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.

i was probably 7-years-old when i first saw this movie, and i remember developing a major crush on Tripper. it was easy to have a crush on Tripper. what kid wouldn't? even little boys should've been crushing on him confusion-free. what is so attractive about the character is the energy that Bill gives to him. Bill seems genuinely excited to be in this movie, plus it looks like he really had a ton of fun playing in it. apparently Ivan Reitman didn't know whether Bill was even gonna appear in the film until he showed up on the first day of shooting. you know the red shorts and the Hawaiian shirt he's wearing in the scene when the campers are getting on the buses? those were the clothes Bill showed up to the set wearing. LOVE that. his clothes throughout the movie are actually kind of hilarious and the little details are great. like at the beginning of his "It Just Doesn't Matter" motivational speech (amazing!), he's wearing a Fez hat (even if just for jut a second). or when he's coaching the basketball team, he's got this great burgundy velvet jacket with a butterfly broach on the lapel, paired with a banana-yellow t-shirt, white shorts, and black COWBOY BOOTS.

Bill's lines in the movie are also really fun - and i would imagine he had a lot of freedom to play with his lines. like, everything he says is brilliant, fast, and furiously funny. and his PA announcements to the camp are hilarious - that's probably my favourite thing about this movie. his PA announcements. they're SO GOOD. and i love how they play over scenes of wandering campers, like it's just another announcement, and not a moment of pure comic genius coming through loudspeakers: "Attention campers, afternoon swim schedule is as follows: advanced dolphins, report to the dock for survival swimming and I.Q. testing. All senior silverfish, meet on the beach for nude sunbathing. All junior salmon, trout, and herring, report to the nearest delicatessen. And 6-year-old tadpoles, report to the swamp. And all lobsters, get out of here! You're a menace!" 

something else i really like about Meatballs is that it falls right before the days that the classic "dirty" teen comedies - pre-Porky's. don't get me wrong - i love the dirty teen comedies, it's just that when i'd watch this movie as a kid, it never made me feel cheap - nor did it ever make me feel like i didn't want to be at this camp because i'd be having sex at the age of 6. so, big points for some clean, but really funny fun! i also like the fact that the movie doesn't have any real cliques, despite there being cool kids, losers, athlete-types, and richies. everyone is just really cool with one another - even two of the biggest nerd counselors (Spaz and Fink) are accepted by the rest of the gang. there's no meanness at Camp North Star, and if there is teasing, it's totally harmless and fun. like when Fink and Spaz are hiding under the female counselors' cabin listening to them read a risque' story (pretty tame, actually) and Spaz whispers: "I'm getting a boner!" see? boner is such a harmless word, right? it's funny without making an 8-year-old feel gross - very different than today's "hard-on" equivalent. 

and during the 2-day Camp Olympiad against the elite $1000/week nearby Mohawk camp, the North Star counselors are all super cool, despite the fact that they're the "poorer" camp (without proper cheerleaders) or maybe as many "strong" athletes. but i like that there's no pressure on the kids, because "It Just Doesn't Matter!" and all of the pranks are harmless and really very fun. like when Tripper and the other counselors sneak in to the heavy-sleeping camp director Morty's (Harvey Atkin) cabin, steal him in his bed, and move him so that he wakes-up in odd places (like in the trees on visitor's day, or in the middle of a road or lake). it's also great when during the basketball game, when it's clear that the North Stars are getting slaughtered by the Mohawks (pardon the pun), the North Stars pulls down the shorts of the Mohawk team and take off with Tripper driving the getaway school bus.

the cast in the movie is pretty fantastic - Spaz with his diver's nose plug around his neck and taped up glasses, Fink in the hotdog-eating contest (with Tripper massaging his belly as he goes!), and oh god, i remember how much i wished i could have been that sky, outcast camper boy Rudy (played by Chris Makepeace) - not because i had gender identity problem, but because Tripper becomes fast-friends with Rudy. Tripper spots him as a kid who will have a hard time making friends with the other campers, and so he takes him under his wing. they hang out. like proper hanging out. like playing blackjack for peanuts, and taking morning jogs together. sigh. i love how Tripper looks like he's about to die on every run. and it's charming when Tripper goes to the bus station to bring Rudy back when he's leaving the camp. so sweet.

romance? oh yes. one of my favourite scenes is when Tripper wrestles Roxanne, one of his fellow counselors that he's got a crush on (NOTE: i consider being put in a headlock by Bill Murray to be romantic). he ATTACKS her. and how, HOW does she bloody resist him?!?! i DO NOT understand. is she playing hard to get?! oh, i'm sorry, but does she think that she could even dream of doing better? better than TRIPPER?! bitch PLEASE. 

not with that hair. 

NEVERTHELESS, Tripper's crazy about her. and i love that about him. that he goes for the most unremarkable-looking gal in the bunch. OMG, when he's dancing with her at the social? (can Bill cut a rug or what?) and when he licks her hand????

i NEED to believe that that wasn't scripted. 

or when they're in the canoe together? and she's paddling and he's wearing that hat and singing and playing the little mini guitar? what is always a surprise for me is that one rarely sees Tripper in a serious moment. but at the end, when he asks Roxanne to live together, he's not kidding, and he doesn't make a joke. he's vulnerable and sweet and... sigh.

you know what's actually another really good, GOOD scene? like no joke, this is quality? the scene where Rudy is running the marathon at the end. when you watch the movie, you'll totally notice how suddenly quiet it becomes. it's the first really QUIET scene in the film - there's no talking, no speakers, no kids screaming, no music, and no songs being sung - all you hear is the two runners' breath, the feet on the ground, the birds chirping, and the woods. it's a really great moment in the film and actually pretty exciting. i also really appreciate the fact that while this is a Canadian movie (that may or may not be set in Canada (it's never made clear) - despite the fact that it was filmed at a real camp in Haliburton, Ontario - represent!), there's no sense that it's Americanized. and although i'm a Leafs girl, when Crockett is showing his cabin of 6-year-old's how to fold their shirts - he's wearing a Canadiens' jersey AND is demonstrating his fold with another child-sized one. très f-cking bien.

[on loudspeaker] "Attention. Here's an update on tonight's dinner. It was veal. I repeat, veal. The winner of tonight's mystery meat contest is Jeffrey Corbin who guessed 'some kind of beef.' Congratulations, Jeffery. You've just won a brand new Chrysler Cordoba and you can pick it up at Morty's office." Tripper (Bill Murray) in Meatballs.