#9: Groundhog Day (1993)

Groundhog Day is quintessential Bill Murray. It feels so good and he's a great comic actor...a comic genius. The film is both crazy funny and heart-warmingly beautiful.

I have Wynand to thank for introducing me to this. When it was on hobo-tv (SABC & e.tv.) the one night, he was keen to watch it. I replied that I'd never he seen it. He was like “W.T.F.!!!” He insisted that I should watch, potentially, a work of art. It sounds pretentious, but it really is.

Bill Murray plays Phil, the weatherman, reliving the exact same day, over and over. It's actually the Groundhog Day holiday, February 2, that he's reliving, hence the title. 

He starts off thinking it's déjà vu, but it soon becomes clear that not even suicide can stop the same day from  repeating. At the start, he's also cynical and self-centred. He treats people like his co-workers, notably his producer, Andie MacDowell (wasn't she a model or something?), with contempt.

As the movie goes on however, he becomes kind, respectful, caring, and he falls in love with Rita, the Andie MacDowell character. He even saves a homeless man. Having every single day to practise the same tasks over and over, he becomes uniquely good at things like snow-sculptures, playing jazz piano and speaking French.

He becomes a bit like a person who's read How to Win Friends and Influence People. Everyone in the town starts to love him because he really learns how to make people like him. He enhances his own understanding of the complex creatures we are. The film ends with a date between Rita and Phil. He awakens the next day to find the loop broken. His new life is in front of him, with all the knowledge intact.

I believe it teaches us a truly great lesson about, simply, being nice people. It really is special. I watched a bit of it the other day, randomly on DSTV, but stopped. I found it deserved so much more than that. It's like stealing a glance at the Mona Lisa and having to hurry to make the tour bus. This is a film that truly shows us how humans can change. Almost forgot to say, it gets an 18/21.

Honourable Mention: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Was this important and beautiful all at the same time. The most influential sci-fi movie on this list in some respects, a true masterpiece. It was co-written by the genius director, Stanley Kubrick, and one of the sci-fi fathers, Sir Arthur C. Clarke.

There are many touches of note, but I reckon most of the beauty of the film is illustrated in two scenes. The first is that of spinning satellites while "The Blue Danube" is playing, since that's approximating the similarity of this to waltzing dancers. The second is the first time you see the ominous red light that represents the HAL 9000. Pure evil.

Or perhaps the opening scene, well-known enough to be parodied by The Big Bang Theory. A group of hominids forages for food, and eventually awakens to find a black monolith. They fear it, but eventually touch it, although cautiously. Shortly after, one realizes how to use a bone as a weapon. They kill the leader of the rival tribe, and so, the proverbial shit really hits the fan.

It's become a cult classic, and perhaps should be on this list. Let me know if you think so! A shining 18/21.