the groundhog day project

A thought: I spend so much time in this blog on older movies... It used to be for practical reasons; if I had previously seen the film (and prior to this recent deconstruction, I didn't have to have seen the film numerous times) it made it easier to write about it while the movie was playing. Saved a lot of time that way. More recently, the premise has been films I have seen multiple times, especially when I was young. So, aside from the occasional new film that really offers something to add in the context of this blog, I don't say much about new films. But, I like talking about movies, old and new. I liked doing my YouTube reviews while I was doing them (and I have described before how the frustration with getting views timed badly with me getting better at editing the clips together). And, I'd like to do something like that again. I'd prefer a slightly different format (or maybe a bit of both), discussion with another person, but I never made an effort to find some...

Oh, the red and green. I wish I had the time to grab screencaps galore, because it is kinda crazy how much red and green is in this movie, particularly the beginning. It’s like the McCallister house is where Christmas threw up. Wallpaper patterns—several of them—red and green. Rugs red and green. Red bedspread. Red flowers (and not just poinsettias). Green lampshades, green phone. Kevin’s shirt is red and green (the green looks blue in some shots). Red chairs. Every one of the kids (plus Frank and Leslie, but not Peter (though he’s got a green and red scarf when they run through the airport) or Kate) is wearing red, green or red and green... except Linnie; she wears pink, but she’s got a necklace that looks like Christmas lights. Here, look at this: Buzz, Kevin and Rod all wearing red and green. Someone let the set decorators and costumers go a little nuts with the Christmas decor. Pizza delivery car is red, it’s signs red and green on white. Pizza delivery guy wears a red and gre...

Subtitle: thoughts while watching Groundhog Day at the laundromat. First, of all, a new thought about Rita’s introduction in front of the blue screen: Rita is the oncoming storm. Phil, being a weatherman, has to figure her out and win her over to get out of the loop because that’s his job. Rita’s clothes deserve an entry all their own, I think. She changes at weird times (in the middle of experiment day for example) from one outfit to another, and wears more layers possibly than anyone in the film. Thought the quilt on Phil’s bed might be a wedding ring pattern and wondered if there was something worth obsessing about there in a later entry… checked online and that is not a wedding ring pattern, not enough interlocking circles. I always thought the DJ voices were Harold Ramis and Brian Doyle-Murray. But, no. They are apparently some actual DJs from Chicago, Richard Henzel and Rob Riley. Personal sidenote, supposedly if I had been twins, I would have been named not just Robert bu...