the groundhog day project

That bootstrap paradox is vital to Somewhere in Time . In another story, it would be a stranger mystery, or a misguided mistake. Here, it is fundamental to the story being told. The bootstrap paradox has two parts here... First, though, let me define it in case you are not nerdy about time travel stories. The Quantum Tunnel: Exploring Physics Fact in Science Fiction defines the bootstrap paradox as a time travel paradox in which an object or information can exist without ever being created. The object or piece of information is sent back in time where it is retrieved and to become the very object or piece of information that was brought back in the beginning. The name comes from a Heinlein story called "By His Bootstraps" Drawing on the expression about "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps", the story concerns a man who travels back in time to give his younger self a notebook of translations he has made... Except if he gives that notebook to his younger self...

Seven friends gather for a housewarming party. Pizza arrives. A die is rolled that create six different timelines. This is Community ‘s “Remedial Chaos Theory” episode. Having written about some alternate reality movies lately and also playing a lot of tabletop games lately—in some of which the roll of a die or the the drawing of a certain card decides your identity. First timeline, Annie goes. Pierce makes a remark about having sex with Eartha Kitt. Britta smokes marijuana in the bathroom, Jeff hits his head on the fan. Second timeline, Shirley goes, Britta goes to the bathroom again. Pierce makes a remark about having sex with Eartha Kitt. Jeff hits his head on the fan. Shirley’s pies get burned because she went downstairs for the pizza. Third timeline, Pierce goes, after making a remark about Eartha Kitt. Britta goes to the bathroom, but Troy joins her after getting upset when Jeff and Annie make fun of his apartment. Jeff hits his head on the fan and Annie checks his wound. ...

”Anything might have been anything else and had as much meaning to it” --Tennessee Williams, “The Malediction” The thought is a complicated one—and I’ll get to it below—but first, I like the idea of that quotation given what I’ve been doing with this blog a lot, lately; I’ve been sublimating my interest in Groundhog Day with other—albeit thematically-related—films. The discussion continues, though the angle is twisted. Tonight it was Mr. Nobody , a film that doesn’t deal in a time loop but does deal in disjointed time and alternate realities based on choices—a lot like Run Lola Run , Sliding Doors , Blind Chance . Nemo Nobody (Jared Leto) is the last mortal human in the year 2092 (maybe), and he is either being hypnotized by a guy with facial tattoos or being interviewed by a reporter using a tape recorder he “borrowed” from a museum. He’s recalling his life, especially certain moments where choices led to his life changing one way or another (or sometimes another). He’s tellin...

Yesterday, I watched Somewhere in Time before watching Groundhog Day . I managed to write the entirety of the entry before Groundhog Day really got going. Today, I watched Run Lola Run ( Lola Rennt ) and am now watching Groundhog Day . Subtitles and a much faster pace than Somewhere in Time kept me from typing anything until now, ten minutes into Groundhog Day . I say this to point out how little things affect bigger things. That's a major element of Run Lola Run , which doesn't involve a time loop, per se, but does involve just over 20 minutes of time repeating twice. The big thing hidden in the smaller moments of the film is that tiny changes in our interactions can lead to big changes in the lives of others--chaos theory, the butterfly effect, whatever you want to call it. The basic premise: Lola's boyfriend Manni just lost 100,000 Deutsch Marks he's supposed to be handing off to a guy named Ronnie--something to do with organized crime and diamonds--who will ...

“Everybody dies sooner or later. Don’t worry about your death. Worry about your life. Take charge of your life for as long as it lasts.” – Littlefinger, Games of Thrones Inevitably, a) yes, everyone’s going to die and b) even scoundrels like Littlefinger get something right. There was, at least once, a day in which “saying that ‘ Groundhog Day demonstrates the wonder of living each moment as a totally new event’ seem[ed] both trite and tired.” There was a day once when Groundhog Day was a brand new thing for me, sitting in a dark movie theater. I knew Bill Murray from the likes of Meatballs and Stripes and Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II and Caddyshack and Scrooged and Little Shop of Horrors and What About Bob? — (That last one, for example, I watched at the house of a girl I had a thing for in high school. She was two years older than and one year ahead of me. We’d gone out once, saw Scent of a Woman . Then, she invited me over to her house and we watched What About B...

This entry is for new arrivals. It is unfortunate that a sad event--the death of Harold Ramis--might bring me new readers, but I welcome you nonetheless. This is The Groundhog Day Project where I watch Groundhog Day every day--today is day 210--and blog about it (or inspired by it). If you want to catch up, there are indexes (of everything prior to February) on Day 180 , Day 121 , and Day 62 . Or, if you just want to understand why I'm doing this, maybe read this , this or this . In the meantime... I meant to write about e' gia Ieri today. That translates as "it's already yesterday" but the film is also known as Stork Day . It's the Italian remake of Groundhog Day . Variety , 15 February 2004, tells us that producer Riccardo Tozzi and director Giulio Manfredonia "were talking about making a 'what if' comedy and decided to go straight to that subgenre's original source." The thing is, I never managed to watch it today. And, it...

Today was going to be the third TV Time Loop Day , but I got to it too late. Instead, I'm watching 12 Dates of Christmas , a 2011 ABC Family original... that is far too cheesy just during the opening cover of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and a montage of New York City street scenes. This might actually be painful. But, if Phil can put up with Rita for all those years of Groundhog Days, I can watch this movie for 1 hour 26 minutes. Even the opening line, "What is a calling bird anyway?" is kinda lame. And, Amy Smart is now in this, with some trite dialogue and I'm wishing I were watching The Butterfly Effect instead, because she's far better in that than I imagine she will be here. This girl has a "life plan"--she should watch Groundhog Day . And get out more. Five minutes in and we get another version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." I get that the title of this movie is a play on that song, but, still, could they not get any...

Today, I finally saw About Time , which at least one IMDb user called a combination of The Butterfly Effect and Groundhog Day . Billed as being from the creator of Love Actually , Notting Hill , and Four Weddings and a Funeral , the description on IMDb goes like this: At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think. Actually--and SPOILERS minor and major may be coming, so if you've an urge to see the film, go see it before reading any further--"getting" the girlfriend is fairly easy, but there is a lot more going on afterward, which is what pushes About Time , in my opinion far above many a romantic comedy. Hell, like Four Weddings and a Funeral (which stars Andie MacDowell, coincidentally), About Time has some quiet somber moments and a couple rather painful decisions on the part of it...

At his darkest, Phil Connors certainly paints a gloomy picture: “I’ll give you a winter prediction,” he says. “It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be gray, and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life.” But, I’m not sure he ever has it as bad as Evan Treborn in The Butterfly Effect . Of course, Evan’s plight is not a time loop, per se. Instead, it’s a regular rewriting of his own history (damaging his brain as he goes) to set things “right.” It’s like Quantum Leap if Sam Beckett had a really fucked up childhood and was leaping into himself in every episode, not just “The Leap Home.” SPOILERS ahead, obviously. Ashton Kutcher’s Evan deals with murderous adolescents, pedophile fathers, baby-killing explosives, burning dogs, and in the original ending (now available with the Director’s Cut), he eventually strangles himself with his umbilical cord in the womb. So, it’s not really a light-hearted film, and certainly not a comedy like Groundhog Day . Still, there’s a certain similarity in t...