The Writer’s Groundhog Day
“Typically, I wake up in the morning and spread a couple of blankets out on the cliff’s side. I have a cup of tea and watch the sun rise while meditating on the Giant Rock.” Phil and I had just hiked to one of his favorite spots – a hidden canyon, where a great rock […]
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I once wrote a screen adaptation – true story – of a novel written by Bill Maher. Ben Stiller was the would-be director of the film. The subject matter was Bill’s recollection of his first year as a stand-up comic. Every part of this project was fantastic and, as I always do before embarking on […]
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Many people over the years have observed that Groundhog Day is a very spiritual movie, and have interpreted Phil’s journey as being towards enlightenment.
Very interesting. I’ve just been reading a book about enlightenment.
Michael Hutchison is a paraplegic living in Santa Fe who recounts in this book his own amazing story. At one time he was […]
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Did you see me on TV, or read any of the articles? Here’s one from the Santa Fe New Mexican:
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/A_show_of_solidarity_
That’s me, a member of the Writers Guild of America, West, walking a picket line – not in New York, not in L.A., but in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The New Mexico film industry is growing […]
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In my first draft of Groundhog Day I made a bigger meal of Phil’s need to escape and his inability to do so. I wanted to show Phil going to the absolute limit. He wasn’t going to be stuck in Punxsutawney without absolutely convincing himself that there was no other option. So he took every […]
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I’ve heard it said that all writing is autobiographical. This is interesting because it suggests that, no matter what I write, no matter how far I go in creativity or fantasy, I cannot escape myself. It also suggests that anything I write can teach me something about myself, perhaps something that I didn’t know to […]
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I was fourteen or fifteen, and staying with family friends in Illinois over winter break. I was staying in an attic that had been converted into a bedroom, and I was slipping under the covers when the strangest thing happened: my legs went half way down the bed and stopped. I couldn’t extend my legs […]
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