Latest / May The Review Be With You / The Groundhog Day Review, The Groundhog Day Review, The Groundhog Day Review

Transcript

The Groundhog Day Review, The Groundhog Day Review, The Groundhog Day Review · May The Review Be With You

0:00
Let's dub that what that is? Yeah, broken record time travel. That's
0:04
what that is. Broken record time travel, as dubbed by May the Review
0:07
Be with You. There we go, broken record time travel. We've we
0:10
we've we've coined a new time travel term. This is what the podcast is
0:14
all about. Hello, and welcome to Made the Review Be with You with
0:30
Nick and Joe. I'm Joe, I'm Nick, And today we are continuing.
0:37
It is our fourth entry into the time travel draft saga. Today we're
0:43
viewing Groundhog Day. How about that? We are but before we get into
0:50
Groundhog Day and anytime loop shenanigans. Uh, Nick, I feel like there's
0:55
a whole lot of loopage going on behind you right now, and I can't
0:58
stop looking at it. You're like you're backackground is damn near hypnotic. Yeah,
1:02
I'm gonna apologize in advance to everyone who's turning in on video. The
1:07
next time we do a podcast, I'm gonna have a similar background to Joe.
1:10
But this is just a stop gap in between little disco ball party.
1:14
The headline around the house. Uh never used this before, I promise,
1:18
But here we are. It's happening. What it is? Okay, so
1:21
earlier I said, it looks like you're in a video game. I just
1:25
put together where though you're in you're in Mario World like anytime, Like he
1:30
hits like an invincibility star, Like that's what's going. It's like do do
1:34
do do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do do doo.
1:37
That's you right now. I feel invincible actually in this room right now.
1:40
So that checks out. No, it checks out you feeling invincible.
1:46
Bizarre World's not ready anyway. Anyway, we're talking about Groundhog Day. Not
1:53
we're talking a lot about a lot of groundhogs though really just one. We're
1:57
talking about Phil POKSATONI Phil, but not even really about him a whole lot.
2:02
He's barely in the movie. Yeah, not too much. But before
2:06
we get too far into it, Joe, my friend, my friend of
2:10
my friend, there's a summary that needs to be had and it is fifteen
2:15
seconds and it is your turn. Yeah yeah, So for those of you
2:20
who don't know, whenever we review a film, we take turns on giving
2:24
a fifteen second summary of that film. And Joe has the honor of it
2:30
being his turn today. So it was his pick in the time Travel draft
2:32
for Time Time Treble Romance, and it is his pick for or it is
2:39
his turn to do a fifteen second summary. So Joe, I'm gonna count
2:43
you down. When I say go, you begin three two one go.
2:49
Phil is a really evil and bad weather man who gets caught in a time
2:53
loop impox a Tawny on Groundhog Day until he can become a better person.
2:57
Phil is a really bad weather man who gets caught in time looped in pox
3:00
of Tawny on Groundhog Day. Phil, well done, I see it.
3:08
Thank you, honestly. Honestly, the first like eight seconds you were doing
3:14
that I didn't realize what you were doing because I was just watching the timer
3:16
because fifteen seconds isn't a lot of time, so I have to actually watch
3:20
the timer instead of paying attention to what you're saying. And because you were
3:23
looping yourself, my brain totally shut your voice up. And at the very
3:29
end I realized that you were just repeating the same shit the whole time.
3:31
So yes, yes, About like three or four seconds into that, I
3:36
got the idea and I was like, Okay, I'm going to do that.
3:38
And then once I was done with whatever the first iteration was, it
3:40
was like, shit, what did I say? Again? I have to
3:47
grade your summary and you didn't you were I mean, I mean it's pretty
3:53
damn good. Give me points for the creativity, man, I mean I
3:59
don't create activity. Yeah, uh a minus. I'll take it. I'll
4:06
take a minus on that one, Thank you, sir. Well that's I
4:11
think for me. That's the best consecutive fifteen second summaries I've gotten. I
4:15
got well uh yeah, yeah, because I what was it? Was it?
4:19
What do I get an a plus on? About time? Was?
4:21
About time? Yeah? About time? I got an a plus and you
4:25
just gave me an a minus. That's the only back to back a coverage
4:28
I've ever gotten. But your summary kind of leads into this whole movie,
4:30
because really what you said right where Phil just spends a whole day in a
4:39
town called was it poxa TOWNI Poxatani? Yeah, Poxatani and lives the same
4:45
day over and over again. Like that's the movie. Like that's it,
4:49
and everything that happens on those days is obviously there's an iteration every day,
4:56
but like that's it. And as far time travel goes, like we do
5:01
have things to discuss, but like, I mean, we could spend hours
5:08
talking about what happens to him on each of the days that we get to
5:11
see, right, But like that's technically not what this episode is about.
5:13
It's really more about the time travel of it. We'll get to some of
5:15
the some of the things that happen, of course, but this is a
5:21
it was I think from the time travel series we've done so far, this
5:25
was like the simplest script I think of all the movies so far and story
5:32
that we've reviewed so far, and also like the weakest from an information perspective
5:43
when it comes to time travel or whatever you want to call it, which
5:45
we'll get to because I don't know if it's time travel necessarily anyway. I
5:51
yeah, I have thoughts on that too, thoughts that I did not have
5:56
until we did this exercise, and like we'll certainly get there. But to
6:01
go into some background here, So this is my movie that I drafted specifically
6:08
for our romantic comedy category, and I decided to get I tried to get
6:14
it like as crafty as I could with with my draft picks, because like
6:16
this could have worked under Sorry, this is this is specifically for I said
6:23
romantic comedy. This is specifically for time travel romance. Yea, but this
6:26
could have worked for time travel comedy. This could have worked for time travel
6:30
classic h Caught in the Loop, It is the caught in the Loop movie.
6:33
This is such a loop? Yes, this is This is the movie
6:38
that started it all. As far as pretty much any caught in the Loop
6:42
Hollywood film, like the Happy Death Day, the freakin' Oh my god,
6:48
my dog just coughed behind me and it scared the living hell out of me.
6:51
Just it might have had everything to do with the fact that I put
6:56
Happy Death Day into my head. I'm about to be killed. But yeah,
7:03
anyway, to my point, yeah, this is This is the movie.
7:06
Is the nineteen ninety three romantic comedy Harold Reimus film. It is beloved
7:15
and satired and parodied in everything. I've seen groundhog Day episodes in many different
7:26
TV shows. I'm sure anyone who listens to this could probably name a few
7:30
off the top of their heads. I've seen in the Simpsons, It's in
7:31
Rick and Morty, It's it's it's everywhere. It's just the concept. Right
7:38
as far as stuck in the loop, like it is it's groundhog Day,
7:40
people reference stuck in the Loop as oh, you're doing a groundhog Day,
7:44
you know, like it's it's like it's that referenceable, you know. But
7:48
uh yeah, that's that's why I knew this had to be in my picks.
7:54
It was like, you can't do a time travel draft movie without certain
7:57
films, and this is definitely one of them. But uh yeah, let's
8:03
uh, let's get into it. Nick. Nick, when's the last time
8:05
you've seen roundhog Day? Oh? Man? Uh? I probably like when
8:11
I was ten or something like it's been so long that I pretty much forgot
8:16
the whole thing, Like I really didn't really didn't know what was going to
8:18
happen, Which was kind of cool to watch it from like a fresh perspective
8:24
while in the miss midst of a time travel draft series, because you know,
8:28
we're watching it in a slightly different way because I'm the whole time,
8:31
I'm like, what's the trigger for the day starting over? Like what's the
8:37
time travel mechanism of this film? Like how is it actually happening? And
8:41
why is it happening? And all these things, like, you know,
8:43
asking those kind of questions rather than just kind of watching it as a film,
8:48
And so that was cool to kind of watch it almost almost for the
8:52
first time in a way because it's been so long. Yeah, how about
8:58
you, It's been a while for me too. I probably haven't seen it
9:03
since I was a kid. There's very little I did remember about this movie.
9:09
I honestly remembered this movie being more focused on comedy than it was,
9:16
and I forgot how dark this movie actually gets at certain points. I also
9:20
wasn't prepared for for like when when we hit that mark, But we'll talk
9:26
about that in a second here. As as we entered the plot, I
9:31
I do want to say that there there is one part of this movie that
9:35
I remembered vividly, and it was still just as funny watching it as an
9:41
adult than when I was a kid. And it's it's definitely the moment when
9:46
Phil is I think it's the third or fourth day that he's experiencing the loop.
9:52
It's when he's beginning to embrace the fact that there are no consequences to
9:56
his actions anymore. And it's it's when he sees the insurance agent Ned,
10:01
when he walks outside and Ned's like Phil, He's like Ned, and he's
10:07
immediately how many gold? So good? Yeah, absolutely great? But yeah,
10:16
Edie jumping into this movie we're introduced to Phil. Phil is a pretty
10:22
miserable human being. He's just rude with everybody. He thinks he's better than
10:28
everyone, and he gets stuck doing this this very soft news gig, or
10:35
at least the way he sees it, his soft news gig to go cover
10:39
Posatani Phil and see whether or not he can see his shadow. H And
10:45
you know, that's our catalyst for the movie. He enters Posatani, does,
10:48
does the news bit, hates it. They try to get out,
10:52
they get stuck in a blizzard, and then he repeats Groundhog Day all over
10:56
again the next day. And as far as the rest of this plot goes,
11:05
it's really interesting because this movie is a lot. It's smarter than I
11:11
remembered it being, because I honestly thought it was just a comedy that just
11:16
you know, eventually ends in a romance, right right, And I didn't
11:20
think it had much more to say than that. But it really explores how
11:28
a person, you know, the layers of a person in a situation like
11:33
this, and like what they'll do. And one thing that I really enjoyed
11:37
about this film in the way it's told is with the exception of when Phil
11:46
is told well, if I was caught in the loop, I would do
11:48
whatever I want because that would mean no consequences. That's the only time the
11:54
film ever tells you exactly like what direction we're going after that. Every segue
12:01
that you see into like his mood, it occurs like nonverbally, like on
12:07
the screen, like you're just kind of watching him, like segue into like
12:11
a different mood, right, Like it starts with them freaked out, and
12:15
then it enters into him embracing the exits of this right right, yeah,
12:22
and then he moves more toward like I guess still trying to have fun with
12:28
it, but from like a romantic view, right, but it's still like
12:31
all about him. And then he enters like this sort of apathy and then
12:37
depression, and then this moment where he has like this sort of God complex,
12:45
like he decides like he must be God. Right, It's like,
12:48
I mean, I mean, he's right too, right. The whole universe
12:50
kind of revolves around him at that point. And then finally, like I
12:56
think and maybe we can have some debate here about like why this works out
13:01
for him in the end, but perhaps a value on life that he didn't
13:05
have before that ultimately like a person finds very attractive in him, right,
13:13
And I guess it's kind of like a beauty in the BT situation, Like
13:16
once someone's able to like, you know, love him for who he is,
13:22
that's when the horse is broken, right, right, at least that's
13:26
what I got out of it. What a what are your initial thoughts?
13:30
He goes through this journey where eventually he learns to just embrace the like the
13:37
most boring day basically, right, because at the beginning he's like, oh,
13:43
this is the worst day of my life. I hate this is the
13:45
worst day of my year every year or whatever he says, like he hates
13:48
Groundhog Day. So literally, like as far as the film goes, this
13:52
is his least favorite day of the year when he gets to go to this
13:56
small town and then he gets taken on a like And this is according to
14:01
our friends online who have done all the research on how long this loop lasts.
14:05
But it's about thirty four years. Oh interesting, we've different counts on
14:09
that. I saw one count that indicated about ten years, but mind that
14:18
was on Wikipedia, so maybe that's not right. I think the thirty four
14:24
almost thirty four was via Reddit, which I actually trust a little bit more
14:28
than Wikipedia. So I'll be honest with you, I actually think thirty four
14:31
is it makes more sense because like part part of the logic for ten years
14:37
was it takes ten years to become like an expert at something, and yeah,
14:45
and he was an expert at like a lot of things, right,
14:46
like including ice sculpting, right, So like, yeah, I think thirty
14:52
four years is a lot more check label with piano, ice sculpting and whatever
14:56
else he learned all that stuff. But back to my original point, Like,
15:01
you know, his is like his least favorite day of the year and
15:05
he gets stuck in a loop there, and I think the bigger lesson is
15:09
just like you have to learn to find the beauty and the worst days too,
15:18
right, and like those days can be fun and enjoyable, and the
15:22
only way he could figure that out is by being stuck in the loop on
15:26
the worst day ever. Basically, But you know, we go through thirty
15:31
four years allegedly of of insane mental swings, right like excitement, depression,
15:41
tries to kill himself one hundred different ways, doesn't work, and then eventually
15:46
embraces, embraces and accepts that it's just how it is basically, well there
15:52
is there is one thing and I failed to mention this before and it is
15:56
really important. It I think the turning point for him. And this is
16:00
kind of like what I was talking about for like nonverbal like segues in the
16:03
plot, because like after you know, the whole like I could do whatever
16:08
I want, Like after that, it's almost like he stops talking to like
16:11
the audience, right right, there's a there's a moment where he decides the
16:18
one thing that he hasn't done is help of the people in this town,
16:25
right, And it's it's that turning point with like that homeless man where the
16:29
nurse tells him there's nothing you could have done, like sometimes people are just
16:33
old and like he doesn't accept that, right, He's like, well no,
16:37
I like I'm still gonna like save this guy, like I have an
16:40
infinity to try right, right, And and he does right and throughout the
16:48
movie, like a lot of for such a boring day, a lot of
16:52
like really eventful things happened in this thing one for people, right, And
16:56
maybe that's kind of the point, but like there was some crazy things that
17:00
happen. He saved like a lot of different people. Yeah, which maybe
17:03
that's almost like the most unbelievable part of this movie is at the end of
17:08
the movie, or I guess, like the final February second, right when
17:14
they're at the party and like all everyone comes up to him to like thank
17:18
him for all the stuff that he's done, and it's like, Okay,
17:21
so I believe that he's done all these things, right. What I have
17:26
a hard time believing is he did all these things in one day. In
17:30
one day, right, right, because it's not like a Hermione situation.
17:34
You can't be anywhere everywhere all at once. Yeah, totally uh incredible that.
17:44
I mean, he's a pro. He's got it mapped out, so
17:45
like, but that also plays into into oh, what's the love interest is
17:52
it? Rita rita, rita falling and falling for him in the finally falling
17:56
for him for real in the very life sequence, because like he's just an
18:03
amazing guy out of nowhere. She thought he was just a grumpy weather man,
18:07
and she's seen a whole different side of him. Boy being stuck there
18:11
because of a blizzard in that second half of the day, you know,
18:15
and totally, yeah, incredible transformation as far as like him deciding and like,
18:22
like you said, the turning point being when he started to save the
18:25
people in the town and helping the people of the town. Yeah, embracing
18:30
people. Yeah, exactly. I think the one that I needed to happen,
18:34
just because like the dude felt so miserable is when he befriends finally Larry
18:41
the cameraman. Like right before that happened, I was like, man,
18:45
I just I just need him to be nice to Larry. I freaking need
18:49
it. I've worked with a lot of cameramen in my day, and like
18:52
I tried to show nothing but respect for like what they do, because like
18:56
it's a tough job. They got a lug around such heavy freaking equipment it
19:00
and like it feels like it's thankless. So like I'm watching Larry take this
19:03
verbal abuse, I'm like, man, that's not right. Someone's gotta be
19:07
nice to Larry. Man, he's doing a killer job. All it took
19:11
was a coffee, the damn donut. I mean, unbelievable. Larry's a
19:14
simple man. Just give him coffee and you're happy. Yeah, I mean,
19:18
truthfully, that's all it would have taken for me too, Give me
19:21
a coffee and a donut. I've been like best guy ever. Amen.
19:23
Yeah, that's it. We're simple. We're simple creatures are simple creatures.
19:27
Hey, if you want to send a Nick and Joe a coffee and a
19:30
donut, just here's the address. Kidding, don't do that Nick when he's
19:34
hungry. Oh, absolute monster coffee and donut purrs like a kitten. All
19:40
right, well, thank you for that. All right, let's let's talk.
19:45
I mean, let's just jump into the time travel part. This is
19:48
a time travel draft series is a time travel movie. We're talking about time
19:52
travel. We don't really have to get into too many other things. They're
19:55
gonna I think they'll loop in no pun intended as we talk about the time
19:59
travel. But sensing there might be one more thing you want to mention before
20:02
we move on. You are you know me? Well, yes, there's
20:07
one more thing I want to mention before the time travel. And I just
20:10
want to put this out here because I don't want to forget it. Andy
20:15
McDowell is the actress that plays Rita Hanson yep. And I just want to
20:21
say I don't think she was cast very well in this movie. And if
20:26
anyone out there is a big mcdalell fan, I am so sorry, especially
20:30
if you love her in this movie, it just feels like all of her
20:33
lines are so flat and like when something like bad is happening around there around
20:40
them, she barely reacts. She's just like, oh, no, Phil,
20:42
I think something's wrong. He's acting strange, like is no one help?
20:48
And like I get Bill Murray's like an amazing actor, like I get
20:51
like and trying to maybe act next to him doesn't always look good, but
20:53
like, shoot, dude, I don't know. Chris Elliott like isn't like
20:57
a world famous actor, and like he's doing a fine job, Like yeah,
21:03
I don't know. Just every time she spoke, I was just like,
21:06
why is no one giving her direction? Jesus? Yeah that was a
21:08
miss for sure. But the thing is is like Bill Murray just he's just
21:15
so damn good that it doesn't matter, right, Like it almost didn't matter
21:21
who else was in the movie, because like this was a Bill Murray monologue
21:25
basically, like this is a Bill one man show. Like everyone else like
21:32
was fine and did good. It was cool to see a couple of them,
21:34
Like it was cool. It's cool that Chris Elliot's in this film.
21:37
Like didn't remember that obviously because I haven't seen it in so long. Willie
21:44
Garson, I was very surprised to see at the very beginning, he's like
21:47
the I think the right when when Phil is giving the weather at the very
21:53
beginning in the studio, Willie Garson is the guy who talks to him to
21:57
him after that, right when he gets off set and tells him about like
22:02
his new producer Rita, who again like stares at and sees for the first
22:04
time, Willie Garson is like plays Massie and White Collar, which is a
22:08
show I love and very sad. I didn't realize he died like three years
22:14
ago found that out right doing like looking up this episode. I was like,
22:18
hey, you know that, it's like two thousand and one, So
22:22
sad, I was like, it isad, But I really like, like
22:26
he's he's awesome in White Collar, and so it was cool to see him
22:29
for a second in this film at the beginning. But anyway, but I
22:32
agree with you about Rita, and I think that's just the product of it
22:34
being a Bill just as this was a Bill Murray show, you know,
22:37
I mean, just like this is the movie that's like someone no one's ever
22:42
seen a Bill Murray movie before, and they don't know who Bill Murray is.
22:45
It's like, okay, well here's a Groundhog Day. I'll see you
22:48
in two hours. Now you know who Bill Murray is. This is like
22:53
as good as it gets. That does raised a question of like top Bill
22:59
Murry movies. Uh, we don't have to do that right now, but
23:03
we're not. We should address that. We should address that at some point.
23:07
Space jam. Yeah, And for all of you who are like,
23:11
what do you mean that's a Michael Jordan movie. No, no, no,
23:12
no, no, no no, it's a Michael Jordan movie. It's
23:17
a Bill Murray movie masquerading as a Michael Jordan movie. Okay, it's a
23:19
Bill Murray film. Space is a Bill Murray movie. Crav What is he
23:23
When he tags in at the end and like he comes up with like a
23:27
strategy of like what they're gonna do? They say to him, they're like,
23:32
no, no, that will work because of this, and he's like,
23:34
oh, I don't do that, Like what what's the thing he doesn't
23:37
do? I can't remember you know what I'm talking about? I don't remember
23:42
either, damn it. This is it's like the best part of Bill Murray's
23:47
appearance, like he like creates this elaborate plan and they're like, that's not
23:51
what this is. And he's like, oh, well I don't do this,
23:52
Like damn it. I wish I could remember it. Oh that is
23:59
a wonderful Cambo. Then I forgot about that. Yeah, it's so good
24:03
anyway. Yeah, we won't get go down the Bill Murray movie rabbit Hole
24:07
at this time, but at this time time travel, time travel. Let's
24:12
get into time travel, I wrote. I wrote down like halfway through this
24:17
movie, I was like time travel question mark or or time timeline hop mm
24:22
hmm, you know, because like it kind of goes back to our discussion
24:26
about about time. Yeah, also brought up the Wick and Morty situation.
24:30
It's like, is he is he actually like starting his day over or does
24:37
everything that happens at the end of the day like maybe kill him and then
24:41
he wakes up again in a different timeline somehow he's timeline hopping because like,
24:48
and the reason I thought about this is because, like, you know,
24:52
the first couple of times, the first couple of times he resets his day,
24:56
the last thing he does basically before he let like is take a cold
24:59
shower and he's oh scared when the water gets turned on or it's too right.
25:03
I think it's cold, right because yea too cold. Yeah, it's
25:07
too cold. And I'm like, I'm like, this guy's definitely having a
25:10
heart attack every time the water hits him, so like because I was just
25:14
thinking of like the ways that the timeline sat, and I was like,
25:15
maybe he's actually just like having a heart attack and dying when he takes a
25:18
cold shower and then that like resets his day. It's really he's just like
25:22
in an endless Definitely, this is just hopping onto another like hopping them on
25:27
that day. And then of course, like you know, if that is
25:30
the case, we don't get an explanation, so that's probably not what's happening.
25:33
But I don't know why I thought of that, like during the film
25:37
almost like this guy's like obviously not a healthy individual. He's definitely having a
25:41
heart attack when this cold water hits him. I mean the sounds, dude,
25:48
we've been hit by cold water, right, like freezing water. Like
25:52
I've never reacted that way before, like not like that. It did sound
25:56
like it's funny. You said, like was it cold or hot? Because
25:59
like the first time I heard him react, I thought it was too hot,
26:03
right, Yeah, I feel like that's how you react when you're being
26:06
hit by hot water, right, like cold water. You're like, right,
26:11
we weren't quiet about it. You're like, yeah, this is excellent.
26:18
You know what. That's a flaw in the movie Bill, Bill Murray's
26:22
clearly never been hit by hot or cold water before, Like he doesn't know
26:26
what the difference is. The water temperature of Bill Murray's house perfectly lukewarm at
26:32
all times, all times, all times. He's never known anything but must
26:37
be nice, Must be nice. Oh man, this is what happens when
26:44
the elite tries to hang out or imitate the swill Jesus the other the other
26:52
things that happens, like, you know, throughout his day is he steps
26:57
in that puddle, after he after he sees net and like, you know,
27:02
they emphasize a lot of the things that happen throughout his day within the
27:06
first couple replays of it, just to kind of, you know, overemphasize
27:10
the point of the fact that he's living the same day over again. But
27:12
like the ones that they really emphasize, like him stepping in a puddle or
27:15
him getting in the cold shower, like things like that made me think of
27:19
like, oh, are those like somehow mechanisms for why this day is restarting?
27:26
And all he has to do is like not do one of those things
27:29
for the day to you know contine. Yeah, And of course, like
27:33
eventually, like he avoids the puddle and we don't see him take a cold
27:37
shower anymore, and you know, he gets arrested, so he sleeps in
27:41
a jail, which means he didn't take a shower. Like so like we
27:45
get those all get debunked, those those thoughts potentially all get debunked very quickly.
27:48
It's like, no, there's no, those are not the reasons why
27:52
his day is starting over. And we and again, I do you have
27:56
an idea? Like is there a reason we don't get one really for maybe
28:02
just like a lesson? Yeah, Like I mean that that's so, Like
28:07
I will say, that's kind of a flaw of putting this movie in like
28:10
a time travel draft and in the way that we're analyzing time travel, right
28:14
because like to analyze like we've been analyzing, like you know, the time
28:18
travel mechanics and like how they work within the narrative of their own script and
28:22
whether or not they make sense, do they break their own rules? And
28:26
like really, like this one is so simplistic that like there's really not anything
28:33
to analyze, and like the movie itself doesn't really give you anything except the
28:37
fact that it's happening, right, Like there's really no rhyme or reason for
28:41
why it begins, because like, I mean, let's be honest, Like
28:45
this isn't the first day Phil has been an asshole, Like it's been an
28:48
asshole his entire life. So like why it starts on Groundhog Day, on
28:52
this particular Groundhog Day, Like it's not clear. It just you just maybe
28:56
you just talk too much shit that day. I don't know. Sorry,
29:02
Sorry. The only thing I can think of and why it's that day specifically,
29:04
is because it's the first day that he gets to work with his new
29:11
producer, and when he sees her for the first time in the studio,
29:15
there is like a brief moment where it feels like he's like infatuated by her
29:21
for a second before he goes back to being pissed off that he has to
29:23
put a crown all day. And then of course, the next the very
29:26
next scene is basically them arriving, you know, in the town palks Atani,
29:34
and then you know, going going to sleep, waking up, and
29:37
then Groundhunk Day on Groundhog Day, and so the only thing I can think
29:40
of is it's just like the universe being like, you're in love with her,
29:45
you don't know it yet, but you don't deserve her now either,
29:48
and it's going to take you thirty four years to figure it out. And
29:52
basically the universe is like, you, guys can be this is the one,
29:56
but you need to grow up a lot before you can deserve her.
30:03
And then, for whatever reason, the universe thinks that he does deserve that
30:06
after putting in thirty four years of work, so he ends up repeating the
30:10
same day forever basically, and then he learned to love himself. He learns
30:15
to figure it out. Like that's the only thing I can think of,
30:18
right, Like, but that's really the only explanation because there isn't another explanation.
30:21
It's like it has to be a universal con explanation. I will say
30:26
that that is something I think I actually really love about this movie is that
30:27
it does kind of leave a lot to thought to your own, like speculation
30:33
right. The movie doesn't tell you like a lot about like what is happening
30:37
or why it's happening, like, for example, like what you said earlier
30:41
about like people trying to determine how much time has gone by the movie itself,
30:47
like if you're looking at it, it's really ambiguous, right, like
30:49
you know, it's been a long time, but like if you have no
30:52
concept of really how long he's been there to the point of where he knows
30:59
the day so well, he decides that he is God, which I actually
31:03
really love that development because like, yeah, why wouldn't you think that,
31:07
like you are at that point, like you have knowledge and power over all
31:11
these people at that moment you are, Yeah, exactly a thousand percent he
31:15
did become he was God for thirty four years on that specific day in that
31:18
specific town. Specific That's it. Like it's hilarious. It's crazy, you
31:26
know. I you know that that this movie like it's funny because like this
31:30
is kind of what kicked off this exercise. This movie actually did make me
31:33
think of Loki Season two a lot, with Loki learning quantum mechanics for hundreds
31:44
of years. Right, Yeah, it's you know again, another another thing
31:49
that could easily reference Groundhog Day in its body of work, right, right,
31:56
and becoming godlike. Well, but that's what's so. But I think
32:01
that's another lesson for the film too. Right, It's like, if you
32:05
had all the time in the world, what would you do, what would
32:07
you what would you want to learn? You know? And for him it
32:09
was piano and ice sculpting and you know which I mean. Granted some of
32:15
there were limited things in the town as well, right, Like, he
32:19
didn't have a lot, he didn't have a lot of options to like maybe
32:22
learn other things. The Internet wasn't really a thing yet, So do you
32:25
learn French? But he learned some French? I don't know if he learned
32:30
a lot of French. We know he says a couple of lines of frenchy
32:36
like amazing, amazing, suck like really cool. Yeah, and but yeah
32:40
from a time travel perspective, very simple, no explanations, and then and
32:49
and basically, you know, them falling for each other, you know,
32:52
for real, not by him doing the day over so many times that he
32:55
knew exactly what to say. Them falling for each other for real ended the
33:00
loop basically, and she her staying over ended the loop. You know in
33:06
that regard, this is something that kept like occurring to me. Did you
33:09
ever find it like a little telling about this woman's sanity that that she would
33:19
like fall for him so quickly, Like because like we get it right,
33:22
like we understand like why he might be into her. He's had infinite time
33:28
to get to know her, but like for her, it's like a few
33:31
hours and she's like head over heels in some cases. Yeah, it's such
33:38
a it's I don't know, it's it's a little hard to like analyze too
33:43
deeply because you know, it's like I don't know, if you had infinite
33:46
time to be able to say the right thing, like in theory, you
33:51
you could make it work, right. Yeah, No, that's true.
33:54
So like it's it's Shakespeare's monkey thing, right Like if if you put uh,
34:00
you know, a bunch of monkeys in a room with a typewriter and
34:04
you gave them an infinite amount of time, eventually they'll write Shakespeare, right
34:08
Like That's that's basically what it was, right. Yeah, So yeah,
34:15
I think that, uh, in that regard, it's totally plausible. But
34:20
yeah, do you as far as like his I guess, like like the
34:28
because we agree, Like the mechanic Lake isn't really a mechanic, right,
34:31
Like right there, there isn't this is there's no time travel mechanic. There's
34:37
no concept of time travel. It's it's right, it's it's it's almost like
34:42
see, I feel I feel mixed on saying that because like, on the
34:45
one hand, Lake, well, but also he's not. He can't be
34:46
time traveling because he's waking up in the same place he went to sleep.
34:51
So mean time like if he was time traveling, when he would go back
34:54
in time, there would be two of them, whether or not, I
34:59
mean it depends, right, like because so in the idea that you're talking
35:04
about, like he would be coming back to the same point that he he
35:10
was, right, So that's like one that's one way that the mechanic of
35:15
this would work, right, But I don't think that's what's happening. Like
35:19
what's happening is like the day resets, right, So it's not really like
35:23
he's he himself is going back in time. It's more like the simulation that
35:30
he's in, right, it stops and he restarts over here. It just
35:35
like blows up and it restarts on the day before, right, Because Like
35:38
the perfect example is is the pencil right that he tests? Right, he
35:42
breaks the pencil, puts it next to the bed. The next day,
35:45
it's not where he left it and it's fixed, right, or it's not
35:47
fixed, it's just never been broken, right. Yeah, So I mean
35:54
he I would say his consciousness is right, like his consciousness keeps like he
36:00
can die, right, So his body. This is actually a great point,
36:02
Nick, from what you brought up. His body is not time traveling.
36:06
We know that that's probably true unless like his body is also resetting,
36:10
but that doesn't seem realistic because his mind doesn't reset. It's got his consciousness
36:15
has to be going back to the day before because he's killed himself. Gruesome
36:17
way. So you're right, his body's not time traveling, so he physically
36:21
is not time traveling. Yes, yeah, so this is more of like
36:23
a Desmond Hume from Lost situation, or his consciousness is traveling back. God
36:30
damn it. This is a second time in like three months that Joe's brought
36:32
up Loss on a podcast. I can't wait to rewatch Lost. Wow,
36:37
we're gonna have to, Like that's like a three that's three years of our
36:40
lives right there. Rewatching Loss and only talking about Lost. We will do
36:44
it so too. For the record Lost season fives, time travel is perfect.
36:50
I just want to put that out there, but uh, just a
36:53
reference Loss one more time here the way that they for spoilers for Lost.
37:00
If you've never watched it before and don't want this ruin for you, I
37:02
think you're able to say that at this point, I just watched it.
37:06
Look, I watch Lost by now, like, don't listen our podcast.
37:08
Yeah, this is a Lost fan cast, all right, get out.
37:13
If you don't want to be spoiled. You have five more seconds before I
37:15
just ruin it or three two one. Okay. It's season five when the
37:22
Island is time traveling through time and space, which is just a wild bananas
37:25
concept before before things get strained out and the cast is just stuck in the
37:31
seventies. It's randomly popping up in different like its best hits, like the
37:38
best hits of the Island is where it keeps going and and someone describes it
37:44
as I think it's oh my god, it'll hit me later. Daniel Faraday,
37:49
there it is. Faraday says that it's it's the idea of when a
37:55
record is scratched, and and it just keeps hidden the same loop, right
38:00
because of that scratch, Like it's just stuck there forever. So I mean,
38:04
that's like what's happening to him, right, It's it's it's a broken
38:07
record, let's call it that. It's a broken record mechanic, right,
38:10
His grind is is stuck there. He is the broken record. I think
38:15
the Consciousness is a broken record basically. Yes, that's a great explanation.
38:20
That has to be it. It's the only thing that works based on everything
38:22
else that happens in the film Consciousness. Broken record time let's dub that what
38:30
that is? Yeah, broken record time travel. That's what that is.
38:34
Broken record time travel. That's dubbed by made the review be with you.
38:37
There we go, broken record time travel. We've we we've we've coined a
38:40
new time travel term. This is what podcast is all about. I'm writing
38:45
this down too, because I do not want to forget this greatness that you
38:47
just you just graced ours, graced us with broken record time travel, broken
38:53
record travel, because that's you know, like he's not nothing physically ever changes
39:00
for him after the day resets, So it's got to be a mental thing.
39:06
It's the only only explanation that works. M m yeah, even like
39:12
the time hop timeline hopping doesn't work because he kills himself a bunch of gruesome
39:15
ways, so he can't take his body times. Right, that's right,
39:19
and that's not always what what resets it, right, it's just any time
39:22
he's it's anytime his mind loses consciousness, right, yeah, hm hm hmm.
39:32
Interesting, that's it. We figured it out. We cracked the code,
39:36
man, We cracked the but as still like why why it starts?
39:39
Uh? I don't know. Posatani Phil cursed him. I will say that
39:45
the most the hardest part of this movie for me to watch is when he
39:50
he jacks the truck with Phil like Posatani like Groundhog fail and like he's gonna
39:55
kill himself and the groundhog and the groundogs like stupidest I've never seen ground hill
40:00
before. That's a cute animal, and like the idea that like he's just
40:06
gonna send them both careening over the edge into a fiery explosion. That was
40:13
the most ridiculous scene when when the when just the truck goes over the over
40:19
the gap and just like explodes and then what's his name? The camera guy,
40:25
Oh, Larry, Larry, before it explodes, he's like, well,
40:30
maybe they're okay. And then it reminded me of at the end of
40:37
Ragnarok when they're on the ship leaving, leaving Asgard when it's being destroyed and
40:46
the and what the hell is his name? Uh, I'm so mad,
40:57
remember that. I didn't know time type did that. Yeah, yeah,
41:01
it's it's cool. That's cool anyway, Cork. So at the end of
41:05
Ragnarok, when they're on the ship like leaving because it's being you know,
41:08
Asguard's being destroyed, and then like there's like a big explosion or whatever,
41:15
and then Cork's just like, well, that's not so bad. We can
41:17
rebuild. And then right after he says we can rebuild, it just like
41:22
completely like disintegrate. It's like the whole the whole, the whole world just
41:27
like annihilates like that exactly what reminded me of that The Groundhog. They scene
41:31
when he goes off the ravine and classic like nineties comedy moment like yeah,
41:40
I'm sure it's fine, and then followed by a huge explosion. Yeah.
41:44
So it's so funny, so ridiculous. That is the most surreal moment of
41:47
the entire movie, like that they have that reaction like, oh, maybe
41:52
he's fine, but like it was really brilliant though, like the stages of
41:57
him right from like shocked to excitement to like grief to depression, killing himself
42:07
then to well make the most of it and learn all these other things that
42:09
will be really fun. And then ah, well, let me help out
42:15
the people because they end they're actually really nice people. I've been here for
42:19
so long. I got to know them. I need to help them.
42:20
And then finally falls in love and then gets out of the loop, like
42:23
and then he wants to live there. Then he wants to live there.
42:27
Yeah, I mean why not. You're you're basically god. Everyone knows you.
42:32
He knows everyone so well. Yeah, because the next day he wakes
42:38
up and everything that had happened the day before did actually happen, and he's
42:42
like the greatest guy ever, Like so awesome, fun film. They don't
42:49
make movies like this anymore. You said that to me, and I wonder
42:53
what he means by that, And I watched I watched it a couple of
42:57
days later, and I I think I know what you mean after watching it
43:01
now, But like what do you mean when you say that, dude,
43:05
Like nineteen ninety three, you have limited resources. You have to rely on
43:08
the script and the actors and actresses and so like you really have to it
43:15
really just hass. It takes more thought, more creativity, more simplicity.
43:22
Most movies today are like yeah, and we talk about this a lot on
43:25
the podcast, like there is a balance between practical effects and cgi that needs
43:31
to be had and like Nolan does it well, Denny from Doune does it
43:37
well. A lot of people don't do it well. A lot of these
43:39
big studios are just too reliant on tech. Now. When you watch a
43:44
movie like groundhog Day from ninety three, and I'm in the movie the whole
43:50
time, it's like really entertaining, it's fun, and like it doesn't take
43:57
itself too seriously obviously because of the kind of movie that it is, but
43:59
like it's just like it's a solid film and you there's no like crazy.
44:06
The most what the craziest like thing that was like maybe a little bit overdone,
44:09
like attitude was the explosion with the car we were just talking about,
44:15
but that they probably actually did did that with practical effects because it was ninety
44:19
three so like on a smaller scale, Like it might not have been an
44:22
actual, like real size truck. It might have been like a smaller scaled
44:25
version with just like you know, camera work. Most likely it is how
44:29
they did that, but it looks it was what I mean, but it
44:31
looks good. Yeah, you know, you could tell a little bit that
44:35
it's like, Okay, they definitely shot this on like a different scale.
44:37
You know, you could tell, but like it didn't ruin it. You
44:40
know, it's like and like and that's what like you have to like look
44:43
at that with like skeptical eyes, right right right, and if you're not,
44:46
like, it's gonna look perfectly fine. Yeah, And so they just
44:50
don't make them like that, you know. It's like and and the other
44:53
movie that comes to mind that I watched recently that I had the same thought
44:55
was like something like a rush Hour, you know, like rush Hour one,
44:59
rush Hour two, Like those are just comedies that have like fun scripts,
45:05
and they just they don't make movies like that like a lot anymore.
45:07
It's just tough. You know. Yeah, I don't know, that's just
45:12
what I think. So I watched the movie with your with that text in
45:15
mind that they don't make movies like this anymore, which, by the way,
45:20
I love that you said that, because like I felt like like there
45:22
was just such a whimsy to that thought, right, like this is this
45:27
was film, right, yeah, this is rom com. But but I
45:35
think I got what you meant. Like, after I saw it, I
45:37
was like, this, this entire movie, it's such a simple idea,
45:43
and like the only way it works is if you have an actor who's able
45:46
to like carry it on on their back, right, And Bill Murray was
45:52
that guy, and you know he's he's the guy that can he can play
45:55
the asshole right believably and then like a lovable protagonist by the time you get
46:01
to the end. I was just watching another movie the other day, Ricky
46:07
Stinicky, in which zach Efron, who I think is a wonderfully charismatic actor,
46:14
is miscast in this movie because the actor that he's supposed to or the
46:17
character is supposed to play, has like no charisma. It was a weird
46:23
choice to put someone who has a ton of charisma as a character who has
46:28
zero. I don't know, it was it was weird anyway, thoughts on
46:35
Ricky Sinicky different cast, But yeah, it was it was neat to have
46:39
a one man show, like you said earlier, right, like you honestly
46:45
could have. It could have been nobody else in this movie, and honestly,
46:47
like I probably would have been just as entertained. It's it's a movie
46:51
that just solely relies on the main character's performance, and it was great.
46:59
Let's let's scores. Let's do scores, all right, So we grade our
47:04
time travel movies a bit differently. We judge them in three different categories,
47:08
the scores being out of five, so perfect score would be fifteen. The
47:14
first category that we judge in is overall narrative, So out of five,
47:19
Nick, what do you give the overall narrative overall narrative? Four point two
47:24
fun film? Enjoyed it, you know, like pretty simple, simple premise
47:32
and script, and yeah, four point two solid film. Four point two
47:37
holds up still from even though it's an old, older movie from ninety three.
47:42
Yeah, I think I'm gonna go a little bit higher. I think
47:47
the story is really simple, but there's there's a brilliance to its simplicity,
47:53
right that I think is like really well thought out, especially like that character
47:59
journey, right, I really I really enjoy like how believable it feels like
48:04
someone going through this, and like all the different like phases that we get
48:08
to observe from him. The one that we didn't talk about was like the
48:12
brief moment of insanity that he seems to have that's honestly pretty creepy when he's
48:16
trying to force a relationship with Rita and he's just trying to say all the
48:22
things that he knows works as fast as he can. Like that Epart felt
48:27
really like a horror movie. Yeah, it's it's amazing, like how often
48:34
the mood of the movie changes. But yeah, overall for the story,
48:39
I really do enjoy it. Maybe the only part that's a little bit unbelievable
48:45
in this very surreal story is like toward the end that like he could just
48:49
do all of this in one day. Right, But I guess if you're
48:52
pro so, I think I'm gonna give it. I think we're gonna go
49:00
with a four to six here. I'm gonna go four to six. All
49:02
right. Our second category is we judge the time travel mechanic. This is
49:08
going to be a weird one to judge and judge Nick judging in any way
49:14
you feel is appropriate. Here, So we have decided that it's broken record
49:21
time travel through consciousness because we're time travel experts. Clearly, this film gives
49:31
no explanation for how this is happening. So this is the very low score
49:39
two point three for time travel. It's because we don't there's no explanations at
49:45
all, and we kind of have to make them up on our own.
49:47
And I think from how we've been grading everything previously, it's about the explanations
49:52
that we're given within the film, and since we really don't get any here,
49:55
I just low score for me. So I don't I don't disagree with
50:01
anything he said. I so the mechanic works for the sake of the film,
50:07
right, right, it's very simple. All that needs to happen is
50:12
that he goes back in time. I think as far as like mechanics work,
50:15
it's it's a very boring time travel mechanic. And maybe I only feel
50:19
that way just because like this has been done so many times since this movie
50:23
has come out, right right, that there are just so many more interesting
50:28
and engaging ways to explore time travel. So maybe it's not fair for me
50:31
to feel that this is a boring time travel idea. But like it is.
50:37
There certainly were time travel stories before this movie came out that had time
50:43
drave mechanics that are way more interesting. So I yeah, I'm probably not
50:49
gonna give a very high score for those either. I am going to be
50:51
higher than you. I'm just gonna go right, like right down the middle.
50:54
It's a two point five half. I'm just going half it. What
50:59
it does, it does well. It just happens to not be very exciting,
51:02
you know. Sounds like a point okay. And finally, how did
51:09
this movie do in the category it was drafted into? And just as a
51:17
reminder, this movie groundhog Day was drafted into the category of time travel and
51:22
romance. Pretty it fits in the category very well. The only thing that
51:30
it has going against it is that it's such a good stuck in a loop
51:35
movie that I almost like that. It makes me feel like it's it was
51:43
miss drafted like you are like in your time you know, you're stuck in
51:46
the loop. Filmost twelve twelve Monkeys, which is also a very great pick,
51:50
was a great pick for stuck in a loop. This would have also
51:53
been a great pick for stuck in a loop. And this might be the
51:55
stuck in the loop of all Stuck in the Loop movies, and that's all
51:58
I kept thinking about during it. Although there is a romance involved and it
52:01
does fit in that category as well. So because of that, I'm going
52:05
to give it a four point four out of five for how well it fits
52:12
in the category because I was thinking about how good it could have been for
52:15
stuck in a Loop film. Because I'm obviously obvious reasons this is fair criteria.
52:22
After all, we do have to judge it against the category that it
52:25
could have worked in best. So yeah, like I said, I wanted
52:30
to get creative with how I chose some of these, and this could have
52:36
worked in a lot of different categories. Stuck in the Lube obviously is probably
52:38
the one it could have worked in best. I just felt like twelve Monkeys
52:42
like that worked very well there, Right, Yeah, I think ultimately I'm
52:51
going to go probably a lot higher here for romance because, like I mean,
52:55
like it is what it is, right, It's a romantic comedy,
53:00
it's time travel, it's all there, it's all there, and me watching
53:04
it again, honestly it did not change my feelings on that. So I
53:07
think for the category, I'm gonna go like a four. Honestly, I
53:14
don't have a reason not to go four to eight here. I think the
53:15
only reason why I wouldn't go higher is just because, like, how crazy
53:19
unbelievable it is at the very end that everybody is like best guy ever,
53:24
best guy ever, He's everywhere like this guy rules like you had thirty four
53:30
years to do the same day over again. I think I think it would
53:34
be very need to see the scene. I need to see the scene where
53:37
he is running all over town like an insane person, saving and doing the
53:40
mundane tasks that people love him for. I need to see that insane scene.
53:46
That's the only reason I can't be a five for me. This is
53:52
a good point for us to tally because we both now have had two movies
53:58
each for the two categories that have gone by, the first being Stuck in
54:02
the Loop. As a reminder, Nick chose Harry Potter and The Prisoner of
54:07
Azkaban for that. I chose Twelve Monkeys. Our other category that we just
54:10
did, Romance in time Travel, which of course about time and Groundhog Day.
54:15
Right now, with the point totals that we've got, Nick is leading
54:19
the time travel draft with forty nine point four points. I am trailing behind
54:23
four points with forty five point nine not getting right I got. I got
54:30
smoked on Groundhog Day a little harder than I thought I was going to.
54:35
Sorry, Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban is the highest rated movie we have
54:39
so far, with twenty six point three points out of thirty. That's crazy,
54:45
actually yeah yeah, yeah, cause the other three didn't get above twenty
54:49
four points. Yeah. The thing that helped us was that helped Harry Potter
54:52
is the time travel mechanic is actually really good and it was a great mechanic
54:57
again. Yeah, like yay, Caron crushed the mechanic mechanism there. Yeah,
55:02
that's definitely what what helped. And that movie is only you know,
55:07
really it's only the last like third of the movie where you're really talking about
55:09
time travel. So that helps it too, because there's less time to break
55:15
down the time travel part of Yes, right, and all the other movies
55:20
we've reviewed besides that one, it's like a full time travel film. It's
55:23
funny like it looks like looking at the scores, I thought about Time was
55:28
going to be the highest rated movie because I gave the story of that a
55:31
five right, and it's not. It's both Twelve Monkeys and About Time scored
55:39
the same at twenty three point one points. Yeah, our lowest rated movie
55:45
actually right now is ground On, which is shocking at twenty two point eight
55:50
points out of all. Hey, it's a time travel series and there has
55:54
to be some more information about the time travel and if it's not in the
55:59
film, it's it's gonna hurt. It's gonna hurt. Dude. I'm right
56:01
there with you. I gave I gave The Mechanic two point five and it
56:05
was my own movie. You did, she did well. But yeah,
56:12
we are now entering the third round here. It is my pick for what
56:15
category we do next, And just as a reminder, categories that we have
56:21
left classic time travel, comedy and time travel, superhero time travel movies,
56:27
surprise time travel movies. And I if I could redo this time travel draft,
56:35
what time travel movie would I choose? That's just a fun one for
56:37
the end. But uh yeah, it being my pick, I think it
56:45
might be cool. You know, I'm really kind of feeling the classics right
56:50
now after watching groundhog Day. I'm feeling, let's go time travel classic next,
56:55
all right? Yeah, and for me that would Back to the Future
57:00
alright, and I believe my pick for classic was terminated too. Yeah that's
57:07
right. Oh, that's such a good one. That's that'll be interesting to
57:10
see which one gets higher there. Yeah, that's gonna be great. I
57:15
love it, right yeah uh so yeah, catch us next time when we're
57:20
reviewing Back to the Future. But until then, may the review be with you.