the groundhog day project

I'm looking for something new tonight. It's the 2nd of the month so I'm watching Groundhog Day as has been the usual since phase three of this blog. I want to catch some new detail, to revel in something other than the same resumptive nostalgia that comes every month. Had I known I didn't have much specific to say tonight going in, I might've planned for a recap day, but on short notice, recap days are hard. So, I sit here, waiting for something interesting to catch my eye--or my ear; I actually noticed a line early in the film that I had wrong in my transcript and had worded wrongly as the title of an entry-- Day 180 . Kenny tells Phil, "Look, Rita thinks it would be a great idea to stay around for some of the other events, get some incredible footage." I had it as "it would be great to stay" which is just unfathomably incorrect and I, of course, tore my clothes and wailed with shame when I noticed... Or I just immediately set to fixing it on ...

Notes on the final revision of Groundhog Day screenplay, continued . There’s no reading of Hustler , just going back to his room to have a shower (p. 24). But, the Hustler bit gets lost in the film anyway. Seriously, just watch. Rita starts to get up almost as soon as he starts answering her question. She’s not very nice. Page 34, Phil does the interviewing the groundhog thing. He knows where the groundhog is going to run, so he gets there first. Then Phil talks to Phil: PHIL Since I have you here, I gotta ask—is this shadow thing legit, or did you look at satellite photos like the rest of us? This is only the first resumption, by the way. The script is taking its time a lot more than the film does. Both the pencil breaking (p. 35) and the room demolition (pp. 41-42) happen. There was some confusion a while back over whether or not they filmed the demolition scene at all, recall . In the film, there’s only one “Phil? Like the groundhog, Phil?” joke. But, in Rubin’s original s...

Extras. Gotta love ‘em. [That one just might be wrong. The credited Jeopardy Viewers are probably the three older people to the left. A google search (24 April 2018) turned up a photo of a Samuel Mages who looks a lot like the old guy on the right end of that couch.] [That is also not Ari Golan. Not sure why I put that name to that guy. There is a guy holding the Channel 3 camera, whose face we barely see, who could very well be Ari Golan.] Today’s reason to repeat a day forever: to know everyone’s name.

The trailer for Groundhog Day , as my daughter said after seeing it, is cheesy. See for yourself. I don’t mind the cheesiness, or how much more the trailer feels like the early 90s (not the 80s) than the film itself does. Things I do mind: 1. That alarm buzzer. Considering “I Got You Babe” was in the script from the beginning, it’s a little weird they go for the buzzer. I get that they need the buzzer for how they use it, as a reset noise for new days within the trailer, but, well, I just don’t like it. 2. Giving away the punchline on the déjà vu exchange with Mrs. Lancaster… but I guess you’ve got to give away some jokes. 3. The “Why?” at 1:16. Phil does not ask “Why” when Rita ughs at him eating the cake. But, they edit it so he’s responding to Rita saying, “Don’t you worry about cholesterol?” So, they change the line. I don’t like that. 4. That “Ned!” before Phil punches Ryerson at 1:22. I’m not sure why they dubbed a different “Ned” than is in the film. Or maybe the one in ...

There will not be a lot of words today. Yesterday I actually had the blog entry ready before the movie was even on (because I shared part of a paper I’m working on for grad school dealing with Phil Connors as Christ-Figure) so I was trying to watch closely, see if I could spot anything new on the blu-ray copy. The only thing I really noticed new was that at the end of god day, when Rita is asleep in Phil’s room, someone has eaten one of the chocolates that is always on the table. So, I guess they skipped dinner and the candy shop. See, I’m doing something different today. I’m labeling things. This might take a while to load. What you’ll be seeing is some labeled screencaps, with character names and some nicknames I’ve put on some extras. Enjoy. And, that’s enough of that… for now. Today’s reason to repeat a day forever: I may have mentioned this one before but I could use a frame by frame breakdown of the film. And I still haven’t finishe...