OKAY, CAMPERS, RISE AND SHINE, AND DON'T FORGET YOUR BOOTIES 'CAUSE IT'S COOOOOOLD OUT THERE TODAY: It's February 2, so it's time to talk about the movie again. Do you buy the whole Buddhist thing, or should we just quote lines for a while and generally discuss its awesomeness?
Participate in this thread, or it's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life.
Happy Ned Ryerson Day!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkW_ZkMtmlQ&sns=em
I like this theory that the piano teacher is God.
ReplyDeleteI happen to think this estimate of how long it took Phil to acquire all these skills goes way too high -- it doesn't account for multitasking on invididual days -- e.g., watching the Jeopardy episodes takes a half hour on each of two days; it doesn't take up two full days. He can spend the rest of those days at his French/piano/ice carving lessons.
ReplyDeleteIt's not clear to me whether Phil ends up saving the kid from the tree, fixing the flat, performing the heimlich, etc., every single day once he becomes committed to doing so. To the extent Groundhog Day is about perfecting one's existence, I think he probably started to have most of his day spoken for in dealing with these small tasks. Does he really stop trying to save the old man just because he's got some ice sculpture to work on? I think if we knew that he did, his redemption becomes hollow.
ReplyDeleteSo while some of the raw time to learn these skills is overestimated, I think it could have been a lot longer to get it all done.
In other words, as he takes on more obligations, there's less time each day to master new skills. Still has to get the wrestling tickets every day. Has to save the guy's life every day. I think the only way this makes sense is that he's gearing towards having a "perfect day," but has to spend time in the interim working on each individual task so that he can execute on that day.
ReplyDeleteI think TPE is making a slightly different point -- not that he has to practice to be perfect on "The Day," but that, for karmic purposes, he needs to keep doing the good deeds, because each day matters for the people who would otherwise get hurt, die, etc. In other words, those days aren't *only* practice, but matter in and of themselves, both for the individuals involved and for Phil's, er, cosmic redemption.
ReplyDeleteThen where are the gaps between the necessary tasks each day when he can learn anything? He doesn't need to seduce Nancy at the diner or Rita at the bar every day -- though he does need to be available for the Heimlich -- and he doesn't need to show off his Jeopardy skills every day -- but there aren't a lot of gaps in there for the lessons/practice he needs, are there?
ReplyDeleteI am not saying he has to do everything everyday -- some things are self-centered and clearly karmic dead-ends (stealing and murdering a groundhog; getting shitboxed and driving at a train). But there are some objectively good things I think he needs to do once he becomes committed to doing them -- saving the kid, fixing the flat, buying wrestlemania tickets, etc. Those things that show up (I believe) all in his last final day. Seducing Nancy is something he loses interest in pretty quickly (with, I suppose, an occasional relapse). He probably realizes after a few days that he's annoying the folks watching jeaopardy. He doesn't need to practice cards, learn french or piano every day. But I think if he decides to let the kid hit the ground every day so he can work on his ice carving, he's not making progress.
ReplyDeleteI suppose there's something meta about me posting the same thing in this thread every year, so feel free to just insert my rant about Andie MacDowell here, and my usual comment about how this movie is so good that even she can't ruin it.
ReplyDelete(Listened to Stephen Tobolowsky talk about the movie this weekend - he's a wonderful story teller - and found out that the Ned role had been written for Kurt Fuller. Can't picture that at all, which is, of course, a tribute to how iconic Tobolowsky was in the role.)
That's my question: what are the absolutely necessary acts each day?
ReplyDelete1. Report from Gobbler's Knob.
2. Have breakfast/excuse to stay in town.
3. Falling child
4. Fix tire (every day?)
5. Heimlich
Which leaves how much time for skills training?
a. Piano
b. French poetry
c. (Learning everything else about Rita)
d. ice carving
I'd kind of like it if he had to deck Ned every day. But probably not.
ReplyDeleteReferring to Calvin W. Schwabe's great Unmentionable Cuisine, groundhogs will work using the same recipes as squirrel and rabbit.
ReplyDeleteBING!
ReplyDeleteIf only I had known this for the 1993 Oscar party!
ReplyDeleteOn another note, thank you for reminding me of a great movie to lend to my dad, who's in the hospital. He's sitting through a series of blood tests and is incredibly bored. I have handed him my Kindle and a few DVDs, including "The Ides of March" and "Moneyball".
I can see Fuller putting a different spin on it, especially given his recent comic turn on Psych. But, yes, Tobolowsky is iconic.
ReplyDeleteYou'd honestly give Groundhog Day to a man stuck repeating medical procedures in hospital? That's just sadistic!
ReplyDeleteHope all goes okay with your dad!
ReplyDeleteOh, this movie. I feel like someone should be screening it, like IFC or Sunshine or somebody.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, if anyone is throwing things from Columbus, the Gateway Film Center apparently has an annual 24-hour Groundhog Day screening....
ReplyDeleteIt didn't even occur to me that today is Groundhog Day, but I actually said to a coworker this morning "Did you ever see the movie Groundhog Day? Don't you feel like life is like that sometimes...same thing everyday?"
ReplyDeleteIt crawled into my subconscious!
I know I'm strange (and I hope folks here of all places will understand), but when February 2 rolls around, the song that gets stuck in my head isn't "I Got You Babe" or anything else from the movie, but this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/v/AhKubPO38w4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="170" height="140
Why does phil need karmic redemption? He's a weatherman in Western Pa, he should be miserable.
ReplyDeleteHe'd see the humor in it. He's that kind of guy.
ReplyDeleteThe entire thing is up on YouTube, all sponsored and ad-enabled and legitimate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2OSZV8OlN4&feature=youtu.be
ReplyDeleteAlso on Hulu via Crackle.com.
ReplyDeleteSee, I have never even watched this movie, because Andie MacDowell is in it. I find her that painful.
ReplyDeleteI showed the movie to my then-7-year-old last year. I was a little worried about the suicide scenes, but I was able to explain them away. She loved the movie. I think we may need to watch that again this weekend...
ReplyDeleteOur local Alamo Drafthouse screened the movie tonight with an accompanying 'feast'. Rather than the same dish for each course, they were different dishes made with the same core ingredients.
ReplyDeleteNext up? 25 year anniversary of The Princess Bride. Alamo is debuting their own line of wines (Bottle of Wits) which includes As You Wish White and Inconceivable Cab. For the feast on Valentine's night, they will be paired with MLT, Screeching Eel Salad, Seared ROUS and Twue Wuv Twuffles. I'm skipping the Valentine's feast but going on 2/16 for the quote along which includes inflatable swords.
Oh man, do NOT let any fear of Andie MacDowell stop you from this movie. It's so great!
ReplyDeleteHi Paul--I'm in Columbus, and wish I knew this earlier! We settled for watching it on CMT, of all places.
ReplyDelete