Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Good Night and Good Luck (2005)

This is topic Good Night and Good Luck (2005) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-12-2005, 08:05 PM:

No one else has seen this? [Confused]

Excellent film. I was very familiar with the McCarthy era, but not the specific events detailed in the film. There are plenty of parallels with the current political situation in the US; identifying them is left as an excercise for the interested viewer. [Wink]

Anyway, it's very well acted and beautifully photographed and edited. Check it out.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 10-13-2005, 08:28 AM:

AFAIK, all prints are on silver image B&W print film (Kodak 2302). Be sure you have good heat filtration and are not "hot spotting":

http://www.film-tech.com/ubb/f3/t001813.html

Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 10-20-2005, 02:39 PM:

Uh Oh [uhoh]

,

"Capote" now has some competition for: BEST MOVIE, BEST ACTOR, BEST ACTRESS, BEST WRITING, BEST EVERYTHING.

This movie BLEW ME AWAY! THE WHOLE CAST/CREW IS GOING TO BE NOMINATED. GO SEE IT.

[ 10-27-2005, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: Eric Hooper ]

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 10-22-2005, 08:26 AM:

Hey, Hollywood! Listen UP! If you make movies for grown-ups, they will actually COME SEE THEM.

AMC Lennox 24 - 4:45 - A SOLD OUT SCREENING! We had to sit in the second row, as every other seat was occupied. (Thank you, AMC, for the comfortable head rests that made even a very close view of the screen comfortable) I was shocked. Usually, shows at this time are lightly attended. The audience was an older one...it was strange being among the younger ones in the audience for a change.

Bravo, George Clooney. Take some of that money and make something serious but very entertaining. Marvelous acting up and down the line. David Strathairn doesn't look exactly like Murrow, but he has Edward R.'s distinctive vocal rhythm. Not exactly a plot film or a character study...more of a historical retrospective.

They sure smoked a lot in the 50's!

Excellent black and white photography. Also a marvelous sung score by Dianne Reeves.

Should get numerous nominations.

I think this one will do surprisingly good business.

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 10-25-2005, 01:24 AM:

Smoking in the 1950's....

Tobacco companys were major entertainment sponsors...and their commericals and jingles were quite creative...."Calling Phillip Morris!"

Interesting, many tobacco advertisements included testamonials from "doctors" who recommended a certain brand!

Hell, I remember many of those commericals going up through the 1970's!

K.

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 11-05-2005, 12:14 PM:

Bump!

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 11-05-2005, 04:19 PM:

Ah, the days when TV hosts (as well as TV drama characters) were actually encouraged to smoke on air! This film could easily have worn out its welcome if it had dragged on like so many dramas these days, but the filmmakers wisely chose to keep it to a less than 90 minute length. Black and white photography really contributed to the overall feel of the era and gave it a somewhat more "documentary" look. The film stuck to its subject matter of the delicate balancing act news departments had to foloow in order to survivew and project some semblance of credibility.

(screening: October 29, Arclight Cinemas, Hollywood)

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 11-05-2005, 08:00 PM:

The wife and I liked it. We saw it at a little independent art house type theater of Bainbridge Island (The Lynwood). I'd recommend it just because of it's historical perspective.

Good Stuff [thumbsup]

Well done

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-05-2005, 09:34 PM:

Today, 5:20PM, Regal Cinema World 8 in Eugene, House #8, SR-D. Attendance was probably around 100, mostly middle-aged, not typical moviegoers. The print looked brand new, very sharp and detailed. Unfortunately it also had some faint ghost-like wide vertical lines streaking and weaving across the entire frame from start to finish (not like scratches, almost like some kind of liquid). Not horribly bad, but noticeable. And the digital sound started "warbling" around the middle of reel 4, with occasional dropouts to analog. This continued into reel 5 but not as badly. I was too into the movie to complain but someone else did. Also, reel 5 had a LOT of random white specks in the image.

John Pytlak said this:

quote:
The prints are being edgewaxed (per SMPTE Recommended Practice RP151), so projector abrasion and dusting should be minimal. But you may notice a bit of a soft wax deposit on film contacting components between shows, that can be easily cleaned off.

Could that be related to the faint streaking I saw?

This is a fantastic film. Should win awards. David Straithairn is amazing. Everyone in it is great, even George Clooney. The 50s look is so authentic it's creepy. I gotta give credit to Clooney for making this, and like someone else said, for keeping it relatively brief. This is the kind of material some directors would have made plot-heavy and stretched out to at least 2 hours.

**** 1/2 out of ***** from me, and a Thank You to Regal for bringing it to Eugene. Too bad about the presentation issues.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-05-2005, 09:59 PM:

This may be yet another show I'll probably have to look for on DVD. The nearest theater to me showing it is in Oklahoma City.

I suppose a film print could show up in Lawton (crossing my fingers for the Carmike location instead of the 12-plex at the mall) -possibly after Oscar nominations are announced. But that's barring the more likely possibility the movie will already be out on DVD by then. Shrinking release windows, you know.

I am looking forward to seeing it. Ought to be good -and quite timely considering current events.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 11-06-2005, 08:06 AM:

I accidentally started another topic for this film. Sorry, master Moderators. (It's been locked.)

Ran Good Night and Good Luck Friday morning because none of the kids in the theatre wanted to screen that 'black and white thing.' I think it is a great little film.

One thing: In R1, during the 1958 awards segment, did anybody notice the echo in the surrounds was heard before Murrow spoke on screen? This was the only flaw that I noticed.

It's doing good business.

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 11-06-2005, 08:23 AM:

I haven't see this, but from what I've read and its subject matter, isn't this at its heart a political movie?

And therefore not allowed on the forums?

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 11-06-2005, 10:09 AM:

I was glad to see that the film steered clear of making political judgments and left interpretation up to the viewer.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-06-2005, 10:42 AM:

Yeah, what Greg said. It's more a dramatized presentation of historical events. Interpretation is left to the viewer.

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 11-06-2005, 04:30 PM:

That's good. Clooney is known for his strong political opinions, it's good to hear he checked them at the door.

[ 11-07-2005, 08:50 AM: Message edited by: Matt Fields ]

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 11-06-2005, 11:21 PM:

CINEMA: Century 20 at Jordan Creek, West Des Moines, IA
AUDITORIUM: 20
PRESENTATION: Dolby Digital/THX
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Digital audio pop and scatter periodically throughout, but most often in the first twenty minutes (uh, I mean, "Reel 1"). I'm probably the only one who noticed.
RATING: Three and one half stars (out of four)

I'm sure glad I'm not here to see "Jarhead". You should see the people buying tickets for that. That's going to be one obnoxious crowd.

Hey! That guy killed Laura Palmer!

This was great on pretty much every level. You could watch it with no sound at all and just be impressed with the visual style.

The ending seemed a little abrupt for some of the dozen or so in attendance. I would say about half the audience at the end were looking at the screen like..."HUH?!?".

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 11-07-2005, 12:38 PM:

Without getting into "politics", it is an excellent film. I just hope that ALL MEMBERS of our increasingly corrupt government are paying attention!

On an historical note, Murrow/Friendly also had a radio counterpart to "See It Now" called "Hear It Now". Many, Many of the "Hear It Now" broadcasts were released by CBS on vinyl, and can be purchased through rare record/vinyl dealers. I happen to have two very interesting copies in my collection, one with Nasser of Egypt and the other of Ben-Gurion of Israel interviewd and released just before the 1956 war.

Cheers

K.

Posted by Paul Gordon (Member # 3320) on 11-14-2005, 07:41 AM:

Bytowne Cinema, Ottawa
9:30pm show, 400+ people
Perfect Presentation

Not a bad film, it looked great, but then again over half the film was close ups! Also I don't remember any exteriors in the film at all. It felt kinda limiting... It seemed like the film was just a way for Clonney to comment on the current Bush governement and not really about a anti-communist senator from the 50's. I almost fell asleep, maybe I was tired or the black and white film... or it just wasn't that great. I was waiting for the change over marks.. knowing it was 5 reels... though it felt like 8

3 out of 5

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 11-14-2005, 07:28 PM:

quote: Bruce McGee
In R1, during the 1958 awards segment, did anybody notice the echo in the surrounds was heard before Murrow spoke on screen?

Bruce, yes I noticed that too.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 11-14-2005, 09:02 PM:

I watched it again this morning before work.

Thanks Jeremy.

Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 11-14-2005, 09:44 PM:

quote:
Without getting into "politics", it is an excellent film. I just hope that ALL MEMBERS of our increasingly corrupt government are paying attention!

How 'bout that? He goes from saying "without getting into politics", to taking a political jab at the government... All in the same paragraph!

[thumbsdown]

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 11-15-2005, 12:26 PM:

Notice that my statement was BIPARTISIAN ~ across the board!

Or should I restate "without getting into an intense political conversation"...just observing the fact that government, in general, is becomming ever more corrupt!

Read the words for what they are, and don't add something that is not there!

Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 11-15-2005, 01:25 PM:

[sleep]

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 11-15-2005, 03:01 PM:

I thought that this film was by far the best film I have seen this year.

I saw it on a large screen during it's premier run at the Loews Lincoln Square, the Egyptian Auditorium. The film was clear and sharp and the sound was excellent. [thumbsup]

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-15-2005, 06:51 PM:

quote:
AFAIK, all prints are on silver image B&W print film (Kodak 2302). Be sure you have good heat filtration and are not "hot spotting":

John, What stock did they shoot this film with... Any idea?

Thanks,
Mark

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-16-2005, 07:34 AM:

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
John, What stock did they shoot this film with... Any idea?

Cinematographer Robert Elswit used Kodak VISION2 500T Color Negative Film 5218:

http://moviegoer.movblogs.com/article-124806.html

quote:
虽然Elswit很想直接用黑白胶片拍，但考虑到实际情况，他还是采取了Roger Deakins拍《The Man Who Wasn't There》的方式，用彩色胶片拍，后期销掉饱和度。Elswit选了柯达Vision2 500T 5218胶片，当400度用。他解释说：“我需要能让我在低照度下用伸缩镜头（那&# 20040;快/高感光度的）胶片，5218比现近最快的黑白胶片Eastman Double-X 5222还快两倍，并能达到最慢的黑白胶片Eastman Plus-X 5231的细腻颗粒和动态范围。我们实际上试用了黑白胶片，觉得5231的效果最&# 21512;适。我们希望5218彩色胶片能够模拟黑白5231后期的对比度和影调动域。”

http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/fall2005/features/prime_time.php

quote:
Film Stock
Kodak Vision2 500T 5218.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 11-16-2005, 08:37 AM:

I've had no problems with our print since I adjusted the intermittent shoe on the projector. Its running smooth and steady now.

One thing I have done:

The trailers on this film are LOUD. Before trailers start, I cut the volume to 4. As soon as the trailers are over, I bump the sound up to 5.5.

Almost every show, someone runs out to the usher and tells them that the sound is off on the movie. As you may know, theres no sound in the first few seconds of the film. I've stopped running back to the projector for this problem.

We've had several complaints about the surround issue in R1. Its nothing, IMHO, and to me, it shows that people are really paying attention.

Someone came out of the 4PM show yesterday and asked me if I had a digital copy of the film, as he saw no scratches or dirt on the film. He was very surprised when I told him it was film.

In the past, my theatre was known for scratchy prints. Thats the past, and this is now. Things are looking good here.