 - 08:27 AM

Groundhog Day is a movie treat - a perfect movie that will endlessly entertain you and leave you with a real emotional high when the ending credits start rolling.

Groundhog Day is a romantic comedy, but don't let that put you off because quite simply, it is one of the funniest movies you'll ever see. What's more, you can watch over and over, and it will feel as fresh and funny as it did the very first time you saw it.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the premise, a self-centred weatherman is caught in his own personal time warp and is living the same day over and over again... and we watch the many ways he tries to deal with it and the different stages he goes through.

It is actually a fairly short movie, by memory I think it was probably somewhere around one and a half hours. But you get so much in that time - you go through the journey with the main character. You really feel the highs and lows he goes through and you will laugh and almost cry... and at the end of it, you will feel like a better person for watching. There is a great message in this movie - and it is not in the slightest way, cheesy. Groundhog Day is strong and has real class.

And of course, while we owe much of this to the writer Danny Rubin and director Harold Ramis, it probably would not have been the movie it was if it wasn't for the very talented actor who brought the central character to life, Bill Murray.

Bill Murray is one of the finest actors in the business and is this average movie goer's personal favourite. If Bill Murray is in something, it is always worth a look. I think most of us here are familiar with this man's talents.

Well, in Groundhog Day, you will get Bill Murray at his very best.

Unfortunately, this movie initially did not receive the high praise it deserved and was largely overlooked by movie critics and publicity - making it truly the most under-rated film of all time. And recently, I believe I heard that this very title had been bestowed upon it.

This is what film-making is all about. It is the quintessential film. The movie is a self-contained stand-alone. It has a beautiful story that delivers so many things to us - comedy, drama, tragedy and romance. And it closes with an ending that will leave you smiling for a long time afterwards.

As the movie that bumped Casablanca off the podium, Groundhog Day is the movie that every movie lover must see.
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#2 User is offline   Just your average movie goer Icon

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Posted 20 May 2004 - 09:19 AM

Why didn't anybody reply to this topic? This is a fairly open question and anyone may answer - but it's really specifically for one Heccubus of the Club Chefelf Moderators who asked me to cut down on the bitching and balance it out with something constructive for a change.

It's just that this really didn't generate any sort of discussion - and that just isn't any fun. Bitching however, and sparring even more so, generates lots of discussion.

There is no point to this post - none whatsoever. So don't look for one. I am merely making an observation while I am waiting for fresh posts to respond to.

Perhaps my arch nemesis Civilian Number Two is posting one right now. I shall see.
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#3 User is offline   Heccubus Icon

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Posted 20 May 2004 - 10:10 AM

I don't have anything to say on the subject of Groundhog day. That's why. It's an alright movie, but it's nowhere near the top of my list for comedies.
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#4 User is offline   looktothesky Icon

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Posted 20 May 2004 - 12:34 PM

I wasn't that fond of this movie either, so I don't have a lot to discuss.
PRECIOUS VELIUS....
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#5 User is offline   Jen Icon

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Posted 20 May 2004 - 02:07 PM

When I first saw Groundhog Day I was an angsty youngster and I thought it blew. But in the intervening years I have grown to love it, and now whenever I can find it on cable I watch it. Bill Murray was pretty fabulous in that movie.

And while it was ignored in its day, it has been rediscovered by a new generation of hipster movie-philes, which is good news for Bill Murray fans. In November, New York's Museum of Modern Art held a film festival called "The Hidden God: Film and Faith" where they screened "Groundhog Day," among other films. And in April and May of this year, The Brooklyn Academy of Music held a What About Bill Murray? festival where Groundhog Day and other Bill Murray films were celebrated and feted.

So New York, at least, shares your love, JYAMG.
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#6 User is offline   Mike Mac from NYU Icon

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Posted 20 May 2004 - 02:44 PM

Groundhog Day was a great movie except it ran out of steam towards the end, when Bill Murray became reformed.

That being said, the first hour and a half is some of the best comedy from Bill Murray since Ghostbusters.

Nice cameo by Harold Ramis, BTW laugh.gif
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#7 User is offline   civilian_number_two Icon

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Posted 20 May 2004 - 04:00 PM

My feeling is if a movie isn't awful enough to bitch about, and if it isn't great enought to be all praisy like crazy, then it doesn't deserve its own topic.

GROUNDHOG DAY is ai'ight, know'm'sayin' ? Dog.

Jyamg apparently feels differently about it, like it's really good. That's cool; I know others who praise it all out of proportion as well. I won't kill him for that.

He is wrong, however, that this is the film that knocked CASABLANCA off its pedestal. That film is BARB WIRE.
"I had a lot of different ideas. At one point, Luke, Leia and Ben were all going to be little people, and we did screen tests to see if we could do that." -George Lucas, in STAR WARS: the Annotated Screenplays (p197).
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#8 User is offline   Esco Icon

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Posted 20 May 2004 - 06:03 PM

Well I'm going to have to vouch for JYAMG here.
I absolutely love this film! It is fun and humerous, but as JYAMG said, it has heart. I personally dont believe that it lost steam towards the end. I just believe he found love and accepted himself. Whats so umbelievable about that?
Its a bordline sci-fi flick, since he goes through this time warp. The way Murray handles the situations are great, and easily relatable.

This movie also carries a special sentimental value to me since it was filmed in my hometown of Waukegan, IL. I actually saw some of the scenes being shot from afar. Pretty cool, eh?
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#9 User is offline   Just your average movie goer Icon

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Posted 20 May 2004 - 07:20 PM

Thank you, Jen and Esco, for supporting me on this one. Civilian, I was a little surprised that you didn't hold this movie in such high honour. This is a flawless gem - and that's what all movies should strive to be.

And the ending, yes - he has to change himself otherwise there would be no point to the film. So to say the ending lost steam sounds kind of strange.
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#10 User is offline   Mike Mac from NYU Icon

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Posted 21 May 2004 - 10:11 AM

QUOTE
And the ending, yes - he has to change himself otherwise there would be no point to the film. So to say the ending lost steam sounds kind of strange.



I was kind of referring to the comedy. The comedy in th emovie became absent in the last quarter of the movie. I mean it started as a comedy then turned serious at the end.

It's just my impression that the comedy sort of died out at the end. I think they could still have had the reformation and yet still kept the comedic intensity throughout the film.

Still a good movie, though.

"The whole I am a god scene" was classic "Murray comedy"
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Posted 21 May 2004 - 10:26 AM

Yeah, I understand what you mean about the comedy at the end. I thought it was still there - but it was a gentler comedy. It had to be different because a lot of the comedy at the start of the movie revolved around some of Phil's negative traits.

But you still think it's a good movie so that's good enough for me.

QUOTE
"The whole I am a god scene" was classic "Murray comedy"


Oh, absolutely one of the best scenes for sure! That was great!
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#12 User is offline   Heccubus Icon

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Posted 21 May 2004 - 12:18 PM

My favourite parts were the parts where he keeps trying to kill himself. The way he goes about doing it each time is hilarious. Particularly the toaster in the bathtub.
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#13 User is offline   Despondent Icon

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Posted 21 May 2004 - 02:08 PM

I saw it on the tube, the latter half, and was entertained at least. from the theater's big screen I remember the Giant analog clock number tumble. that was good. but aside from that, I guess I'd rank it up there with (ducking) Doc Hollywood.


Harrelson: "that's not a celebrity. that's just Ted Danson"
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