The Ghost Of Murrays Past

By Casey Jarman

At 8 years old, I was a huge Bill Murray fan. Every kid was a Bill Murray fan. I don't know if we knew why, exactly. He was good with a joke and he could pull off physical comedy, sure, but in a movie like Scrooged—a film I must have watched at least a half-dozen times as a kid—it was something a bit more subtle that kept us watching: Murray just had that expressive, sad-sack face that made every line twice as funny (or, occasionally, poignant) as it should have been. Scrooged is almost two hours of Bill Murray's face—and as Lost in Translation proved, that's really all a film needs. Bagdad. 11 pm Friday, Dec. 3.

  1. Best paired with: Black Rabbit Porter.
  2. Also showing: Secretariat (Academy, Laurelhurst).

WWeek 2015

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.