Good Night, and Good Luck

I finally began my Oscar push last night by seeing Good Night, Good Luck with David Strathairn. Wow. George Clooney is a good director and he picks such great subject matter. I'm obsessed with the McCarthy Era, always have been it always fascinated me the way that power was abused through fear...I never imagined I would live through a similar era, but I guess when people in the 50's looked back on the Red Scare of the twenties they never imagined that THEY would live through a similar era, it's amazing how the tactic won't die. But Murrow eloquently spoke truth to power and it's obvious the movie was made to implore the media to please do the same in 2005. The interesting thing is that unlike the 50's or the 20's when the media wouldn't speak truth to power, they did it out of silence (speaking out was suspect of communist leanings), the media in 2005 actively aids and abets the government in their tactics, see Judy Miller, or (breaking news) Bob Fucking Woodward..

David Strathairn is rumored to be nominated for Best Actor, the movie for best picture, but then so is Jarhead. So in the pure politics of the Oscars basically The Academy will be asked to vote for a declaration that we're not going to take it anymore, that we all need to take a stand against the terrorism of the state...or...support the troops. Fucking Sam Mendes, must you muddle this argument?

David Strathairn is great, he really captures Murrow and Murrow's voice. Did you know that David once wore my shoes?

Funny story.

Last year I worked on a movie that starred David Strathairn. I used to have this odd pair of shoes, I've never seen any like them, they were trail hiking shoes held together with bungees instead of shoelaces, so not only did they never need to be tied, but they were easy to slip on and off and were very comfortable.

When I walked onto the set I was face to face with David (who I am a huge fan of because of "Sneakers", one of the greatest, most underrated films ever, GREAT script). I looked down and saw that he was wearing the same shoes.

"Nice shoes." I said. David looked down, saw that I was wearing them too.
"I know they're comfortable aren't they?"

That was about it between me and Dave. But on the last night of one of the principal players filming we held a goodbye party complete with roller-skating. Everybody took their shoes off and threw them in a pile. At the end of the night I put my shoes back on and they were very loose, thus my assessment that David Strathairn wears size 12's, or at least keeps his bungees looser than I do. For the next few days I tried to track David down, ultimately just leaving his shoes in his trailer. I got mine back two months later when the crew came back.

Not a great story. But a story nonetheless.

Later the production would be hit by Hurricane Ivan and plywood boards needed to be cut and placed on 60 72 year-old-windows of the historic building we were shooting. The grips and electric crew set about the task with their tools and skycranes, and so did David. Not a lot of actors would cut boards and prepare a town for a hurricane.

I hope he wins Best Actor, he's a hell of a guy, he's put in his time, and he's great in the movie. Go Dave.

Good Night, and Good Luck.