Groundhog season

According to age, everyone has their preferred Bill Murray. For some, it is the slacker lustmonkey of military comedy Stripes. For the younger generation, he'll forever wake up on Groundhog Day. For me, his wise-cracking Ghostbuster will always be a highlight ('We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!').

So, although the NFT's season of Bill Murray films is eclectic and by no means comprehensive, there is something for almost everyone.

Groundhog Day and Stripes kick off the season today (6.30pm and 8.40pm, respectively) and return later in the month, while Ghostbusters screens on Sunday at 3.45pm and October 11 at 8.40pm. Elsewhere, his turns in the Ethan Hawke version of Hamlet and Mad Dog And Glory make unexpected appearances, the latter pitting Murray against that other acting giant, Robert De Niro.

But where De Niro seems to fritter his talent on lesser projects these days, Murray opts for quality over quantity (hell, he was even good in Wild Things). Thus, we have two of his finer recent films: Rushmore (Oct 15 6.10pm, Oct 17 8.40pm, Oct 19 8.30pm) and The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (Oct 15 8.30pm, Oct 16 3.45pm and Oct 17 6.15pm).

Of course, there's Lost In Translation (tomorrow 6.15pm, Wed 6.30pm and Fri 6.10pm) but the real reason for the season appears on Wednesday, with a preview of Jim Jarmusch's Cannes prize-winner Broken Flowers (Wed 8.45pm).

In it, Murray plays a serial monogamist looking for his old flames (including Tilda Swinton, Sharon Stone and Jessica Lange), as he tries to identify the mother of the son he's just discovered.

The man is a walking definition of deadpan. In fact, there's an article on www.mcsweeneys.net that puts forward a plot for a Ghostbusters sequel, in which the joke is that Bill Murray saves the day without doing anything but raise the occasional eyebrow. And you know that if it ever got made, the film would be a hoot.

Today and in rep until Oct 19, National Film Theatre, South Bank SE1, various days and times, £8.20, £7.20 mems, £6.20 concs, £5.20 mems concs(Broken Flowers £11.50, £10.50 mems, £9.25 concs, £8.25 mems concs). Tel: 020 7928 3232. www.bfi.org.uk Tube: Waterloo/Embankment