Top five Bill Murray films

April 18th, 2008

It should be of no great surprise that Bill Murray is one of my favourite actors and anyone who reads this blog with any frequency will already know the number one film in this list. Murray is intriguing also for the fact that he refuses to have an agent, reportedly he has a phone number with message bank that he infrequently checks.

The top five Bill Murray list

  1. Ghostbusters (1984) - Don’t even bother debating the subject, one of those perfect films, had an extraordinary impact on my life and even holds up today despite some less than brilliant special effects (by today’s standard that is). So many fantastic lines, so many awesome scenes, it’s just Ghostbusters. The sequel sadly enough illustrates the point that even bad Ghostbusters is ok. Bring on CGI Ghostbusters 3.
  2. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) - I find his portrayal of Steve Zissou a funny, tragic and moving performance as is the case in all of his Wes Anderson characters. A lot of critics really disliked this film but quite frankly I’m not too concerned about a lot of critics. My life feels richer for experiencing this film.
  3. Ed Wood (1994) - Another film that seems to get its fair share of bad reviews and similarly another film I feel richer for experiencing. Murray camps it up as Bunny and Tim Burton delivers a wonderful tribute to an often misunderstood director (as accurate as the film may or may not be).
  4. Stripes (1981) - Funniest half a film I’ve seen him in, the first half of this film makes up easily for the confused and plodding second half.
  5. Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) - This is an odd choice for the fifth spot and many will complain about no Groundhog Day or Scrooged, both of which were serious contenders for this spot. The film Coffee and Cigarettes itself gets the movie across the line as I love the collection of short movies one of which features Bill Murray. If you haven’t seen it then I greatly recommend it for a series of short personal reflections that feature coffee and of course cigarettes.

There is a very long list of films that easily could be on this list, but there are only five spots and I’m not bumping one of these films for Charlie’s Angels so don’t even bother suggesting it :).

Next week: It’s the end of the world…

Update: I’ve finished the first novel so I’m right on track, just have to choose the next one, probably stick with the Star Trek theme.

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