The Good German

Drew599

Drew599

Veteran
Saw this last week at work and I really liked it. It totally looked like a film that had been shot back in the 50's. Plus the lighting was a spot on for the whole film noir look of that time. When it comes out give it a look.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0452624/
 
I'm surprised there isnt a more recent thread or even discussion of this film... unless the discussion is taking place in a thread with an unrelated name.

Anyway.... just saw it... or didn't see it.

I walked out. The last movie I walked out of was Ernest Goes to Camp. I just couldn't take it. The problem probably lies in the fact that I'm not a classic movie fan, but then I dont really see what classic movie fans would like about it.

It basically looked like someone said "What if a today's movie stars could star in a classic movie such as Casablanca?" They seem to have done it and I found it unwatchable.

Dont get me wrong. It's beautiful. But with all the great b/w cinematography and lighting, the writing (dialogue, I didnt make it through the story), directing, acting, and pacing were painful. The bad lines were delivered rigidly with no feeling. I have no idea if this is the "style" of Casablanca, as I have not seen it, but if this is in line with the fims of that era, they will continue to go unwatched my me. Until now, Casa was a film I just hadn't gotten to but meant to, but now it's off the list.

I'm gonna have to add Ernest's camp outing to my Netflix list. It cant be as bad as The Good German.

-GageFX
 
No, Casablanca stand the test of time, because the dialog is awesome. BUT it is dated by today's standards. I love it though and highly suggest you go see it. And rent Key Largo while you're at it.

I probably won't see this film because I am just not a Clooney fan, but I am curious to see how other people find the movie.
 
PerroneFord said:
No, Casablanca stand the test of time, because the dialog is awesome. BUT it is dated by today's standards.
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I hope Callaghan reads this. I'm sure he will have something to say about how today's movies don't stand up to the movies of the past.

Casablanca is undoubtedly top 5 on most people's lists for all time greates movies. I haven't actually compiled mine but it will come down to Casablanca, The Godfather Part II, and Ernest Goes to Camp for top honors.:)
 
I hope you understand that I am not knocking the dialog in Casablanca. It's marvelous. However, the shotgun type delivery that seemed be to be popular (at least with John Huston) seems a bit over the top by today's standards.

I love old hollywood. I have several Bogie movies (Have and have not, Sierra Madre, Casablanca, Key Largo, Maltese Falcon), and other movies of the period. They are great movies.

I did particularly enjoy learning that the script for Casablanca wasn't finished when shooting began, and they were literally writing the day's scripts on the fly near the end of the movie.

I greatly miss the days when you could watch a movie and didn't have to hear any four letter words... Just good writing and good acting.
 
I am looking forward to hearing some opinions in favor of German. I'm curious to see what it is I'm missing.

-GageFX
 
PerroneFord said:
I hope you understand that I am not knocking the dialog in Casablanca. It's marvelous. However, the shotgun type delivery that seemed be to be popular (at least with John Huston) seems a bit over the top by today's standards.

I love old hollywood. I have several Bogie movies (Have and have not, Sierra Madre, Casablanca, Key Largo, Maltese Falcon), and other movies of the period. They are great movies.

I did particularly enjoy learning that the script for Casablanca wasn't finished when shooting began, and they were literally writing the day's scripts on the fly near the end of the movie.

I greatly miss the days when you could watch a movie and didn't have to hear any four letter words... Just good writing and good acting.
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Nah, I know it wasn't a knock. You clearly said you really like Casablanca. I too was stunned to find out how much of this movie was done on the fly. Blew my mind.

As for reviewing the Good German, I most likely will wait on this one until a few people give it better reviews. There are many movies I want to see, old and new, before I get to this one.
 
this movie was total ****. stopped watching about 10 minutes into the film... i want a refund from the place i rented it from
 
GageFX said:
I have no idea if this is the "style" of Casablanca, as I have not seen it, but if this is in line with the fims of that era, they will continue to go unwatched my me. Until now, Casa was a film I just hadn't gotten to but meant to, but now it's off the list.

-GageFX
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WTF?? Sorry, but are you for real? You haven't seen Casablanca (what are you, nine?), but you're gonna skip it because you didn't like The Good German?

Take that The Professional pic down dude....I'm guessing you like it for the wrong reasons.

Again, I am sorry, but your comment is both offensive and horrific.

Do you even like films, or do you just like movies?
 
GG Sucked and blew. For a couple of reasons. First, it was a triumph of style over substance. It was so old fashioned it was distracting to the central story, which wasn't very strong to begin with.

Second, it was filmed to look exactly like an old film...even down to using only incandescent lights...except it incorporated modern camera angles and the kind of camera motion you would have never seen in the days when cameras weighed 300 pounds and they didn't have steadicams.

The scene where Toby Mcguire was driving Clooney up the hill in that jeep had some of the worst green screen I'd ever seen. Someone obviously scabbed some old WW2 footage of Berlin and put it behind the moving jeep in the most horrific and artificial way.

Plus the story sucked, which I mention again only because it was the last nail in the coffin for GG.
 
This film was so disappointing. I love Soderbergh and think he's one of the few "mainstream" directors who's ballsy enough to constantly be experimenting with his films. However, it feels like he missed the mark with this film. Obviously the script is sub-par, but I think the thing that bothered me the most strangely enough is the cussing in the dialogue. This film is a visual homage to films like Casablanca and The Third Man, and yet the dialogue feels too much like contemporary cinema. I think if you're going to be so stringent about making the film appear as if it were filmed in the 40s, you should make everything feel that way, including dialogue.
 
angrynerdrock07 said:
I think if you're going to be so stringent about making the film appear as if it were filmed in the 40s, you should make everything feel that way, including dialogue.
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A great example of this is Brick. While it isn't a direct translation of film noir in terms of mis en scene (except of for the blocking) the plot is classic gumshoe stuff with a twist, and the dialogue is very true to the form.
 
Anybody who consciously makes a decision to not see Casablanca is a moron.

The Good German isn't anything like Casablanca, at all. Maybe in terms of the way the film looks, but not really there either.

Casablanca has a simple yet classic story, and it is entirely about the characters. The Good German's story is very complicated, and the individual characters are not that important.
 
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