the groundhog day project

I haven't really talked about why there are three versions of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby yet. (I'm watching Her one more time tonight, by the way.) It was written as two movies-- Him and Her . Two separate scripts that shared a few scenes (with slightly different variations between those scenes). It was only after The Weinstein Company bought the film(s) that a third, combined version was requested. Editing began with Him . It's the easier film in terms of structure, because, as editor Kristine Boden tells Indiewire , Conor is "more reactive and just want[s] to keep going." Her , on the other hand, has "introspection and gravity." Conor's energy made Him a shorter film. Eleanor, being more contemplative, has the slower burn. Still, Her is only a few minutes longer than Him . And, Them is, as you might expect, longer than either one, taking pieces of each and combining them into one film for both characters. For the separate versions of...

Let us leave (presumably) the evil high school girls behind. ( Presumably because I haven't seen Struck by Lightning before.) Today, our focus is a high school boy, Carson Phillips (Chris Colfer). (And, admittedly, this movie was recommended by my daughter a good while ago and I have put it off. Which really shouldn't be parenthetical, actually, because I want to take this opportunity to a) write a bit about the movie as it plays and b) out my daughter as a crazy fangirl... except, as you will see, my point below is probably going to be that fangirls are not crazy. Plus it's a bit sexist to separate fangirls from fanboys, anyway.) Carson is rather amusingly sardonic and sarcastic--i.e. the best kind of cinematic high school character. I don't need someone who is you know, nice, and genuine. Less Rita Hanson, more Phil Connors. Just how I like a character... at least a comedy. (So, Saer--my 12-year-old daughter, for those of you who have not been following alo...

I love that Bill Murray's Frank Cross in Scrooged seems not just misanthropic like Phil Connors, not just unlikable but almost belligerent to the point of being evil. When he watches his promo for Scrooge . And, they've got a phone code for when they fire people because, clearly it happens all the time--Code 9. And Frank times how long it takes for security to get Bobcat Goldthwait's Eliot Loudermilk out of the building. He is not a nice man. He won't even let Grace take her son to the doctor, on Christmas. And, in the alcove off his office where there's an exercise bike, it's got a definition on the wall (twice) for Cross: "A think they nail people to." Keep in mind, Cross is his last name. The name's a bit on-the-nose--Frank Cross. More on the names in a moment. Frank steals an old woman's cab, but does he act like it was accidental--something like how Phil Connors pats his pockets in Groundhog Day as he passed the Old Man the first cou...

Hopper's helping Andrea deal with Eddie's body... I don't remember them talking about Eddie previously. I think he's Andrea's ex-partner. Oh, he's alive. Day Break again. But, I'm also most of the way through Groundhog Day for today already. I was cheating a little. Limited time because I was judging at a high school debate tournament most of the day and then went out to dinner with two of my kids. Got home and just had to watch the season premiere of Game of Thrones but don't want to stay up until all hours of the night because I have plans tomorrow. New resumption on Day Break . But, I was telling the story about Game of Groundhogs ; that is to say, I turned on Games of Thrones on one screen and Groundhog Day on another. Now, I could have simply ignored Groundhog Day and claimed I had watched it, but no, I did my best to pay attention to both and got some awesome moments out of the juxtaposition. For example, as Phil talked to Larry about his...

The scripty font seems unjustified for a horror film. The butterfly seems pretentious. But, the people projected into the jars on the shelves is a nice visual and the production value already seems pretty good... Oh, I should explain. I'm watching Haunter , a horror film with a time loop. Abigail Breslin stars. And those were my initial impressions. And SPOILERS will be coming. When your little brother's imaginary friend--who he insists is not imaginary--leaves things in your room, you should be more freaked out. By the way... "Lisa Johnson! Me and Edgar found the pirate treasure. Meet us in the secret cave." That walkie talkie bit has nothing on Sonny and Cher . Not sure if this is awesome or really sad--definitely too on-the-nose. A bit of a dialogue between Lisa (Breslin) and her mother: Mother: something something where do you want to go for dinner for your birthday tomorrow? Lisa: Ask me tomorrow. Mother: I hope we get there... because the car's hav...