Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day, like Rashômon, is based on a plot device that has since become commonplace in stories. It’s a shame because it was perfect the first time. We’re all forced to face the terrifying realization that we only have one chance to get life right, so we’d better make it count. Grumpy weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray), snowbound in the idyllic hamlet of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and irate about it, is forced to repeat the titular holiday over and over again until he learns how to be a better person. On one level, it functions as a high-concept romantic comedy, and while it is pleasant to watch Phil win the girl, it is much more entertaining to consider this one’s philosophical underpinnings.
Groundhog Day
Eve’s Bayou
The filmmaker Kasi Lemmons’ improbably assured directorial debut, Eve’s Bayou, transports viewers by conjuring a world of southern gothic mystery and magic without ever losing sight of the emotional truths of its central characters. The eponymous character, played by Jurnee Smollett, opens the movie with the promise of a tale: one in which she murdered her father when she was just ten years old. The movie continues to tackle difficult subjects, but does so with an appreciation of memory’s mutability and how perspective and time may fundamentally alter how we perceive events, ala Rashômon.
Eve’s Bayou
