Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Clint Eastwood is instantly recognizable to generations of movie fans as one of the most iconic actors of the past half century. From his first fame in '50s television to the international surprise hits of the Leone Spaghetti Westerns to Dirty Harry and beyond, Eastwood has remained one of the most popular movie stars of his time. It's a remarkable self-made career, excising himself from the throes of the old Studio System to become a complete filmmaker. First as an independent producer, then a strong director with power to make films he wants. An improbable and wonderful journey.

When Eastwood entered the film business in the 1950s there was very little one could do to guide their own career. You signed a long-term contract with the Studios, in Clint's case Universal, and they used you how they saw fit. For Clint that meant they used him hardly at all. After a few walk-on parts in B-movies and television shows an unsatisfied Eastwood was unceremoniously released from his contract. But luck struck and a chance meeting with a CBS executive landed him a co-staring role as the headstrong Rowdy Yates on "Rawhide", which became a popular Western running for seven seasons, giving Eastwood his first tastes of fame.

Despite that initial success breaking into films proved impossible, and he found himself already typecast in most people's minds as the rather simple-minded charater Rowdy Yates. Even then Clint had ambitions to direct and he repeatedly asked the producers if he could helm episodes of "Rawhide". He was turned down every single time, which is strange today because every single actor who wishes on any show that runs more than a couple seasons is almost automatically given the opportunity to get behind the camera if they wish. But this simply wasn't done in the '50s and '60s. So rather than stew in disappointment and retreat to his trailer, Eastwood studied the entire goings-on of a set, even though he never got his chance to try his hand at running the show.

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He became a movie star, again by luck, when an unknown Italian director sent him a script. It was a bloody low-budget Western reworking of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo to be shot in Spain, produced by Germans, and primarily cast with and helmed by Italians. The pay was very little, but being a fan of Yojimbo and figuring if it was terrible nobody in America would ever see it anyway Clint took a chance and signed on. Of course the movie was Leone's A Fistful of Dollars which became an international hit, and by the time their third movie together (Clint still consciously learning about filmmaking all the while) The Good, the Bad & the Ugly was released Eastwood had even become a movie star in America.

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Now he started to have some power over his own career. The old system was collapsing and the American Studios all wanted to work with him. He was able to begin crafting his own image by forming a production company. He named it Malpaso, and again this was long before every single actor with a couple hits had their own vanity production company. His second American post-Spaghetti feature was Coogan's Bluff, which started a collaboration with another director Clint would learn much from: Don Siegel. In all Siegel would helm five movies starring Clint: Coogan's Bluff, Two Mules for Sister Sara, The Beguiled, Escape From Alcatraz, and Dirty Harry. It was Harry Callahan who turned Clint from a star into a bonafide superstar, and with his post-Leone films all enjoying some measure of success he was now finally able to take aim and ascend to the position he'd been eyeing ever since "Rawhide": DIRECTOR.

The actor turned actor/producer was about to become an actor/producer/director, and by deferring his salary was allowed by Universal to direct Play Misty for Me in 1971. It was an original screenplay Eastwood's company had been developing about a one-night stand gone horribly wrong when the woman becomes an obsessed, violent stalker. With nods to Hitchcock, a subversion of his own masculine image, and great performances by all involved (including Clint's mentor Don Siegel who has a fun cameo role), it was a commercial and critical success, but most importantly for Clint it proved beyond any doubt that he could indeed do it all.

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Now the ambitious Eastwood was truly off and running and over the rest of the '70s he quickly established himself in Hollywood as a reliable and economical filmmaker, always coming in on-time and at or even under-budget, with most of the movies showing healthy profits at the box-office. He knew where his bread was buttered and repeatedly worked in the same kind of action genres that had made him a star in the first place. With the Westerns High Plains Drifter and The Outlaw Josey Wales and the actioners The Eiger Sanction and The Gauntlet Clint directed himself in the kind of iconic roles people loved him for, but also very subtly was expanding and playing with the audience expectations. He also made an effort to stretch himself as a filmmaker even then, and in Breezy (1973) an underseen but solid romantic drama starring William Holden, Clint for the first time worked behind the camera exclusively. It was a modest little project that Universal was happy to let him do as he was making so much money for them, constantly.

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Clint continued to act without directing too, but always using his Malpaso production power to shape the projects to his liking. Universal and Warner Brothers were the Studios where he was working, having them distribute his films, and eventually it was at Warners where he would develop an exclusive relationship - a relationship that still exists today.

While Clint was extremely successful at this point and always among the most popular movie stars year in and year out, his work as director was rather slow to be heralded critically or even fully realized by fans. But Warners gave him free reign, agreeing to finance and distribute virtually anything Malpaso was interested in. In the '80s, Eastwood would play with his screen image even more and as a director he became more and more accomplished. In films such as Bronco Billy and Honkytonk Man, Clint explored less action-oriented material and did it very well. But these movies didn't become huge hits and were still confounding some critics - at least in America. In Europe Clint's reputation as total filmmaker was secured around the time of The Outlaw Josey Wales in 1976, and his less commercial work through the '80s was already being seen for what it was rather than what it wasn't. The American critical community at large was much slower in coming around. All too often they dismissed his work as popular genre junk yet at the same time were left cold by the diversions from and subversions of genre he was orchestrating. But he was always the movie star, Warners was completely satisfied with their relationship, and he continued to wield the power he needed to make movies.

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The American critics finally began to "get" Eastwood in 1988 when he made a minor masterpiece: Bird. A bio-pic of legendary Jazz BeBop saxophonist Charlie "Yardbird" Parker who's drug addiction shortened his astounding career and caused turmoil in his personal life. Eastwood stayed behind the camera and really showed how much he had matured over the years as a filmmaker. A life-long devotee of Jazz music Eastwood was a natural for the job. He had wanted to make the picture so much he even talked Warner Brothers into trading one of their highly-touted and expensive scripts to Columbia to get his hands on Joel Olianansky's take on Parker's short and remarkable life (as a trivia note, the script that was traded was Revenge, which eventually became the sweaty Tony Scott directed flop starring Kevin Costner). Bird begins with a quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald: "There are no second acts in American lives." The self-destructive Charlie Parker rather proves that, but at the same time the accomplishment that Bird is disproves it in regards to Eastwood. Now just shy of sixty, Eastwood was widely recognized as a total filmmaker, and he wasn't about to slow down.

Bird was one of the best received films at Cannes, winning the top acting prize for Forest Whitaker who's central performances as Parker under Clint's guidance is a masterwork. Clint and the film itself narrowly missed the top prizes too (read screenwriter William Goldman's book Hype & Glory for a recounting of that episode; Goldman sat on the Cannes jury that year). Whitaker and co-star Diane Venora both were nominated for Golden Globes for their work, and Eastwood WON Best Director over such competition as Barry Levinson (Rain Man), Alan Parker (Mississippi Burning) and Mike Nichols (Working Girl). But shamefully, Bird and Eastwood were shut-out of that year's Oscars (though the film did rightfully win for it's revolutionary sound design).

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Despite the Oscar disappointment Eastwood had finally made his mark once and for all as a serious and multi-talented filmmaker, and over the next few years he would ascend to his highest peaks as an artist.

The underseen White Hunter, Black Heart (1990) is a thinly-veiled recounting of John Huston in Africa to shoot The African Queen...and, more importantly to him, shoot an elephant. It's a wonderful film, still waiting to be rediscovered. After a throwaway genre piece (The Rookie) Clint took on what would become his true masterpiece: Unforgiven. Eastwood had been aware of the original David Webb Peoples (BladeRunner, 12 Monkeys) screenplay for years, had bought it and loved it in the early '80s, but sat on it deciding to wait and age into the lead role and then make his final cumulative statement on violence and Westerns - the genre that had made him everything he became. By 1991 at the age of sixty-one Clint thought it was time. And was it ever! Unforgiven is a perfect film in every single way, and Eastwood's assured direction ties every wonderful element together just right. From the acting to the photography to the sets to the music to the tone and pace, the total filmmaker achieves a total film. The last end credit acknowledges Eastwood's two strongest influences, "Dedicated to Segio and Don" - of course being Sergio Leone and Don Siegel.

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Unforgiven finally brought Clint respect and recognition as a director in every single possible arena, including the Academy, who named Eastwood Best Director and Unforgiven Best Picture (as well as winning Best Supporting Actor for Gene Hackman, Best Editing for Joel Cox, and garnering nominations for Eastwood as Actor, Jack Green's cinematography, Henry Bumstead's set design, the screenplay, and the sound design).

After the triumph of Unforgiven, Clint made two more beautiful masterworks. The first is A Perfect World (1993), where for the first time since Where Eagles Dare and Paint Your Wagon Clint took a supporting role and gave up top billing. One of my favorite movies, I think it is almost the equal of Bird and Unforgiven, but for whatever reason divided critics and never found an audience. It stars Kevin Costner, in what is far and away his best work as an actor, and young T.J. Lowther, a seven-year-old who had very little training. Costner's character Butch is an escaped convict in 1961 Texas, who kidnaps the young boy on his way. But Butch is a complicated haunted man, who has no intention of hurting the child, and in fact attempts to become the father figure neither one ever had - all the while being hunted down by Eastwood's sympathetic Texas Ranger. It's a beautiful movie with amazing performances, much too underappreciated.


Next was The Bridges of Madison County, from the impossibly popular novella by Robert James Waller, a fictional love story about a National Geographic photographer who has a brief affair with an Iowa farm woman while on assignment to photograph the covered wooden bridges of the communtiy. A publishing sensation in the early '90s, it is truly an awful little book (trust me, I've read the flippin' thing), the soapiest of soap operas, with cardboard characters, cringe-inducing dialogue, and the sensibilty of a love-struck ten-year-old with the writing skills to match. Because of the off-the-charts popularity of this tripe, a film project was inevitable, and it was set to be directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Meryl Streep. Eastwood was approached to co-star in the film, and eventually Spielberg dropped out as director and Clint took over. Armed with a rather intelligent script by Richard LaGravenese (The Fisher King) and bringing his own subtlty and sensibilty to the material, Eastwood and company remarkably truned a laughable piece of popular trash into an evocative and effective love story. It's really one of the most miraculous adaptations in the history of film, though seldom recognized as such. Don't let the book's reputation or the genre scare you off, The Bridges of Madison County is an excellent movie well worth seeing. The climax of the movie, where Streep's character must make a difficult decision on a rainy afternoon, is a masterful scene.

One of the aspects I haven't mentioned about Eastwood the total filmmaker is his work as composer. He has composed themes and all-out scores for many of his pictures. It's probably most evident and impressive in Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby and The Bridges of Madison County, but he's been doing it, often uncredited, for years.


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The '90s saw continued success for Eastwood, though never again reaching the total success level of Unforgiven. As the century ended and Clint reached seventy-years of age, he moved back into a fun genre piece with Space Cowboys, and had his biggest commercial hit in years. Despite moving back to the thriller genre, Blood Work was a disappointment, but that was quickly erased. Moving back behind the camera again in 2003, Clint fashioned his biggest critical success since Unforgiven with Mystic River, a mystery/drama about the scars of abuse and the ruination of lives starring a powerhouse cast of Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Clint followed that up with an even greater success in Million Dollar Baby. The story of a young female boxer with nothing to lose and the grizzled old trainer who takes her under his wing was a surprise hit and a surprisingly excellent film, the performances of Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman and Clint himself elevating the material above the genre elements into something very moving and special. Clint's low-key directorial style was pitch-perfect, and the film was honored with seven Oscar noms. It won four awards, including Best Picture and a second Best Director for Eastwood (he became only the 18th multiple Oscar-winning director in the award's history).

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Actors love the way Eastwood runs a set, as evidenced by the willingness of thespians from every generation to work with him, and all have nothing but respect and admiration for what he does. Now having helmed four of the last eight Oscar-winning acting performances (Penn & Robbins in Mystic River and Swank & Freeman in Million Dollar Baby) his stock as an actor's director has risen even higher.

He's starting to rack-up the career achievement type awards, too. In 1995 he received the honorary Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for his work as a producer, in 1996 he was named the honoree for the AFI's Life Achievement Award, in 1998 France's Honorary César for his work, and in 2006 the DGA gave him their Lifetime Achievement Award. Though Clint is hardly resting on his laurels. He's still very much at the top of his game as a filmmaker, and later this year will see an ambitious double release of two films made back to back with Flags of Our Fathers and Red Sun, Black Sand (eventually retitled Letters from Iwo Jima). The first is an adaptation of the non-fiction best seller recounting the young men who famously hoisted the American flag at the bloody Pacific Theatre WWII Battle of Iwo Jima. Rather than cast superstars, Clint and company went with mostly unknowns: Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, Jamie Bell, Ryan Phillippe and Barry Pepper. Letters from Iwo Jima will examine the same battle from the Japanese perspective, and stars Ken Watanabe.

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It took a long time, but Eastwood is now widely recognized as a total filmmaker - though even with all of his accomplishments he is still most readily identified for the iconic roles in Westerns and cop pictures that gave him the creative freedom he enjoys today. But take a long look at his filmography, watch a diverse selection of his work from the '70s to today, and I believe you can't help but recognize him as one of the best filmmakers of the past thirty-plus years. And he ain't done yet.


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So please, let's all discuss the work of Clint Eastwood: director. Favorites, least favorites, common themes you see, signatures, rate 'em, review 'em....whatever. Anything and everything regarding Eastwood the filmmaker, let's chat it up, folks!

This is how I personally rank his films (couldn't even mention them all in the first post)...


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"Hell of a thing, killin' a man. You take away all he's got, and all
he's ever gonna have."

1. Unforgiven (1992)
GRADE: A+++
2. Bird (1988)
GRADE: A+
3. A Perfect World (1993)
GRADE: A
4. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
GRADE: A
5. The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
GRADE: A-
6. White Hunter, Black Heart
GRADE: A-
7. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
GRADE: A-
8. Honkytonk Man (1982)
GRADE: A-
9. High Plains Drifter (1973)
GRADE: A-
10. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
GRADE: B+
11. Changeling (2008)
GRADE: B+
12. Tightrope (1984)*
GRADE: B+
13. Mystic River (2003)
GRADE: B+
14. Play Misty For Me (1971)
GRADE: B+
15. Bronco Billy (1980)
GRADE: B+
16. Pale Rider (1985)
GRADE: B+
17. Invictus (2009)
GRADE: B
18. Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
GRADE: B
19. The Gauntlet (1977)
GRADE: B
20. Breezy (1973)
GRADE: B
21. Gran Torino (2008)
GRADE: B
22. True Crime (1999)
GRADE: B
23. Space Cowboys (2000)
GRADE: B
24. Hereafter (2010)
GRADE: B
25. Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil (1997)
GRADE: B-
26 J. Edgar (2011)
GRADE: C+
27. Sudden Impact (1983)
GRADE: C+
28. "Vanessa in the Garden" episode of "Amazing Stories" (1985)
GRADE: C+
29. Absolute Power (1997)
GRADE: C
30. Blood Work (2002)
GRADE: C-
31. Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
GRADE: C-
32. The Eiger Sanction (1975)
GRADE: D+
33. Firefox (1982)
GRADE: D
34. The Rookie (1990)
GRADE: D-

*UPDATED to include J. Edgar


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He certainly isn't a perfect filmmaker, he's had his share of missteps that usually seemed to be motivated by commercial attempts to essentially finance his more experimental projects, but overall he's a talent to be reckoned with.

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Great thread, Holden!

I always like Eastwood, both as an actor and as a filmmaker, and sometimes I even love the things he does. He certainly is an actor's director since there's very seldom little to complain about in the acting department in his top films. I haven't "studied" him enough to really engage in deep discussion about him but I would too probably rank The Unforgiven as my favourite Eastwood directed film. I wasn't as impressed as most people by Million Dollar Baby. I thought it was very well acted by everyone involved, especially Freeman has developed into a favourite of mine and his performance in Million Dollar Baby certainly played a part in that. It also has a couple of great scenes, very well directed, in terms of the interaction between the actors/actresses. But there is something about the script that I'm divided about. It might be a high level of sentimentality that in some films I tend to like and in other films tend to find annoying. To me the characters somewhat also seem to exist in some kind of bubble and that, for me, makes me confused about what sort of expression that Eastwood wants to deliver. Is it naturalism? Some kind of fairytale? Perhaps it's both and I just needs to see the damn thing one more time..... He he...

Regarding themes. Ever since I read for the first time that Eastwood finds himself on the libertarian side of the political table I've tried to, when watching his films, look for some kind of evidence for him reproducing, on purpose or undeliberately, that libertarian ideology. I think that there is evidence for a "do it yourself" kind of returning theme. I'm probably thinking particularly about The Unforgiven and Mystic River where it comes down to taking things into your own hands. Again, I need to look more closely on his work again to say anything useful on the subject, but some kind of celebrating of individual freedom and common decency as a returning implicit theme seems to exist in Eastwood's films.

What say you?

It will be very interesting to see what he will give us with his two back to back WWII movies.

Just finished watching Million Dollar Baby (second viewing) a few minutes ago. I am still rather effusive, so I may get sentimental. Holden spoke of low-key direction, and this film showcases this in every scene. His underplayed character fits right into each completely realistic scene and conversation. THe way the man draws the audience into these characters is ever so subtle, but you are locked into them as if by a vice by mid-film. When Frank and Maggie are returning from showing the house to Maggies ungrateful hillbilly Mom, I just couldn't take my eyes of the conversation they were having in the car. The way that was lit...That's another thing, the lighting design in this film is incredible. I think another couple of viewings and I might not be reduced to such a jibbering mess while watching and can focus more on the technical aspects of the film, but not yet.... Powerful and engaging.

Well, I see my copy of Unforgiven right here next to me and oh...there be the Josey Wales, too. Reckon I'm off to watch one or both 'o these, right now....

Great thread Holds. I still have yet to see A Perfect World...

A Perfect World is one of my favorite movies. I have recommended it to half a dozen people and they all loved it.

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Superb thread HP.

Im still a bit of an Eastwood virgin. The only titles of his that ive actually seen are Heartbreak Ridge, The Bridges of Madison County and [/i]Million Dollar Baby[/i]. The first was a film i just ended up catching on tv one night and didnt think too much of it, i enjoyed watching it but nothing stood out for me. As for Bridges Over Madison County, i was totally blown away by. I was never aware of the novella of it, and being a fan of Streep i wanted to make sure i watched it. But it just captivated me. The slow paced but incredibly intense story was brilliant, and as you mentioned, that climactic scene in the car with Streep and Clint just floored me. Incredible acting on both parts. It would be my favourite of the three ive seen however i felt the side stoy of Streeps characters children reading through her diaries let it down. I dont really think it needed to be there, but then it wouldnt be much of an adaptation if it wasnt. But its thanks to this film that ive become a fan and am desperate to see more of his stuff. Especially after my viewing of Million Dollar Baby. I havnt much else to say about it really as Sedai has mentioned all my favourite elements. The acting, the lighting, Clints character and that final shot through the misty window of the cafe. Brilliant film.

Got to admit, I'm a huge fan of Clint the actor & director.
I've watched a few documentaries on him, one in particular about his directing style which features loads of interviews from his casts on various movies, his easy manner seems to bring out the best in certain actors, and anything with his name attached to it will always pique my intrest.
It's great to see a vetran actor turn his hand so succesfully to directing, although he's been directing for some time, Play Misty for me was his first in 1971!
He's had his share of good & bad over the years, but for the most part like his acting he remains fairly consistent and always watchable.

I love Eastwood. Full stop.

Even fluff like Space Cowboys is tremendously watchable but when Clint hits form there's few who can touch him in modern Hollywood.

Give him a good enough screenplay and he's got the craftsmanship and backroom staff to turn out a quality piece of cinema. In fact, that backroom staff, and his complete confidence in their talent over many years, is one of the reasons why Clint is such a confident filmmaker thesedays: Henry Bumstead, Jack Green, Joel Cox, Phyllis Huffman, Tom Stern and Deborah Hopper (to name but a few) are names you see cropping up again and again in Malpaso productions. Having the trust of ole' chicken legs is as close as you can get to a job for life thesedays. ;)

Unforgiven, unsurprisingly, my favourite Eastwood movie (and I own most of them) and I wouldn't change Holden's top three. If you've not seen Bird or A Perfect World then remedy it quick - he even managed to pull a good performance from Costner.

As an actor he's matured over the years as well, always aware of his strengths and weaknesses and still the owner of the best Double Take in Hollywood. :)

I don't know that anybody even noticed, but I want to explain the asterisk on my list where I rate Clint's films as director.


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Tightrope, released in 1984, is one of Clint's most mature and well-made genre efforts. The story of a New Orleans homicide detective investigating a series of grisly sexual-based murders that highlight his own kinky perversions and seem to implicate him as the prime suspect, it's a gritty and stylish neo-Noir with psycho-sexual themes and a terrific and layered central performance by Eastwood, taking the de-mythologizing of his Cop persona drastically further than he had in The Gauntlet. However, if you look at the credits, it'll say "DIRECTED BY RICHARD TUGGLE".

Tuggle was a screenwriter who had worked for Eastwood and Malpaso when he adapted Escape from Alcatraz for the screen, the last movie Clint and his mentor director Don Siegel worked on together. Clint was impressed with his work, and when Malpaso started developing one of Tuggle's original screenplays, Tightrope, Clint decided he'd give the screenwriter a shot at directing the project. Eastwood had done this before, promoting all the way up to director from personnel within Malpaso: when he got Michael Cimino his debut with Thunderbolt & Lightfoot (1974) after he'd written on Magnum Force (1973), and longtime stunt-actor and coordinator Buddy Van Horn who helmed Any Which Way You Can (1980) and later The Dead Pool (1988) and Pink Cadillac (1989).

But after only two days of production, Eastwood felt Tuggle wasn't up to the challenge. He let him go and stepped in to complete essentially the entire film with his own direction (Clint had directed ten features by then). The filming went smoothly, it turned out to be an excellent film, but when it came to arbitration with the Director's Guild they determined, in a landmark precedent, that Eastwood could not receive directorial credit - no matter how much of Tuggle's footage was or wasn't in the finished film. Because Clint was not only the principal star of the film but also the executive producer, the Guild decided they'd err on the side of caution and protect the original director. Still to this day it is called the Directors Guild of America's "Eastwood Rule". It's meant to protect directors from having their credit taken by a producer after filming has begun. Understandable, there have been horror stories over the years (some resulting in the infamous Alan Smithee pseudonym credit), but in the particular case of Tightrope maybe they should have looked at the specifics rather than automatically over-protecting the original director?

So anywho, it is still and will always be officially credited to Tuggle (who only directed one other film afterwards: 1986's Out of Bounds, a routine thriller starring Anthony Michael Hall), but Tightrope was directed by Clint Eastwood. Thus the asterisk, and my inclusion of it when I rated his filmography as director.

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Don't know how many of you have seen Tightrope (it was a cable TV mainstay for years), but it's well worth tracking down. It is available on R1 DVD, so it shouldn't be impossible to locate. I definitely recommend it, directorial controversy or not. In addition to Eastwood's fine work in front of the camera (there was serious buzz that he may get his first Oscar nomination as actor for it - though ultimately that didn't happen until Unforgiven), it also showcases strong work by diminutive but sexy Canadian actress Geneviève Bujold (Anne of a Thousand Days, Dead Ringers, Coma). And Clint's own real-life daughter Alison plays one of his character's daughters (son Kyle, now a successful Jazz musician, co-starred in Honkytonk Man). Alison has become an actress as an adult, starring in Clint's Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil as well as mostly straight-to-video stuff like Just a Little Harmless Sex and Friends & Lovers. She bared all in a 2003 issue of Playboy, and frankly that's well worth tracking down too.

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It was one of the first films I remember renting on VHS. Damn nearly wore out the pause button in places too... ;)

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I like The Gauntlet a lot and, though no masterpiece, think it's one of the most underrated of Eastwood's genre pictures. It's a very entertaining B-movie to be sure, but it also has real fun undermining Clint's already entrenched Callahan super-cop persona, especially in the first half of the picture. The officer he plays, Shockley, is a drunken loser who becomes stubbornly determined once he realizes he's been set-up as a disposable patsy. He's flawed, not terribly bright and a terrific character for Eastwood. Too often overlooked in his oeuvre, and one of the '70s entries where the subversions of the Eastwoodian image that were going on were largely ignored by the critics.

The Gauntlet can definitely be enjoyed as "just" an action adventure movie, but there's more than that going on.

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This is one of the best posts (by quality standards) I have seen in a while. A great deal of thought, research, and effort went into it. I just wanted to say I appreciate your fandom of Mr. Eastwood. That is important for what comes next:

I think Clint Eastwood is terrible.

Clint the Actor:

He plays Clint. Everytime he is on screen, I am waiting for him to ask somebody if they feel lucky. Everytime. He has no range. No depth. He does not draw me into his roles. Rather he leaves me feeling cold and empty to them. I never cheer for Blondie as he does what he does. These scenes in which so many speak so highly of him confuse me. A great actor is supposed to absorb the audience into the character. We are meant to feel as they feel. Eastwood never does that for me.

Eastwood the Director:

Many will make the claim this is the role he is stronger on. Yet, I feel something lacking in his direction. Take for example, Mystic River. I have never walked out of the theatre on a movie, but I came close in Mystic River. It had so much promise. It had a strong opening sequence. Sean Penn's grieving for his daughter was a powerful scene. It was well shot, well acted, well blocked. Just good overall. And then, the movie sinks. Just sinks. Any pity I had for Penn's character disappeared. Yet it wasn't replaced by anything else. I stopped caring. The ending was so blatantly obvious my half blind, senile Grandfather could have called it. The pace sucked, and I thought it ran far too long.
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I have more to say, but I find it's very hard to verbalize what it is I don't like about Eastwood. The above written is evidence of this. If challenged, I will try to defend this post. But just be known I admit to the probability he jsut doesn't "speak" to me. Perhaps that's the real problem. Like I said though, I did find this to be an excellent post Holden. You should be very proud of it.

You should check out some of his other threads they are all good, :yup: even though I must warn you he is "One Ornery Sumbitch" sometimes ;D


Oh I think you did quite well :laugh:

Adding my review of Flags here as well. Plus I've editied my list in the second post to slot it among his filmography.

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Flags of Our Fathers (Clint Eastwood)

Based on the stories of the soldiers who raised the flag in the most famous photograph of World War II, sadly it misses being the masterpiece it might have been. Adapted from the non-fiction best seller of the same name, a dying man's son realizes his father's war experiences he never talked about included being one of the six men who hoisted Old Glory atop Mount Suribachi during the battle for Iwo Jima. The photograph was so popular and instantly iconic back home that days afterward three of the surviving six men were sent back to the States for a whirlwind publicity tour to raise money for the war effort. And while you'd think those three plot strands of the investigation of the son, the battle itself and the subsequent tour would make for an interesting narrative, astoundingly Flags for Our Fathers can't make a consistently compelling movie from them. Segments of the film work wonderfully, and all the combat footage on the island is remarkable, but the structure is a mess. I'm guessing the idea behind the structure was to make the viewer as disoriented by it all as the men who lived it, to play up the insanity of being surrounded by the horrors of war one minute and parading around for pretend days later, and also to make what really happened with the flag raising a bit of a mystery and to show some of the son's process of discovery. Whatever the intent, the result of the badly paced and disorganized movie is no real emotional attachment to the core characters.

The three young leads are fine. Ryan Phillippe does good, quiet work as "Doc" Bradley, the Navy Corpsman who did his best to tend to the wounded during that horrific battle and Jesse Bradford is well cast as the good-looking Marine Rene Gagnon. But it's Adam Beach as Ira Hayes, the Native American Marine, who gets the most opportunites to stand out, and for the most part he does very well. Bradley and Hayes were both haunted by their experiences on Iwo Jima, though they dealt with it differently. Bradley buried it all inside himself while Hayes tried to dull the pain with alchohol. But as an example of where the film falters, Bradley's pain was centered around the loss of his buddy Ralph "Iggy" Ignatowski (played by Jamie Bell). Iggy was captured one night and found later in one of the island's many tunnels, mutilated in horrible ways. While it's understandable how that would haunt somebody, we really never get to see the bond between Bradley and Iggy, so there's no specific emotional attachment to the loss for the viewer. I mean it's obviously a horrible death among the many horrible deaths in that campaign, but the movie doesn't give any insight or even devote more than a minute or two to the men interacting as friends. Part of this is due to the disjointed structure, but even within the flashbacks the scenes of their friendship simply aren't there. There's also a hollow deathbed moment between Bradley and his son, but because we haven't really seen them interact either it's also one of those things where, yes, we can project a basic amount of empathy for the idea of a son losing his dad, but there's nothing in the body of the film to give any weight to these two specific characters.

And while the structure and the lack of emotional connections are the main problems with Flags of Our Fathers, there are also smaller issues that weaken the movie further. The one that I found most disappointing were a couple of minor roles that were very badly written and acted. Most specifically the General who after a bond drive event at Chicago's Soldier Field makes some racist comments about Hayes and his drunkenness and has him removed from the rest of the publicity tour. This character, though only in two brief scenes, is ridiculously over-the-top and arch, and frankly it isn't necessary for him to be so one-dimensional. This was the problem I had with Eastwood's last film, Million Dollar Baby, that Maggie's family was used as a bunch of White Trash stereotypes and a plot device rather than real characters. At least in that movie the main characters were portrayed with such grace, complexity and subtlety that I could get past the simplistic way her mother was drawn. In Flags the three main soldiers do not get the same level of care as the three main characters in Baby. And though the function of the racist and blustery General is not as key to the goings on, it's definitely a weakness just the same.

OK, enough of the flaws. What the movie does best is the chaos and Hell of battle. It doesn't do it any better than Saving Private Ryan's D-Day opening, but it is definitely on that level. The scale of the invasion and the confusion and blood of combat are all perfectly recreated. The black sand and jagged rocks of Iwo Jima will stay with you. The post-photo bond drive also has many highlights, and the points about the crass necessity of selling War to the public are well made and the deconstruction of the myth of the famous photograph is important. Flags of Our Father's ultimate theme of what makes a hero is earnest and certainly has darker edges than a typical John Wayne flick. The central performances are all good, and another melancholy musical theme by Eastwood is integrated very well. All of that is why is so frustrating that the structure is so unsatisfying and there isn't any emotional wallop brought out of the characters. Perhaps there was just too much story to tell? The movie is only two hours and ten minutes long, and I can't help but wonder if another forty-or-so minutes couldn't have fleshed out the characters more. Though frankly three hours with this flawed narrative structure still would have been disappointing.

You'll definitely want to stay all the way through the end credits. They start with a dedication to Phyllis and Bummy, being two longtime Eastwood collaborators who recently passed away: casting director Phyllis Huffman and legendary production designer Henry Bumstead. Then throughout the credits are photos of the actual men and the action on Iwo Jima, ending with the photo. As flawed as it is, I'm now even more excited about Eastwood's companion film, Letters from Iwo Jima, which will tell the battle from the Japanese perspective. Other than as the enemy seen briefly on the battlefield, Flags offers almost no glimpse of the 23,000 Japanese soldiers, though the discovery of Iggy's body and the noises Ira investigates in the tunnels atop Suribachi make me want to see the other movie even more.

Flags of Our Fathers has plenty to recommend seeing it, but it is flawed and simply isn't one of Eastwood's best works nor does it rank with the greatest War films.


GRADE: B

I've always thought Eastwood was a little overrated as a director, but I've really been looking forward to Flags.

So was it better or worse than you thought it would be? What kind of nominations (If any) do you think it will get?

I think Eastwood is underrated as a director, even still after winning two Oscars and all. But I go into that in the posts above.

As I said elsewhere on the board, I found Flags of Our Fathers to be disappointing. As for guessing what kind of nominations it'll get, they'll only be guesses with most of the likely Oscar contenders yet to hit the screens, but it'll definitely be in the running for Picture and Director. Among the cast I'd think Adam Beach has a good shot at Supporting Actor, though that's usually a pretty overflowing category. Maybe Phillippe has a very outside chance too, but doubtful. I'd say it'll almost definitely get nominations on the technichal side for things like Tom Sterns cinematography, the effects, the sound, the editing, etc. And as much as I hated the structure, because Paul Haggis and William Broyles are big names and it's a big movie I wouldn't be shocked to see it get an Adapted Screenplay nod.


But what difference does all that make?

It doesn't make a difference really. I'm just trying to gauge what the Academy will think of it.

Then ask the Academy.

Would if I could, my man.

You know, something is very interesting about Flags.

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 54%
www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flags_of_our_fathers/

MetaCritic has it at 93%
http://www.metacritic.com/film/title...0Our%20Fathers

Rotten Tomatoes is getting ripped by the blog section on Oscar Watch for not putting in all the positive reviews that have been made.

That's fascinating. Metacritic has five whole reviews listed.

How 'bout you keep all this kind of talk in the Flags of Our Fathers thread or make a new thread about Rotten Tomatoes vs. Metacritic, as it has absolutely nothing to do with Eastwood as a filmmaker?


Thanks.

Quit bitching, Holden. We were on the discussion of Flags so it is still relevant.

Bobby, Holden IS right. This is an appreciation thread, simply because Holden has posted a review for Flags, it is an ADDITION to what can already be chocked up as a small novel about Mr. Eastwood.

As far as what other Movie sites are rating the movie, it really doesn't fit here...it fits HERE.

Now, back to your small novel Holden. Just reading through this thread today, it's very impressive. My hat is off to you!

What are some of your favorite movies from Eastwood the director, Spuds? And I'll be curious to see your reaction to Flags, coming from the perspective of somebody who has served. Not that you saw action like Iwo Jima, thank goodness.

To be honest, and this is no offense to Mr. Eastwood, but I've never really watched any of his films (directed, or otherwise). The only film of his that I have watched in entirety was Million Dollar Baby. I've seen snippets of Space Cowboys, The Bridges of Madison County,and A Perfect World. What I have seen though, I like. :)

As far as what he has directed, that I have bought/seen, my favorites are

Tightrope (1984)
A Perfect World (1993)
Sudden Impact (1983)
The Rookie (1990)
True Crime (1999)
Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
Absolute Power (1997)
Blood Work (2002)
Firefox (1982)

The only one that I truly can't stand is . . .

The Eiger Sanction (1975)

I still have these sitting here to view . . .

Play Misty for Me (1971)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)

. . . and others that I have yet to purchase.
I love his work, director, and/or actor, and plan to see it all, eventually.

Great thread! Mr. Eastwood is a fantastic director, actor, and IMO, underated. My favorite film he directed is Bird (I'm also a jazz musician so I"m a little partial to this one). Some other greats are: Bridges Over Madison County, Unforgiven, And Million Dollar Baby. I have to admit I"m not up to par on his older stuff (westerns) but enjoyed Escape From Alcatraz, Dirty Harry, and Heartbreak Ridge. I also like Any which Way You Can & Any Which Way But Loose. Don't knock it! Ma is hilarious & there are some good one liners in them!

Eastwood is about as brilliant a director as they come, and it's because he knows how to reign it in. Their are simple shots in Million Dollar Baby that are exponentially more affecting than any overwrought shot in all of Scorsese's canon of works.
Nothing more to be said than that I love the guy.

http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1401793670
Letters from Iwo Jima (Clint Eastwood)

Eastwood's companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers that recreates the WWII battle from the Japanese perspective, it is moving, thoughtful, frightening and poetic - just about everything the other movie wasn't. A Japanese cast blissfully speaking Japanese is led by international star Ken Watanabe as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi who in the summer of 1945 was given the unenviable task of defending the small island of Iwo Jima about 500 miles south of Tokyo. Unenviable because as the General learned after he had arrived, Japan had not only been misleading its people on how well they were doing in the Pacific Theater but had even misled the command. The air and naval support plus thousands more soldiers and tanks General Kuribayashi was expecting were not to be had. The Imperial Naval fleet was in disarray by mid-'45 and the General realized he and his 22,000 men were left on a futile suicide mission where they must hold the island for as long as possible against the overwhelming might of the American forces closing in. Victory was impossible. The best they could hope for was to drag the battle out for weeks rather than days, until virtually every Japanese soldier was dead.

Watanabe is perfect in the role, and Kuribayashi is presented as a thoughtful, energetic and slightly unconventional officer who has a deeper code of honor than many of his other officers initially assess. While there is some discontent among those officers, to the regular soldiers he is the most admirable commander they could hope for. The soldier we spend the most time with is a young man named Saigo, played very well by former Japanese pop star Kazunari Ninomiya. He is a humble baker who has been drafted into service, and while he certainly loves his country he has no blind knee-jerk patriotism and loves his wife and infant son he has never seen much more than the black volcanic sand he is defending on Iwo Jima. Through a handful of flashbacks we see Saigo, General Kuribayashi and a couple of the others in their lives before the War, and through some of their letters we learn a bit more. Once the American invasion begins, the true horror and honor of war is displayed on screen.

Knowing he had no air or naval support, Kuribayashi didn't plan to hold the beaches and airfield as he would have in a conventional attack but readied for the battle by digging into the rocks and volcano on the island, creating an massive network of caves to hide his men and artillery. While unconventional, it was a brilliant plan given what he had to work with. Brilliant up to a point, as he knew he was only prolonging the inevitable American victory. Most of the men too realize that they will not leave the island alive much less victorious, but they fight on anyway. As they run out of ammo and hope, some stationed in Mt. Suribach commit suicide (by grenade, which is a messy way to go and part of the horror Adam Beach's Ira Hayes witnessed in Flags that haunted him). The rest of the soldiers tried to make their way across the island to the command post buried underground. It is a Hellish journey, and the few that make it all the way arrive to no food and water and just as much desperation as they had fled.

The battle scenes are graphic and kinetic, and the final dignified assault that Kuribayashi leads his men on is poetic, but like any great war movie it is great because it shows the humanity of the men fighting and is essentially anti-war in its message. Not that there isn't honor to be found in the sacrifice, but that there is more honor to be found in life. Clint's decision to make this in addition to Flags of Our Fathers is a cinematic gift.


GRADE: A

Another solid review Holden. Thanks for that. :)

I have now added, to my list of owned, The Bridges of Madison County, and Honkytonk Man. :)

Yes, I agree. Great review!

Letters Of Iwo Jima was better than Flags

Clint Eastwood is just incredible with everything he touches. I haven't seen Letters of Iwo Jima yet, but from what I hear, I must see it immediately. And I'm sure after I see it, I will 100% think he deserves the Oscar.

I just saw Letters from Iwo Jima last night and is masterpiece. I was in awe as Clint Eastwood delivered his best ever. Holden, your review is absolutely fantastic....thanks. :D

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Now I see where Fatal Attraction snagged some of it's ideas. I have always enjoyed Fatal Attraction, but Play Misty for Me, is by far the best. What a great movie. Jessica Walter ~ Evelyn, played the hell out of her character. This is the first time in years, that I actually spoke back to the movie, and covered my eyes. She made me so nervous at times. She had split second mood swings, and was as crazy as hell. Not to mention, my hands still hurt. heheh You will have to watch it, to get that. Tightrope is still one of my all time favorites of Clint's, but this one is right behind it.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I agree with your review that "Flags of Our Fathers" is a flawed film. The general taking a personal hand in dumping Ira Hayes from the tour is one example that you pointed out. But an even bigger flaw to me was the pointedly incorrect statement by the public relations bond tour promoter who claims that the Iwo Jima flag raisers have to make the bond tour because the US is down to virtually its last bullet and within a month of running out of gasoline for its air force and that the US public was no longer buying bonds or making contributions to finance the war. I practically fell out of my seat when he claimed one of the major problems was that the Arabian shieks were insisting on payment in bullion for their oil.

The fact is there was no major oil production in the Middle East in the 1940s and even if there were, it couldn't have been moved by tanker past the German and Japanese submarines. In fact the big tanker hunting ground for German submarines was off Florida as tankers moved oil and refined products from Texas and Louisiana to New York, until the "Big Inch" and "Little Inch" pipelines were built across land to carry all of that oil.

In 1937, the US accounted for 60.4% of global petroleum production, and Latin America another 15.3%--more than three quarters of the world's petroleum production was in the New World. At that time and through World War II, the US produced all the oil it needed to meet its own needs and was a net exporter to other countries. In fact, the US provided 6 billion of the total 7 billion barrels of oil consumed by the Allies during WWII, which is why Churchill later said that the Allies rode to victory on a sea of Texas oil.

What's more, all of the government-organized bond drives were a success, including the eighth or "Victory Loan" drive that took place October-December 1945, after the war was over. Targeted for $11 billion, it raised $21 billion, the highest success rate of any of the drives. In all, the eight bond drives raised more than $156.4 billion dollars, while another $180 million dollars was donated by the private sector for advertising.

I'm at a loss as to why that bit about America being about to give up over the cost of the war was included in that film when in truth Americans knew at that point that they had already defeated Italy and Germany and were well on their way to defeating Japan.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Actually, it's hard to say what really haunted Ira Hayes. All of the history books (including "Flags of Our Fathers") that quote fellow Marines and tribesmen who actually knew Hayes report that he hardly talked about his experiences at all. A brother said he never once mentioned his combat service with his family and that none of them ever asked him. From all accounts, Hayes would go days without speaking to anyone even before the war. He also had an arrest record for drunkeness before he enlisted in the Marines. Most of the WWII vets of the Pacific theater to whom I've talked over the years never expressed any concern about the Japanese soldiers who blew themselves up, although they did regret the sight of Japanese civilians who leaped to their deaths from cliffs on Okinawa, especially when they thew their children over first. I suspect Hayes was haunted more by the friends he'd lost to the Japanese than by dead ememy soldiers.

As for Japanese soldiers blowing themselves up, I'm reminded of one account of a group of Marines on Okinawa or maybe Iwo who had stopped in a shell hole to grab a bite of rations when a Japanese wearing nothing but a loin cloth and an explosive charge strapped to his waist jumped up on the edge of the hole and pulled the pin. The resulting explosion startled but failed to hurt any of the Marines but it blew the Japanese in half with the result that his buttocks and legs landed "cheeks up" in the lap of one of the Marines. According to the account, the frightened Marine looked down at the bare butt and extended legs "looking up" from his lap and said, "Krist, fellows, am I hurt that bad???" I suspect that's more indicative of how World War II vets viewed dead Japanese soldiers.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I liked Eastwood's low-key Broncho Billy and Honky-Tonk Man, although he thinks too highly of his singing ability. Also thought White Hunter, Black Heart was a bit of a stretch and a risk, so I appreciated that. But Eastwood went through that stretch of insisting that his girlfriend costar in a bunch of his movies--Broncho Billy, Outlaw Josey, Gaunlet, you know the ones I mean--which was a BIG mistake. Whatzhername, Sondra something, was just not up to those roles and it was embarassing to see Eastwood as some latter-day Citizen Kane trying to make a star out of that sow's ear. I liked him as a co-star to Richard Burton in Where Eagles Dare and to Lee Marvin in Paint Your Wagon. Eastwood still couldn't sing, but he got closer to the right key more often than Marvin.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Not a big Locke fan, here, either. I still like Josey a whole hell of a lot, though. Still, Unforgiven is Clint's masterwork, IMO. I just can't get enough of that magnificent film.... Still have yet to see "Letters..."

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Great review Pikey :yup:

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I always liked Clint. I loved the spaghetti westerns, the cop movies and Play Misty for me. I've enjoyed some of the movies he directed but and I know people will probably get pissed with me over this, I did not like Unforgiven.

It never helps to see a movie that is so highly hyped because you expect so much. There was not a single character in the movie I liked, wanted to pull for or cared about. That kills a story for me.

It was dirty. I mean that literally. It looked like everyone and everything in it was filthy pretty much the whole movie. That's another big turn off.

At the end I was left saying, now why is this supposed to be so darn good? To which I had no answer nor did the person who saw it with me.

Still, I like Clint very much in a lot of his work. I respect what he's accomplished and how far he's come.

"Deserve's got nuthin' to do with it."
 

Really? That leaves a whole lot of my very favorite films from the world off your list.


That's the most bizarre point of contention I've yet to hear. I never thought about the fact that the production went to great lengths to make sure everything looked and felt period correct to somehow be a negative. So, like, they probably should have stayed at a Motel 6 during their travels across the plains, and the people in that small isolated town surely could have taken a hot shower and used some conditioner in their hair. Did you see their clothes?!? It's like they were sewn by hand and then washed only sparingly in a river and then beaten with sticks and air-dried out in the elements. How utterly barbaric.

What other films do you have this issue with? Now you've got me curious.


Wow. A layered and insightful look at the hopeless cycle of violence, revenge and brutality wrapped in a pitch-perfect demythologizing of what was left of the Hollywood West enhanced by stunning cinematography, an elegant and elegiac score and some truly great performances by a top-flight cast and you had no clue?

Oh, well.



Well, he's no Robin Williams, but he holds his own.

Re: "Deserve's got nuthin' to do with it."
 

I'm sure that's true. We can't all like the same things. Sometimes it would be nice but that's part of what makes life so interesting that we are all so different in some ways.

Good Lord, no, not a motel 6!

*chuckles*

That's a barbaric idea indeed. Hey, if it's great for some to be authentically dirty looking, each to thier own. I like to see things realistic to a point (props, clothing and so on) but not nasty dirty all the way through.

Any of the Pirate of the Caribbean movies and The 13th Warrior just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more.

Of course the Pirate movies at least have some humor to offset things a bit. Thank goodness.

I have no idea why I would have a clue that this was consider such a good thing. I'm honestly not.

Demythologizing the what was left of the Hollywood West is what that was about?

Great. I rather like the Hollywood West.

I'm so not fond of hopeless cycles. I'd rather an escapist sort of experience, pleasant one. I've had enough of hopeless cycles in real life.

I'm glad you and others do enjoy it so much. It's good that there are people who enjoy each kind of film IMHO. Many enjoyed this one it seems. I can respect that even if I never will.

Well, he's no Robin Williams, but he holds his own.[/quote]

LOL! Indeed he does.

"It's a Hell of a thing, killin' a man..."
 

So you admit we all have different tastes, yet you still claim to be perplexed why others, maybe in this case many others, like all the things you dislike about Unforgiven? It's pretty simple, isn't it? You don't like its grittiness, its un-Hollywoodness, its darkness, its characters, etc. It seems pretty obvious then that those of us who do like it find all of those exact same things strengths.

You can't claim "different taste" for you opinion but then expect there's going to be some sort of reasoning on the other side that is going to make you see the light. Apparently it's one of those movies you just don't like. I happen to think it's one of the greatest films ever made, certainly one of the very best of that decade, and Eastwood's masterpiece. To me every single instant of it is perfection. For you, not so much.

I think that about ends the discussion for you. I can trot out my old flavor of ice cream analogy now, but frankly I don't have the energy. Suffice to say if you don't like strawberry ice cream there is no amount of evidence or enthusiasm for it anybody else could possibly present that's going to make you change your taste.

Dig?


Now if you want to get into specifics, fine, but if you expect somebody to justify their love for something that you just plain and simple don't groove to, well that's a big ol' waste of time. At least mine.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Sorry you feel it's a waste of time.

I was glad to hear your POV on this so far. That's all I was asking for. Thanks for your explanation to this point. It did clear things up for me to an extent.

I do like strawberry ice cream btw. Do you?

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Thats our Pikey :yup: but don't let it put you of him :nope:

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

No, I won't. It's cool.

I'm not here to judge other's likes and dislikes. I like learning why though.

I'm not probably going to change my own likes and dislikes from that, nor will I likely stop expressing them, but it's still interesting to me to read what others are into and why.

http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1401793812

I haven't updated this thread in a while, but Clint is currently filming his next project, The Changeling. No, George C. Scott fans, it has nothing to do with the 1980 haunted house movie of the same name. Based on a true story in 1920s Los Angeles, it stars Angelina Jolie as a mother who must fight a corrupt police department and fend off a commitment hearing to an insane asylum when in the wake of her young child's kidnapping she insists that the boy returned to her is not her son. The film also features John Malkovich, Colm Feore, Jeffrey Donovan and Amy Ryan.

This should be a Fall 2008 release and is being produced by Ron Howard & Brian Grazer's Image Films. It was originally being set up as a project for Howard to direct, but when he decided to do Frost/Nixon first and had things like Dan Brown's Angels & Demons on his plate as well, they decided to send the script to Clint to see if he was interested, as it would be at least two years before Ron could go into production with it. Eastwood was instantly drawn to the material, and so it goes.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I have long been a Clint Eastwood fan and if I had my way everyone would. Instead of gushing about his work I'll just share a story about my wife and how she became an Eastwood fan as well.

It started out as these stories typically do with her not really even knowing who he was or what kinds of films he's been apart of over the years, so one day she wanted to watch a western, I threw on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, "Is that Clint what's his name?" she said, I love this woman... Yes I said He's been making these types of movies for a really long time. so we watched it and she loved it, next we watched The Outlaw Josey Wales and then . For a Fistful of Dollars. I've been saving Unforgiven because I like to roll out the heavy stuff after she really starts to get into it.

So from there we watched a couple of his Dirty Harry films and again she liked them at one point she looked at me and said, "Now I know where you got that saying from!", like I said I love this woman. That was over a couple week period and since then I've put on several of his films and she's beginning to recognize them, it's easier when he's in them personally of course but she's paying a lot more attention to the credits as well. Million dollar Baby was very difficult for her because the family reminded her so much of her family. And the story itself was so difficult to enjoy because as most of us know life is extremely messy and Clint has always been able to get that across in a good deal of his films. She also enjoyed Heartbreak Ridge an underrated and overlooked film in its own right, and another that I've been butchering quotes from for years. True Crime and Bloodwork are the two most recent films we watched and she enjoyed those as well, True Crime has been a favorite of mine for a while now simply because of the scenes between Clint and James Woods the Editor, just brilliant comedy and casting. But of course when the love of my life started watching it with me early on she said "That's Dr. Burke!" which a lot of times is how she gets interested in a film long enough to really watch it, but whatever it takes right?

Over the next few months I'm planning to roll out The Bridges of Madison County I know her, she will love this movie and she will cry, and at some point she will look at me and say " I hate you" but that just means it made a big impression on her and I know she liked it. We're also coming back around to a western jag again and I've still got Unforgiven waiting in the wings so I can't wait to see what she thinks of it.

I guess really the only point to this little article is to show some of you folks that aren't fans that he's got a little something for every one and maybe you should give some of his stuff a try. I myself think he will forever be remembered as one of the all time American filmmakers. Oh, and I hope he lives forever because it will be a very sad day when we lose him.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Nice story Kittykat :yup:

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I've only seen the god awfull Million Dollar Baby and Flags of our Fathers which was also pretty bad.

http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1401794157

Clint is enjoying such an amazing hot streak that he manages to get competitive Golden Globe nominations in a year where he didn't even release a film! After the Weinstein's purchased the Iraq War homefront drama Grace is Gone at Sundance, they showed it to Eastwood hoping he would be inspired to write them a theme and new score. He loved the movie and did, and now he's gotten two Golden Globe nominations for his efforts, one for original score, and one for original song.


.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I first became aware of his directing skills when I saw, Mystic River. It was radical.

MeatWad... Million Dollar Baby was awesome. Do you know anything about visuals? Eastwood's a freakin' genius when it comes to making shadows and light stand for something.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

DANG IT!

I think I have asked you this before, but I don't recall a reply. Why is Million Dollar Baby God awful?

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

That's pretty crazy. That's kind of rare, isn't it? A movie star also composing music at a high-level, I mean. When's the last time it was done so well? Chaplin?

Yeah, Chaplin is the best and biggest example I can think of. Clint's a pretty special dude.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Robert Rodriguez could never be in the same league with Chaplin and Eastwood, but his eclecticism can't be overlooked. The man writes, directs, edits and composes, and he does it pretty well, too.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Earlier in this thread I said i stated that I just don't care for Eastwood's film. However, I feel it necessary to point how much I enjoyed Letters from Iwo Jima. I begrudgingly put it on my Netflix queue and I must say I enjoyed every second of it. It forced me to think about what I dislike about his films. And like I said before, I really think I just dislike his films in a really subjective way.

The story begins with the first Eastwood directed movie I watched: Unforgiven. It is often cited as his best work, as the greatest of all Westerns. It accurately showcased Old West living, dispelling the myths of John Wayne's West while retaining much of what made those movies great. Here's the problem: I do not like Westerns. I think this is why I never liked Unforgiven. However, the buzz the movie attained, coupled with my dislike for it and its genre, forced an irrevocable "over-rated" into my head when concerning Eastwood.

So Holden et all, I would like you to suggest some Eastwood movies for me. I already have opinions on the ones I have seen, so I must see others. I have ranked the movies I have seen below in the order I personally liked them:

Letters from Iwo Jima
Million Dollar Baby
Bridges of Madison County
Unforgiven
Mystic River

Now please keep in mind, my opinion may not change. I will also continue to think Mystic river is simply a bad movie. But I would like to give Clint another chance, so please fire away.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Well, first of all I don't think if you hate brussel sprouts forcing yourself to eat fifty plates of 'em is going to change your opinion much (why don't parents ever get this?). But a few more to check out and see if you like them a bit more are A Perfect World, Honkytonk Man and Bird, and for one where he stars but doesn't direct Escape from Alcatraz, helmed by his friend and mentor Don Siegel.
http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1401794592

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

The Outlaw Josey Wales, even if it's a ***tern. :) White Hunter, Black Heart is an interesting take on the making of The African Queen, and for two unpretentious flicks, which are much better (perhaps in a trashy way) than their reputations, you can check out The Eiger Sanction and The Gauntlet.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1401794905

Yeah, The Outlaw Josey Wales is one that even somebody who doesn't particularly like Westerns should be able to enjoy. It's more of a questing myth, and the ragtag bunch of misfits who become Wales' satellites are some amusing characters, especially the old, tired Indian played by Chief Dan George (though I think he's even better in Little Big Man). He alone makes it worth the price of a rental.

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Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Dan George is great... Love his turn as Old Lodge Skins...

http://content6.flixster.com/photo/9...660176_tmb.jpg

"Invisible! I've never been invisible before! "

"She also has a very soft skin. The only trouble with snake women is they copulate with horses, which makes them strange to me. She says she doesn't. That's why I call her "Doesn't Like Horses". But, of course, she's lying."

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

What I most liked about The Outlaw Josey Wales is the way it illustrates how history (and cinema) can be written to make heroes or villains out of any one.

In general, I think there are more Civil War movies where the Confederates are the heroes and the Union men are the villains.

It's very interesting to me that this was a war that was clearly fought for very righteous idealistic reasons, and yet, the victors hardly ever portray the defeated as villains in the movies (or in American History books).

Movies that portray the Union as the villains appear to be more marketable than movies that portray the Confederates as villains.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

From Variety...

The lack of details has some wondering if Clint and Warners are trying to sneak out one last Dirty Harry flick.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...f_chiolero.jpg http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:...ts/etl2041.jpg

For those who don't know, a Gran Torino is a '70s model of Ford, made most famous by the TV cop show "Starsky & Hutch".

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

A Perfect World still stands as a true testament of Clint Eastwood's story-telling ability. It's one of the few (and often underrated) times that he told a story where the main morality met the man in more miniature, or sporadic, moments than, let's say, less. You tend to only see power in these sorts of films toward the end. I thought A Perfect World was beautifully told through both its impressive direction and incredulous acting. It's become sort of ideal for me to use this film as an example of how human beings can still exist three-dimensionally after only a page was set to suggest who they were suppose to be or become. Great film. I highly recommend people try and discover the depth Eastwood explored with this remarkable material.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

God, wouldn't that be great? I snuck in to see Sudden Impact when I was about 12 I think. I'd go see it.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

You're lucky now. You won't have to sneak in!

If it's true, maybe they could tie in the Zodiac Killer even more than Fincher could. Even if they turned it into a French Connection III, I'd be happy.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

It's been confirmed now that Clint's upcoming Gran Torino in which he'll star and direct is definitely NOT a belated Dirty Harry flick. It is apparently going to be a dramatic piece where Eastwood plays a man who befriends a young immigrant boy in his neighborhood, bonding over working on his prized possession, the classic car in the title.

As for The Changeling (which may or may not be retitled The Exchange by the time of its release late this year), it got good word of mouth recently at Cannes, though it didn't win any of the prizes...even with Sean Penn, who finally got his Oscar under Eastwood's direction, as the jury president. But the early word seems to be quite good. HERE is a scene from the film (with French subtitles) where Jolie's character has a boy returned to her that she does not believe is her missing son.

http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1401795013

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

WOW! Jeffrey Donovan is in this? Definitely seeing this now, Burn Notice is a great show and he is the second greatest part of it (Bruce Campbell being best)
http://www.popculturemadness.com/Ent...urnNotice1.jpg http://i4.tinypic.com/6gbc3t3.jpg
http://www.cinematical.com/media/200...cecampbell.jpg

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I'm glad it turned out this way. All these "way later in life sequels" are seriously getting old. If I can say that, it must be bad. I LOVE sequels. Many more than one person should.

This looks like it will be real good. I kind of wish they would change the title, but you know why I'm saying that. I love Clint, but that's my George C. Scott movie, and although this isn't a remake, I still kind of wish they would leave the title alone.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I agree with you that Eastwood is at best an uneven director who obviously doesn't put the best interest of his films first or else he wouldn't have put girlfriend Sondra Locke in so many of them. Eastwood and Locke were as bad as Bronson and Ireland. More than that, Eastwood was way too old to cast himself as the heroic lead in Heartbreak Ridge. In real life, that young lieutenant would have kicked the old man’s butt in that mud fight.

And Spike Lee isn’t the first Hollywood figure to attack Eastwood about historic accuracy in his films. Kate Hepburn who starred in The African Queen also attacked the veracity of White Hunter, Black Heart. I thought that film was adequate entertainment for a couple of hours, but I can’t remember much of it now except—surprise!—Eastwood played Huston as an obnoxious drunk.

I did like the understated Honky-Tonk Man, although Eastwood is no singer. Bronco Billy was offbeat and interesting, but I’m not sure if Eastwood directed that.

And I didn't mind Josie Wales so much, although I wondered at times where its meandering storyline was headed. I was amused by all the acclaim he received for his “revisionist” western Unforgiven. Those familiar with US history know that Jessie James, Billy the Kid and other Western outlaws and lawmen commonly shot people in the back without giving them a chance to draw. Eastwood’s film wasn’t the revision: all those decades of Hollywood westerns were. Still, it was a good enough movie, although IMHO no prize winner.

Eastwood really missed the boat on Flag of Our Fathers, however. But so did the real Bradley and Ira Hayes, 2 of the 3 survivors of the 6 men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. The Medals of Honor given to them were not for what they did or didn’t do. It wasn’t even for the Marine Corp.’s victory in that deadly battle. No, those medals and the public tour to show off the three survivors was for the American public at home who had been fighting the same war in their own mundane way without the horror and heroism of the front lines. Only the third survivor, Rene, understood that when he stepped up to the microphone in their first public appearance and gave US civilians the kind of hero they were expecting. When it comes to distorting historic fact, however, Eastwood told a real whopper in the scene where he has a PR guy saying that the US was running out of money to fight the war and that the Marines were practically down to their last bullet unless the bond drive was a success. Truth is, the US was never short of funds for fighting the war. Every bond drive mounted by the US government, including that one and the one after it—which occurred after the war had ended!—was over-subscribed and raised more money than was targeted. Moreover, there was no climax to that movie; it just sort of petered out. Preston Sturges explored the issues of heroism and duty on the home front much better in his Hail the Conquering Hero! that was filmed during WWII.

Letters from Iwo Jima was even worse, with a BS theme that the Japanese defenders were “just soldiers, too.” Go read some history of WWII and see what those SOBs were really like. Start with Flyboys, the story of Japanese atrocities on a smaller island off Iwo.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

So Clint has the one completed movie, Changeling starring Angelina Jolie, and the other he is starring in and currently finishing, Gran Torino, still scheduled for release this year. Changeling played to good response in Cannes back in May and is the centerpiece of the New York Film Festival in October before it starts its release at the end of that same month. At this point Gran Torino looks like it'll get the NY/LA opening the last week of the year to qualify for the Oscars with a general release coming in early 2009.

Clint obviously ain't slowing down any. His next project will be The Human Factor, which has nothing to do with the Graham Greene novel or the 1979 Otto Preminger film but is adapted from John Carlin's non-fiction book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation.

http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1401795246

Morgan Freeman, who is also producing the project, will star as Mandela with Matt Damon set to play Rugby captain Francois Pienaar. It tells the story of Rugby's World Cup match of 1995 where the South African national team, the Springboks, led an underdog campaign to the championship, which was endorsed by the newly elected President Mandela as a unifying event for their post-Apartheid country. Carlin's book was just published in the United States by Penguin. A review from The New York Times Book Review can be found HERE.

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Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I really loved Mystic River, after watching it I felt angry for a bit, which is a sign of good filmmaking, that it stuck with me for a good long while after i saw it. It's one of the best Boston movies, and Clint Eastwood did an amazing job of mixing heart wrenching drama with film noir trappings, and a great blue collar setting that didn't seem fake to me. (most Hollywood films about working class folks seem like "This is what rich people think poor people are like" to me, but Mystic River seemed real.)

Also I loved Unforgiven, but then everyone loves that one. I doubt I could say something that hasn't been said here already, so I wont.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

http://movies.themoviebox.net/2008/e.../225x90-01.jpg

Finally! We get a trailer to Changeling, HERE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbwSZO4HNDQ

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Changeling looks very good indeed. :yup:

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I liked him in Pale Rider. Such an underrated film.

I remember The Gauntlet very little.

And how can I forget The Outlaw Josey Wales? ;)

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Trailer and poster are now up for Gran Torino...

http://images.usatoday.com/life/_pho...no-posterx.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiC9dcPrMNE

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

That looks very good. I mean, it's no Tightrope, but . . . ;)

It will surely be a part of my Clint Eastwood collection.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I have lost pretty much all respect for Pale Rider at this point. Far from underrated, this ham-fisted remake of Shayne drops anvils on your head about the environment, and makes unnecessary and deplorable changes to the original storyline. Pale Rider is one of Eastwood's missteps, IMO. I think Eastwood showed an uncharacteristic lack of restraint with this one.

Make mine Josey Wales, Unforgiven, or any of his other stellar flicks.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I haven't seen a ton of his movies , but what I have seen has convinced me he is a very poor director.

Mystic River - This is his best film I've seen , but he uses so many stupid transitions and seems clueless when filming the violent parts. I believe he likes to direct the actors over anything - but this is a pattern I see in all of his work : he's trying to portray some stupid message in his movies - instead treating the characters with importance.

Million Dollar Baby - I saw this a long time back and I hated it. It's not one of those movies I would go back and give a second chance either. It's another example of the message over characters - thing he does. This movie especially I felt was cheesy and fake.

Flags of our Fathers - I can't even remember anything from this movie except stupid transitions. This movie puts the nail in the coffin - for me to never see another one of his movies again. Wait , I take that back - I do remember the message was much bigger than the characters again.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

High praise indeed! Now that is an endorsement every filmmaker mentioned on this board should be hoping for: meatwadsprite doesn't like me. *WHEW*

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Does this mean you haven't seen Unforgiven, dude?

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Never seen it.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Put it at the top of your Netflix queue or whatever people do these days.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Nice neg rep pike.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I just rented it (to give Eastwood one last chance) and I couldn't even watch it for 20 minutes. The transfer on the DVD is terrible - it hurts my eyes watching it.

It's the two sided disc one with fullscreen on the front and widescreen on the back. It reminds me of The Deer Hunter dvd that looked terrible.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Richtbackatchya! I was just following suit, Kid. Are you the kind of bratty kid who hits your brother and then, after your brother hits back, you cry out to Mommy, "Ow, he hit me!"?

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

That's the old edition, if you care. There's a newer two-disc special edition that has a much better transfer.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Except I made a valid argument , you just attempted to insult me.

Real post > useless post

Also , Blockbuster is quite misleading by putting the old one in the new two disc case. (which advertises a new digital transfer on the back).

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Well, I defended you in the other thread, Sprite, but to give my honest opinion again . . .

This is an "Appreciation thread", so it seems it should be for compliments, and favorites of the person named.

I'm just saying! :)

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Ok i lose ... the Clint Eastwood hate thread will be up soon though .

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

I haven't seen many of his movies, but his new movie 'Gran Torino' looks pretty damn good from the trailer.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

*yawn* Is Clint still alive? Thought he died a couple of years ago.



just kidding...I haven't argued with the Gunslinger in awhile and thought I'd provoke some wrath.



I really like Clint's story telling. He keeps it spare. My favorites of his that I've seen (and that's not many) are:

Unforgiven
Heartbreak Ridge
Bridges of Madison County

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

It annoyed me how everyone thought his new movie would be a sequel to Dirty Harry.

Just because Rocky, Indiana Jones and Rambo cash in on old characters doesn't mean one of our greatest directors should!

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Thought Holds or some of the rest of the faithful that may not get EW might enjoy this. A little fluff piece but still a nice little read. I says.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Which Clint Eastwood films have you seen? Favorite, to least favorite?

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

Thank you for the thread Holden.
Another quality effort.
Soldiers form the United States Army didn't put up the flag on Mount Suribachi.
It was Marines and a Navy Corpsman.
The USMC and United States Navy won the Battle of Iwo Jima against Japan.
I'm not being trendy when I say that Clint Eastwood is my favorite actor of all time.
Directing I don't know much about.
I can assume he's good at that too.
He's starting to look like Clyde, from his movies.

Re: Clint Eastwood the director, appreciation thread
 

http://www.movieforums.com/community...1&d=1401795671
Changeling

Wonderfully told tale of a harrowing and forgotten piece of history. Angelina Jolie stars as Christine Collins, a single mother in late 1920s Los Angeles. She supports herself and her son well with a steady, good-paying job at the phone company - she's even one of the first women to ascend to the post of supervisor. Her son, Walter (Gattlin Griffith), is about nine-years-old and her pride and joy. As a single mother in an era when that was still fairly uncommon, she shares a special bond with her child, uncomplicated by other people. One day when forced to unexpectedly cover at work she returns home to find Walter gone. Not being the kind of child to wander or go on adventures by himself, she immediately calls the Police. She doesn't get help or even sympathy, and so begins her terribly odyssey and a parent's worst nightmare.

There is much more to the story, involving rampant Police corruption at the time that her case gets caught up in, and the turn the narrative takes in the final third is best left for the viewer to discover as the film wisely lets it unfold from Christine's perspective rather than some omniscient point of view.

Angelina is fantastic in the lead, and while I still think last year's A Mighty Heart is her best overall performance, Changeling isn't far behind it. Jolie has a few different public personae, from the uber-famous celebrity and humanitarian to the box office star of slick action movies, but she is a very good actress, when given the chance. It's quite a tricky role. The character has to deal with so much, and while the frantic emoting of sadness or anger are the easy parts to play, it's that Christine Collins has to mask her emotions so often. Angelina manages every shift, from scene to scene or within scenes, adeptly.

Pretty much all of the performances are good to great, including the young actors who play the three leadmost children's roles. Some pretty dark and disturbing things happen in this story, and while everyone involved is certainly not absolved of their wrongdoing the film lets the viewer at least understand their motivations for the most part. And even though much of what happens is very arch and so horrific that if it weren't a true story you wouldn't believe it, Eastwood's laconic style is the perfect filter for such madness and abominations. To see this story in the hands of an over-the-top showy filmmaker like say Brian DePalma...oy, it would make his Black Dahlia look like a Disney flick.

And while the high level of performance, especially from the child actors, can be attributed to Clint's ease with actors, his sensibility pervades throughout. Even the production design and cinematography are just pitch-perfect. The period setting and detail is very well done, so well done that I almost started taking it for granted, which is a great tribute to Clint's skills as a filmmaker. It was so authentic and well layered into the fabric of the storytelling that it didn't stand out and announce itself very often. It simply was late 1920s and early 1930s Los Angeles, and that was that.

I can't talk much about the final half of the picture because it would spoil some of the pleasure of discovery, but this is definitely one of the better films in Clint's filmography. Yet another triumph for Eastwood, who absolutely refuses to slow down as an artist.


GRADE: B+

http://z.about.com/d/movies/1/0/-/U/...gelingpic4.jpg
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