Screening Log

This new site feature is a collective effort to summarize our viewing habits. Occasionally, you will find titles here that are coming to a theater near you, in addition to films viewed on television, and even films viewed in piecemeal. The screening log is archived each month; to view past entries select a month in the menu below.

April 2006 activity

Total Log Entries: 73

Total Comments: 32

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Good Night, and Good Luck. / USA / 2005

This captivating tale of newsman Edward R. Murrow at loggerheads with Senator Joseph McCarthy offers a much-welcomed reminder that the power of film lies not in lavish special effects or elaborate set designs, but in good writing. The script here (by George Clooney and Grant Heslov) is so finely wrought and tightly focused that we hardly notice the dearth of exterior establishing shots or the simple, stage-play style sets. Instead, our attention is engaged by character and story. Subtle touches throughout, such as producer Fred Friendly surreptitiously tapping Murrow’s leg to let the anchor know that the cameras are rolling, or Murrow clenching his teeth the moment a difficult segment wraps, serve to enhance the intimacy of the film, and humanize this vitriolic episode in U.S. history. As the story ends, Murrow warns that we must not be so blinded by the glitzy entertainment possibilities of television that we forget its latent power to inform, instruct, and enlighten the populace. Clooney and Heslov’s script offers the same reminder for motion pictures.

Full review.

by Thomas Scalzo | Source: Warner Home Video DVD
29 Apr 2006 1:21 PM | Submit Comment

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