The only thing worse than Groundhog Day itself is the darkness that descends over you when you’ve completed a viewing of Harold Ramis’ 1993 film Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray as a perpetually cranky weatherman who relives Groundhog Day over and over again until he starts to go slowly insane. “How can Groundhog Day be over?” you ask yourself. “It had only just begun one hour and 42 minutes ago. I was just starting to forget myself. I was just starting to feel something.” (I don’t know why you can’t just replay the film in this scenario, but let’s assume you’ve got other things going on in your life or you’ve chosen a streaming service with a very small rental window.)
Good news: The British, as they are wont to do, have solved this particular problem. Thanks to an item on Screen Crush, we’ve learned that Small Cinema in Liverpool will screen Groundhog Day 12 times back to back over a span of 24 hours on February 2 (actual Groundhog Day, for the uninitiated). All you’ve got to do is either a) be British already, hopefully living somewhere near Liverpool or b) very quickly get yourself to Liverpool, then c) purchase one of four Groundhog-Day-viewing packages:
- The Twilight Hog: This one begins at 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. or from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next day. “Just roll up and stay as long as you can manage!” chirps the website. It’ll cost you £2 “on the door only,” which I think means at the door? Prepositions, man.
- The Peak Hog: This gets you into one single screening, either at 6 p.m. or 8 p.m., for £4. But, like, why are you even here if you’re going to select this option?
- The Double Hog: This is a “peak time double bill,” i.e., it’ll get you into two screenings for £5 plus souvenir ticket. Again, utterly pointless.
- The Whole Hog: This is the real sh*t. All day, plus a sandwich and a cup of tea, because British people, for £10.
Why is Small Cinema doing this, you ask? “Because we can,” they explain. “Because, it’s where film exhibition meets futile endurance, where cinephilia meets utter folly.” And because they know that you, psychotic cinema patron, are going to pay for it. “You crazy crazy people,” reads the website. “Not even Shia LaBeouf would do this!” Shia LaBeouf would totally do this. (In fact, is Shia LaBeouf doing this? Is this just another pseudo performance-art piece? Shia?)
Oh, and they’re also doing it for charity, I suppose: The theater is “encouraging people to use the screening to raise money for the cinema or charity of their choice.” They’ll also be live-tweeting and reporting the weather repeatedly throughout the screening, in case you want to momentarily wrench yourself from your soothing, Murray-induced nirvana.
