fflo | Ground Hog Day

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Ground Hog Day

I have rented the movie Ground Hog Day to watch tonight. I've seen it before; I like it. I like its message of eternal hope for redemption. That even a complete social schlub can eventually get it right. It's a "keep plugging" kind of tale, and we need more of those, particularly when it's a message to keep plugging at interpersonal relations.

Unfortunately, I don't much like Andie McDowell, having seen her be quite the snoot on Letterman (I think it was). So I think Bill Murray's character should get a better reward for his perseverance. Nominations? It should be a female character in a movie. I'll start with these:

1. Barbara Bel Geddes in Vertigo
2. Sigourney Weaver in Alien (or sequel)
3. Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday
4. Olympia Dukakis in Tales of the City

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Well, I'm not a big fan of Letterman any more, so Andie McDowell being a snoot to him doesn't really bug me. But I'll play!

How's about:

1. Can't remember her name, and my dialup is too pokey to Google right now. Cary Grant's fiance in Arsenic and Old Lace. Irene something?
2. Katharine Ross in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
3. Eve Marie Saint (I think I spelled all that right)in North by Northwest.
4. Geena Davis in A League of Their Own.

I pondered on Katharine Hepburn and Susan Sarandon in anything, but decided Murray's character didn't deserve that good of a reward. Whaddaya think?

My bad. Priscilla Lane.

I've never watched "Groundhog Day". I used to think I would hate Bill Murray in anything until I saw "Cradle Will Rock".
I did see Andie McWooden er... McDowell in "Four Weddings and a Funeral". Why isn't she doing store front windows?

It's not that she was a snoot to Letterman---she was just a plain ol' snoot.

Well, I just finished watching the movie, and in the movie he's supposed to be getting the greatest reward there is. He's finally gotten it. He's done the wrong things, he's done his denial-anger-bargaining-grief thing, he's done the right things for the wrong reasons, he's told the truth but still just been selfish, and eventually he gets it right. So the film would want him to be getting a heck of a reward. I guess to Harold Ramis that was MacDowell (or maybe she was the first one down his list he could book for the film).

So I'd want him to get someone more rounded than the generic fiancee in Arsenic---the Geena Davis character seems like a good one.

Ha! Love it.

Have you seen Lost in Translation? Bill Murray as caricature of himself sorta works in it, I have to say. And it's great to look at, all that Tokyo lit up at night stuff.

Generic fiancee?! I love Elaine! Hmph. ; )

Here are R's picks for Murray's character's reward:

1. Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby
1. Kim Novak in To Catch a Thief
2. Laura Dern in Rambling Rose
3. Miranda Richardson in The Apostle

Okay, maybe I'm not remembering Elaine well. The last time I saw the flick was on TV, and I went to bed a little bit after the evil son has returned---before we see E. much at all.

Roy's choices make me want to see Rambling Rose. I notice he can't decide between the first two! I think Kate in Bringing Up Baby is maybe a bit flighty for my ideal---though, now that I think about it, it's a trait Holly shares. . .

The Apostle---that was a pretty good movie, wasn't it? I'd forgotten about that one.

I notice he can't decide between the first two!

Oops, that was me.

Elaine probably isn't as well-rounded as some of the other characters mentioned, but I like her a lot anyway. She's cute and silly (as is Mortimer) and can whistle.

We both liked Rambling Rose a lot and loved The Apostle. Diane Ladd is fantastic in RR, as well. Definitely see The Apostle. Duvall is fantastic, and it has a wonderful cast besides him. The movie was Duvall's baby--he wrote and directed it, besides playing the title character.

I've actually seen The Apostle---just had forgotten the movie, somehow (though I was struck by it at the time---powerful).

And Richardson is really good in it. I have to admit to being distracted by her, though, cuz when I finally recognized her I got "I am the Queen of England" (from Black Adder) stuck in my head. Added a comic slice no one else intended.

You know, that's a real cinema phenomenon---how an actor's previous roles inform the viewing of her/his current performance. My favorite instance of playing off career history involves Dead Again. Have you seen that movie yet?

BTW, "getting the girl" in North by Northwest is a reward for a job properly done within that film, too, in a way, isn't it.

Why, yes it is. Especially since one of the jobs done well is rescuing her. I imagine we could come up with a few more, too, if we thought about it.

It is, isn't it? Richardson really threw me in The Apostle cuz her part was so different. When I finally recognized her, it took quite a while to get over it. (I've discovered that while I'll read the credits as a movie starts, I don't retain them. Shining example: we watched True Beloved--the Gary Oldman Beethoven movie--and afterwards I wanted to know who the actress who looked like Ingrid Bergman was. *smack* (good movie, that, by the way))

An actor's career can suffer for it, too, if she's too associated with her former role. I'm slightly pessimistic of Andy Serkis getting good/diverse parts from now on, for example.

I vaguely remember Dead Again, and I liked it. What career history did you play off?

I think the FILM (Dead Again) actually plays off the acting history of Derek Jacobi, in that, if you know a certain role he was famous for, you have a leg up in predicting the outcome of the mystery. (Enough said, in case there are some out there who haven't seen it.)

I do love that movie. What fun. And talk about your strange versions of "Lush Life"---Branaugh's a capella one over the striking opening (yellow journalism) credits is haunting.

Know whatcha mean about Gollum. You never know, though.

Ah! I'd forgotten Derek Jacobi was in it. Now I need to see it again. I remember really liking it.

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Ground Hog Day

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