Chicagoist Sides with Local Wildlife In Meteorological Disagreement

By Steven Pate in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 2, 2012 3:15PM

Yes, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and supposedly sentenced us to six more weeks of winter. We say, so what? It's not just that the next six weeks of winter might feel like the first, given how mild it has been. It's that our own rodent prognosticator, Woodstock Willie, did not see his shadow.

If your image of Groundhog Day is derived principally from the movie, that's Woodstock, IL playing the role of Punxsutawney, PA. The little town its proud of its star turn in the Bill Murray classic, and celebrating the 20th anniversary of the filming this year in style.

If you didn't make it out to "Gobbler's Knob" (also known as the Woodstock town square) this morning, there's still time to observe the holiday. Head to the Woodstock Theater on Main Street at 5 p.m. today to catch a free showing of the movie, and relive the most-relived on-screen day ever in style. Or do what we do, which is obnoxiously quote the movie all day. Repeat after us: "This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather."

(Ed. Note: If you can't make it to Woodstock for the free screening of Groundhog Day, Crackle.com is streaming the movie for free. &Mdash; CS)