Light hearted feel good movies like Uncle Buck , My Cousin Vinny and The Groundhog Day - General Discussion Discussion

I love Uncle Buck too. I can take or leave most of John Hughes’ movies but Buck is timeless for me.

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North (1994)

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Groundhog Day is in a league of its own. The other two movies are just comedies. Great movies. But Groundhog Day is more than just a comedy. it's a deep dive into existentialism. It raises profound philosophical questions about free will, self-discovery, and the human condition.
I think it's one of the best movies ever made.

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[–] jriley555 (7233) 12 days ago

I won't go that far, but i do love it and consider it comedy/drama of a high caliber. It was a role BM was born to play.

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[–] Nanook (1599) 12 days ago

Ironically, it ranks up there with my most-often seen movies. I just can't not watch it.

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[–] curiousMInd101 (1015) 12 days ago

Why ironically? It deserves to be watched that much. Its structure is such that you can watch it on a loop. Which gives you meta experience. Watching the same movie over and over about a guy who experiences the same day over an over. I think it's brilliant.

Oh, and by the way, is your name a reference to The Lost Boys?

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[–] Nanook (1599) 12 days ago

Perhaps I used the term incorrectly, but what word describes watching a movie over and over that is about a guy who experiences the same day over and over? "Meta" as a word [in that context] didn't even exist when that film came out, iirc...

And funny, I get asked that every so often. The dog in TLB is likely named after the star of the classic Nanook of the North (1922) (more accurately spelled "Nanuq,"), but being a huge Frank Zappa fan I mainly took the name from the song "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" from the album Apostrophe'. Been using it since at least 2000, likely before. Had only seen TLB the one time, so wasn't even aware, but that is [the] most often-guessed origin of my username.

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[–] curiousMInd101 (1015) 12 days ago

The word "meta" has been used since ancient Greece, e.g. Metaphysics. But it wasn't until the 60's with the rise of postmodernism that the term meta was used in the way we use it today. Back then it was mainly used in literary works and academic philosophy. But it wasn't until toward the end of the 20th century that the term became popular with respect to movies and TV shows. So long story short, yes, the term existed back then, but it didn't become popular until the mid 2000's. You can see its rise in popularity using Google's Ngram viewer:
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=meta&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3

Yeah, Nanook was Sam and Michael's dog in TLB (I literally just finished watching it now). I have listened to some Zappa a long time ago, but I don't remember much. I had to look it up.

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[–] Nanook (1599) 12 days ago

The *one* time I don't look something up... Thank God I got the "iirc" disclaimer in there. :D

Most people would recommend FZ's albums One Size Fits All, Joe's Garage and Apostrophe' to start, as they are "more accessible," but the man changed styles and bands constantly, so you can try jumping in anywhere. What hooked me were his live albums Fillmore East - June 1971 and Broadway the Hard Way, two very different-sounding albums. Many people don't know he was also an amazing guitar player. Check out the song "Chalk Pie" from his album of only guitar solos titled: Guitar.

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[–] curiousMInd101 (1015) 12 days ago

That's what made me check out Zappa initially ‒ that fact that he was considered an amazing guitar player (I'm a guitar player too). But I couldn't get into most of his stuff because it sounded too avant-garde for me. I'll check out 'Chalk Pie' though. Thanks for the recommend.

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[–] Nanook (1599) 11 days ago

Curious to hear your feedback, if you care to. And any album I mentioned isn't *too* avant-garde-y should you decide to explore further. Great solos abound in all, however...! Just sayin'...

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[–] curiousMInd101 (1015) 11 days ago

I've just listened to Chalk Pie. I wish I would have found this back in the day. I think I would have appreciated it more. I'm a guitar player and I was really into this kind of "stream of consciousness" jamming back then. These days it's a little to "Jazzy" for me. I like the more bluesy guitar of someone like David Gilmour from Pink Floyd or on the other end of the spectrum something technically brilliant like Tim Henson from Polyphia. But I still thank you for the recommend. It reminded me of all the times I used to light up a joint and do 20 minutes long guitar jams that sounded similar to that (not as good though of course).

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[–] Nanook (1599) 11 days ago

Cool. Thanks for listening and feedback.

Perhaps the reason I have been a lifelong fan is I have musical ADD of a sort. I almost constantly listen to music on shuffle, and listen to a broad genre/artist spread, although there are a handful of those "special" albums I can't not listen to in their entirety. Many of my serious "music friends" think that is borderline heretical, but whatever.

Hmm I like me some prog rock, and have never heard of Polyphia. My metal tastes tend to bend away from virtuosity and more towards the stoner/doom end of the spectrum, however, but if you have a mind, I'll check out a favorite song or show or album...

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[–] curiousMInd101 (1015) 11 days ago

I'm kind of the opposite of ADD. I'm more OCD. I don't like listening to any new music. I have a set number of songs I like and I just listen to them over and over. But once in a while I'll hear something that I'll like or just find interesting and then it gets stuck in my head and grows on me. I usually have to hear something a number of times before I start to like it. It's weird. It makes finding new music kind of a chore, because pretty much everything I hear I don't like.

As far as Poyphia goes, I'm more into the guitar player Tim Henson rather than Polyphia the band. What I mean by that is that I prefer listening to Tim Henson play guitar to a backing soundtrack rather than listen to Polyphia's official videos. Mainly this is because I want to hear the guitar as clearly as possible.
These are a few of the songs that I'm listening to at the moment:

Tim Henson - O.D. (This is Tim Henson doing a cover to Polyphias/his own song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3deAVcufliI

Tim Henson | Jared Dines’ Biggest Shred Collab (This is a short song he did as part of colab with other guitarists)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL0dxX_z2qc

And my favorite song by Polyphia is G.O.A.T. but once again I prefer this cover to this song because some of the guitar parts in the official video are drowned out by the bass and drums:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsC3vvm4Puk

But check out the official videos for these songs and compare for yourself. I'd be interested to hear which versions you like better.

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[–] Nanook (1599) 9 days ago

Ha. It seems you may have an affinity for "acquired taste" music. :D My roommate in college listened to nothing but Pink Floyd. Good thing I liked them too; drugs helped. Rarely listen to them any more, but Atom Heart Mother is one of "those" albums I mentioned. I went through a multi-year Grateful Dead phase, saw them "only" 35 times, which might sound like a lot to some, but a drop in the bucket to those who followed them as a lifestyle. Anyway, I can identify, but as the years passed, I went through many phases, and it just snowballed in to being a musical almost-omnivore.

Funny, the way those covers were named, I thought that Asian guy *was* Tim Henson, until the official videos. Interesting and certainly insanely talented. I see what you mean. Although I'm hardly exclusive, I do have a preference toward live music, and seeing the crazy picking was part of the show.

Total left-field semi-recent obsession of mine is Andre Antunes, a Portuguese guitarist who, *with no studio trickery* turns videos of people yelling in to very catchy songs (of course he edits the some of the video for timing), among transforming other genres, including lots of Indian and Pakistani, etc. music in to various genres. It's quite amazing to hear.

His channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AndreAntunesofficial

Couple favorites; they're all on the short side:

Pig-calling contestants: https://youtu.be/4n7bUYBYZPE
Female preacher: https://youtu.be/DsTcs1nU5MU
Short complex Indian singing group: https://youtu.be/C_WcBUAQftc

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[–] curiousMInd101 (1015) 9 days ago

I love Atom Heart Mother. AHM Suite is one of my favorite pieces by Pink Floyd. This part in particular:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fku7hi5kI-c&t=333s
It's so beautiful and hypnotic. It's like the sound of God contemplating his creation right after bringing the universe into being.

The Asian guy is Tim Henson. The first two videos (O.D. and Jared Dines’ Biggest Shred Collab) are from his personal YouTube channel. Then there's also the band Polyphia, of which he's a member.
The third video is also a Polyphia cover but that one is not by Tim Henson. Sorry if it was confusing.

And wow, you like Andre Antunes too! I've been a subscriber to his channel for years. He's an amazing musician (and a comedian). The music is so good and the videos are so funny. It's crazy. Have you ever listened to his older stuff, like his classical pieces? Here are a couple of my favorites:
Debussy - Rêverie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHFeXuo5sho
Rachmaninoff - Prelude in G Minor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7GmWdUSxfc
Chopin - Nocturne in E-Flat Major https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w18e9WhEcuU
And then there is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJ1mQxFiCY
This is Andre Antunes with his band doing a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. I thought you might like it since you said you like live music.

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[–] Nanook (1599) 9 days ago

AHMS is like "flipping through the channels" (you sound not too young to get that reference) and coming across Groundhog Day, The Blues Brothers or Buckaroo Banzai, etc. I couldn't not listen to the whole thing. Top YT comment: "I can’t believe I just stared at a cow for 23 minutes." :D

Ahhh. Never got a good look at TH's face in the official vids, and I swear I read some comments on his personal channel calling those "covers." You spoke facts; I'm just tired.

Though I didn't know AA was also a comedian, it makes total sense, as the "goes metal" and other video creations show a great sense of humor. (Zappa had a live album called Does Humor Belong in Music?)

Though I love a wide range of "classical" music, including solo/concerto compositions for the (acoustic) guitar/lute, the electric guitar isn't my first choice of instruments for it, but each one impressed me more and more. And you saved the best for last! Great pipes on that singer. God, I'd love to see his band in a smaller venue. I searched for "U.S. tour dates" and got no hits, but he's still young, and one can always hope.

Speaking of smaller venues, another rando rec.: Deerhoof. Seen them a bunch of times in intimate rooms. Super-nice people. Greg the drummer calls me by my last name which I love, but mostly only my old friends do so. Short, angular, catchy, quirky, but awesome songs, imo.

Live in Juan's Basement:
https://youtu.be/tX2YMDbv0a8
https://youtu.be/DkpjZXgetDU
https://youtu.be/zQbZjH9Omdc

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[–] VinceD (7801) 12 days ago

Most of my favorites have already been mentioned

My Cousin Vinny (1992)
Trading Places (1983)
Back to School (1986)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Clue (1985)
Big (1988)
What About Bob? (1991)
Ed Wood (1994)

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[–] StoneKeeper (22876) 12 days ago

Q: The winged serpent

You’re welcome:)

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[–] Nanook (1599) 12 days ago

I'll do my best, forgive any dupes, just consider them an extra endorsement. Also, from your examples, I'm going to assume you're less interested in "older" or B&W movies? Correct me if I'm wrong and will expand the parameters (rn I'm doing 1980 as a cut off). Oh, and ignoring the super-popular ones "everyone's seen."

My Favorite Year (1982) - a true gem that deserves to be more well-known
The Dish (2000) - ditto
Midnight Run (1988) - mild violence, but incredibly funny not mean-spirited
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Three Men and a Baby (1987)
The Muppets (2011) - no, really. It helps to have seen other Muppet movies/TV shows, but not essential
Clockwise (1986)
Tootsie (1982)

All of those got an 8/10+ rating out of me. If any particularly strike your fancy, feel free to lmk.

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[–] Anotherday (8614) 12 days ago

Run Fatboy Run.

It has a little slapstick but a good sense of heart and humor.

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[–] jriley555 (7233) 12 days ago

Run Ronnie Run

Great stuff.

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[–] CKid (3833) 12 days ago

Here's a half dozen more that have not yet been mentioned ...
The Court Jester (1955)
The Jerk (1979)
Let It Ride (1989)
Doc Hollywood (1991)
Chef (2014)
St. Vincent (2014)
and yes, I do own these on either Blu-ray or DVD

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