the groundhog day project

Nice shot of airport and city. Right at 5 minutes 58 seconds into the film, this clock switches over to 5:58. Love this insert shot of Del behind a cab door. Destination: Nowhere. As far as visuals go, this film seems pretty generic but there are some fairly interesting shots. Plus, other than his tie, Neal wears a lot of greys. Del, on the other hand, wears browns and yellows and maroons (and a blue coat and red gloves). In fact, his maroon matches Neal's tie. After they spend the night together, they actually match each other at breakfast... Speaking of breakfast, there's this shot: Neal the attacking bobcat, Del the cowering fox. Why spend the night? You're only 102 miles from Chicago, the car still runs. Why get a motel room you can't afford? Also, the flames are between them, and the smoke goes toward Del. Neal’s about to yell at him again. Can’t forget the STAY IN TOUCH billboard.

Last night, imagining I might actually get to visit Woodstock, IL sometime, and watching the much clearer DVD copy of the movie than my usual copy I've got on my iPad, I spent some time comparing a few locations in the film to real locations in Google Maps . A few locations are easy. The park that served as Gobbler's Knob and the Tip Top Cafe and the Pennsylvanian Hotel are easy to find. The Cherry Street Inn exterior, then a house, is now a Bed and Breakfast called the Royal Victorian Manor, so it's easy enough to find; it's got a specific address. The Alpine Theater is still there (not called the Alpine, of course). And, the alley where O'Reilly dies is right in line with the theater (and just around the corner from where he's standing every morning in the film). (And, I just found another person's site with photos from Woodstock, and apparently there is a plaque in"Old Man's Alley.") Harder to figure out--but I did--was where Phil changes...