Groundhog Day (1993) - Rubin, Ramis and Murray's irresistible comedy masterpiece

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+ Best Comedy of the Year + Most Deserved Hit of the Year + Best Pennsylvania Movie of the Year

Star Bill Murray is literally caught inside a clock on a beautiful morning - with attractive co-star Andie MacDowell looking sweetly skeptical in the right corner, on this poster for Harold Ramis' Groundhog Day

A weather man with big city egocentric proclivities, - which is understating the fact, - is sent to cover the annual Groundhog Day phenomenon in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He hates it there. And his loathed day then mysteriously repeats itself the next day. And the next day ...

Groundhog Day is written by Danny Rubin (Stork Day (2004)) and Illinoisan master filmmaker, co-producer/co-writer/director Harold Ramis (Caddyshack (1980)).
Bill Murray (Cradle Will Rock (1999)) is wonderfully sarcastic and at the same time touchingly real as Phil Connors, on the cusp of another chapter of his career here. Andie MacDowell (Happiness Runs (2010)) adds sweetness, and Stephen Tobolowsky (Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005)) is hilarious as hearty local Ned 'Bing!' Ryerson.
Groundhog Day is a perfect film, which shows the potential height for a high-concept fantasy comedy and is both really funny and equally thought-provoking. The movie's main idea is that life is what you inject it with personally on a daily basis; a simple dictum that is nevertheless rendered highly evocative and with a depth that is normally not found in a mainstream comedy. This is also why Groundhog Day rightly ranks among the absolute best comedies of all time.

Related post:

Harold Ramis: 1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Caddyshack (1980) - And you thought golf was boring?

Watch an original trailer for the film here

Cost: Reportedly 14.6 mil. $
Box office: 70.9 mil. $ (North America alone)
= Big hit with domestic gross, but overall more likely a huge hit (returned 4.85 times its cost in North America alone)
[Groundhog Day premiered 4 February (California) and runs 101 minutes. Rubin and Murray attended Groundhog Day in secret to prepare for the filming. Shooting took place mainly in Woodstock, Illinois, some distance from the real Punxsutawney, as well as in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and in California from March - June 1992. Murray was bitten by groundhogs twice during shooting, requiring him to get a rabies shot. He was going through marital problems at the time and continued working on the script with Rubin while alienating himself from long-time friend and director Ramis. The two broke their relationship after the movie and didn't speak again for over 20 years; not until Ramis was on his deathbed did they reconcile. Murray was reportedly paid 10 mil. $ for Groundhog Day, an overwhelming share of the film's cost. Several religions have embraced the film and claimed it for their beliefs. The length of Connors' repeated Groundhog Day has been calculated by one Internet site to last around 34 years. The film opened #1 to a 12.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for another 2 weeks and then managed another 5 weeks in the top 5, grossing 70.9 mil. $. The international gross numbers are not public information, but even if the film was met with a very muted international reception (15 mil. $ for instance), it would rank the film as a huge hit. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, but later elevated it to his list of Great Movies. The film won a BAFTA but otherwise went under the major awards radar. IMDb's users have voted it in at #248 on the site's Top 250, sitting between Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Drishyam (2015). The film was adapted into a musical for the London stage in 2016 and later Broadway. Ramis returned with Stuart Saves His Family (1995). Murray returned in Mad Dog and Glory (1993). Groundhog Day is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.05/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Groundhog Day?

Foxcatcher (2014) - Fine performances in Miller's strange true-crime sports drama

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+ Best Pennsylvania Movie of the Year + Best True-Crime Movie of the Year

Its three great, striking-looking stars in matching tracksuits against a dramatic painting of a hunting eagle sets a stark tone on this poster for Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher

Olympic gold-winning wrestler Mark Schultz is approached by a weird, eccentric multi-millionaire named John du Pont, who wants to create the national wrestling team around Schultz at his Pennsylvania mansion.

Foxcatcher is written by E. Max Frye (Amos & Andrew (1993)) and Dan Futterman (In Treatment (2010, TV-series)), based on a true story, and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker Bennett Miller (Capote (2005)).
Miller succeeds in creating a really strange atmosphere, which also remains tense, and at times feels grotesque. We are kept intrigued by this highly curious story by his direction and fine performances from the three male leads and Sienna Miller (21 Bridges (2019)). Steve Carell (Evan Almighty (2007)) has a very odd first major dramatic role in du Pont.
In the end it is somewhat unsatisfying that Foxcatcher, - which is the mysterious name given to du Pont's wrestling team, - doesn't illuminate more of du Pont and Schultz: Where they both victims of abuse as children? Does du Pont violate Schultz? Perhaps out of a lack of certain real-life proof these questions remain unanswered, leaving Foxcatcher a fascinatingly strange film but also one with a frustrating degree of benightedness to it.

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2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Moneyball (2011) - Miller makes compelling baseball movie history 
Capote (2005) - The writing of one of the 20th century's finest non-fiction crime novels comes to life 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 24 mil. $
Box office: 19.2 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.8 times its cost)
[Foxcatcher premiered 19 May (Cannes Film Festival, in competition) and runs 134 minutes. Miller acquired the rights to the story in 2010 and began development with Gary Oldman as the first choice to play du Pont. Shooting took place in Virginia and Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, from October 2012 - January 2013. Subsequent to the events shown in the film, du Pont spent almost 15 years in prison before dying there at age 72 in 2010. The real Mark Schultz supported the making of the film, was then incensed by it, and then retracted his critique, calling it instead "a miracle." The film opened #24 to a 270k $ first weekend in 6 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #13 and in 759 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 12 mil. $ (62.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 2.5 mil. $ (13 % ) and France with 1 mil. $ (5.2 %). The film was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Actor (Carell) to Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo (Apartment 12 (2000))) to J.K. Simmons in Whiplash, Director to Alejandro González Iñárritu for Birdman, Original Screenplay also to Birdman and Makeup and Hairstyling to The Grand Budapest Hotel. It won the directing award at Cannes, was nominated for 3 Golden Globes and 2 BAFTAs, won an AFI award and an Independent Spirit award and many other honors. Miller is still just scheduled to return with A Christmas Carrol for troubled Annapurna Pictures. Carell returned in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014); Channing Tatum (The Hateful Eight (2015)) in 22 Jump Street (2014); Ruffalo in The Normal Heart (2014, TV movie) and theatrically in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Foxcatcher is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7.89/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Foxcatcher?

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) - Andrews' and Gomez-Rejon's quirky and sincere youth dramedy

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+ Best Youth Movie of the Year

The young stars of Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's Me and Earl and the Dying Girl; Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler and Olivia Cooke adorn the poster

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is an adaptation of Jesse Andrews' 2012 debut novel, which he adapted himself, with Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (American Horror Story (2011-14)) directing it as his second feature.

Greg is a senior high school student, whose mother pressures him into spending time with a girl he knows, who is diagnosed with leukemia. Greg and his friend Earl make short films together and end up having a profound relation to the girl, as she struggles with her illness.

The film tells its story in a quirky, possibly a little over-narrated way, but as the aim is to get us into Greg's shoes, I think it accomplishes this well. Andrews and Gomez-Rejon embrace Greg and Earl's film-nerding activities, which are pretty funny, if you know some or all of the titles they are remaking. Most of this will be lost on people with little or no film history knowledge, however.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is earnest, very amusing and boasts some creatively stimulating stop-motion sequences made by Edward Bursch and Nathan O. Marsh. By its third act, the film luckily steps somewhat out of its own irony-infused comfort zone, as the story tightens. The conclusion breaks your heart, even if you are mostly 'just' pleasantly amused with the first two acts of the film.

Connie Britton and Nick Offerman in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

The movie falls in the vein of Stephen Chbosky's masterpiece The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), without achieving that film's complete success. It also bears resemblance to the great Juno (2007), although the themes are switched around from giving birth to death.
RJ Cyler (War Machine (2016)), Olivia Cooke (Ouija (2014)) and Thomas Mann (Beautiful Creatures (2013)) give fine performances as Earl, Rachel and Greg, and Mann makes some stellar Werner Herzog impressions that are easily the film's funniest moments, (at least for Herzog fans.) Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation (2009-15)) is dryly funny as Greg's father, but it is Connie Britton (Spin City (1996-00)) and Molly Shannon (Scary Movie 5 (2013)) as the two important moms in the film that really make an impact, and both give great, affecting performances.
Finally, Me and Earl makes perfect use of Brian Eno music, especially his The Big Ship (1975), SPOILER which plays during Greg's Stan Brakhage-inspired short film to Rachel in the end.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a film that loves film, loves life, - and which you will love.

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2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

The book cover for the movie re-print of Jesse Andrews' novel

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 8 mil. $
Box office: 8.4 mil. $ and counting
= Uncertainty
[Andrews' script came to be on the 2012 Blacklist and came to the attention of Gomez-Rejon, who used to be personal assistant and second unit director for Alejandro González Iñárritu, Martin Scorsese and Nora Ephron. The movie was shot in four weeks in June-July 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, among other places in Andrews' family home, which is Greg's home in the film. The film debuted at Sundance to a standing ovation, winning both the US Grand Prix: Dramatic and the Audience Award and was picked up for distribution in a bidding war by Fox Searchlight for a whopping 12 mil. $. Despite great reviews, the film failed to set the box office on fire in a slowly growing release strategy: The film has grossed 6.7 mil. $ (79.8 % of the total gross) in North America, not impressive, especially when compared to the success of similarly themed The Fault in Our Stars (2014), which grossed 307.2 mil. $ on a 12 mil. $ budget! Me and Earl's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are the UK (1.1 mil. $/13 %) and Australia (0.3 mil. $/3.6 %). It looks like it will end up a huge flop commercially. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is certified fresh at 81% with a critical rating of 7.6 on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl?

The Deer Hunter (1978) - Cimino's great, colossal Vietnam epic

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A praise-stressing, unusual and exciting poster for Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter

QUICK REVIEW:

Three American steelworkers and their trials before and after their service in the Vietnam War.

Deer Hunter is a great war drama epic. But its all-pervading director Michael Cimino (Year of the Dragon (1985)) is no Sergio Leone (Once Upon a Time in the West/C'era una Volta il West (1968)), meaning; he's no master of the epic, and Deer Hunter is ultimately too loosely edited (by Peter Zinner (The Godfather: Part II (1974)), who nevertheless won an Oscar for his job), which is no doubt Cimino's own fault, as he did everything in his power to keep it as long as possible. (It runs 183 minutes.) - Perhaps Deer Hunter is a precursor of his fatal eruption of megalomania on his following western epic, Heaven's Gate (1980), which, infamously, bankrupted its studio United Artists.
Robert De Niro (Casino (1995)) and Christopher Walken (A Late Quartet (2012)), who won his only Oscar to date for his supporting performance, are both eminent in this film, and Stanley Myers' (A Severed Head (1970)) somewhat under-appreciated score is beautiful.
Deer Hunter, written by Deric Washburne (Extreme Prejudice (1987)), tackles its taboo (at the time) topic of the US Vietnam War in an all-together different way from Francis Ford Coppola's soon following Vietnam epic Apocalypse Now (1979)): Deer Hunter is a more social-realistic portrait that also inhabits symbolism (like the controversial Russian roulette scenes that are a part of the film, because it is based on a script about Russian roulette in Las Vegas, not because Russian roulette war known to have been a widespread practice in the Vietnam War), whereas Apocalypse is a doomsday-themed journey into the dark pits of man's soul. Though I think Coppola's film is superior among the two, The Deer Hunter is certainly also a great film. - As well as a very controversial and disputed film, both from a production and a public standpoint, as you can read about in its lengthy, interesting Wikipedia page here.

Related review:

Apocalypse Now (1979) redux version - The horror of war 

Christopher Walken in a pivotal scene from Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter

An original trailer for the film that punches its greatness in your face again, again ... and again

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 48.9 mil. $ (US only)
= Box office success
[Deer Hunter was budgeted at 8.5 mil. $ and ran over budget less than halfway through its production, (already during the wedding scenes, which were filmed first.) The whole film was shot on locations in Ohio, Washington, West Virginia and in Thailand. The box office reports about Deer Hunter's performance are, as many things about the film's inception and making, mixed. Despite the film's success in the US, (after a very lengthy run, ending in the end of 1980), it seems to have been well-received in other countries as well, as in Spain, where 2.2 mil. people paid admission. The film won 5 Oscars, (also for Best Director, Picture and Sound) out of 9 nominations, but was also protested against by red block nations and liberals like Jane Fonda because of its somewhat one-sided portrayal of the Vietnamese.]

What do you think of The Deer Hunter?