the groundhog day project

If I can manage it, three movies today: Fistfull of Dollars , For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly . "It's not really easy to like something you know nothing about," the Stranger says about a half hour into Fistfull of Dollars . He's talking about peace, but the thought is much the same for the audience. We don't know this guy, but we like him. Like many a Western hero, he rides into town an unknown. Unlike many another Western hero, he is not readily introduced thereafter through revealing dialogue. This guy's coming manipulations and his motivations are revealed in dialogue but not his identity. Who he is --that remains an unknown. Except inasmuch as he is like the classic Western hero. Function #1: "The hero enters a social group" (Wright, 1975, p. 41). We've seen men who had been away for a while (e.g. Ethan Edwards in The Searchers ) but also complete strangers (e.g. Shane in Shane ). Here we've got the Man with...

Phil Connors can't get fat. He doesn't have to exercise. He can veg out and do nothing at all--hell, he does this at one point in the film, when we see him sitting around watching Jeopardy! with the old people at the bed and breakfast, a big bowl of popcorn in his lap, a bottle of booze close at hand. I thought of this tonight when my dinner options were limited. Let me explain two details. First, I've been a vegetarian for a bit more than a year now, so my options when out are fairly limited sometimes anyway. On the college campus, there aren't many meal options for a vegetarian. There are some good sides at a few places, but not much else. Second... or rather first and a half, just so you know, I didn't become a vegetarian for health reasons but I think it's had a positive effect on my health. Actual second, night classes, like those in the masters program, are scheduled 6:10 to 10:00 at my school. And food places on campus are all closed by 8:00, so teacher...