Groundhog Day, Philosopher Style!

I am here to ruin your experience of a richly entertaining film.

Groundhog Day never won an Oscar, but it gained recognition in a number of other ways. It is on AFI’s 100 Funniest Films list, (number 34) and it won a Britsh comedy award. And it has been acclaimed by the U.S. National Film Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Whatever that means.

What it deserves to win, should there be such an award, is Best Philosophical Movie.

Perhaps you consider the Bill Murray fest to simply be his best performance, and it might be that. Perhaps you think of it as a quiet comedy. Perhaps you are one of the few who consider it to be one of the more entertaining films ever made. But I am here to tell you that it is an intellectual feast, made for the common folk.


The rest of this review can be found at The Reelists:
The Gospel According to Groundhog Day

The Conflict of Kill Bill

My latest article examining the worldview of a film is about Kill Bill, both volumes.

Quentin Tarantino is the master of the overlapping ethical systems. Okay, that sounded really boring, so let me just say that, as far as morality goes, QT can’t seem to make up his friggin’ mind. In Pulp Fiction, although a movie about the mob is just as much about conversion. Inglourious Basterds is both a revenge film and is speaking of the immorality of revenge. Kill Bill, however, has two complex worldviews competing throughout the film, and it is fascinating to dissect each of them, figure out what makes them tick and how they act like two bulls in a sparring match. With Uzis.

Read the rest here at The Reelists.