Messages

41

General Discussion / Re: What Clint Eastwood character would you like to hang out with?

« on: February 05, 2016, 08:20:08 PM »

Nice try, MWNA! But the question was ...

That's "played by Clint," not "played with Clint."

P.S., the film was Magnum Force.

"Oh, the shame of it all.." (A Lee Marvin quote from The Wild One)

My awful mistake can only be blamed on my beer consumption. Obviously not yet enough, at the time I wrote that, to be relaxed enough to think with my usual impeccability. A simple matter which I am even now working earnestly on to correct, and will forthwith make amends by posting a new and pertinent post framed in the proper contextual reference frame.

Thanks again for your usual use of the eye of the hawk to detect serious misbehavior of us sinful posters.


The Man

42

General Discussion / Re: What Clint Eastwood character would you like to hang out with?

« on: February 04, 2016, 08:27:09 PM »

Sunny. Dirty Harry's neighbor.

She has the kind of attitude I like in a neighbor. And makes me remember a neighbor I once had many years ago today.

 I forget which film. In all the excitement I lost count myself.


The Man

43

General Discussion / Re: Eastwood Movie Challenge Week One: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More

« on: January 29, 2016, 01:45:13 AM »

Me too. I looked him up to see how old he was, and was shocked he was younger than Clint.

I'm gonna guess that it was dyed, to emphasize he is older, to compare with his  backstory age with Mortimer's sister.

TMWNA

44

General Discussion / Re: Eastwood Movie Challenge Week One: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More

« on: January 29, 2016, 01:29:29 AM »

I wouldn't have guessed Gian Maria Volonte was only in his early 30s when making those movies! Not that he looks old when you look at his face, but the graying hair and beard make him look older.

Yeah. I was thinking that too. I had the same signs of aging when I was 50 or 55.

TMWNA

45

General Discussion / Re: Eastwood Movie Challenge Week One: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More

« on: January 27, 2016, 08:02:24 AM »

Not to mention Back to the Future III!

Don't remember it, due to my Old Man's Bad Memory, but will try to dig out my DVD and watch it soon.

Screen shot capture you can share maybe?


TMWNA

46

General Discussion / Re: Eastwood Movie Challenge Week One: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More

« on: January 27, 2016, 07:48:21 AM »

I just finished watching A Fistful of Dollars.  It's the first Eastwood film I ever saw, back to back with For A Few Dollars More.  They were on TV and I was 14.  It was the only year we ever had a TV and my parents left me home on Sunday afternoons to take care of my Grandma while they did maintenance work on a duplex we had.  I fell in love with this very dirty, dusty, violent western with the awesome music.  It was another 16 years before I tracked down the music, the movies, and found the CEWB.

Out of a lot of favorite scenes and lines, the scene with the explosions followed by the appearance of the man in the poncho tops my list.  The anticipation/concern on the brothers' faces as they wait to find out who is behind the explosions is so lovingly depicted like individual portraits by Leone.  And the music that goes with it is perfect.



I'd add one thing to Hemlock's list of things that make this a powerful film.  It is short.  When I wrote compositions in school, my teacher made it clear that longer did not equal better.  That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with a long film, but I've watched a lot of films from the 40's and 50's over the past year, and I'd say that many of the best benefited from being kept down in length.  A story has to be compelling to make you want to spend two hours watching it.

Your screen capture shot is powerfully dramatic allright.

And it has just now reminded me of a strong scene toward the end of a Dirty Harry film, Sudden Impact. No spoiler here, just don't get up and leave your movie player to get another cup of hot tea when you watch Sudden Impact. You don't want to miss it.


TMWNA

47

General Discussion / Re: Eastwood Movie Challenge Week One: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More

« on: January 27, 2016, 07:38:06 AM »

Hemlock, please take my comment as a friendly response, not in any way anything else.

If I have to dislike some bits of the film I'd choose the dubbing Jesús voice,the machine gun Ramon uses to kill the army guys looks more to something that would have been used in first world war,not 19'th century.Also in the end of the film when Barkeeper kills Esteban with a shotgun,there's a hole in Esteban's head like there would be if he had been killed with riffle or a handgun.

Studying the history of guns shows us that rapid fire weapons began with Leonardo 5 hundred years ago and there have been many different looking variations since then. In the Civil War era there were a number of machine guns in addition to the Gatling gun, looking sometimes strange and wonderful. During the 1800s after the Civil War there were several machine guns which looked similar to one in the film, and since the supposed date of the film setting is vague, could well have been properly a period piece. Good observation on your part though. The gun does look surprisingly "modern".

Probably since Day One of shotgun history there have single bullets, called "deer slugs" or "bear balls", designed to be shot in shotguns. Such a bullet would really do the job on a man. Leaving one hole. Again, a good observation on your part!


TMWNA   

48

Eastwood News / Re: Trouble with the Curve related news: Tough time for baseball scouts

« on: January 24, 2016, 09:22:13 PM »

I think those four particular guys would have made it even in the Sabermetrics era, but I do lament the decline of scouting and the loss of romance in baseball.

Nowadays, it would be impossible for Nolen Ryan to start, pitch 14 innings, a complete game, with 239 pitch count. That's 239 with a 2.

Yes, baseball has lost some of its romance.

I think I will cry in my beer. It's handy even as I write.


TMWNA

49

General Discussion / Re: Eastwood Movie Challenge Week One: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More

« on: January 24, 2016, 08:38:51 PM »

Huh? I guess I got confused about which was film no. 1 in the challenge, Fistful Of Dollars or Paint Your Wagon. No surprise, I get confused pretty easy nowadays and I'm beginning to get used to it and even be amused by it. And no problem.

Fistful was a genuine quantum jump in the Western genre of films. I hope viewing it in the Challenge will show some who are new perhaps to Eastwood films, just how important and influential it was in the genre and indeed Clint's importance in films in general.


TMWNA     

50

General Discussion / Re: Eastwood Movie Challenge

« on: January 24, 2016, 08:19:18 PM »

Richard, we'll only watch a movie or two in "real time", the first will be Paint Your Wagon. The rest of the movies are up to you to watch anytime you want to, but to keep up with us, you'll want to try to watch the two per week that are on that schedule.

PYW is a marvelous choice for the first pitch. I can't forget the first time I ever saw it, in real time, during its first run back in the day. Saw it at a drive in theater (anybody remember those?) so in its original screen size format, and it was one of the most entertaining films I have ever seen. Perfect acting without exception. And in terms of Clint fandom, it was a great vehicle for his wide-reaching star talent.

A great way to get the party started.


TMWNA 

51

General Discussion / Re: A Friendly Discussion: Eastwood Directs / Eastwood Stars

« on: January 22, 2016, 02:54:59 AM »

Yes, Schwarzenegger, possibly, though when he was a bit younger. Clint, I'm not so sure about. He was never the type to be the leader of hordes of men.

That's an extremely interesting observation that I never thought of before. Clint has consistently portrayed a character that is not active in trying to jack anybody else around (pretty much), but is just trying to survive and have some satisfaction with living a life, and do what he sees to be reasonable without trying to bother or control very many other people. Now, as a director, he is making films that show that same attitude.

Like the novelty singer Ray Stevens once said in one of his Christmas songs, "Hey, man, don't bug me! I'm pullin' this sled s fast as I can!"

"Don't tread on me." That may be a big clue to his popularity as a public figure. "You don't make no trouble, and there won't be no trouble."  Kind of a likeable motto for his acting and directing.


TMWNA

52

General Discussion / Re: Eastwood Movie Challenge Week One: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More

« on: January 22, 2016, 02:08:43 AM »

In my opinion it is the best western ever made at that point in time.

That is certainly a true evaluation. I have recently viewed Magnificent 7, which was lauded in its day (1960) with star talent here, there, and everywhere, and a good plot and everything else.  So it is easy to compare it, as a better western film,  to Fistful.

Fistful is superior in every which way, in a quantum jump kind of a way.

I hope it is not a spoiler to say that there is a shootout between Joe and Ramon. The format of the shootout is a remarkable change, an improvement, over the usual thud and blunder of the day and is a very clever and entertaining innovation in western film-making.

Anybody who has never yet watched Fistful is gonna be glad they did.


TMWNA 

53

General Discussion / Re: What was the last Eastwood film you watched?

« on: January 22, 2016, 01:45:39 AM »

I watched The Outlaw Josey Wales a few days ago. It has always been one of my favorites. I had not seen it in a few years. I had forgot how many great one liners there are in that movie.

Your sure right about that! You make me think of how good all the dialog was in that film.

One of my all time favorite scenes is in it. The scene where Josey is going into the cantina to look for a horse for Chief.

Here comes de judge.

TMWNA

54

General Discussion / Re: A Friendly Discussion: Eastwood Directs / Eastwood Stars

« on: January 22, 2016, 01:20:06 AM »

Just caught it in the Douglas Sirk retrospective at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Whom would Clint cast as Attila, do you think? 

Its really hard to get in somebody else's head, but I think Clint might see Arnold or Sly doing a mature Attila successfully.

Cheez, I just thought of Clint being Attila at a prime time in Clint's acting days. Wow.


Manwith   

55

Eastwood News / Re: Trouble with the Curve related news: Tough time for baseball scouts

« on: January 22, 2016, 12:48:11 AM »

Baseball has been steadily but surely losing its charm and its soul since the 1950s when I first discovered it and played it as a child. The Mickey Mantles and Willy Mayses and Sandy Koufaxes and Nolen Ryans are gone forever because of the growing use of pinheaded statistics instead of scouts and managers using their eyes and their guts to make decisions. 

This is bad news and I sincerely pray to God to help these scouts and their families.


TMWNA

56

Trivia Games / Re: Clint: to smoke to no smoke?

« on: January 13, 2016, 07:44:12 AM »

If you want to call it that. He's smoking in High Plains Drifter when he's shot at in the bath tub, when he's teaching the towns folk to shoot, and plenty of other times. It's a cigar the woman knocks out of his mouth before the rape scene. He also smokes in a few other movies you don't remember him smoking in, but hey, at least you didn't list For a Few Dollars More, so I must give you some credit.

Yeah, Jack, call it that. And if you feel so generous, give me some credit. After all, it's all yours to give, isn't it?

See my other recent post.

The first time in 20 years that I saw Drifter was a handful of months ago when I was in the hospital chuck full of morphine to try to kill the pain. Its lucky I didn't remember Martians in the tub with drifter.

You are too sensitive to being found wrong or incompetent. Why?

Does this argument mean that that you are not gonna ask me for a date?


Man

57

Trivia Games / Re: Clint: to smoke to no smoke?

« on: January 13, 2016, 07:37:12 AM »

no, he did smoke in drifter. Remember after he killed the bad guys while trying to get a shave and Billy Curtis stood by him...? In coogan he smokes a cigarette.

No, Jack, as I wrote, I was working from MY MEMORY of seeing the films.

Thanks for showing me how sensitive you are to being challenged. Why are you so sensitive to being challenged?

As for me, I don't give a spit. I know that I am a worthwhile human. Even If I don't have a picture perfect memory.

Manwith

58

General Discussion / Re: Eastwood Movie Challenge

« on: January 12, 2016, 03:39:44 AM »

Sounds like some fun.

I'll straggle along best I can with my limited little collection of films.


Man 

59

Trivia Games / Re: Clint: to smoke to no smoke?

« on: January 12, 2016, 03:18:01 AM »

All his westerns, though I can't recall with Pale Rider. Then in White Hunter, Black Heart (most notably), Gran Torino, City Heat, Heartbreak Ridge... Pretty sure about The Beguiled. I want to say Firefox, but not sure.

No-smoke as I remember:

Rawhide tv series
Hang Em High
Joe Kidd
Beguiled
Eiger Sanction
Coogan
Drifter (I have replayed the film several times now, in my memory, and cannot recall seeing Drifter smoke. He DID drink his bottle of whisky.)
Josey Wales
Pale Rider
Unforgiven
Billy Bronco
Misty
Dirty Harry
Magnum Force
Enforcer
(cannot remember the Dirty Harry film name of no. 4, the one with the Automag pistol and the Sondra Locke costar)
Got it now! Sudden Impact
Dead Pool
Firefox
Monkey movies, Every Which Way But Loose and
Any Which Way 

Enough for now. My memory is overheating. I own and have watched half or probably less of his films. It seems to me like his character was smoking in half or less of those I have watched.

I'm not gonna binge watch his films just to catch him smoking.

In the interest of truth in film-watching, I warmly welcome anyone to correct my foolish mistakes.

I think I read somewhere that Clint has never been a habitual smoker, so the role of Josey Wales must have taken some "adjustment".


Man

 

60

General Discussion / Re: The Gauntlet - Locke or Streisand?

« on: January 04, 2016, 02:46:24 AM »

I was looking for information on why Streisand didn't get the role, and I found this:

(Casting Might-Have-Beens, A Film by Film Directory of Actors Considered for Roles Given to Others by Eila Mell, p 96)

I also found some unsubstantiated rumors (from Gauntlet reviewers) who said that Eastwood was warned not to work with Streisand after her diva-like issues on the set of A Star Is Born (released the previous year).

This movie WOULD NOT HAVE WORKED with Barbra Streisand. It's an over-the-top movie, and if you pair that with Streisand's over-the-top shrill over-acting, it would have been a travesty. I doubt there would have been anywhere near the chemistry that Locke and Eastwood had. And on top of that, Barbra had this look in 1977, which ... well, I'll be nice. Sondra looked much better.



And that's assuming nothing was changed with her attached to the project. Not at all the case. I'm sure this would have wound up being a Streisand vehicle, complete with her music and an overblown theme song.

So, I'm glad it wound up being Sondra Locke. She was very good in the part.

Back in 1977,I looked a lot like Kris. And I really, really, liked girls that looked a lot like Babs.

Come to think of it, in 1977, I really, really, liked girls that looked every which way. 


The Man