Messages

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General Discussion / Re: The most underrated movies directed by Clint Eastwood

« on: September 23, 2020, 11:42:54 AM »

Here is an article about High Plains Drifter, one of the best Clint Eastwood movies in my opinion:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/amp33671312/high-plains-drifter-clint-eastwood-best-movie-anniversary-essay-analysis/

Thanks, that's a really good article. High Plains Drifter is near the top of my list of favorite Eastwood Westerns.

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Eastwood News / Re: Clint Eastwood Films on TV and Upcoming TV Interviews

« on: September 17, 2020, 08:13:58 PM »

Nice, Perry! A slight quibble: actually, Eastwood's first appearance on TV was on a Steve Allen special, [Steve] Allen in Movieland (July 2, 1955). The Highway Patrol episode, "Motorcycle A," aired on April 2, 1956.

https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=Allen+in+Movieland&p=1&item=B:34697

You can watch the Steve Allen special on Vimeo (here the date is given as 1954):

https://vimeo.com/278222920

The scene that includes Clint starts at 54:45.

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: Jack Reacher Books and TV series

« on: September 15, 2020, 06:39:06 PM »

I might as well repost my original reply to SK's second minireview ...

This didn't improve on the first novel. The same drawn out feeling like it was a chore just to get through it.

I know it's only fiction but there was one page in this book that I just couldn't stop shaking my head in bewilderment.

Reacher and FBI Agent Holly Johnson are in the woods and come across a body that has been crucified. Of course she can't handle the sight of it and throws up. Reacher cuts the body down and buries it. Before the end of the page, they're naked and having sex in the dirt! I mean, come on, are you kidding me?

2/5.

If I recall right, that was the one where Holly was abducted because she's the daughter of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Reacher gets abducted with her because he just happens to bump into her at the wrong time. They're taken off to a site where a paramiltary cult is plotting to overthrow the US government. I don't recall the sex in the sand at that particular juncture, but I do remember thinking it was pretty improbable that they would let Reacher escape, recapture him, then let him escape again ... over and over.

But the Reacher novels aren't really about the stories, they're about the character, and about how he is always, always, bigger, stronger and smarter than any opponent he meets up with. And he never becomes attached to anyone. If he has sex with a women somewhere along the way, he'll be saying goodbye to her by the last page (with a couple of "cliffhanger" exceptions), And for the most part, the women are pretty strong, smart and capable themselves ... worthy partners, not just bimbos along for the ride. All this may help explain why a lot of Reacher fans are female.

And I see these are the Jack Reacher novels that the new movie is adapted from!

It's adapted from a later novel in the series ... and Tom Cruise is starring. A lot of Reacher fans are up in arms about that. That little superannuated shrimp is going to play Jack Reacher, six foot four and two hundred and forty pounds of brute strength and intelligence?

I so agree with you KC.  Reacher could have been played by many of the hunky male stars of today so why pick a little squirt?

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General Discussion / Re: The most underrated movies directed by Clint Eastwood

« on: September 15, 2020, 06:06:34 PM »

Very well put, Hocine! I love Clint's performance in Heartbreak Ridge.

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: THE ENDLESS, POINTLESS thread

« on: September 14, 2020, 07:49:21 PM »

That's right! I had forgotten all about the flummary of the thread's early days!

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: Who do you just not get ?

« on: September 14, 2020, 06:32:48 PM »

MODERATOR'S NOTE: At this point, our "I just don't get Tom Cruise" discussion transmogrified into a "Jack Reacher" discussion, so AKA considerately started a new dedicated Reacher thread, and I've moved ten posts from this thread into it. You'll find it here:

Jack Reacher Books and TV Series

Thanks, AKA! 

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: Jack Reacher Books and TV series

« on: September 14, 2020, 06:14:58 PM »

Thanks to AKA for creating this thread! I've merged ten posts from the "Who do you just not get?" thread into this one. (We had been discussing Tom Cruise, who was criminally miscast as Jack Reacher in two movies ... and from there we wandered way off topic ... with KC as the offender-in-chief.  )

Unfortunately, there is no way to put AKA's post introducing this thread up at the top, where it belongs (although I have quoted it inside the new first post). I hope no one will find it confusing. 

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: THE ENDLESS, POINTLESS thread

« on: September 14, 2020, 06:00:21 PM »

You went there! I was thinking the same thing but didn't quite dare!

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: Jack Reacher Books and TV series

« on: September 13, 2020, 08:41:50 PM »

AKA, this is the first I've heard of this! It's actually old news, though ... this story in the Guardian is from last January:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/18/jack-reacher-series-author-lee-child-quits-and-lets-brother-step-in

This story in the London Times (you can read the first part for free) says Lee Child had one condition ... his brother, Andrew Grant, had to change his surname to Child. "So, Lee Child retires and a new Child is born."

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/child-brothers-lee-and-andrew-play-with-jack-reachers-future-k90b3wphc

For those who don't know: Lee Child is a pseudonym. His original name was Jim Grant, and as Jim Grant he had a successful career as a television producer. After he disagreed with his bosses and got himself fired in 1995, he decided to try his hand at writing thrillers, but he felt he needed a new name. According to Wikipedia ... and I've heard him tell this story in his public appearances:

His pen name "Lee" comes from a family joke about a heard mispronunciation of the name of Renault's Le Car, as "Lee Car". Calling anything "Lee" became a family gag. His daughter, Ruth, was "lee child".

The next book in the series, Reacher #25, is due out next month and declares itself to be by "Lee Child and Andrew Child." The Wikipedia page for Andrew Grant/Child says they will write the "next few books" together before Andrew takes over entirely. I wonder how long they intend to continue? Reacher is getting a bit too old for all this action hero stuff.

https://www.jackreacher.com/us/the-sentinel-promotion/

As to whether I'm going to continue reading: Probably, at least as long as Lee Child is involved. I never read the post-Stieg Larson books in that series (though it was reading the original trilogy that brought me back to Scandinavian thrillers after a lengthy hiatus).

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: Silent era films: what are your favorite ones?

« on: September 13, 2020, 10:04:00 AM »

That's great to hear.

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: The Photographers thread: Show us your stuff!!

« on: September 13, 2020, 10:02:52 AM »

^ Except for the time of day, this could be ...

Earth has not any thing to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: Cats or Dogs?

« on: September 13, 2020, 09:56:54 AM »

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww! I'm with her!

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: Jack Reacher Books and TV series

« on: September 13, 2020, 09:55:45 AM »

Never heard of him.  He vaguely looks the part, although he seems a bit young (IMDb says he was born in 1984, though Wikipedia has 1982). But he has a couple of things going for him: He's tall enough (at least compared to Cruise) ... IMDb also adds an inch to celebheights.com's figure, making him 6' 3". And he's played mostly comic book heroes, which Reacher is, essentially, though without the pictures.

Last time I saw Child in a personal appearance (it was a couple of years ago now), he promised us this series, so I'm glad it's coming to pass. And I'm glad it's on Amazon, since I'm not a Netflix subscriber.

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: Silent era films: what are your favorite ones?

« on: September 12, 2020, 06:52:23 PM »

Xichado! How wonderful to hear from you! How have you been, old friend?

EDIT: I checked, and Xichado last made an appearance here last Christmas ... which seems an eternity ago!

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: The Celebrity Obituary Thread

« on: September 10, 2020, 05:46:22 PM »

Another sad loss today Alan Minter. Former undisputed middleweight champion of the world died today aged 69.
I met him in a pub a few years ago.. lovely bloke, chatted for ages and signed an autograph.

I don?t seem to be able to post pictures anymore so if someone could oblige I?d be most grateful..

Since you asked nicely ...

Alan Minter: British boxing legend dies at 69



R.I.P.

And R.I.P. Diana Rigg, who elevated everything she touched to a higher plane.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/D0L8iVAgWGk" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/D0L8iVAgWGk</a>

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General Discussion / MOVED: FYI for KC: Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story (2015)

« on: September 09, 2020, 11:23:06 AM »

This topic has been moved to Off-Topic Discussion .

http://www.clinteastwood.org/forums/index.php?topic=10995.0

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: FYI for KC: Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story (2015)

« on: September 09, 2020, 11:22:28 AM »

Thank you, Dan Dassow! This looks lovely. The film is also available on Amazon Prime Video.

It's great to hear from you again. I am indeed still working for The New York Public Library, and I hope you are well and doing what you like best. We'd be happy to have you posting here more often!

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: How's everyone holding up?

« on: September 05, 2020, 09:36:33 PM »

A friend forwarded a bunch of Covid "humor" memes, most of which go back to the early days of the pandemic, when we could still see humor in it. I hadn't seen this one before now, however:

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: The Celebrity Obituary Thread

« on: September 02, 2020, 06:54:56 PM »

"Tom Terrific." Even a Yankee fan has to say R.I.P.

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Off-Topic Discussion / Re: 2020 Movie Discussion

« on: August 27, 2020, 08:45:16 PM »

Insomnia was a remake of a very good Norwegian-Swedish movie. I remember, back before Nolan acquired the property, there was some talk on this board of how it would be a good project for Clint. I never saw Nolan's version.

After typing the above, I checked, and the American Insomnia was released in 2002! How time flies, even when you're not having fun. The Scandi original is from 1997, and I must have seen it sometime around then. The only discussion I could find here was in connection with early talk about "Clint's next project," Million Dollar Baby, so perhaps I'm thinking of the prehistoric time before the New Board. Anyway, for a trip down memory lane ...
    
New Movie: "Million Dollar Baby," boxing themed film by and with Eastwood

AKA, you said "I am not too familiar with Hilary Swank as an actress, although I did see her in Insomnia, which was a decent film, but she didn't have all that much to do. She is a good actress and it will be nice to see her team with Eastwood and Freeman as well."