the groundhog day project

It's not just the desk lamp that foreshadows what's to come, of course. When Joe cleans out his desk, he has a copy of Robinson Crusoe , a copy of Romeo and Juliet and a copy of The Odyssey . Isolation, doomed love, and a life-changing journey. This is Joe Versus the Volcano … and this is life itself. Also, Note the repeated lines of dialogue. Not just Joe's line about having seen DeDe and Patricia before. Waturi's phone conversation, the oft repeated "I'm not arguing that with you." Angelica's "I have no response to that." Neither Waturi or DeDe are prepared to really converse, lest they have too much information, too much insight, too much instigation to change their lives. They don’t want to expand. Don't want to grow. Watusi says, "Nobody feels good. After childhood, it's a fact of life." But… The last recap post was day 1065 - socially acceptable insanity and I should do another. I’ll make it quick. I’ve got things...

I haven't watched many made-for-tv movies for this blog. ( 12:01 comes to mind as one I did watch, 12 Dates of Christmas another.), but they almost have an immediate excuse for their badness. The tv budget and, if the movie is old enough, the film quality just are not going to be anywhere near most films that were released into theaters. Mazes and Monsters has the added excuse of being based on a novel inspired by some bullshit paranoia--namely that playing Dungeons & Dragons can make you a) be a satanist, b) go crazy, c) kill yourself (or, per this movie, the worst possible option d) try LARPing). (I'll talk more about that paranoia tomorrow, maybe. Today I'm just going to enjoy the film.)           It's a bit simple (but not unrealistic) that Robbie (Tom Hanks) joins up with the Mazes and Monsters group because of the attractive girl Kate (Wendy Crewson). But, I like that immediately after playing with them the first time, we get a montage that...

Phil Connors is not a werewolf. Let’s just get that obviousness out of the way. He is, however, quite a bit the adolescent, going through some changes that are, if not physical, quite significant nonetheless. (By the way, the last recap post here was Day 792 - time for the big bachelor auction .) I think I started referring to Phil’s hedonistic ventures in act two of Groundhog Day as his “adolescent” phase after Harold Ramis described it that way in his commentary track . But, it’s more than just good shorthand. (After that last recap, I drifted into horror films for October... like so: Poltergeist - 793 794 795 - and its remake - 796 The Shining - 797 , Room 237 - 798 - then back to The Shining - 799 - and its TV “remake” - 800 The Omen - 801 802 Damien: The Omen II - 803 The Final Conflict aka The Omen III - 804 The Omen (remake) - 805 Re-Animator - 806 Crimson Peak - 807 Hellraiser - 808 809 810 Hellbound: Hellraiser II - 811 812 813 Hellra...