Bill Murray is a comedy icon, but the actor has also demonstrated surprising range over the years. Early attempts at drama such as 1984’s The Razor’s Edge ultimately led the actor to a resurgence in dramatic turns later in his career. The most obvious turning point, of course, was 2003’s Lost in Translation, which director Sofia Coppola fought hard to get him to say “yes” to.
Bill Murray landed an Oscar nomination for ‘Lost in Translation’
Even within his comedic performances, Murray has often shown a natural talent for bringing complexity and pathos to his characters. So perhaps fans and critics shouldn’t been quite so surprised by how well Murray embodies the role in Lost in Translation. He plays Bob Harris, a fading movie star who befriends Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) while in Japan to film a whiskey commercial.
Coppola’s melancholy comedy-drama earned Murray some of the best reviews of his career.
Bill Murray landed an Oscar nomination for ‘Lost in Translation’
Even within his comedic performances, Murray has often shown a natural talent for bringing complexity and pathos to his characters. So perhaps fans and critics shouldn’t been quite so surprised by how well Murray embodies the role in Lost in Translation. He plays Bob Harris, a fading movie star who befriends Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) while in Japan to film a whiskey commercial.
Coppola’s melancholy comedy-drama earned Murray some of the best reviews of his career.
- 2/23/2023
- by Robert Yaniz Jr.
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Bill Murray began his career in comedy with Chicago's improv comedy troupe The Second City. He also became involved with National Lampoon after being recruited by John Belushi. In 1977, he joined the cast of the then-still-kinda-new "Saturday Night Live," bringing him into the public eye. In 1979, he was cast in Harold Ramis' summer camp comedy "Meatballs," and would go on to star in several high-profile comedies like "Stripes," "Caddyshack," and Best Picture nominee "Tootsie." In 1984, Murray landed his first cinematic leading roles, in John Byrum's adaptation of "The Razor's Edge," which Murray co-wrote, and Ivan Reitman's supernatural comedy "Ghostbusters."
Prior...
The post Bill Murray Doesn't Think Bill Murray Has Much to Do With His Success appeared first on /Film.
Prior...
The post Bill Murray Doesn't Think Bill Murray Has Much to Do With His Success appeared first on /Film.
- 3/31/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
The undeniable Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life is celebrating its diamond anniversary this season. Believe it or not, it has been 75 years since its release in December 1946.
Considering it has become the classic of classics for the yuletide season, this irresistible film starring James Stewart as George Bailey, a suicidal man who receives a visit from an angel to show him what life would have been like if he had never existed, was basically a box office flop upon its release after it was rushed into theaters to replace a film that wasn’t ready in time. Costing reportedly $3.7 million to make but only earning back $3.3 million, initially at least, it was the first significant return to acting for Stewart after serving in World War II, and originally planned at one time to star Cary Grant.
It was only many years later, thanks largely to television, that it...
Considering it has become the classic of classics for the yuletide season, this irresistible film starring James Stewart as George Bailey, a suicidal man who receives a visit from an angel to show him what life would have been like if he had never existed, was basically a box office flop upon its release after it was rushed into theaters to replace a film that wasn’t ready in time. Costing reportedly $3.7 million to make but only earning back $3.3 million, initially at least, it was the first significant return to acting for Stewart after serving in World War II, and originally planned at one time to star Cary Grant.
It was only many years later, thanks largely to television, that it...
- 12/3/2021
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
As the director and producer of both “House of Gucci” and “The Last Duel,” Ridley Scott is poised to score big when the 2022 Oscar nominations are announced three months from now. Reaping double Best Picture or Best Director bids would make the 83-year-old the first to pull off either feat since Steven Soderbergh did so in 2001. Even if he ends up being left out of both lineups, he could still make history if academy voters decide to recognize the work of his two leading ladies. If Jodie Comer (“The Last Duel”) and Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci”) are both chosen to compete for Best Actress, Scott will become the fifth person to direct female leads from different films to nominations in a single year.
The first of these rare occurrences dates back to the third Oscars ceremony in 1930 when Nancy Carroll (“The Devil’s Holiday”) and Gloria Swanson (“The Trespasser...
The first of these rare occurrences dates back to the third Oscars ceremony in 1930 when Nancy Carroll (“The Devil’s Holiday”) and Gloria Swanson (“The Trespasser...
- 11/9/2021
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
In film history, the anthology genre is the most challenging. Episodic films often have several directors and screenwriters which gives them an inconsistent tone and quality. But the genre’s pitfalls haven’t stopped such filmmakers including Akira Kurosawa (“Dreams”), the Coens (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”), Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez (“Sin City”); Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese (“New York Stories”); and Joe Dante, John Landis, George Miller and Steven Spielberg (“Twilight Zone: The Movie”).
Wes Anderson joined them with his latest film “The French Dispatch,” which received a nine-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. The comedy brings to life three stories from an American magazine published in a fictional French city and features his stock company of actors including Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson.
If you are a fan of the genre, here are the best anthology movies that...
Wes Anderson joined them with his latest film “The French Dispatch,” which received a nine-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. The comedy brings to life three stories from an American magazine published in a fictional French city and features his stock company of actors including Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson.
If you are a fan of the genre, here are the best anthology movies that...
- 10/30/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Welcome back to the Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month we pick an Oscar vintage to explore through the lens of actressing at the edges. This episode goes back to the 19th Academy Awards honoring 1946. It isn't a particularly beloved Oscar vintage though the Best Picture winner, The Best Years of Our Lives, is sublime. Apart from the winner and the Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life, the Academy all but ignored the most enduring pictures of that post-war year. But we're here to discuss Best Supporting Actress and these five women were having a moment...
The Nominees For the 1946 Oscars the Academy invited back two previous winners (Gale Sondergaard & Ethel Barrymore), tossed a bouquet in the form of 'career' nomination to a legend (Lillian Gish), honored a character actress for stretching (Flora Robson) without realizing how poorly that kind of stretch would age, and invited a new starlet (Anne Baxter) into the club.
The Nominees For the 1946 Oscars the Academy invited back two previous winners (Gale Sondergaard & Ethel Barrymore), tossed a bouquet in the form of 'career' nomination to a legend (Lillian Gish), honored a character actress for stretching (Flora Robson) without realizing how poorly that kind of stretch would age, and invited a new starlet (Anne Baxter) into the club.
- 6/26/2021
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
If you ever sit down to watch 20th Century Fox’s original trailer for Miracle on 34th Street, a few things might appear strange. Right off the bat it’s unique—unprecedented even—to market a new release without any real footage from the film. Other than a few seconds of the movie’s opening titles and an actual shot from the picture’s final seconds, audiences were told nothing about Miracle on 34th Street other than it was “hilarious!” “exciting!” and, dare they say it, “groovy!”
There was of course a reason for this: 20th Century Fox, and more specifically studio head Darryl F. Zanuck, had absolutely no faith in the feel-good holiday movie and didn’t even want the audience to know it was a holiday movie. Zanuck’s insistence that the film open in New York City on June 4 probably added to their skittishness toward the subject matter.
There was of course a reason for this: 20th Century Fox, and more specifically studio head Darryl F. Zanuck, had absolutely no faith in the feel-good holiday movie and didn’t even want the audience to know it was a holiday movie. Zanuck’s insistence that the film open in New York City on June 4 probably added to their skittishness toward the subject matter.
- 12/20/2020
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars and filmmakers and not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between.
Today we analyze the lesser-known films of a legend: Mr. Bill Murray. From his early SNL days to his latter days as Coolest Guy Not Invited To Your Wedding But There Anyway, myself, Conor O’Donnell, and esteemed guest Evan Cutler Wattles question what works and does not work within the whole Bill Murray legend. Our B-Sides include: Where The Buffalo Roam, The Razor’s Edge, Quick Change, and Mad Dog and Glory.
Evan explains why he grew up more a fan of Steve Martin than Murray and we debate the pros and cons of Hunter S. Thompson and the Gonzo style. Also, how exactly did Chevy Chase’s legacy go so far in the opposite direction of Murray’s?...
Today we analyze the lesser-known films of a legend: Mr. Bill Murray. From his early SNL days to his latter days as Coolest Guy Not Invited To Your Wedding But There Anyway, myself, Conor O’Donnell, and esteemed guest Evan Cutler Wattles question what works and does not work within the whole Bill Murray legend. Our B-Sides include: Where The Buffalo Roam, The Razor’s Edge, Quick Change, and Mad Dog and Glory.
Evan explains why he grew up more a fan of Steve Martin than Murray and we debate the pros and cons of Hunter S. Thompson and the Gonzo style. Also, how exactly did Chevy Chase’s legacy go so far in the opposite direction of Murray’s?...
- 8/14/2020
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
Earlier this week, we spoke to AC/DC drummer Chris Slade about his first stint in the band in early early Nineties and his surprise return for the Rock or Bust tour of 2015 and 2016. “We always got on as people, so it wasn’t that different,” he said of his return to the group after a pause of more than 20 years. “Everybody got a bit older, including myself, but it felt great.”
Slade initially joined AC/DC right before the recording of The Razor’s Edge in 1990 after working with Eighties...
Slade initially joined AC/DC right before the recording of The Razor’s Edge in 1990 after working with Eighties...
- 8/13/2020
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
On the surface, AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s “Blinded by the Light,” and Tom Jones’ “Valerie” have nothing in common. They were recorded in different decades, targeted at different demographics, and they don’t sound even remotely alike. But they all feature the drumming of Chris Slade, a journeyman Welsh musician who has also played with Olivia Newton-John, Tom Paxton, Uriah Heep, David Gilmour, the Firm, Gary Moore, and Asia.
He’s best known for joining AC/DC in 1989, just in time to play on their comeback LP,...
He’s best known for joining AC/DC in 1989, just in time to play on their comeback LP,...
- 8/12/2020
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Whenever there is a mention of legendary actors of Bollywood, the name of (late) Saeed Jaffrey will surely figure one amongst the top. His death last year has definitely left a vacuum. After the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) paid a rich tribute to the (late) Saeed Jaffrey this year, now, it's the turn of the Oscars. At the Oscars awards this year, the (late) Saeed Jaffrey was one of the names who were remembered among the great talent who passed away this year. Best known for his impeccable performances in Bollywood films like Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Chashme Buddoor, Dil, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, he also made his presence felt in Hollywood films like A Passage to India, Gandhi, The Man Who Would Be King, The Razor's Edge etc... Readers may recall that the (late) Saeed Jaffrey had also provided the narration for Ismail Merchant's Oscar-nominated...
- 2/29/2016
- by Bollywood Hungama News Network
- BollywoodHungama
Let's get one thing straight before we begin. Bill Murray is the King. There are better actors. There are people who have better filmographies. There are even funnier people, although not many. But Bill Murray is, all things, considered, the King. I've dedicated much of the last 45 years working this out scientifically, and I am prepared to finally share the findings with you, free of charge, right here at HitFix. Ostensibly, we're doing this because of this weekend's release of "Rock The Kasbah," but that's just an excuse. The truth is that it's important that we rank all 55 of Bill Murray's film performances, with a special focus on the top 25. We are not including his television work here. There are films on this list we have not seen, but not many. We decided to leave those films unranked, so here is that list: Unranked "The Hat Act" "Pass The Buck: Expo '74...
- 10/24/2015
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
Being friends with Bill Murray has had some drawbacks for Mitch Glazer. Since the former SNL Mvp, poetry aficionado and part-time party crasher doesn't have an agent or a manager, total strangers call Glazer up to see if he will convince the man to be in their movies. And it also means that Murray calls him up whenever Road House is on TV, to deliver a play-by-play commentary on the scene where Patrick Swayze has sex with Kelly Lynch (Glazer's wife). But it also means that the writer-director gets to...
- 10/22/2015
- Rollingstone.com
Ghostbusters, the comedy classic that spawned a hit single, a sequel, a cartoon series and inspiration for countless fancy dress parties, celebrates its 30th anniversary today (June 8).
While we patiently wait for the long-in-development Ghostbusters 3, here are 30 things you may or may not now about the 1984 movie.
1. In the early '80s, Dan Aykroyd read an article on quantum physics and parapsychology in The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. That, coupled with his family's long-standing interest in the paranormal, served as the catalyst for Ghostbusters.
2. Speaking of Aykroyd's family, his great grandfather was a psychic investigator, his grandfather an engineer who created a high-vibration crystal radio to contact the spirit world and his father kept a substantial library of books on the paranormal.
3. The first script drafts of Ghostbusters focused on three characters who battled ghouls with wands instead of proton packs, while the action took...
While we patiently wait for the long-in-development Ghostbusters 3, here are 30 things you may or may not now about the 1984 movie.
1. In the early '80s, Dan Aykroyd read an article on quantum physics and parapsychology in The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. That, coupled with his family's long-standing interest in the paranormal, served as the catalyst for Ghostbusters.
2. Speaking of Aykroyd's family, his great grandfather was a psychic investigator, his grandfather an engineer who created a high-vibration crystal radio to contact the spirit world and his father kept a substantial library of books on the paranormal.
3. The first script drafts of Ghostbusters focused on three characters who battled ghouls with wands instead of proton packs, while the action took...
- 6/8/2014
- Digital Spy
Bill Murray doesn't only manifest his omnipresence through impromptu games of kickball – it is there to see in his work
Those of us who believe Bill Murray to be God are quite sincere in our belief. We're not just saying it to be nice. What otherwise are we to make of his majestic inaccessibility, his lack of an agent or a publicist or even a telephone number? At the same time, there is his mysterious omnipresence, as he drops out of a clear blue sky to play kickball on Roosevelt Island while wearing a woolly hat, plays the tambourine in Texas, drives golf carts around Stockholm, dances the Conga in Cannes, or joins karaoke parties in New York with pretty Dutch girls to buy everyone Chartreuse and sing Elvis Presley's Marie's the Name.
As the New York Times noted this week:
"Tracking his movements in the wild, as he...
Those of us who believe Bill Murray to be God are quite sincere in our belief. We're not just saying it to be nice. What otherwise are we to make of his majestic inaccessibility, his lack of an agent or a publicist or even a telephone number? At the same time, there is his mysterious omnipresence, as he drops out of a clear blue sky to play kickball on Roosevelt Island while wearing a woolly hat, plays the tambourine in Texas, drives golf carts around Stockholm, dances the Conga in Cannes, or joins karaoke parties in New York with pretty Dutch girls to buy everyone Chartreuse and sing Elvis Presley's Marie's the Name.
As the New York Times noted this week:
"Tracking his movements in the wild, as he...
- 12/7/2012
- by Tom Shone
- The Guardian - Film News
In 2003, William James Murray (better known to those who haven't spent hours reading his Wikipedia page as Bill Murray) starred in Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation," a poignant, somber romantic comedy that spotlighted the budding relationship between an aging film star (Murray) and the lonely wife of a photographer (Scarlett Johansson) in Tokyo. Murray was nominated for an Oscar for said performance, but he ultimately lost to Sean Penn's turn in "Mystic River."
At one point, he also did the Garfield movies.
But herein lies the massive injustice. Bill Murray should have been nominated for an Academy Award for every other movie he's done. There. We said it. The following is a comprehensive list of Murray movies where the Academy unconscionably overlooked his performance, starting from the very beginning of his illustrious career.
'Meatballs' (1979)
Role: Tripper Harrison
Analysis: We're willing to forgive this one, as the...
At one point, he also did the Garfield movies.
But herein lies the massive injustice. Bill Murray should have been nominated for an Academy Award for every other movie he's done. There. We said it. The following is a comprehensive list of Murray movies where the Academy unconscionably overlooked his performance, starting from the very beginning of his illustrious career.
'Meatballs' (1979)
Role: Tripper Harrison
Analysis: We're willing to forgive this one, as the...
- 12/6/2012
- by Nick Blake
- NextMovie
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Dan Aykroyd confirmed that Bill Murray will not be a part of a movie that's never going to happen, Ghostbusters III. Thank God. Anyone who's actually taken a peek at what Aykroyd had in mind for a third movie knows it isn't pretty. But that's not really the point. The point is that Bill Murray, who knows full well that his involvement would most likely ensure that Ghostbusters 3 would become a reality, passed. Why wouldn't Murray want this to happen? Even just to help out his old pal Aykroyd? The answer is: "Because Bill Murray isn't stupid." Yes, let's, for a few minutes, get into the mind of Bill Murray. Murray, today, enjoys his life as an enigma - gallivanting around the world, while, professionally, only accepting the roles that he happens to find interesting. Yes, this sounds nice. The thing is,...
- 2/29/2012
- by Mike Ryan
- Moviefone
• Introduction to The Great Movies III
You'd be surprised how many people have told me they're working their way through my books of Great Movies one film at a time. That's not to say the books are definitive; I loathe "best of" lists, which are not the best of anything except what someone came up with that day. I look at a list of the "100 greatest horror films," or musicals, or whatever, and I want to ask the maker, "but how do you know?" There are great films in my books, and films that are not so great, but there's no film here I didn't respond strongly to. That's the reassurance I can offer.
I believe good movies are a civilizing force. They allow us to empathize with those whose lives are different than our own. I like to say they open windows in our box of space and time.
You'd be surprised how many people have told me they're working their way through my books of Great Movies one film at a time. That's not to say the books are definitive; I loathe "best of" lists, which are not the best of anything except what someone came up with that day. I look at a list of the "100 greatest horror films," or musicals, or whatever, and I want to ask the maker, "but how do you know?" There are great films in my books, and films that are not so great, but there's no film here I didn't respond strongly to. That's the reassurance I can offer.
I believe good movies are a civilizing force. They allow us to empathize with those whose lives are different than our own. I like to say they open windows in our box of space and time.
- 10/2/2010
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Everybody loves Bill Murray.
I was thinking about this last week after Dustin posted a video of him reading poetry to construction workers. There wasn't anything particularly striking about the video, but still, it was irresistible. In the video, Murray read three or four poems to about 20 guys on a construction site. Standing there with their arms crossed, the assembled workers looked bored, embarrassed, and confused. Exchanging uncomfortable looks with one another, like a bunch of sixth graders fearing that something "gay" was happening to them on the schoolyard, they nervously looked for social cues from their peers. It was funny, but in an awkward way, and it looked like the video was being set-up to mock both the workers and the pretenses of poetry.
But that didn't happen. Just at the point when stretching the readings out would have been exploitive of the workers' sincere discomfort -- the sort...
I was thinking about this last week after Dustin posted a video of him reading poetry to construction workers. There wasn't anything particularly striking about the video, but still, it was irresistible. In the video, Murray read three or four poems to about 20 guys on a construction site. Standing there with their arms crossed, the assembled workers looked bored, embarrassed, and confused. Exchanging uncomfortable looks with one another, like a bunch of sixth graders fearing that something "gay" was happening to them on the schoolyard, they nervously looked for social cues from their peers. It was funny, but in an awkward way, and it looked like the video was being set-up to mock both the workers and the pretenses of poetry.
But that didn't happen. Just at the point when stretching the readings out would have been exploitive of the workers' sincere discomfort -- the sort...
- 5/18/2010
- by Michael Murray
On Friday, word hit The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision Blog that Bill Murray was joining the little love fest of Megan Fox and Mickey Rourke in Passion Play. No, he wouldn't add an additional May-December element to the story of a "winged beauty" who forms a bond with a "down-on-his-luck jazz trumpet player." Instead, Murray will play the villain -- a gangster named Happy who wants to keep the two apart.
Thinking of this gig brought to mind the last two films I saw him in -- Get Low and The Limits of Control -- and ultimately led me to the question: What sort of careers would Murray's comedy co-stars have if they'd taken a cue from ol' Bill? For Murray, nothing really has changed over the years -- the actor has always used his humor to grace both large and small productions, mainstream and quirk fare. This is the...
Thinking of this gig brought to mind the last two films I saw him in -- Get Low and The Limits of Control -- and ultimately led me to the question: What sort of careers would Murray's comedy co-stars have if they'd taken a cue from ol' Bill? For Murray, nothing really has changed over the years -- the actor has always used his humor to grace both large and small productions, mainstream and quirk fare. This is the...
- 1/18/2010
- by Monika Bartyzel
- Cinematical
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