the groundhog day project

Beginners quite deliberately echoes itself. The movie begins with daisies in a vase on the windowsill. We'll learn later that is Oliver's mother's vase. We'll learn even near the end of the film that she had a photo of an arm holding daisies that Oliver used to remember as his arm handing her daisies. In the present he imagines it is her arm handing him daisies. Early on, Oliver gives Arthur (the dog) a tour of his apartment. Nearer the end of the film, he gives Anna a tour as well, and even later Anna gives him a tour (over the phone) of her apartment. As a child (and early in the film) Oliver's mom plays as if she's shooting him and he has to perform his death. Nearer the end of the film, of course, it is Oliver's father who dies and Oliver must play... must be the grieving son. Oliver meets Anna and she has no voice (she has laryngitis). Later, when he goes to her place in New York (that tour mentioned above), she is a disembodied voice. And, Olive...

The introduction of the various characters tell us a whole lot about how they will be for the rest of the film. And, I don't just mean the fact that Sam (Hayden Cristensen) gets out of bed, huffs and puts his neck in a makeshift noose hanging in his closet. Or that George (Kevin Kline) goes outside to pee, facing the ocean, first thing in the morning. I'm talking about clothing. George is in his underwear, white briefs. He's old fashioned, but he also has no shame. Sam wears boxers and a t-shirt, both dark. (They will both also be naked later in the film.) Alyssa (Jena Malone) is also introduced in her underwear (and will be naked later), leaning out the window to watch George. Her mother Colleen (Mary Steenburgen)--who seems to always be home even though she's a single parent--is introduced in pajamas (and will be naked later). Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas), on the other hand, is introduced already fully dressed and ready for her day (even though she, also, stays hom...

Shrek: For your information, there's a lot more to ogres than people think. Donkey: Example? Shrek: Example... uh... ogres are like onions! Donkey: They stink? Shrek: Yes... No! Donkey: Oh, they make you cry? Shrek: No! Donkey: Oh, you leave them out in the sun, they get all brown, start sprouting little white hairs... Shrek: No! Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers... You get it? We both have layers. Donkey: Oh, you both have layers . Oh. You know, not everybody like onions. Cake ! Everybody loves cake! Cakes have layers! Shrek: I don't care what everyone likes! Ogres are not like cakes. Donkey: You know what else everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, "Let's get some parfait," they say, "Hell no, I don't like no parfait."? Parfaits are delicious! Shrek: No! You dense, irritating, miniature beast of burden! Ogres are like onions! End of story! Bye-bye! See ya later. Donkey: Parfait's gotta be the mo...

I happened upon a copy of John Hughes: A Life in Film at the bookstore today--seriously, I went there to see if they had LEGO minifigures, didn't even go to look at books--and I noticed this scanning through it: I already wanted to write about the clothing in this film, from Barry Manilow-wardrobe-raiding Assistant Principal Vernon's suit to John Bender's denim jacket with its various pins--and I really wished I could have seen some of his pins better on the bigscreen last night but the only one that ever really gets near the camera is the NOT SAVED pin on his glove. These characters are quite deliberately defined by their clothing and their general appearance. And, there really isn't much to be said about the character types and what they wear that hasn't been time and time again--not that that stops me usually. What I think is notable outside of the costumes themselves in The Breakfast Club is two things: these characters try on parts of each others cost...

Today begins with a nitpick of Benesh (2011) but it won't be all about her work. In her section about "Lines and Spheres," Benesh refers to "the striped clothing most often worn by Phil Connors." And, I don't think he wears his striped shirt more often than any other. In fact, I think he wears the blue shirt more often. But, hey, I watch the movie every day. I can check. So, here goes: Day 0 - obviously, the outfits for the first day would be different than the rest of the film, though Rita's and Larry's aren't that different... no, let's be more systematic about this. Day 0: Phil - black 3-piece suit, striped shirt, diagonal grid tie, puts on scarf and coat. Rita - black pants, blue coat, white blouse, light blue vest? sweater?, scarf. Larry - blue jeans, green station jacket over blue grey hoodie, red polo shirt over what looks to be a white t-shirt. Day 1: Phil - grey suit, blue shirt, olive and blue leaf tie, plus scarf and coat an...

Just one more note about her : though it's set in the near future, there is a certain style about the film, especially in the clothing, that makes it seem more like the 1950s. And, that got me to thinking about the costumes in Groundhog Day . Now, this isn't a film you'd necessarily think about having costumes. But, since the film is set on the same day over and over, I'm sure the costume department may have had several of each of Phil's shirts and ties, and Rita's blouse and vest and maybe even something like Doris' waitress outfit. A lot of the stuff with extras outside, like the Ned Ryerson bit, would have been filmed each version all in one day so costumes for the extras wouldn't have mattered much. Still, notable extras, like the ones I've called Pimp and Pimp's Boyfriend (also Earmuffs and Outdoor Yellow Hat Guy), also show up at Gobbler's Knob in the same outfits, so there was some consistency even with sequences that were not filmed...