3. Caddyshack (1980)

too much. there is too much greatness in this movie. it doesn't start or stop with Bill. there are just too many fantastic moments, swings, trick shots, plots, subplots, hilarious lines, and great actors in Caddyshack to love it biasly. Chevy Chase? Rodney Dangerfield? amazing. but i like to think that it is Bill, who plays Karl, the assistant groundskeeper (put in charge of killing the gopher that's digging up the green) that is the glue that holds all the greatness of this film together. i NEED the three of them together in this to love it - like a strange happy threesome.

4. Meatballs (1979)

i never went to camp (my parents loved me) but had they sent me, i would have probably begged to go to Camp North Star. Bill plays Tripper, the hilarious head camp counselor - the role was Bill's first lead in a movie ever (thank you, Ivan Reitman!). Meatballs is probably one of my favourite summertime, sunday afternoon/dusk movies to watch. there's something super nostalgic about it: the short jogging shorts, non-underwire (if any) bras, lots of striped tops, bad frizzy hair, clean, make-up free faces, suntans, sunburns, athletic knee-high socks. sigh. it feels so good.

5. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

i really don't understand why more people don't love this movie? Wes Anderson is one of my favourite directors and this film really highlights everything that is special about Bill's acting and Wes's writing. Wes actually wrote the movie with Bill Murray in mind - and you can totally tell.

6. Lost in Translation (2003)

five times. that's how many times i went to go see this movie in the theatre. five. and i didn't go on cheapy tuesdays either, i was happy to pay the full-price ticket to relive this movie over and over. it's one of my favourite movies of all time probably because it makes me FEEL. and *deep breath* you know when you just really connect to a book or movie? like when you can totally relate to and find parts of yourself in the characters, experiences, feelings, conversations, and the little moments? where certain things make you feel like you've just been catapulted back in time? and after you read or watch it you just need a f-cking drink? 

7. Ghostbusters (1984)

Dr. Peter Venkman. sigh. he's so cool. if i ever own a pet (a REAL pet, something with legs) i will name it after Dr. Peter Venkman. and i wouldn't call it "Pete" or "Doc" or "Venk" for short - i'd call it by the entire name because the name deserves to be said aloud in its entirety - it's an awesome f-cking name, and it would be named after one of the coolest Bill Murray characters. ever. because he's not just funny in the movie, he's also really, really cool. 

8. What About Bob? (1991)

oh. holy. jesus. how funny is this movie? and as the daughter of a psychiatrist, trust me when i say that it's even funnier. Bill plays Bob Wiley, an obsessively-obsessive-compulsive patient of egocentric NYC psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin, played by the great Richard Dreyfuss. can we please first all agree that the chemistry between Bill and Dreyfuss is just incredible? they play off each other SO WELL. i start to laugh out loud when i think about how ANNOYING Bob is - and how much we bloody love him for it (especially since we're not his psychiatrist).

9. Scrooged (1988)

why limit yourself and your happiness to watching it only at Christmas? Bill delivers pure gold in this movie all year round. let's start off with basics, like Bill's name in the film: Francis "Frank" Xavier Cross. it's such a great name. i love how in one of the opening scenes, when Frank's in a workout room with his brother James (btw, that's actually one of Bill Murray's real brothers, John Murray) you catch a glimpse of a border of writing on the wall that reads: "Cross: (n) A thing they nail people to."

10. Groundhog Day (1993)

the day i went to go see it i was sick with a fever and had a really bad sore throat. but i really wanted to go to the movies with my friend Diana who lived in walking distance to the Promenade Mall where the movie was playing. i told my parents that i was feeling much better so that i could go, despite the fact that i had stayed home from school that day in bed and still felt like death warmed up. but of course, Bill made everything better...

Bill Murray

 
you should write about the things you love, right? so, what a better way to start this blog than with my Bill. anyone who knows me knows that i'm obsessed - i've loved him faithfully for years, but in all honesty, i have no idea how i'd react if i saw him on the street. i'd probably just freeze or something, like Bambi in front of a Buick - which actually scares me a bit, because i think if we were to meet, we'd become friends.

take one

ok, i give up. i've promised a bunch of friends and family that i would start a blog about movies. they've been yelling at me to do this for a while, and so, here i am...

i admit to being a seriously hardcore cinephile (n.b. not a cinephile of hardcore). i love movies. i can't live without them. seriously, if i were ever held at gunpoint and the gunman said to me: "ok, if you wanna live, you can never watch another movie for the rest of your life, OR i can blow your brains out right now. what's it gonna be?"