the groundhog day project

I think the point to Better Off Dead... is obvious. That thing we call love drives us crazy, for better or for worse. We do stupid, crazy stuff like ski dangerous mountains or fix cars. We step outside our comfort zones to do some weird shit we would never do. Savage Steve Holland, who wrote and directed this movie supposedly really tried to hang himself from a pipe in his garage, but the pipe broke and his mother was mad at him for breaking the pipe. And, when it's gone, life is like Mr. Kerber's math class--it just doesn't make any sense at all. Everyone else is perfectly happy; they all get it. But, you've got a mangled paper in your pocket with gum stuck in it, and all it says is DO HOMEWORK instead of, you know, having any actual answers on it... metaphorically. And, everybody else has books full of answers, printouts, file folders, and an eagerness to participate that seems impossible... again, metaphorically (on those books and printouts, anyway). Better Off...

Let us follows John Cusack back a few years to a movie that Siskel and Ebert apparently rather disliked--two thumbs down, though the few links to the review video that I clicked didn't work so I can't offer specifics. Lane Myer (Cusack), with all the pictures of Beth (Amanda Wyss) on his walls, is like an even more obsessed--and more suicidal--version of Corey Flood (Lili Taylor) in Say Anything . (Seriously, I neglected to mention it while watching that movie the last few days , but Corey has a rather large cutout of herself back to back with Joe on her wall, plus a couple photos and a handwritten JOE ♡ ME.) Lane's suicidal-ness is played for laughs, of course. That's kind of the point to Better Off Dead... . His urge to kill himself is so insane he can't succeed at it. Honestly, it's hard to get into a serious discussion about this movie. I'm just enjoying watching it... Perhaps I'll note the awesome along the way, worry about something more serio...

The thing is, Say Anything , despite what I may have said the last two days , is romantic. In fact, while one could find fault in the immortalization of the boombox scene--because Diane just doesn't respond, so Lloyd's action is a little pointless--but there's a good reason it is taken as an image of romance. While love needs reciprocation, romance doesn't. Romance is like the seeking of reciprocation, but the gesture doesn't lose power simply because the response is limited or absent. (Quick aside: I only just realized that the guy singing at graduation is Joe. But, no reaction shot from Corey? Seems like something's missing.) Lloyd's gesture, standing there with the boombox over his head, aside perhaps from a Mosaic allusion, is powerful because it not only has no guarantee of success but also actually has no success. Lloyd's romantic notions have already lost the fight but he stands there anyway, playing the song. And, whether it works or not...

"This movie features an OTP that is only shippable 50% of the time." - Saer Black Say Anything again. I didn't find yesterday 's entry to be that insightful or particularly interesting. After a week-long return to Groundhog Day , I suppose any movie would have been disappointing. Like the quiet episode of a TV show after the big-budget climax of the season has passed. (Well, unless it's Buffy the Vampire Slayer 's "Restless"--that thing surpassed the climax of an episode earlier by a long shot.) There are moments in this film worth entire entries. Sure, the brief shot of all the parents at graduation with their cameras out would probably just rehash stuff from that one The Sixth Sense entry last year. Sure, talking about those parents would lead to mention of James Court (John Mahoney) not having his camera up when his daughter is on stage, which is a really weird detail. Seriously, this guy dotes on his daughter like crazy, spending his ill-go...

"Get in a good mood. How hard is it to decide to be in a good mood, and then be in a good mood." Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) has an absurdly positive attitude about life in Say Anything . James Court (John Mahoney) has an inappropriately positive attitude about life. Diane Court (Ione Skye) is caught between them but is not all that positive about life despite having everything going for her. (Nitpick: the timeline is a little messed up at the beginning of the movie. Opening scene, before graduation, Lloyd tells Corey (Lili Taylor) and D.C. (Amy Brooks) ????? that he's going to take Diane out again--they sat together in the food court at the mall. That's point #1. Graduation happens, and Lloyd calls Diane but gets her father instead. He specifically mentions that he sat with Diane at the mall "yesterday." This is presumably still the day of graduation. Point #2. Immediately after talking to Lloyd, James Court gets a call about Diane's fellowship. Now, e...

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...

So, today is Labor Day, and the movie I watched at the theater featured in Groundhog Day (aside from Groundhog Day two mornings in a row) was Labor Day starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, directed by Jason Reitman. It should have been better than it was, given its parts, but still, I scored it higher than a lot of people on IMDb . Oh, I’m also not watching Labor Day right now. Gotta watch Groundhog Day one more time to get through the final revision of the screenplay. Not too many pages to go. This should be ending today. Then, on to other movies tomorrow. Unless I get sidetracked. Or just want to make it an even seven days, to echo what I was doing with so many other movies last year. Or something really controversial comes up that demands a detailed analysis and an intricate study of Ramis’ themes, his writing tendencies, his Buddhism, or the complicated question of which of the flat tire ladies is which... ...which is actually going to be not that complicated, once the s...