The Collected Wisdom of Bill Murray
March 4, 2014 3:54 AM Subscribe
Okay so two questions:
1) Is Bill Murray Mefi's new mascot?
2) Who has a connection to him to get him an account?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 4:32 AM on March 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
1) Is Bill Murray Mefi's new mascot?
2) Who has a connection to him to get him an account?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 4:32 AM on March 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
Bill Murray was on the Graham Norton show recently, and it was hands-down the most hysterical talk show I've ever seen. He was there to promote Monuments Men with Matt Damon and Hugh Bonneville, and they were all riffing on each other and coming up with these amazing stories. This bit with Bill talking about a Japanese phrasebook he used in Japan is a good taste.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:39 AM on March 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:39 AM on March 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
There are some great lines in there! "One month I actually grew a moustache, just so I could say that I'd done something" is Grouchoesque.
posted by painquale at 4:42 AM on March 4, 2014
posted by painquale at 4:42 AM on March 4, 2014
Charlie Rose's recent interview with Murray was excellent. The real Bill came out. Interview. Apologies to those who can't see Hulu.
posted by rmmcclay at 5:11 AM on March 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by rmmcclay at 5:11 AM on March 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
I couldn't stand him when he and I were both younger; I guess I just didn't *get* his style or his personality. I've come around 180 degrees and completely warmed to him, though. I would say that I regret all those years wasted not enjoying his work, but but it's mostly all still out there to enjoy, and I've had a blast rediscovering him over the past decade or so.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:47 AM on March 4, 2014
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:47 AM on March 4, 2014
Charlie Rose's recent interview with Murray was excellent.
By happenstance I tuned in to the Rose interview and was really captivated by it. I can't recall ever hearing Murray speaking so openly about his craft, life, etc. It didn't hurt that Rose wasn't being his usual talking-over-the-guest-even-when-they're-answering-the-question self. Definitely a must-see for fans.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:26 AM on March 4, 2014
By happenstance I tuned in to the Rose interview and was really captivated by it. I can't recall ever hearing Murray speaking so openly about his craft, life, etc. It didn't hurt that Rose wasn't being his usual talking-over-the-guest-even-when-they're-answering-the-question self. Definitely a must-see for fans.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:26 AM on March 4, 2014
Is Bill Murray Mefi's new mascot?
Bill Murray is everyone's mascot. Some people are just too serious to admit it.
posted by Etrigan at 6:35 AM on March 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
Bill Murray is everyone's mascot. Some people are just too serious to admit it.
posted by Etrigan at 6:35 AM on March 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
Zombieland is worth watching only to see his cameo.
posted by Atreides at 6:41 AM on March 4, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by Atreides at 6:41 AM on March 4, 2014 [7 favorites]
Bill Murray came over to my house, cooked me pancakes, logged on to my MeFi account and posted this comment. Then he woke me up, wished me a happy birthday (and a happy Fat Tuesday), pointed at my monitor and said "no one will ever believe this."
posted by valkane at 6:44 AM on March 4, 2014 [15 favorites]
posted by valkane at 6:44 AM on March 4, 2014 [15 favorites]
Murray's shout-out to Harold Ramis on the Oscars was a class act, too.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:09 AM on March 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 7:09 AM on March 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
1) Is Bill Murray Mefi's new mascot?
New? No, not new.
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:13 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
New? No, not new.
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:13 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Murray on Fame: "I think everyone becomes a jerk for about two years when they become famous. So I give people two years to figure it out and pull it together."
So the clock is ticking on Bieber.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:27 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
So the clock is ticking on Bieber.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:27 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
1) Is Bill Murray Mefi's new mascot?
It is more like the world is Bill Murray's mascot.
posted by srboisvert at 7:33 AM on March 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
It is more like the world is Bill Murray's mascot.
posted by srboisvert at 7:33 AM on March 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
Groundhog Day was one of the greatest scripts ever written. It didn't even get nominated for an Academy Award. And a movie called Dave won, which was a rehash of a movie about a Spanish dictator who died and had an actor replace him. How can that be the best original screenplay?
20 years later, I had to go look up whatever movie that was, and yet we still talk about Groundhog Day.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:03 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
20 years later, I had to go look up whatever movie that was, and yet we still talk about Groundhog Day.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:03 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
i remember liking the movie dave. it was cute. but it was no groundhog day.
posted by rude.boy at 8:19 AM on March 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by rude.boy at 8:19 AM on March 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
Zombieland is worth watching only to see his cameo.
I didn't see it until it was on Netflix, and I have no idea how I missed that spoiler, but holy crap am I happy I did, because I have rarely been so surprised and delighted by a film as I was when he first popped up.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:23 AM on March 4, 2014
I didn't see it until it was on Netflix, and I have no idea how I missed that spoiler, but holy crap am I happy I did, because I have rarely been so surprised and delighted by a film as I was when he first popped up.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:23 AM on March 4, 2014
I like that he's still so anarchic. For a man who admits to great laziness, he seems to work overtime to both be extraordinarily surprising and completely Bill Murray.
And I appreciate that he's still so prickly. He's less a saint than some cantankerous Zen bodhisattva. I think he's gotten beyond not suffering fools gladly, and now seems to be at a place where he can choose not to suffer them at all or instead to enjoy them for their foolishness.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 8:26 AM on March 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
And I appreciate that he's still so prickly. He's less a saint than some cantankerous Zen bodhisattva. I think he's gotten beyond not suffering fools gladly, and now seems to be at a place where he can choose not to suffer them at all or instead to enjoy them for their foolishness.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 8:26 AM on March 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
He's less a saint than some cantankerous Zen bodhisattva.
*brainstorm*
Can we hook him up with Jeff Bridges for some kind of weird buddy comedy set at a Zen monestary in Montana or something?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:31 AM on March 4, 2014 [10 favorites]
*brainstorm*
Can we hook him up with Jeff Bridges for some kind of weird buddy comedy set at a Zen monestary in Montana or something?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:31 AM on March 4, 2014 [10 favorites]
Yeah, Dave is a fun film - mostly for Kevin Klein's goofy joy in the early part of the movie. If I stumble on it I will watch; but Groundhog Day - well, that's a viewing experience.
posted by nubs at 8:31 AM on March 4, 2014
posted by nubs at 8:31 AM on March 4, 2014
Is Bill Murray Mefi's new mascot?
I'm pretty sure the mascot is Eoabelisaurus mefi. Bill is bigger than that. Patron saint maybe?
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:31 AM on March 4, 2014
I'm pretty sure the mascot is Eoabelisaurus mefi. Bill is bigger than that. Patron saint maybe?
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:31 AM on March 4, 2014
Thanks for this. I've been following some of the links to read the full interviews and they're good reads.
posted by zarq at 8:33 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by zarq at 8:33 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
From GQ:
posted by zarq at 8:43 AM on March 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Last question. I have to know, because I love this story and want it to be true. There have been stories about you sneaking up behind people in New York City, covering their eyes with your hands, and saying: Guess who. And when they turn around, they see Bill Murray and hear the words "No one will ever believe you."Magnificent.
[long pause] I know. I know, I know, I know. I've heard about that from a lot of people. A lot of people. I don't know what to say. There's probably a really appropriate thing to say. Something exactly and just perfectly right. [long beat, and then he breaks into a huge grin] But by God, it sounds crazy, doesn't it? Just so crazy and unlikely and unusual?
posted by zarq at 8:43 AM on March 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Can we hook him up with Jeff Bridges for some kind of weird buddy comedy set at a Zen monestary in Montana or something?
Where can I purchase my advance ticket for this?
posted by Ber at 8:48 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Where can I purchase my advance ticket for this?
posted by Ber at 8:48 AM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
I had a mystical experience one day watching old Mad Men episodes when I realized Freddy Rumsen is Bill Murray's brother.
posted by dyobmit at 8:53 AM on March 4, 2014
posted by dyobmit at 8:53 AM on March 4, 2014
IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER
posted by waraw at 8:53 AM on March 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by waraw at 8:53 AM on March 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Here's a collection of Bill Murray encounter stories, premised on the "no one will ever believe you" wives' tale.
posted by me3dia at 9:37 AM on March 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by me3dia at 9:37 AM on March 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
Also, this compendium is missing quotes about Chicago and especially baseball, his other sports love.
posted by me3dia at 9:39 AM on March 4, 2014
posted by me3dia at 9:39 AM on March 4, 2014
Groundhog Day was one of the greatest scripts ever written. It didn't even get nominated for an Academy Award. And a movie called Dave won
Dave was nominated for a screenplay award, but it actually lost that year to The Piano. Groundhog Day did win a BAFTA for best screenplay.
posted by yoink at 9:45 AM on March 4, 2014
Dave was nominated for a screenplay award, but it actually lost that year to The Piano. Groundhog Day did win a BAFTA for best screenplay.
posted by yoink at 9:45 AM on March 4, 2014
[Reddit, 2014]
My brain did weird things upon seeing that as a citation. The future will be odd.
posted by forgetful snow at 10:13 AM on March 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
My brain did weird things upon seeing that as a citation. The future will be odd.
posted by forgetful snow at 10:13 AM on March 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
For those unable to Hulu, the Charlie Rose interview is also available on the show site. Link.
posted by calamari kid at 10:28 AM on March 4, 2014
posted by calamari kid at 10:28 AM on March 4, 2014
A lot of Bill Murray's recent work hasn't exactly clicked with me. That being said, I absolutely adore every single thing about his public persona. One of the few celebrities who seems to always wholeheartedly enjoy what he's doing, and respects the hell out of his fans and peers.
posted by schmod at 10:48 AM on March 4, 2014
posted by schmod at 10:48 AM on March 4, 2014
I am charmed and pleased that he describes the process of acting, fundamentally, as one of problem solving in the moment.
posted by JHarris at 1:59 PM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 1:59 PM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
This really should be kept secret, but you can learn a lot by watching the making-of DVDs. Every actor should do it. You figure out what you're dealing with.
This seems like it would be obvious, but then, I can expect most actors wouldn't bother. I think that's a good description of Bill Murray's genius: Seeing the obvious things, but acting on them, which for some reason everyone else doesn't do.
posted by JHarris at 2:06 PM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
This seems like it would be obvious, but then, I can expect most actors wouldn't bother. I think that's a good description of Bill Murray's genius: Seeing the obvious things, but acting on them, which for some reason everyone else doesn't do.
posted by JHarris at 2:06 PM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Summer, 1959. The Tibetan Uprising has driven the 14th Dalai Lama to exile in India. Working in secret and with great urgency, the Tibetan government in exile reaches out to the American government for help. A midlevel CIA case officer cannily persuades the Tibetans to 'recognize' his 10-year-old son, Rod, as the reincarnation of an ancient lama, who would be accepted by the Tibetan people as their legitimate spiritual leader in the event of the Dalai Lama's death or capture.
Meanwhile, the case officer's younger son, Sam, is *actually* the reincarnated lama.
Fast forward to the present. Jack (Bill Murray) has installed himself as the head of a monastery in Bozeman, Montana that is a magnet for would-be Buddhist yuppies from all over America. The monastery is a hedonistic pleasure palace for Jack, who has cynically shaped it to pay lip service to the spiritual desires of his yuppie clientele. His brother Sam (Jeff Bridges) cleans up Jack's many messes while quietly living in ecstatic enlightenment.
A crisis erupts between China and India, forcing the government in exile to seek temporary refuge at the monastery in Montana. This forces the actual Tibetan leadership into an uneasy coexistence with Jack, Sam, their acolytes, and their colossally bored CIA handler (Paul Rudd).
THE KINGDOM OF ROD, coming soon to a theater near you.
posted by sockshaveholes at 3:02 PM on March 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Meanwhile, the case officer's younger son, Sam, is *actually* the reincarnated lama.
Fast forward to the present. Jack (Bill Murray) has installed himself as the head of a monastery in Bozeman, Montana that is a magnet for would-be Buddhist yuppies from all over America. The monastery is a hedonistic pleasure palace for Jack, who has cynically shaped it to pay lip service to the spiritual desires of his yuppie clientele. His brother Sam (Jeff Bridges) cleans up Jack's many messes while quietly living in ecstatic enlightenment.
A crisis erupts between China and India, forcing the government in exile to seek temporary refuge at the monastery in Montana. This forces the actual Tibetan leadership into an uneasy coexistence with Jack, Sam, their acolytes, and their colossally bored CIA handler (Paul Rudd).
THE KINGDOM OF ROD, coming soon to a theater near you.
posted by sockshaveholes at 3:02 PM on March 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Bill Murray (neither the first nor the last name work by themselves, interestingly) said something in his Reddit AMA that I printed off and put on my wall: "If you take what you love and make it the way you live your life you bring love into the world".
I mean damn, Bill Murray.
Damn.
posted by Sebmojo at 3:10 PM on March 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
I mean damn, Bill Murray.
Damn.
posted by Sebmojo at 3:10 PM on March 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
THE KINGDOM OF ROD, coming soon to a theater near you.
*woosh!* GO GUNGA GALUNGA
*woosh!* Summer 2014
posted by Spatch at 8:00 PM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
*woosh!* GO GUNGA GALUNGA
*woosh!* Summer 2014
posted by Spatch at 8:00 PM on March 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by Etrigan at 4:14 AM on March 4, 2014 [15 favorites]