December 21, 2005

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Aside from being engrossing and masterful, Good Night, and Good Luck is absolutely gorgeous, a visually sensual delight. Hopefully there will be nominations for cinematography (Robert Elswit) and art direction (Christa Munro) to go with all of Clooney’s deserved accolades.

One of Clooney’s greatest directorial accomplishments in this movie is Cigarette Continuity. There is nothing peskier than keeping the lengths of a burning cigarette consistent during take after take of a scene, and it’s the easiest blooper to spot in a film.
Good Night, and Good Luck has about a thousand smokes per frame a-blazin’, yet I spotted only one overt inconsistency (when Murrow and Friendly are being admonished in Paley’s office). I’m guessing that all the group scenes were shot as continuous takes with multiple cameras, which means this troupe had to rehearse that screenplay to within an inch of daylight before a single frame was shot. All because this film borders on cigarette pornography.

Speaking of:
I spent most of the evening contemplating the film, and also worrying that maybe Clooney spends too much time glorifying the past, and longing for the past is a psychological sign of regret.

With all of these sugarplums dancing in my head, I wound up dreaming about having sex with George Clooney.
Thumbs Up!
This dream also featured the very first time I ever flew. That’s a common dream theme, but I’d yet to do so until last night’s casual float through the nighttime sky. I’m not sure if the two R.E.M. events were related, but I did remember a curious fact.

The very first MELT entry was about how George Clooney watched over me while recovering from traumatically painful surgery. Now, he returns to “relieve stress” during this abominable holiday lunacy.

Odd...Clooney has become the Saint Bernard with the tiny barrel of whiskey under his neck, bounding across the tundra to rescue me. Now, I'm not certain that the barrel would be full... he's been known to have a nip or 3 or 7. And if he's looking to have kids, he can't bark up my tree.
But I do wish him good night, good luck, and sweet dreams.