Bill Murray Ranked

Welcome to the latest edition of "Ranked", where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out related accolades. This week, I'm profiling the work of Bill Murray-whose latest project "On the Rocks" is now streaming on Apple TV+. 

Bill Murray's Filmography Ranked:

25.Aloha (D-)

24.Stripes (D)

23.The Royal Tenenbaums (D)

22.Rock the Kasbah (D+)

21.The Jungle Book (D+)

20.Little Shop of Horrors (D+)

19.Moonrise Kingdom (D+)

18.Charlie's Angels (D+)

17.Larger Than Life (C-)

16.Rushmore (C-)

15.The Monuments Men (C)

14.Groundhog Day (C)

13.Isle of Dogs (C+)

12.The Dead Don't Die (B-)

11.The Grand Budapest Hotel (B-) 

10.Ghostbusters II (B-)

9.Ghostbusters (2016) (B)

8.Osmosis Jones (B)

7.St. Vincent (B)

6.Lost in Translation (B)

5.Kingpin (B+)

4.Ghostbusters (1984) (B+)

3.Caddyshack (A-)

2.Zombieland (A)

1.Space Jam (A+)

Top Dog: Space Jam (1996)

Nostalgia is a powerful phenomenon and there's perhaps no greater example of its staggering force for me than Space Jam. There's a pretty good chance that Space Jam wouldn't elicit any type of meaningful response if I watched it for the first time today, but since I saw and became enamored with it at the exact right time in my life (4 or 5 years old), it's been a lifelong favorite of mine. In fact, I'd go as far to say that it's the single fondest entertainment memory from my childhood (it remains the movie I've watched the most times to this day) and helped birth both my movie and basketball fandom. If the LeBron James-led sequel that's currently due to release next summer can bring another generation of kids that special brand of joy, then its (surprising) existence will be completely justified.       

Lowlight: Aloha (2015)

Cameron Crowe has been MIA from the entertainment industry since the cancelation of his Showtime series Roadies in 2016 and if that lack of output means he's quietly assembling a redemption project to atone for the sins of Aloha, I'm all in for his unexpected hiatus. How Crowe managed to get an all-star cast (Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, John Krasinski, Murray, Alec Baldwin, Danny McBride) to agree to star in a film that features a puzzling story with frequent abrupt tonal shifts and the charm of a toilet snake is the only impressive thing about this stunningly inept project from a typically good-to-great filmmaker.   

Most Underrated: Osmosis Jones (2001)

The existence of Osmosis Jones is a gift. A live action/animated hybrid that's essentially a spoof of "loose cannon cop" movies centering around a health-conscious white blood cell police officer (voiced by Chris Rock) living inside the body of a zookeeper (Murray) who teams up with a cold pill (David Hyde Pierce) to stop a deadly food-born virus (Laurence Fishburne) that has entered the body after the man ate a rotten egg seems like it never should've seen the light of day, but remarkably it did and the world is better off with something as delightfully odd as this in it. 

Most Overrated: Stripes (1981)

Watching some older comedies over the last few years has essentially served as a class on the evolution of humor and how it can have an expiration date. The cult classic Stripes is one of the best examples of a comedy that has aged out of being funny that I've come across thus far. A majority of the jokes are just homophobic, sexist or creepy remarks that not only lack taste, but the creative spark and spirted delivery to produce a truly satisfying payoff. On top of the lazy jokes, it also happens to be an unbelievably boring movie that becomes very disjointed when it inexplicably takes a turn towards being a borderline serious war movie in the final half hour.    

Greatest Cameo: Zombieland (2009)

Murray's unforgettable appearance as himself in Zombieland isn't just Murray's best cameo, it's my favorite cameo in the history of movies. He shows up for essentially 5 minutes out of the blue and drives the funniest scene of a movie that is frequently hilarious. Truly iconic shit.