Happy Bill Murray Day!

I hope everyone has enjoyed their endless cycle of do-overs today. It occurs to me that today would have been an excellent opportunity to write about the Top Five Bill Murray films, but given how little time I have to update today, I feel like it would not be much more than "Five Bill Murray Films". But what the heck? I can come up with an informal list in the hour before February 3rd. And if I can't, I'm sure I'll wake up and it'll be the morning of February 2nd again.

5. Groundhog Day

This is in fifth place primarily because I really just wanted to write a quick update before bed and then go back to kicking my legs up. But Groundhog Day reminded me that I can do better. So thanks, Groundhog Day, I was really looking forward to reclining my chair too. But on topic, it's a very funny movie with a standard "Jerk learns to stop being a jerk" subplot but with a few nice quirks and Murray's own comedic flair. I thought things got a bit dark with all the suicide attempts, but I feel like it's also a logical progression of being trapped in the same day over and over.

You magnificent bastard, I read your book!

4. Caddy Shack

Caddy Shack is the greatest golf movie of all time. It is significantly better than Happy Gilmore, because the success of Caddy Shack did not lead to the creation of Jack & Jill or The Zookeeper, or really anything with Kevin James in it that is not Hitch. The only reason it's fourth on the list is because Bill Murray is a minor character in this movie, an underachieving groundskeeper charged with taking down a destructive groundhog. But he is the minorest of minor characters, the Boba Fett of the Caddy Shack world. Most importantly, Caddy Shack gave Bill Murray the vital subterranean rodent experience that he'd need in Groundhog Day. Like all great Bill Murray movies, this one ends with a gigantic explosion.

3.What About Bob? 

I don't remember many specifics about What About Bob? and I'm not entirely sure how to end a sentence with a title like that. However, I do know that Bill Murray is hysterical as the neurotic mental patient, the titular Bob (full name Bob A. Fett), who follows his psychiatrist to his summer home. Over the course of the movie, Bob overcomes his fears and wins the love of his shrink's family, while driving the doctor crazy. Just like in Caddy Shack, this film also ends with a gigantic explosion.

You can't prove that it's not Bill Murray under that helmet!

2. Stripes

Okay, I've already written way more than I ever intended for this article and I haven't even gotten to the big one yet. However, Stripes was the film that Harold Ramis and Bill Murray worked together on before Ghostbusters. Personally, I like to pretend that Stripes is a prequel to Ghostbusters. However, Stripes is a brilliant satire of the Cold War and is the anti-Vietnam movie. It's a proven cure for Apocalypse Now depression. There are many explosions at the end of this film, proving that Bill Murray greatness causes the air around him to violently combust as it yields to his magnificence. Also, it features one of the all-time great speeches about America, which I have included below so I don't have to write so much.



We're 10-1!

1. Ghostbusters

Of course, it's Ghostbusters. If I have to explain why it's Ghostbusters, then we can't be friends anymore. This movie doesn't end with an explosion, but rather with COMPLETE PROTONIC REVERSAL!

"If someone asks if you're a god, ALWAYS SAY YES!" ~Peter Venkman