Movie Clips Trailer Vault: Groundhog Day (1993) Starring Bill Murray & Andie McDowell

Source:Movie Clips Classic Trailers– Bill Murray as Phil Connors.

Source:The New Democrat 

“Groundhog Day (1993) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers. Check out the official Groundhog Day (1993) trailer starring Bill Murray! Let us know what you think in the comments below…

From Movie Clips Classic Trailers

Groundhog is one of my favorite comedies from the 1990s as well as all time, because the movie (which of course incredibly realistic event for most Americans) is not believable. The movies is about a basically normal, but narcissistic man like Phil Connors ( played by Bill Murray ) could literally live the same exact day over and over with only Phil making any changes for how his day goes. (Unless he’s literally dreaming and just having the Hollywood dream of a lifetime) The movie is only about 1:45 minutes (give or take) so why couldn’t a man be sleeping have this dream going on his head while he’s asleep?

The movie starts off with Phil who is a selfish, unhappy, narcissistic, weatherman (but other than those fine characteristics, if just a well kind of guy)  for a local TV station in Pittsburgh, which is a midsize city in a small market, with hopes of landing a job for a big station in a big market like New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, wherever it might be. But instead of getting a job like that he gets another assignment from his Pittsburgh station to cover another small-town event in rural Pennsylvania small-town Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Doing exactly what he doesn’t want to do which is to cover small-town events with small-town people with Pittsburgh perhaps being the biggest city they’ve ever seen in their lives.

Narcissistic Phil sees himself as much bigger than that is unhappy and cynical the whole time he’s there, until he realizes he’s living the same day over and over again. Groundhog Day which is a one day event for everyone else in this town becomes a daily event for him. With no one else realizing what’s going on with him. Because everything else is normal for them. But in Phil’s case the same day starts over and over again every time he goes to sleep and wakes up in his hotel room.

Groundhog Day for me is the opportunity for one guy to live the same day over and over and learn from those experience and try not to make the same mistakes. Phil becomes a less sarcastic, cynical, narcissistic, selfish man as the movie moves along (which is why his popularity plummets) once he realizes he’s in the same day over and over with no tomorrows. He also becomes adventurous knowing that there’s basically no consequences for anything that he does. He can literally do whatever the hell he wants because he knows he’ll start the same day over and over once midnight comes.

There’s a scene in the diner where Phil drinks an entire pot of coffee and eats all of the pastries in the diner while he’s smoking, he robs an armor truck, he jumps off a building, he drives a truck over a cliff intentionally, he drives a car on the train tracks and gets into a police chase and spends a night in jail. Of course, only one night because the same day just starts over for him once midnight comes. He also starts to get involved with his producer Rita ( played by the adorable Andie McDowell ) who doesn’t like him and sees him as an egocentric selfish jerk (which is why everyone else loves Phil) and spends each Groundhog Day learning about her and what she likes and is interested in and changes his behavior and interests just to get her to like him.

I prefer movies that are realistic, with great actors, great plot, cover original great writing, with clever wit with a cast that is also witty but can act as well. Groundhog Day has all of that except for the realism. Unless again we’re talking about one man with a really strange dream while he’s asleep that no one else could possibly know about. Groundhog Day is that 100 minute escape from reality when people simply just need an entertaining break and time to escape and is a very entertaining and very funny movie.

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Warner Brothers: Caddyshack 2 1988- An Example of a Sequel Being Better Than the Original

 

 

Source: This piece was originally posted at The New Democrat

I’ve never seen the original  Caddyshack movie in its entirety.  Not because I haven’t wanted to or had the time.  The bits and pieces I have seen have never compelled me to see the whole movie.  Despite an impressive cast, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Chevy Chase, and the Murray brothers Bill and Brian, it’s one of the most overrated comedies of all time.

The first Caddyshack, from 1980, is essentially about a bunch of morons, including some successful snobs.  The sequel, from 1988, is about Jack Kartunian (Jackie Mason), a wealthy man who owns an excellent construction company.  He treats his employees well and is loved by everyone with whom he does business.  He can’t get into a fancy, snobby, waspy, Anglo-Saxon country club, because of his ethnic background. He is Jewish and Armenian and has a working class attitude about life.  He is not someone who’s going to be pushed around or denied things by rich snobs.

He decides that if he can’t get into this snobby country club the old fashioned way by applying and being accepted, he’ll do the next best thing and buy it.  His friend Ty (Chevy Chase), just happens to own Bushwood Country Club.  Naturally, that pisses off the snobby leadership and membership of the club and they go to war with Kartunian to get their club back.

This movie has a lot of funny scenes.  Kartunian buys the snobby Bushwood members in an auction and puts them to work at his construction company building a house.  These people are completely unprepared to work there and make complete assholes of themselves, dressed for playing golf.

I can’t end this post without mentioning that Dyan Cannon is also in the movie. She’s fifty years old, at this point, and still a hot, adorable, and sexy babe.  She plays Jack Kartunian’s new love interest at a time when Jack is not getting along with his daughter who wants to be a member of the old Bushwood Club. This is one of the funniest movies of all time and one of the few examples of ordinary Americans beating the snobs and enjoying enjoy the better life, so to speak.

Warner Brothers: Caddyshack 2 1988 Trailer

 

 

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