The Good Shepherd
I did not plan it this way, however I have seen 2 spy movies and an interview of a spy in the last two days! First, I went with Ben to see "Casino Royale" for a second time. I enjoyed it almost as much as the first time. It was interesting, I still felt the suspense even when I knew what was going to happen. However, one thing was different this time. The torture scene bothered me more. I really don't like torture scenes. The first time I watched the movie, the torture scene bothered me, but I forgot about it pretty quickly. The second time I noticed it and have not forgotten it. The torture scene did not ruin the movie for me, but I wish they did not include that scene.
We have been watching DVD's of a TV series done by Errol Morris. In 2000, Morris had a TV series on the Bravo channel called "First Person". Each episode was a half hour interview with some interesting character. It has been really good. One of the episodes was with a retired CIA agent. This guy was the head of the disguises department and he talks about his career and some of his missions. His main point was that the best spies go completely unnoticed. He said that if you are the type of person that no one ever notices, than you are a good candidate to be a spy. Pretty much the opposite of James Bond. It was pretty interesting. In fact the whole series has been interesting. At this point, we have seen 2 of the 3 DVDs. I will do a post after we have gotten through the last DVD.
Last night, we went to see Robert DeNiro's "The Good Shepherd". I think it was a good but not great movie. However I think Matt Damon (and the rest of the cast) did a great job of acting. Damon's character was more in the style of the unobtrusive spy. He plays a quiet guy who hardly says a word. He dresses in drab suits covered by a drab overcoat and a drab hat. Yeah, yeah, he still has the movie star good looks, but he comes across as a quiet unobtrusive guy in the movie. DeNiro was able to gather a number of excellent actors for this movie: Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Michael Gambon, William Hurt, Timothy Hutton, Joe Pesci and John Turturro. He even got Francis Ford Coppola as the Executive Producer.
Unfortunately, the movie was not as good as the acting jobs. It runs close to 3 hours and it feels that long. It is not a bad movie, just a good movie. The movie is based on a sophisticated, complex plot. It portrays a world where you never know who to trust and you never feel safe. This feeling permeates the movie. Clearly this movie is trying to give an accurate picture of the life of a spy. While most people like to be entertained by watching a spy film like a Bond movie, the viewers realize that it is not reality. Not as many people will be entertained by this movie, but most viewers will realize that is far closer to reality.
We have been watching DVD's of a TV series done by Errol Morris. In 2000, Morris had a TV series on the Bravo channel called "First Person". Each episode was a half hour interview with some interesting character. It has been really good. One of the episodes was with a retired CIA agent. This guy was the head of the disguises department and he talks about his career and some of his missions. His main point was that the best spies go completely unnoticed. He said that if you are the type of person that no one ever notices, than you are a good candidate to be a spy. Pretty much the opposite of James Bond. It was pretty interesting. In fact the whole series has been interesting. At this point, we have seen 2 of the 3 DVDs. I will do a post after we have gotten through the last DVD.
Last night, we went to see Robert DeNiro's "The Good Shepherd". I think it was a good but not great movie. However I think Matt Damon (and the rest of the cast) did a great job of acting. Damon's character was more in the style of the unobtrusive spy. He plays a quiet guy who hardly says a word. He dresses in drab suits covered by a drab overcoat and a drab hat. Yeah, yeah, he still has the movie star good looks, but he comes across as a quiet unobtrusive guy in the movie. DeNiro was able to gather a number of excellent actors for this movie: Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Michael Gambon, William Hurt, Timothy Hutton, Joe Pesci and John Turturro. He even got Francis Ford Coppola as the Executive Producer.
Unfortunately, the movie was not as good as the acting jobs. It runs close to 3 hours and it feels that long. It is not a bad movie, just a good movie. The movie is based on a sophisticated, complex plot. It portrays a world where you never know who to trust and you never feel safe. This feeling permeates the movie. Clearly this movie is trying to give an accurate picture of the life of a spy. While most people like to be entertained by watching a spy film like a Bond movie, the viewers realize that it is not reality. Not as many people will be entertained by this movie, but most viewers will realize that is far closer to reality.
posted by Steve @ 12:27 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home