Favorite Bill Murray Movie/Role?
 

I've come to have a HUGE respect for Bill Murray after "Lost in Translation," and "The Life Aqautic with Steve Zissou," I mean I always though he was hilarious, but he's got some pretty serious acting chops too. So what do you guys think? What's you're favorite Murray Movie/role?

I'm torn between Steve Zissou and Carl from Caddyshack.

In the "Dissect Your Favorite Actor/Actress" thread (HERE) I said all of this...

http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1413816197

William James Murray
Born September 21st, 1950 in Wilmette, Illinois

The fifth of nine children. Older brother Brian and younger brothers Joel and John also have acting careers (the only movie to date to showcase all four brothers is Scrooged).

Married twice, he has six children (two with his first wife, four from his current marriage). All are boys: Homer, Luke, Jackson, Cal, Cooper and Lincoln.

Major Awards:
Oscar nomination, Best Actor for Lost in Translation
Golden Globe nominations for Ghostbusters and Rushmore, and a win for Lost in Translation
Independent Spirit Awards, two wins for Rushmore and Lost in Translation


Started his career on the stage of the legendary Chicago improv club The Second City. From there he joined The National Lampoon in their stage and radio projects working with people like Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Harold Ramis and Christopher Guest. He almost made the cut as one of the original Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time-Players on "Saturday Night Live" but instead joined in the second season after original castmember Chevy Chase decided to leave the show.

Bill made his first screen appearance with a small uncredited role in Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976 - Paul Mazursky). His first starring role was in Meatballs (1979 - Ivan Reitman), a very small Canadian project that became a surprise smash in the summer of 1979 making more than twenty times the paltry million or so it took to make, signaling that Bill Murray was going to be a movie star.

Bill's deadpan delivery, sarcastic wit and desheveled everyman looks made him a comedy icon in movies like Caddyshack (1981 - Harold Ramis) and Stripes (1981 - Ivan Reitman), but it was the mega-success of Ghostbusters (1984 - Ivan Reitman) that created a susperstar.

Murray gave a glimpse into the man underneath the persona when he made Columbia Pictures agree to finance an adaptation of William Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge (1984 - John Byrum) if they wanted him to star in Ghostbusters. The novel obviously had some personal meaning for Murray, and he co-wrote the screenplay.

The comic persona he honed and perfected from "SNL" through Ghostbusters 2 was something he probably could have played for the rest of his career, but Murray made a shift in the kind of material and roles he accepted in the '90s. He co-directed the bank heist comedy Quick Change (1990) and scored again at the box office with the charming fantasy Groundhog Day (1993 - Harold Ramis). But again he was always looking for something else, and in the dark comedy Mad Dog & Glory (1993 - John McNaughton) and a highlighted supporting role in Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994) he showed he had much more range than Carl the dimwitted groundskeeper and Venkman the Ghostbuster.

Murray's career hit a new level when Wes Anderson cast him in Rushmore (1998). The brooding character in this dark comedy was perfect for Murray's gifts as a screen actor, where his deadpan wit and supreme subtltly could be used to explore dramatic depths that his earliest work rarely hinted at (save for his great supporting role in Tootsie). Subsequent projects Cradle Will Rock (1999 - Tim Robbins), Hamlet (2000 - Michael Almereyda), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001 - Wes Anderson), Lost in Translation (2003 - Sofia Coppola), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004 - Wes Anderson) and Broken Flowers (2005 - Jim Jarmusch) further explored what Murray was really capable of as an actor. Approaching sixty years old, Bill is at the top of his game and doing the best work of his life.

Bill has two cherished pet projects that he's been trying to get made for years with no success. One is a biography of Bill Veeck, the Chicago native and colorful owner of minor and Major League Baseball franchises (including the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox) who was famous for his wacky publicity stunts and love of the game. Murray owns the rights to his autobiography, Veeck as in Wreck, but has been unable to find backing. Murray is a huge baseball fan, especially The Cubs, and is himself part-owner of the St. Paul Saints of the Independent League. Mike Veeck, Bill Veeck's son, is the principal owner.

The other project is another biography, of Michael Larson who scammed the gameshow "Press Your Luck" in the 1980s. He memorized the supposedly "random" pattern of the computerized game board and won over $100,000.00 in cash and prizes. He got to keep the money, but lost it all later through bad decisions and a nasty divorce. He died in 1999 of throat cancer while laying low to avoid the S.E.C.

http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1413816413

My picks for his best movies...
1. Rushmore
2. Lost in Translation
3. Broken Flowers
4. Groundhog Day
5. Quick Change


My picks for his worst movies...
1. Osmosis Jones
2. Garfield
3. Kingpin
4. Charlie's Angels
5. Ghostbusters 2


Most underrated...
1. Quick Change
2. The Man Who Knew Too Little
3. Hamlet (2000)*

*Murray plays Polonius in this modernized take on Shakespeare, and I think his reading of the "Never a borrower nor a lender be" speech is the best I've ever seen of that piece, stage or screen, bar none.


Most overrated...
Kingpin

http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1413816336

I'd probably have to go for either
http://www.destinationhollywood.com/...busters_22.jpgDr. Peter Venkman - Ghostbusters
http://www.film.queensu.ca/Critical/...anslation1.JPGBob Harris - Lost In Translation
http://www.homevideos.com/freezefram...dhogDay25.jpegPhil Connors - Grounhog Day

Well being one of my all time fav movies: Dr. Peter Venkman - Ghostbusters is definately my choice.

1. Caddyshack
2. Broken Flowers
3. Lost in Translation
4, Stripes
5. Rushmore

http://www.michigan.gov/images/Caddyshack_91085_7.jpg

So I tell them I'm a pro jock and who do you think they give me?
The Dalai Lama, himself.
The son of the Lama.
With flowing robes, grace, bald, striking.
I'm on the first tee with him.
I give him the driver.
He hauls off and whacks one.
Big hitter, the Lama. Long!
Into a foot crevice
right at the base of this glacier!
Do you know what the Lama says?
"Gunga galunga. Gunga gunga da gunga."
So we finish and he's going to stiff me.
And I say, "Hey, Lama!
"How about a little something, you know, for the effort?"
And he says, "There won't be any money...
"...but when you die, on your deathbed...
"...you will receive total consciousness."
So I've got that going for me... which is nice.

I liked his segment in Coffee and Cigarettes also. I think it showed another his range that as well as performing comedy, he could be 'the straight man', a foil for RZA & GZA of the Wu Tang Clan "Bill ghostbustin' motherf***ing Murray!". Enjoyed how he acted the part of being an actor who happened to be himself too.

The Man Who Knew Too Little is such an under-rated film...

I just love the cluelessness of it all, especially the mockery he makes of top Government agents lol.

The Life Aquatic
What about Bob?
Kingpin
Lost in Translation

I loved him in What About Bob and Kingpin and of course Ghostbusters.

Groundhog Day

My favourite movie that he is in would have to be 'The Royal Tenenbaums', one of my fave movies.

My favourite Bill Murray role would have to be Phil "yeah, like the groundhog Phil" Connors from 'Groundhog Day'. Gold.

It would be GhostBusters, screwdged, caddy shack and life aquatic.

best movie The Royal Tenanbaums

This is going to sound corny but What about Bob?
Everytime I see that movie I just about die to this day.:)

my fav would be groundhog day he did such a great job in that movie.

Lost in Translation - though this is possibly simply because it was an easy role for me to empathize with, having lived in Japan.

I liked when he played Bill Murray in Lost in translation!

Ok, seriously I thought his best role was Ghost Busters, followed by Rushmore, The Life Aquatic and LiT, even if he was just playing himself in the last one.

I'd rate his performances in this order

Lost in Translation
Groundhog day
Ghostbusters

Granted I haven't seen him in Rushmore or Broken flowers, but I will hopefully soon after exams are over and if my list changes i'll update it :p.

Nothing compares to the magic of "Meatballs."

Favorite Murray movie: Ghostbusters

Favorite Murray role: Big Ern from Kingpin (funny as hell!)

I also enjoyed his performances in Groundhog Day, Wild Things, and What About Bob?.