Clint Eastwood is Carl Fredricksen – a superb mashup
Posts Tagged ‘Gran Torino’
Pixar’s Up and Gran Torino mashup
Posted by LiveFor on December 18, 2009
Posted in Action, Animated, Film, Mashup, Thriller, Trailer | Tagged: Clint Eastwood, Cool, funny, Gran Torino, Mashup, Pixar, Up | Leave a Comment »
Kingdom of the Blind: Clint Eastwood and Revenge, Pt. 1: “Hell Rode With Him”
Posted by LiveFor on December 3, 2009
This video essay is part of a series on Clint Eastwood, the 2009 honoree of the Musuem of the Moving Image’s Annual Salute.
It is by Matt Zoller Seitz and is well worth a watch.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Clint Eastwood’s long career as both actor and director is a homestead built atop a graveyard. From his breakthrough role as The Man With No Name in Sergio Leone’s mid-’60s “Dollars” trilogy through the Dirty Harry series, High Plains Drifter (1972), Unforgiven (1992), Mystic River (2003), and Gran Torino (2008), many of his best-known films follow traumatized people on missions of revenge. Some treat revenge lightly, ritualistically—as a mere ingredient, something one expects to see in westerns and thrillers, Eastwood’s signature genres. Others treat it more seriously—as a response to evil that creates more evil; as an extralegal means of seeking justice that society botched or denied; as the result of unseen cosmic forces passing judgment on humankind; as a traumatized person’s desperate attempt to regain authority over a life that’s spun out of control; and as metaphysical narcotic—an activity that momentarily lets emotionally numb, spiritually dead people feel alive…read the rest
Check out part 2
Source: Hollywood Elsewhere
Posted in Action, Film, news, stuff, Thriller, War, Western | Tagged: Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry, Gran Torino, Matt Zoller Seitz, western | 1 Comment »
Gran Torino, 2008 – Movie Review
Posted by LiveFor on January 10, 2009
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her
Running Time: 116 minutes
Score: 8 / 10
This review by Babubhaut – Possible spoilers ahead
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big Clint Eastwood, the director, fan. However, Gran Torino is getting buzz like crazy. I’ll agree that it is a very good movie, well composed and paced with a fantastic final act; I just can’t quite allow myself to call it a masterpiece. As I said, I’m a fan of Eastwood the director, not necessarily Eastwood the actor, and, with his performance here as Walt, I won’t be changing that mindset. I found myself laughing more often at his growls and scowls than feeling fear or menace. He isn’t the only one at fault, though; I think everyone falls pretty flat acting-wise here. I’ll give the Hmong characters some slack being that they aren’t trained actors, but instead authentic people from that culture, and kudos to the filmmakers for going that route. As for our lead, the priest (a very uninspired Christopher Carley), and even a couple good actors as Walt’s sons in very limited roles, I found their performances detracting from a solid story.
What I liked about Gran Torino was its humor. You may be thinking: what is this guy talking about? But honestly, I laughed a lot, and I think it was intentional. The first three-quarters set up the climax to be powerfully dramatic with much deserved weight and as a result needs to have an infusion of levity to keep us off-guard when the bottom finally falls out. I wouldn’t be surprised if Clint decided to act as Walt rather than find a better actor because he just wanted to have fun with racial epithets—boy there are plenty. His utter disregard for the opinions of those he insults and his overly tough exterior just make the words funny to me. Many times he is saying these things because that is “how men talk” with friends. His comradery with folks allow him the freedom to act like a bigot without recourse, (my favorite character in the film being one of these men, John Carroll Lynch’s barber, who is involved in a priceless scene with Clint and Bee Vang as Thao), and that lightness makes his under-the-breath tirades become acceptable. Now, they aren’t acceptable as far as societal right and wrong, but his character is built to be this Korean War vet, an old and bitter man, so you almost have to give him the benefit of the doubt. In his mind, the country he fought for is now being over-run by those he was ordered to kill. Seeing the denigration of his neighborhood and the utter lack of respect on behalf of the youth, he paints the simple picture that it’s all a result of the turning tides of immigration.
This humor, I believe, is what makes the ending so effective. Eastwood goes through a transformation from old man that wants to be left alone, to old man that finally has someone he can be a father to. Does it change his attitude or demeanor? Absolutely not. Does Eastwood have the acting range to make that evolution apparent on screen if necessary? Probably not, so let’s say it was good that while he softened to the Asians living next door, he never let his guard down … that would have just come off as inauthentic and manipulative. By getting to understand Walt Kowalski’s character, however, allows us to believe he would do what he does. Never clicking with his own sons, never being able to be a father to them and listened to for his experiences made him distant to them. Coming into the life of a traditional Hmong family, on-the-other-hand, allows him to finally feel that patriarchal duty. Ahney Her’s Sue tells Walt that she wishes her own father were more like him because he was too old-school for a boy like Thao. Walt is confused thinking that he is set in the old ways too, but Sue shows the cultural disparity by saying, “but you’re American”. The customs and way of life are different, and after all these years blaming the Orient for making him into a killer, a sinner, Walt can open his eyes to the humanity they all share.
While the gang backdrop really just stands as a way to give Walt a measure of redemption, it is the main catalyst for all that happens in the film. He never would have gotten to know the Lor family if Thao wasn’t made to steal his Gran Torino as a gang initiation, and the conclusion never would have happened if the bond between he and Sue and Thao hadn’t sprung out from that event. The film is not about the opposition and violence of those street thugs, though, it is about the relationship of Walt and Thao. While the script does wonders at making that friendship work, the acting just doesn’t do it justice. Again, I found myself laughing each time Clint scowled at the boy—it was just too over the top. And unfortunately for Bee Vang, his delivery came across as staged and reading from a prompter. He is young, though, and inexperienced in acting, so I can’t blame him too much. Instead I blame Eastwood, especially in one instance when Vang is locked in the old man’s basement, screaming at Clint to let him out. The anger and frustration is so forced that the director should have known when to cut. Yet Eastwood not only shows us the pounding on the door once, but a second time after he comes back into frame to explain what it feels like to kill a man, this time lingering on the boy even longer. It’s a moment like this that brings an amateur quality to an otherwise stellar tale, making the sub-par performances overshadow the tightly constructed plot.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Ahney Her, Bee Vang, Christopher Carley, Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino, Review | 1 Comment »
Happy New Year everyone
Posted by LiveFor on January 2, 2009
A belated Happy New Year to you all (yesterdays posts were all prescheduled as I wasn’t near a computer).
Did you all have a good time? Drink too much? Make resolutions that you have already broken.
We had a quiet one. Put our 2 year old daughter to bed then Catherine, my son and I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (I enjoyed it more seeing it the second time now that the anticipation for it had gone – still full of faults but an enjoyable romp) before turning over to Jools Holland on BBC2 and welcomed in the New Year. Then it was in bed for about 00:15!
I just want to thank everyone who has visited this little site since it started back in the middle of last year. It’s been a fun few months since Chisholm said to me, “You should do a film blog and post reviews for us to read.” Since then people from all over the World have found it and seem to like it. Big thanks to you all and to all the regulars to the site and the forum. I’m also blown away by the fact I’ve had a couple of proper interviews with some film makers and an favourite author of mine. Hopefully there will be more interviews to come in this year.
What was your film highlight of 2008? What are you looking forward to in 2009? I can’t wait to see Zack Snyder’s Watchmen (although I have a horrible feeling the court case will just delay it’s release). I also want to see Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire and many other things.
Once again thanks. Now go out and tell a couple of friends about the site. Let’s spread the word people.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Able, Gran Torino, Indiana Jones, Interview, Milk, Neal Asher, New Year, news, Slumdog Millionaire, Watchmen, zack snyder | Leave a Comment »
Clint Eastwood is The Growler
Posted by LiveFor on December 16, 2008
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Clint Eastwood, funny, funnyordie, Gran Torino | 2 Comments »
Oscars – What do you think will win Best Picture
Posted by LiveFor on November 24, 2008
I recently posted the ad that had been taken out to promote The Dark Knight for Best Picture at next years Oscars.
That got me thinking about what could possibly win The Best Picture. On my wanders around the World Wide Web there are a few films that seem to be in the running for Best Picture. They are as follows:
Australia – Nicole and Hugh get it on in the outback.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Brad Pitt ages backwards.
The Dark Knight – Bale growls as The Batman, Ledger does a magic trick and there are two Aaron Eckharts but I didn’t see any jousting.
Doubt – Meryl Streep and Amy Adams are nuns. Is it a porno? Philip Seymore Hoffman wishes.
Frost/Nixon – The head Lycan dude fron Underworld interviews Dracula.
Gran Torino – Clint Eastwood plays a rascist and has a nice car.
Milk – Sean Penn play a big gay bottle of semi-skimmed or a politician or something.
Nothing But the Truth – Kate Beckinsale outs a CIA agent with hilarious consequences.
Rachel Getting Married – Rachel is getting married and her sister does drugs
The Reader – Kate Winslet is a Nazi who likes to have bedtime stories read to her. Ahh isn’t that sweet!
Revolutionary Road – Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio set sail on the Titanic while living in 1950’s Connecticut and argue a lot or something. I could be wrong. Not sure how Kate got the part in the film directed by her husband? Is Billy Zane in it?
Slumdog Millionaire – Indian kid wins Who Wants to be A Millionaire. Danny Boyle still goes on about 28 Days Later wasn’t a zombie film.
The Wrestler – Mickey Rourke is a washed up has-been. In this film he plays a wrestler.
WALL-E – CGI Pixar fest with a cute little robot.
Sadly I’ve only seen a couple of them (Dark Knight, WALL-E) although a fair few of them have yet to be released so it’s not that bad a thing. I do want to see Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Gran Torino, Milk and The Wrestler and the others I’m all a bit meh about. I personally think Benjamin Button will win the best picture Oscar purely from all the buzz and reviews I’ve been reading about it.
Which film do you see winning Best Picture? How many of the above list have you seen and what are you looking forward to seeing? Which ones will you avoid? What films should be on the list? Will Billy Zane win best actor?
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Australia, Billy Zane, Doubt, Frost Nixon, Gran Torino, Milk, news, Nothing but the Truth, Rachel Getting Married, Revolutionary Road, The Dark Knight, The Reader, The Wrestler, WALL-E | 2 Comments »
Posters – Gran Torino, Valkyrie, Coraline, Lie to Me, A Good Day to be Black and Sexy, Fuel, Reclaiming the Blade, Outlander
Posted by LiveFor on November 10, 2008
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Black and Sexy, Coraline, Fuel, Gran Torino, Lie to Me, Outlander, Poster, Reclaiming the Blade, Valkyrie | Leave a Comment »