Top Five Favorite Bill Murray Movies

Let’s face facts: Bill Murray is the man. It doesn’t matter if you were born in 1959 or 1999, you have to admit this one universal truth. Maybe you’re a fan of his comedic roles such as in “What About Bob?” or “Caddyshack.” Or perhaps you enjoy his dives into the dramatic arena such as in “Lost in Translation” or “Broken Flowers.” Whether lighthearted or serious, Bill Murray has played at least one role that has touched you. And beyond his stellar acting career that seems to gain depth and complexity as it ages (much like a fine wine or cheese), Bill Murray seems like a kickass person in real life. I mean, he’s in his late 50s and he's crashing college parties. Need I supply more evidence?

Well, this month’s list is my Top Five Favorite Bill Murray Movies in honor of Bill Murray. His birthday is September 21 (he’ll be turning 59), and this seems like an opportune time to give him an early gift.

My only rule for this list is that Bill Murray must be one of the main characters. This means movies like “Caddyshack” will not be making an appearance on this list. As much as I appreciate the character Carl Spackler, it’d be hard to argue he was the film’s protagonist, or even a secondary one at that. But beyond that one rule, any of Mr. Murray’s films are up for grabs. So, without further adieu….

5. “Ghostbusters” (1984) - This film speaks for itself. This Ivan Reitman film helped shape the 80s. Not only was the film written chock full of humor, but it starred two of the funniest actors at the time (Dan Aykroyd and, of course, Bill Murray). Rounding out the other two members of the team were Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson, both of who were perfectly cast. And beyond the people element of the movie, the special effects were stunning at the time and made the film an ocular orgasm. The librarian ghost at the beginning and the proton pack beams are proof enough of that (not to mentioned our beloved Slimer). And, more than anything else, what proves that this movie is great is the fact that 10-year-olds who have no right to know who the Ghostbusters are do. Children are still wearing the T-shirts, playing with the action figures and popping in the video games after 25 years. That's proof of quality. Trailer!

4. “Groundhog Day” (1993) – When I first watched this movie, I wasn’t used to the idea of Bill Murray outside of straight comedies. I was used to my Bill Murray in films like "Stripes" and "Quick Change." But much like Jim Carrey would do five years later with “The Truman Show,” Bill Murray successfully showed us that there was more to him than a clown. Certainly, this Harold Ramis film had its fair share of laughs, but it went deeper than that. It showed the downward spiral Murray’s character took into madness from having to repeat the same day over and over again. Watching Murray kill himself repeatedly just to try to find an escape from his endless cycle of hell was heart-wrenching. And, again, much like Carrey would prove years later, this was just the tip of Murray’s dramatic capabilities. Trailer!

3. “Scrooged” (1988) – I love the story of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” It’s a hopeful and stirring story about a man whose life has gone off track and is given a chance to change his ways after a detailed look at what his past, present and future hold for him. In reality, people aren’t given that kind of opportunity, and I think our want for that chance has helped spawn the continuous remakes of the story. Richard Donner’s “Scrooged” is yet another one of these interpretations. What separates this film from the others, though, is that this is set in present day and the Scrooge character is a greedy TV exec (Murray) who is in process of creating a made-for-TV production of “A Christmas Carol.” The movie is touching and funny, and considering that it made my favorite Christmas movie list, it was probably a no-brainer that it’d make this list as well. Trailer!

2. “Lost in Translation” (2003) – This film marks Murray’s greatest, and probably most successful, leap into the field of drama. Sophia Coppola’s film stars Murray as a movie star who is in Japan filming commercials and creates a friendship with a neglected newlywed (Scarlett Johansson). The film was beautifully shot and aptly caught the loneliness that both Murray and Johansson felt as well as their need to create a bond with somebody. I especially love how this film didn’t have the two main characters get together at the end. They both had their own lives, but they were there for each other when they both needed somebody. They’ll always share that time in Tokyo. Trailer!

1. “Coffee and Cigarettes” (2003) – OK, I admit. I cheated. Kind of. See, this film (directed by Jim Jarmusch) is a series of vignettes with no direct continuity to each other but similar themes and conversations. And, as the name somewhat implies, each scene is centered on people drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. Well, one scene of the film, “Delirium,” stars Bill Murray along with GZA aka the Genius and RZA aka Bobby Digital of the Wu-Tang Clan. The entire scene is less than eight minutes long, but Murray’s role is priceless. He plays himself except he’s in disguise as a waiter trying to hide out from somebody (I swear that portions of this are probably biographical). His role in the scene is underplayed, and I think that’s what makes it so good. The entire thing is so realistic and quirky that it burrowed its way into my heart. Side note: I bet it would be a fun drinking game to take a drink (or a shot) each time they say “Bill Murray” in the scene. Find out here.

Mario is Getting Soft in his Old Age

Beating a video game used to mean something. In the old days, it may have caused agonizing frustration and a treasure trove of quarters or broken controllers, but it meant something. When you beat Donkey Kong and saved the Princess, you felt as though you actually accomplished something. Beating the eight robot masters in Mega Man 2 and then moving on to the insurmountable obstacle course that is Dr. Wily’s castle and blasting the old man to smithereens was a testament to true talent and hard work. But now video games as a whole are softening. Beating a game doesn’t leave one feeling as though they did anything worthwhile anymore. Instead it feels more like a chore, and last I checked video games were supposed to be fun.

To show my argument let’s take a look at one particular franchise: Super Mario Bros. The Italian plumber has been around since the days of Donkey Kong and is likely the most recognizable video game icon today. Donkey Kong was a difficult game, but really, that’s not a Super Maro Bros. game. For the plumbers first real games let’s look at first three self-titled sidescrollers (in this writing I will be referring to Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels as Super Mario Bros. 2 as opposed to the watered down version of Doki Doki Panic that was shipped to the U.S.).

The first Super Mario Bros. game was difficult. The jumping mechanics took some time to get used to, there weren’t exactly a lot of power-ups or extra lives, and later in the game the levels became pretty gruesome. However, it was conquerable. Each world consisted of three regular stages and then the castle. The pattern became a mental comfort to many due to the fact that if you ran out of lives in world five, you could just begin at the beginning of world five. And with the low amount of total levels in the game even the difficulty didn’t create too much of an obstacle.

Super Mario Bros. 2, however, was a different beast. This game was so tough that it wasn’t even released in the U.S. As a matter of fact, the first time it was sold by itself in the U.S. was in 2007 when it became the first imported title available for purchase via the Wii’s Virtual Console. I am a person who beat the first Super Mario Bros. with moderate difficulty. I can’t lie and say I breezed through it, but I did finish it. I conquered the game. Now, being a champion of that game, I have to admit that this game is impossible. This wasn’t made to be beaten; it was made to break the souls of individuals who would dare challenge it. I have only made it to the castle of world two. After tasting the sour milk that streams from this evil incarnate, I realized why it was never released here and why we got Super Doki Panic Bros. We were being spared. Japan was showing us mercy. Had the game been sold commercially in the U.S., I predict that suicide rates would have spiked for months afterward. Aggravated assault rates, too. But I digress.

Super Mario Bros. 3 was a return to form. It was challenging, fun, had an array of new powers and even more new levels. Not to mention the game had a new design that was more like a board game, allowing the player to select which path they’d like to take to the castle. The first world was a cakewalk and each one after that grew progressively difficult. World eight, the final world, was damn hard to beat. As a matter of fact, I’ve never beaten it. If I make it to the eighth world I feel like I moved a mountain. If I were to ever beat it on my own, I’d be tempted to retire from video games for accomplishing such a lofty goal.

But now everything has changed. The New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS was a throwback to the original Super Mario Bros. games. It was a sidescrolling platformer and had eight worlds to get through. However, the similarities might as well end there. This newest title was made to be cripplingly easy. First, they made jumps much higher and floatier than in the original games. This means that the player has more time to think about where they are jumping to and where they want to land. And on top of that, they included wall-jumping, which is fun for sure, but takes down the difficultly level a notch or two.

Second, they made it so you don’t have to beat all eight worlds. The worlds are positioned like a hopscotch board with the third and fourth worlds and the sixth and seventh worlds lateral to each other. So, in order to beat the game, you only need to beat six worlds instead of the whole eight. And, as a matter of fact, you have to work damned hard to unlock all eight levels because you need to do something specific to unlock one of the lateral worlds (such as you have to beat a level as mini Mario). So, all in all, there are somewhere between 10 and 20 levels that you don’t need to beat to finish the game.

Those are the two main examples, but there are a myriad of smaller details such as the general level design is a lot more accommodating, even for novice players. But, as much as I criticize this game, I understand why Nintendo did this. Making the game easier made it more accessible to a wider age group and general audience. That, of course means more money for Nintendo. And, honestly, even with the difficulty set at a low bar, I still really enjoyed the game. It was a lot of fun, even if a little hollow feeling. But this weakening of the series apparently wasn’t enough. For the New Super Mario Bros. Wii there will be a demo mode. This mode will allow the player to give up control to the computer when they get to a tricky part that they can’t get through. Shigeru Miyamoto said in an interview at this year's E3, "In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, if a player is experiencing an area of difficulty, this will allow them to clear troubled areas and take over when they're ready. And yes, we're looking into this for future games."

My question is when are video games going to play themselves? When will the player just have to push a single button in order to beat the game? Apparently we don’t value challenging ourselves anymore. We don’t want to force ourselves to learn or adapt to difficult games. Screw growing. I guess all that’s necessary to gamers nowadays is to get immediate gratification, even if they didn’t actually earn it.