the groundhog day project

A week with Groundhog Day . Seven days in a row of this one film. Who would have thunk that I could survive it? I mean, the repetitive nature of the film itself should have made repeated viewing unbearable. But no. Remarkably, it was quite readily repeatable, this film about repetition. And, watching it these last seven days has been rather comforting, like coming home to an old friend. But, I am not done with that friend. I’m not even done with the final revision of the script for that friend. But, I will be soon. I said that there were nine tabs left, so let us just be systematic about this... Beware, six days ago, I said this: “Now, let us just do this systematically. I will try not to mention every little tab or highlight.” Today, I will mention every little tab... of the ones that are left. #10 ... because I skipped this one on the previous page of my printout - the girl who comes out of Mary’s house, i.e. the piano student Phil gets thrown out into the cold out of selfishn...

Two things: I just watched a short film Pablo (speech team member) posted to me on Facebook a couple days ago. And, I've been prompted with another sort of oddball topic from my daughter Saer. First, the short film-- The Other Side of Yesterday is a fairly simple thing, less than 10 minutes long, only two actors wandering around LACMA and talking. See, the woman, Iris--and I'll try not to be too SPOILERY--is stuck in yesterday, a trip to the museum she was supposed to take with her family but they were killed. Keller, who seems like he's her subconscious (or possibly some Adjustment Bureau-type agent if we take the film literally), convinces her that living in the past isn't a good idea. Simple enough idea, so-so acting, some great visuals but those mostly come from the art and architecture in the museum. The dialogue's a bit cheesy, but sometimes that works just fine like this bit from the end: One truth remains constant: what's to come tomorrow, what's...

I just had to yell (sort of) at Rita. It wasn't about the robotic tendencies or the insult-by-poetry (I've begun to think that kinda cool, actually, and wish I knew the right poetry to insult people on a regular basis); rather it was about two things in the Tip Top Cafe scene on Day 3. She's there to talk to Phil who was "too sick to work" that morning. As his producer, you'd think she would want to get to the bottom of the situation as soon as possible, maybe start coming up with some way to a) reprimand Phil for screwing up the Groundhog Day report and b) not get any of the blame herself. But, instead she takes the time to eat an entire sticky bun before even saying to Phil: "Okay, now tell me why you're too sick to work, and it better be good." He proceeds to tell her about the time loop, which implies a serious psychological break or at least some issue with drugs, both pretty big concerns, but she wants to "talk about it back in Pittsb...

Today's blog will necessarily be very short. Turns out there is no copy of Groundhog Day on my iPod anymore (gotta fix that when I get home). So, it is midnight already local time, though I don't know if I'm on local time just yet. And, I've got to write my blog and watch the movie, both on the iPad. I don't know that I have much to say tonight anyway. I was given a question from my friend Pablo (who I've mentioned before) as prompts. I forget the exact phrasing, unfortunately--and he should be asleep--but it was about what happens after we die. In terms of Groundhog Day , it's hard to say there's a particular answer. We see Phil die, of course, and there is life after death, of course, but the circumstances are special. What's most important about what comes after death in the film is not what comes from Phil--for we don't really know that he has any special knowledge from having died--but from what comes of the death of others within the f...

(Click on image to enlarge) Today’s reason to repeat a day forever: to refrain from using words when it is a) appropriate and b) more fun.

Larry only says around 330 words in Groundhog Day but I've seen comments from people online who love the character and who hate the character. Not a lot of lines. Not a lot there to go by in trying to figure out who Larry is. Even less to go by to answer a very specific question, one Phil asks Larry late in the film: does Larry have kids? On the morning Phil brings pastries and coffee, he says to Larry, "We never talk. Do you have kids?" Last night my daughter basically challenged me to answer that question. So, the first thing to do is figure out... What do we know about Larry? Larry works as a cameraman for a local station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He worked, presumably as a cameraman, in San Diego for at least five years--playing on the math, he could have covered "the swallows returning to Capistrano six years in a row" if he lived there for five years if the swallows were the very first and the very last thing he covered. Chris Elliott was born in...

I wrote about Larry's bar scene (and relationship chances) with Nancy way back on Day 32 . There isn't much dialogue to the exchange; it's mostly Larry... Larry: People just don’t understand what is involved in this. This is an art form. You know, I think that most people just think that I hold the camera and point it at stuff. There is a heck of a lot more to it than just that. Hey, would you be at all interested in seeing the inside of the van? Nancy: You know, I really have to get back to the party. Larry: Great idea. I think I’ll go with you. Let me just drop a tip here. And Larry puts maybe a dollar down and then quite deftly picks it right back up once Nancy isn't looking. Ryan Gilbey (2004) barely mentions this scene in his critique. "In the bar of the Pennsylvanian Hotel...," he writes, "Larry is trying, and failing, to seduce Nancy" (p. 76). The character of Larry is called "darkly funny" by Janet Maslin in The New York T...

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...

As I write this, it’s Day 2 for Phil Connors on the DVD and my daughters are in the kitchen making a cake to celebrate Day 100 for me... photo should be below. The movie Phil had seen over 100 times (or so he tells Laraine) was Heidi II . It’s a “family classic” according to the Alpine Theater’s marquee. But, as I’ve mentioned before, it doesn’t exist. Originally, the movie that Phil could see every day if he wanted to do so was It’s a Wonderful Life . Danny Rubin’s ego—and this is his suggestion, not mine—made him believe Groundhog Day “a timeless quality and had the potential to become a film that could work for audiences for a very long time.” So, he put another such film on the marquee. But, “even believing that Groundhog Day was a potential classic, [Rubin] never was thinking of comparing it to It’s a Wonderful Life “— (I’d say putting that title on the marquee was Rubin deliberately comparing the two, but maybe that’s just me.) . Rubin continues: “But the similarities bet...

I swear there's a line--I thought it was in May or Grodal but I can't find it--that says that the ending of the film provides Phil another chance to "control" Rita. I'm not sure how accurate that description is but Rita is a bit robotic on February 3rd. Have a look: Anyway, that bit of awkward movement on Rita's (or rather Andie MacDowell's) part, is one of the things that bugs me lately when I watch Groundhog Day . There's also another awkward Rita bit when Phil tells her "we had a beautiful day together once" then heads off to steal the groundhogs, Rita remains behind, standing by the van with nothing to do. Anyway, I'm sure there are other things, so I'm going to list them as the movie goes. So, the plan, arriving in Punxsutawney, is Larry drops off Rita at the Pennsylvanian Hotel, drives Phil over to the Cherry Street Inn, then goes back to the Pennsylvanian. Why not drop off Phil first, you know, "keep the talent happy...

I think I said before that there’s only one scene Phil doesn’t (necessarily) experience directly in Groundhog Day . I realized recently that isn’t true. I think because of its place in the film, because by then I am (and you are) so invested in Phil’s journey that I didn’t notice this particular bit doesn’t involve him. I’m talking about the scene just before the banquet, a scene that involves Larry and Nancy mostly and then a little Rita. (That other scene Phil doesn’t necessarily experience would be the scene in the morgue, in case you forgot.) The scene isn’t long, just a few lines of dialogue—and that wedding portrait on the wall that was previously framed between Rita and Phil now framed between Nancy and Larry, but let’s not get into that… yet. We hear Larry talking as the camera pans along the bar, faces we don’t know from earlier in the film (and this detail might be important). “People just don’t understand what is involved in this,” he’s saying. “This is an art form.” He’...