Monday, February 20, 2006
Last night I went to bed way too late because I was ripping music onto my MP3 player (The Lemonheads' "Come On Feel The Lemonheads", the Byrds' "Younger Than Yesterday" and R.E.M.'s "Out Of Time") and this morning I was up way too early because Lorraine called me at 9:10 to say that, as somebody didn't turn up for the morning shift, she had taken it (the silly cow was up at 4:50 this morning and was in work before 7am) and would be home just after 4pm. 'tic good, but I couldn't get back to sleep and now I am feeling a bit groggy.
Mid morning I went to see "Good Night, And Good Luck".
It is very good film and almost supernaturally relevant to today's world, dealing as it does with issues of personal responsibility, truth, civil liberties and freedom of the press. It is exactly the kind of film that should be shown to anybody with even the slightest inclination in going into politics or journalism. Just terrific. It is very short as well, but not a second of it's 93 minutes is wasted. Maybe George Clooney will get a nod of some kind at the forthcoming Oscars, but I doubt it. Interesting to note as well that if David Strathairn portrayal of Edward R Murrow is accurate, the Twilight Zone's genius Rod Serling based his entire screen persona on Edward R Murrow, even down to the chain smoking.
After the cinema I did a some shopping for the rest of the week. Lorraine will probably find fault with something I have bought, but if she is daft enough to leave it to me... (blows raspberry.)
Waiting at the bus stop to come home, I saw a fat guy (shellsuit, baseball cap, goatee) doing a painful rendition of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River" while dancing with a pram containing a young child. His girlfriend (actually she was nice, red hair, low cut top, freckles on her tits) seemed mortified. It was funny until I thought about it, and then I realised that it was exactly the kind of thing I would do.
So, what's going on with you then? Let's have a look.
Mid morning I went to see "Good Night, And Good Luck".
It is very good film and almost supernaturally relevant to today's world, dealing as it does with issues of personal responsibility, truth, civil liberties and freedom of the press. It is exactly the kind of film that should be shown to anybody with even the slightest inclination in going into politics or journalism. Just terrific. It is very short as well, but not a second of it's 93 minutes is wasted. Maybe George Clooney will get a nod of some kind at the forthcoming Oscars, but I doubt it. Interesting to note as well that if David Strathairn portrayal of Edward R Murrow is accurate, the Twilight Zone's genius Rod Serling based his entire screen persona on Edward R Murrow, even down to the chain smoking.
After the cinema I did a some shopping for the rest of the week. Lorraine will probably find fault with something I have bought, but if she is daft enough to leave it to me... (blows raspberry.)
Waiting at the bus stop to come home, I saw a fat guy (shellsuit, baseball cap, goatee) doing a painful rendition of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River" while dancing with a pram containing a young child. His girlfriend (actually she was nice, red hair, low cut top, freckles on her tits) seemed mortified. It was funny until I thought about it, and then I realised that it was exactly the kind of thing I would do.
So, what's going on with you then? Let's have a look.
# posted by Pynchon @ 3:16 pm 
Comments:
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"Good Night" is an excellent movie -- it doesn't have a chance to win Oscars, but I appreciated it as a journalist. I think it helps that Clooney's from a family of journalists. I finally saw Capote and Brokeback Mountain over the weekend -- I'm calling best actor for Hoffman and movie for Brokeback. Remarkable work.
I don't think anything can beat "Brokeback Mountain" this year. I haven't seen "Capote". I believe that they have previews in the UK this Thursday, so it will probably start this weekend or next.
Yeah, I quite fancy seeing "Good night..."
I never really rated Cloony much but only because I kinda of dismissed him out of hand but it actually seems I misjudged him in that his astute, talented and willing to speak out about what's right so, full respect to Mr C!
I never really rated Cloony much but only because I kinda of dismissed him out of hand but it actually seems I misjudged him in that his astute, talented and willing to speak out about what's right so, full respect to Mr C!
I didn't like "Good Night" as much as you. I thought there was more than a minute wasted - the whole B-plot of the Robert Downey Jr./Patricia Clarkston storyline, in fact. I love them as actors but nothing about that storyline had any real connection to the main plot, nor did it wind up having much importance to anyone at the end. The real-life journalists who those characters were based on were advisors to the film, and I think they were added because of that, not for any dramatic impact.
I also think it's hard to create a sense of tension when your subject is well-known history. We know what happened, so the film's creators have to work extra hard to make us care enough to take the journey again. It didn't work for me in this film, but as I am very much in the minority, it works for most other people. I just thought the whole, "omigod, will they get away with airing this?" question to be less than compelling when you know that they did.
I'll shut up now.
I also think it's hard to create a sense of tension when your subject is well-known history. We know what happened, so the film's creators have to work extra hard to make us care enough to take the journey again. It didn't work for me in this film, but as I am very much in the minority, it works for most other people. I just thought the whole, "omigod, will they get away with airing this?" question to be less than compelling when you know that they did.
I'll shut up now.
Oh, I liked it, too, just not as much as others. I think it's the weakest of the Best Picture nominees, and would have much preferred to see it replaced by "Syriana," "Walk the Line," "Match Point," or even "Pride & Prejudice."
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