The Master Returns!!!
Dan Same
Victoria, AustraliaPosts: 6,054MI6 Agent
This news is so delightful that it must simply have its own topic. 
Clint Eastwood, the master, the legend, the great man himself, is finally going to appear in another film. {[]
I adore Eastwood; he is one of my absolute favourite actors and directors and is a personal hero of mine. I really revere him. Although I love Eastwood as a director (I adored his last two films as director; Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, several of his films are among my favourite films and I regard him to be among the greatest directors of all time), and I would rush out to see the phone book as long as Eastwood directed, I think he's an even better actor and star than he is as a director. Or at the very least I prefer him as an actor and star to director.
As a non-acting director, Eastwood's Mystic River was IMO the best film of 2003, while Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima are IMO among the all-time great war films. I'm not going to go through all the films which he directed and appeared in, but suffice to say, many of them are IMO classics (such as the westerns with Unforgven being arguably the best) and even those that are not classics have something about them which I love. An example being Million Dollar Baby. I hated the screenplay but I thought that the performances (particularly Hillary Swank's and Eastwood's) were brilliant, thus confirming just what a great actor's director Clint is.
I consider Eastwood to be a brilliant actor. I think he should have won the Oscar for Million Dollar Baby (he was vastly superior IMO to Jamie Foxx in Ray) and I am constantly impressed by both the strength and depth of his performances. Some people question his acting skills, I say have a look at the Dollars trilogy, Dirty Harry, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby and multiple other Eastwood films. I think he is a brilliant actor and I regard him to be an incredible star.
Which brings me to the point of this post. I had resigned myself to knowing that Million Dollar Baby was to be his last film as actor, although my tremendous disappointment had been slightly (only slightly) balanced by my view that Clint's performance in Million Dollar Baby was his best ever. Nonetheless, I had long hoped that he would return, and it appears that my prayers have been answered.
It seems that Clint has signed on to direct and star in a film, due out in December this year, called Gran Torino, which is rumoured to be a new Dirty Harry film. Personally I can not wait. This means that this year, there are now two Eastwood films; Changeling which he directs and which stars Angelina Jolie, and also Gran Torino. {[]
As I mentioned above, I am absolutely delighted by this news. Changeling was my big film for 2008; it has now been replaced by Gran Torino. {[] {[] {[]
P.S. 6000th post! {[]
Clint Eastwood, the master, the legend, the great man himself, is finally going to appear in another film. {[]I adore Eastwood; he is one of my absolute favourite actors and directors and is a personal hero of mine. I really revere him. Although I love Eastwood as a director (I adored his last two films as director; Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, several of his films are among my favourite films and I regard him to be among the greatest directors of all time), and I would rush out to see the phone book as long as Eastwood directed, I think he's an even better actor and star than he is as a director. Or at the very least I prefer him as an actor and star to director.
As a non-acting director, Eastwood's Mystic River was IMO the best film of 2003, while Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima are IMO among the all-time great war films. I'm not going to go through all the films which he directed and appeared in, but suffice to say, many of them are IMO classics (such as the westerns with Unforgven being arguably the best) and even those that are not classics have something about them which I love. An example being Million Dollar Baby. I hated the screenplay but I thought that the performances (particularly Hillary Swank's and Eastwood's) were brilliant, thus confirming just what a great actor's director Clint is.
I consider Eastwood to be a brilliant actor. I think he should have won the Oscar for Million Dollar Baby (he was vastly superior IMO to Jamie Foxx in Ray) and I am constantly impressed by both the strength and depth of his performances. Some people question his acting skills, I say have a look at the Dollars trilogy, Dirty Harry, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby and multiple other Eastwood films.
I think he is a brilliant actor and I regard him to be an incredible star.Which brings me to the point of this post. I had resigned myself to knowing that Million Dollar Baby was to be his last film as actor, although my tremendous disappointment had been slightly (only slightly) balanced by my view that Clint's performance in Million Dollar Baby was his best ever. Nonetheless, I had long hoped that he would return, and it appears that my prayers have been answered.
It seems that Clint has signed on to direct and star in a film, due out in December this year, called Gran Torino, which is rumoured to be a new Dirty Harry film. Personally I can not wait.
This means that this year, there are now two Eastwood films; Changeling which he directs and which stars Angelina Jolie, and also Gran Torino. {[]As I mentioned above, I am absolutely delighted by this news. Changeling was my big film for 2008; it has now been replaced by Gran Torino. {[] {[] {[]
P.S. 6000th post! {[]
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Comments
Clint is a very talented fellow, and deserves alot of praise. I find the first three "Dirty Harry" Epics to be my favortie Eastwood hits, and have a fondness for "Play Misty for Me" and "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". I quite like his musical tastes.
While I like "Unforgiven" it's not my favorite western by a long shot. I would love to visit "Down Under" someday and discuss Western's with you - it would be a "hoot!"
God knows I love Harry Callahan, but I pray that "Gran Torino" is not another "Dirty Harry", that old boy was a product of the 1970's and should be left there with fond memories, not dreged up to heft a Smith & Wesson .500 "X" frame revolver for another "feel lucky punk" moment.
Eastwood's Mother is still with us, and I think she is well into her 90's. Old Clint is a health food nut and that combined with his DNA should insure he is around for a lot longer.
Again, Congratulations Dan!
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Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
I'm another longtime Dirty Harry fan; the first two are classics and I also have a soft spot for Dead Pool. Still, I tend to doubt that we'll see Inspector Callahan again. Eastwood has said on many occasions that he's retired the character and even Clint would have a hard time pulling off the role again in now that he's in his late 70's. Eastwood's last few films have been character driven dramas and I think Gran Torino will probably be along those lines as well.
Congrats on post #6000 Dan; you now officially have no life!
However...
As an actor I’ll take the Dollars trilogy and all five Dirty Harry movies. As a director, Eastwood is competent enough with a decent story or script, but I would strongly dispute that he’s a master film director. Sergio Leone was a master, Eastwood is an apprentice who borrowed his master’s moves, (and is also indebted to Don Siegel and John Huston), but has never had anything new to say.
High Plains Drifter is a superb film, but that has such a quirky premise, a Western ghost story, that all it needs is to be competently told. Eastwood is workmanlike, but that has its virtues. A no-nonsense style is one of the reasons The Outlaw Josey Wales is so good. There’s no need for Leone-style operatics, for such a tough, gritty and ultimately forgiving film. Just tell the story, plain and simple.
I like Unforgiven as well, but that owes as much to David People’s fantastic script as it does to Eastwood.
But I could not stand the overly portentous Mystic River or Million Dollar Coma. Both would be my front-runners for worst films of their respective years. And Eastwood has other sins. Heartbreak Ridge, The Rookie, (goodbye Charlie Sheen’s career), White Hunter, Black Heart, Boring Film, the unbearable The Bridges of Madison County, Absolute Power, (like No Way Out but rubbish), Midnight in the Garden of Jude Law, the aptly titled True Crime, and lest we forget Space Cowboys, (Donald Sutherland in spaaccee….).
Flags of our Fathers was outstanding as was Letters from Iwo Jima, and I’ll take his only Harry directorial effort, the splendidly vicious Sudden Impact as well, but masters are a lot more consistent with their ability. On his day Eastwood can make a very fine film, but most of the time he’s not that far away from that other noted actor-director, Sylvester Stallone. :v
My favourite westerns are the Eastwood and/or Leone ones. What about you?
Clint himself has remarked that he doesn't want to bring Dirty Harry back so it is only a rumour. Personally, I don't mind what the film is, as long as Clint is actualy returning to acting.
Thanks. {[]
My favourite Dirty Harry films are, in order, the first one, Sudden Impact, The Dead Pool, Magnum Force, and The Enforcer. I love all of them apart from The Enforcer but even The Enforcer has some great moments.
No doubt. Which is partly why I doubt that the rumour is true. That and Clint's constant denials over the years that he would bring back the character.
You mean you weren't aware that I had no life before?
I loved Mystic River. I thought that the performances were incredible (especially Penn's), the screenplay was superb, the plot was heartbreaking and the film was IMO a masterpiece. I thought it was brilliantly directed and one of the most powerful films I've seen in years.
Really?
You don't like T2, you don't like Mystic River.
"My favourite westerns are the Eastwood and/or Leone ones."
Dan,
My favorites are John Ford / John Wayne as in "Stagecoach", "The Searchers" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and Howard Hawks / John Wayne's "Red River", "Rio Bravo" and "El Dorado".
These films say alot about the USA, both good and bad, and do it while refining the "code of the West" in a positive way.
Film's by Leone, tend to try and "debunk" the American West, protraying it's dark and sinister aspects. Clint bought into the Leone POV back in the 60's, and for the most part has carried it on through his career. Sometimes subtly as in "Joe Kidd" and other times with a heavy hand as in "Unforgiven".
Variety and differing POV's are important, but in the end it's a bit like looking in a mirror. I prefer looking into the Ford/Wayne glass.
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
Roger Moore 1927-2017
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=125251
I had to clip this section from the article. Found it funny for some reason:
Production of Gran Torino may or may not have already begun and there are no details of the actual plot — Eastwood is notoriously tight-lipped and secretive about his projects. So while the film carries a car's name, it may not actually have anything to do with cars. Or, conversely, the entire screenplay may be an adaptation of the 1974 Gran Torino's owner's manual. Who knows?
Some people are hoping it's another Western. Time will tell.
It would only work if he's giving Callahan the "Shootist" treatment, as Don Siegel did with The Duke back in '77 B-)
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
That's an astounding notion, not sure how well that would go over. "The Shootist" is a good film - but largely due to John Wayne sitting on Siegel's bloody and dark nature. The clash was evidently unpleasant on the set, but resulted in quite a nice film.
I don't think Eastwood could pull it off by himself.
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
That would be a great idea, and why not? Afterall, Unforgiven was kind of given such treatment and Eastwood has shown, with recent films, that he has an amazing ability to delve into and examine the hero myth and the whole ethos of violence. Granted, it has been years since I've seen The Shootist but, of what I remember, I don't see why Eastwood couldn't do something similar with Callahan, since he already has with the Western Hero.
A serial killer is terrorising San Francisco, much as Scorpio did all those years ago. The mayor is putting pressure on the police, who just can't track the villain down. The Chief remembers the Scorpio case, and how Callahan "solved" it. They decide to call in the retired Harry, purely as an advisor.
We meet Harry pottering about on his boat. His old partner/boss/pal (according to who's available/still alive from the old days) comes to visit him and talk him into going back strictly as an advisor, to give the younger cops the benefit of his experience. Harry's reluctant at first, but photos/newspaper stories of the innocent victims change his mind. We also meet Harry's 20-ish daughter/granddaughter/second cousin
We get a few scenes of the younger guys being unimpressed by the old guy being brought out of retirement, but old Harry shows (eg on the firing range) that he's still got what it takes and begins to earn their respect. This is intercut with scenes of the killer preparing for his next victim.
Naturally Harry gradually pieces together the clues and begins to close in on the bad guy, who realises who's on his trail and begins to taunt him (telephone messages? Written notes on the bodies "You'll never find me, Callahan"?).
We approach the climax when the villain kidnaps Callahan's daughter/whatever and threatens to kill her in 12/24 hours unless his demands are met. Now it's personal and Harry has to track down the killer...
(Cliche central! Manhunter, mainly, but there's a few more in there as well and not necessarily Eastwoods. Still, we've all seen worse plots.)
There are many rumours circulating on the internet ( that one comes from cinematical and imbd but I've read it elsewhere as well). Sounds quite feasible to me. Another is that its about some rural bigot ...
So take your pick but the Harry rumours are getting very strong
I dont really care ... I love Clint so would watch him in a toothpaste commercial and think him fab
WOW! You've just had 176 posts in just 5 days! How is that possible.
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I like them both. But for some reason the second seems more like a role he'd play nowadays, the role of a "Crusty Old Salt."