Just watched a couple of historical feature films for work purposes. I often use films in my history classes to illustrate various ideas and make the students practice critical viewing skills (similar to critical reading and thinking skills applied to more traditional source material). I want them to learn the strengths and limitations of cinematic portrayals of history (plus it lets me watch movies as course prep--sshhh, don't tell anyone 
).
I watched Good Night, and Good Luck and The Post. Of the two, I like Good Night better, as it has a more intimate feel to it, a tighter focus on the moment it's trying to capture, and a killer soundtrack (I'm also a big fan of black and white as a cinematic palette). The Post makes similar points about the need for a free press, one that is not afraid to challenge authority (as any free press should--with the understanding that they don't always get it right). However, I don't think Tom Hanks captures Ben Bradlee quite as well as David Strathairn channels Edward R. Murrow. They're both useful for my classroom purposes, but Good Night..., to me, is the better film.
I only have Good Night... on DVD, but I have to say I was impressed with my LG 43UM7300 4K and its scaling. It's not HD, of course, but apart from when some title texts appeared onscreen, it looked about as good as DVD ever has on anything I've seen (of course, my eyes are not what they once were, so maybe my TV isn't as good as all that--good for my wallet though ). The Post is a BD, so it looked quite nice.
I've got a few more of these to view before the end of the term so I'll try to report on a few more (I usually screen snippets, occasionally the whole thing, in class, but these days I can only recommend them as supplements to my students).
).I watched Good Night, and Good Luck and The Post. Of the two, I like Good Night better, as it has a more intimate feel to it, a tighter focus on the moment it's trying to capture, and a killer soundtrack (I'm also a big fan of black and white as a cinematic palette). The Post makes similar points about the need for a free press, one that is not afraid to challenge authority (as any free press should--with the understanding that they don't always get it right). However, I don't think Tom Hanks captures Ben Bradlee quite as well as David Strathairn channels Edward R. Murrow. They're both useful for my classroom purposes, but Good Night..., to me, is the better film.
I only have Good Night... on DVD, but I have to say I was impressed with my LG 43UM7300 4K and its scaling. It's not HD, of course, but apart from when some title texts appeared onscreen, it looked about as good as DVD ever has on anything I've seen (of course, my eyes are not what they once were, so maybe my TV isn't as good as all that--good for my wallet though
). The Post is a BD, so it looked quite nice.I've got a few more of these to view before the end of the term so I'll try to report on a few more (I usually screen snippets, occasionally the whole thing, in class, but these days I can only recommend them as supplements to my students).
