Movie Madness

I decided to celebrate the second day of the New Year by having a mini-movie marathon which meant seeing two movies somewhat back to back. Of course, this being New Year and the fact that I hate paying the surcharge to Fandango or Moviefone on top of the extortionate amount of money that they are charging to see movies nowadays ($12.75 anyone for the Producers at the Ziegfeld?), it ended up not being quite as back to back as I had hoped.

I decided to see Good Night, and Good Luck and then Match Point, the new Woody Allen movie. Good Night, and Good Luck was only playing uptown at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas which is this small multi-plex that only shows foreign and independent movies. They also don't do ticketing on-line, so you have to get there early if you want to buy tickets. I got on-line around 12:15 and got my ticket around 12:20 which is pretty great. I had to dodge the passers-by who kept standing in front of people on-line to see the movie times, as well as people who were just walking by.

I really liked Good Night, and Good Luck, although I'm sure every conservative in the country hated it, including Ann Coulter who thinks that McCarthy got a bad rap. Ann, eat a cheeseburger and wear a longer skirt and spare us right-wing leanings! If you haven't seen this movie, I urge you to see it. It's about the McCarthy era during the 50's where people believed there were communists lurking under the mattresses or under every rock which McCarthy exploited to make a name for himself. That's not to say that there weren't genuine threats to national security, but McCarthy was accusing everyone. There was a strong climate of fear in this country. Seemingly innocent associations back when you were 20 could come back to bite you on the ass in a big way. I thought the movie captured the mood of the times very well. Plus it was in black and white which I love.

This movie actually made me miss my parents a great deal, because it was the type of movie that I would have loved to talk to them about since they lived through that period of time. I know my mother, the rabid Democract, would have had quite a bit to say about McCarthy. She probably would have swooned a little over Mr. Clooney too.

The most interesting part of the movie is the end where Murrow exhorts his colleagues to not let the news degenerate into mass entertainment. You have to wonder what he would have thought about the plethora of infortainment shows and all the news magazines on the air right now.

One weird thing, I noticed my high school boyfriend's parents also went to see the film. How weird is that? I didn't say anything to them, I mean what would I say? Hi, you haven't seen me in 23 years but I used to date your son?

Match Point was a different kettle of fish. It's clearly Woody Allen's best film in a decade. It takes him back to the territory he mined in Crimes and Misdemeanors and Husbands and Wives, and not the crap he's been slinging like Curse of the Jade Scorpion, and Hollywood Ending. Plus, he's not in it, so we don't have to endure the painful sight of him and a love interest who could be his granddaughter.

Match Point is the story of Chris Wilton, a tennis pro who becomes involved with a wealthy family, to the point that he marries the daughter and takes a job in the family business. But he falls for Nola Rice, the sexy messed up ex-fiancee of his brother-in-law. I won't give too much away, only to say that the film has echoes of An American Tragedy and Crime and Punishment. It was really good. Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johansen have two of the sexiest pair of lips in film today, but the real revelation was Matthew Goode has Tom Hewett who brings the two together. He's like a young Rupert Everett, except straight. I now have to watch Chasing Liberty with him and Mandy Moore.

I only had one reservation with this film, and that was with the ending. I'm of two minds about it. I'd like to know what other people thought if they've seen the film. Also, due to my important work with IAG, I also noted the product placements in the film. I counted about 20 by the end of the film, everything from Cartier to Samsung.

So, I'd have to give Good Night and Good Luck, an A and Match Point, a B+