No matter if you hate those cute, furry creatures who replace the reviled weathermen every February 2. You can at least enjoy the other Groundhog Day--Bill Murray's metaphysical cult classic. There are at least three good excuses for bringing it into your opinion diet:

1. See calendar
2. Atlantic 50 member Jonah Goldberg has called it "one of the best films of the last 40 years," devoting a full 2006 column to the question: "What is it about this ostensibly farcical film about a wisecracking weatherman that speaks to so many on such a deep spiritual level?"
3. There's a real debate over the length of time Bill Murray spends repeating Groundhog Day. The Wolf Gnards answer is "a bare minimum of six months." Another blogger puts it at about four years. Creator Danny Rubin says it was supposed to be a couple lifetimes ("Is one lifetime enough to change a repetitive pattern?"), but the studio only wanted two weeks.

Whether you're a fan of groundhogs or Goldberg, here it is:

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Heather Horn