Originally Posted by Sedai
Good Night and Good Luck (Clooney, 2005) - Interesting insights into the state of the nation at the time. We need a guy like Murrow, now...
I think it also provides some interesting (and not altogether inappropriate) insights into the state of television today. It more than speaks out against all the cheap, shallow programming that sponsors favor, and it criticizes the networks for - as Murrow really did warn against - caving to the whims of those sponsors. I love how it frames this moment in time when networks, sponsors, and newsmen were not afraid to rally together; speak the honest, unbiased truth to millions; and actually incite a change. "This weapon of television could be useful," Murrow proclaims. Indeed it was, and he believed very strongly in its capacity to mass educate. But he was afraid it would be squandered, and it's very sad to look around and realize that - by and large - it has been.
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Crash (Haggis, 2004) - More than just an extended after-school special, this one hit many of the right buttons for me. While I was somewhat annoyed at first that the writing was asking all the racism questions from the very beginning, I quickly realized that if you're going to make a film about racism, you might as well go right at it. What makes this film most impressive to me is the well-crafted characters - they're not exactly deep or complex, but they're certainly not flat. They seem a little contrived, but it's all good when the film pays you off. Matt Dillon comes off as a racist prick, but once you get a look into his world, you suddenly realize that this is a real guy who's life has led him to this point. People aren't just born racist or bad or evil: they become that way through external and internal factors. The scene in which he pulls Thandie Newton from the car: it had me in tears. It was just
so right.
There are just so many scenes where you see the characters come down to the level, and either succeed or fail. The whole film is really just a series of personal vignettes that seem to say, "This is how it is for us. How is it for you?" Excellent (and I mean
excellent) performances all around, particularly Terence Howard, Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton, Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Michael Pena, and Shaun Toub. Rarely does a film put you closer to happiness and heartbreak.
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