TAG, you're it!

[misty71]

MISTY71

What is your favourite Eastwood trailer that you have seen so far and why?  

I havent seen mny, trust me, but I liked the one for thunderbolt and lightfoot because I thought it reflected the fun and the energy of the movie

be back with tags

[Conan]

For me, this is the quintessential Eastwood shot:

Western gear, big guns, the squint, and looking cooler than ever.  

  That same shot is framed hanging on my wall, one of two Eastwood pictures that I have up.

[misty71]

D'ambrosia;Ok,you buy an old lamp at a garage sale.(dont quit reading, it gets better ). You come home and start rubbing it with a rag, you know, to clean it. Suddenly  "poof" a genie comes out.He says you are granted 1wish, but it MUST be eastwood related (Yeah folks, I know, first the kind robbers, now the picky genie, but watcha gonna do?Im running out of originality lol)What would it be? You wanna meet him, Have all his money? be in a certain scene with him? It's your pick.

Dannyman891115;You wrote a script, sent it to malpaso and BINGO! they sent you a letter back, sayiing that, not only they accepted your movie,but that clint will be the star, and you, yeah you, will be his co-star! Whats the story about, whats clint character like,and especially what is YOUR character like?And why?(In other words, if you were to play opposite clint, what kinda movie would it be?)

[Matt]

TAGGING....


Doug:  While on a trip to San Francisco, the infamous aliens that got Agent and Lilly abduct you.  Once upon their spaceship, they explain their master plan.... to figure out what makes Eastwood so admired by men and women alike and to create an entire civilization of "Eastwoodites".  How would you answer them?

jjgonski:  If you needed to come up with one way that The Good, The Bad and The Ugly could have been improved, as hard as it may be... what answer would you come up with?

Philo:  I never thanked you for your post all the way back on Page 9 where you told us about how you discovered Eastwood.  I really enjoyed that.   Now, I'd like to turn your last question to me around on you... what image or still do you feel is the one shot that most makes you say:  That is Clint Eastwood.

AKA:  I know you weren't too impressed with Blood Work, but what did you think specifically of Wanda De Jesus as Graciella?  Can you name an actress you think would have done a better job?

[Brendan]

For me, this is the quintessential Eastwood shot:



Western gear, big guns, the squint, and looking cooler than ever.  

I have that as a poster. I think its still in good condition. I should try and find it. I tucked it away somewhere.

[philo]

From Matt

Philo:  I never thanked you for your post all the way back on Page 9 where you told us about how you discovered Eastwood.  I really enjoyed that.   Now, I'd like to turn your last question to me around on you... what image or still do you feel is the one shot that most makes you say:  That is Clint Eastwood

Well Matt ,

The picture below is one of the first I ever saw, it was printed in a small format along with a few others from the same scene that made a kind of film strip.
This is such a cool image.
Thanks to Matt for you all being able to share this.








Philo .

[Doug]

Doug: (BTW, welcome home to Ohio) What is your favorite comedy out of Eastwood's movies?

Well, personally I'd only count 6 of his movies as "comedies," though most all have humor to them, and some of those are pretty funny.  Of the ones I'd consider a "comedy," I'd have to say Bronco Billy is my favorite.  But I really like Every Which But Loose and yes, I like City Heat.  However, as Matt has pointed out Bronco Billy is a "feel good" movie -- but it also has artistic aspirations.  And Clint did direct it.   So it in a way it seems more personal than some of the others, even his own Space Cowboys, though they share some themes in common.  It's one of his better movies that I've actually had to allow to grow on me.  

I've been tagged two more times which I need to answer, and I owe, according to my calculations, four tags ... but hey, I'm on vacation, so don't expect me to work too hard.    I'll get around to answering my other tags .... and hey Zoso you missed one of mine!  Wish I could remember on which page it was on, but do a "search" and you'll find it.

Hey Christopher, where in Ohio are you?  (No, that's not a tag.)

[philo]

From KC

Philo:  If you could change one thing about Unforgiven in order to make it a more enjoyable film for you, personally ... what would it be?

This is not the kind of question I like. Why? because I like my answers to be good enough.

The problem is that I am one of the few people that think the screenplay is nothing special (even Clint claims it is one of the best he has ever read)
I have never read early drafts when it was The Wiliam Munny killings , but Clint claimed he didn't make many changes. Now it is no good me saying "Change the story" because I can't say how to correct it. All I can say is that for me a film of a certain length like The outlaw Josey Wales moves much better and has more balance.

No kind of answer, what I wouldn't change are the following ....

Photography
music

The question is a little hard on me , because the film needs more than one thing for it to be enjoyable.


I will only tag once as I have been tagged today and this is it....

KC

Slight reverse of question : Is Unforgiven for you ,totally flawless (honestly)


Philo .

[Matt]

Hey Philo,

Just be glad you didn't get the "List three reasons why William Munny is GOD" question.  

[philo]

Matt ,

I felt like I did    

Philo .

[D'Ambrosia]

D'ambrosia;Ok,you buy an old lamp at a garage sale.(dont quit reading, it gets better ). You come home and start rubbing it with a rag, you know, to clean it. Suddenly  "poof" a genie comes out.He says you are granted 1wish, but it MUST be eastwood related (Yeah folks, I know, first the kind robbers, now the picky genie, but watcha gonna do?Im running out of originality lol)What would it be? You wanna meet him, Have all his money? be in a certain scene with him? It's your pick.

To have a 7:00 a.m. Tee Time with him at Pebble Beach.  That would be my wish...

I got to think of some good questions for tags, I know I'm fallen behind...

[KC]

KC: I only have a vague idea of what John Wilson meant when he said the following:

You're wrong, kid. It's not a crime to kill an elephant. It's bigger than all that. It's a sin to kill an elephant. Do you understand? It's a sin. The only sin that you can buy a license and go out to commit. That's why I want to do it before I do anything else in this world. Do you understand me? Of course you don't. How could you? I don't understand it myself.

What do you think Wilson means when he says:

Do you understand me?  Of course you don't.  How could you? I don't understand it myself.

That's a very difficult one to answer, especially as the character says "I don't understand it myself." I don't really know what he means either, but I suspect what he feels is something similar to what William Munny felt when he started off following the Schofield Kid. He too is consciously setting out to commit something he knows is a sin ... and despite all his rationalizations, you feel that deep down part of him wants to do it BECAUSE it's a sin.

The difference between Wilson and Munny is that Munny already knows what it feels like to commit the sin ... "It's a hell of a thing, killing a man."

Will that do, mgk? I loved your answer, by the way ... I never would have thought of it, and yet it's so right.

Be back with tags soon ...

[KC]

KC

Slight reverse of question : Is Unforgiven for you ,totally flawless (honestly)


Philo .

Nothing is flawless ... all I can tell you is that I, personally, couldn't point out any flaws in it.

[eustressor]

I have never read early drafts when it was The Wiliam Munny killings , but Clint claimed he didn't make many changes. Now it is no good me saying "Change the story" because I can't say how to correct it.

If you're interested, Philo, here's the link to download Unforgiven (The William Munny Killings). I believe this is the original script at www.screenplay.com. Perhaps a senior member could verify this?

[MC]

MC - If you had to pick one, which would you rather have future generations remember Clint for - his acting skills or his directing skills? Why?

Good question. I think I'd rather have future generations remember him for his directing skills. Acting is obviously a very important aspect of movies, but directing involves immersing yourself in many more areas of the whole filmmaking process. In other words, I think it's a little more impressive to be an outstanding director than an outstanding actor, so that's what I'd want Eastwood's legacy to be.

[MC]

MC: Do you think Clint's directing has changed in any way over the last thirty years or do you think it's basically stayed the same, stylistically.  (Please don't take this as a hard question ... a simple answer will do fine.   )

Yes, I think's he's changed, because the best directors evolve over time (part of what makes them great). In Clint's case, I think he became more confident and willing to experiment stylistically and take chances. Specifically, I can't imagine him attempting films like Bird or A Perfect World early in his career. Of course, he's always been a somewhat daring actor and director, but I think he became even bolder as the years went on and he gained more experience.

[MC]

Now for my tags:

AKA: You've been selected to handle the release date and schedule of Mystic River. When (date) and how (wide, limited, etc.) do you release Mystic River in theaters to maximize box office and awards potential?

KC: You're proficient at several foreign languages. Name one foreign-language director, actor and actress you'd like to see Clint work with.

Doug: Which Eastwood films do you think will endure? In other words, what Eastwood movies do you still think people will be watching and talking about in film circles 25 years from now?

Eustressor: Only one Eastwood film has scored an Oscar nomination for screenwriting (Unforgiven, which lost to The Crying Game). Which (if any) Eastwood-directed and -acted films do you think deserved a Best Screenplay nomination, and which (including Unforgiven) should have won?

[Doug]

I
Doug: Are there any books you've read that haven't yet been adapted as movies, that you think Clint would do a good job with as director? They don't have to have a part for him.

I've been thinking about this question since I read it, and it's a hard question, because though I read a lot, not many of the books would even come close to being a good "Clint" movie.  Plus I don't want to pick a book with a serious flaw that a screenwriter is going to have to "fix."  Personally, I love Patricia Highsmith's books (Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr. Ripley).  There are other of her books (most of them in fact) that I think would make very interesting movies.  Her writing is dark and character driven and usually features a couple well-timed murders.  But mostly they're suspenseful and concerned with the psychology of people on the edge.  

The Cry of a Owl is a great book about voyerism, trust, vindictiveness, and a lot of other things.  It has themes that I think Clint could handle well, and a tone that I think Clint could appreciate.  Basically, a man spies on a woman, an ordinary woman, who catches him, but instead of turning him in, she invites him into her house.  Ultimately, it's the mistrust of everyone else that leads to the tragic events to follow.  

I liked this review from amazon.com:

Patricia Highsmith has her own chilling interpretation of the suspense thriller genre. You wonder not so much about what will happen or how it will happen or who will do it. Rather, the question is: how much worse can things get for the relatively innocent main character, Robert Forrester, who, as the novel goes on, is falsely suspected of a growing number of deaths. Forrester invites suspicion by prowling around the house of a young woman. Depressed by the failure of his marraige, he has moved to a small Pennsylvannia town and is leading a solitary and bleak life. Looking through the windows of Jenny's house, he is comforted by watching the attractive young woman attend to domestic details: cooking, hanging curtains, talking to her boyfriend over dinner. Highsmith presents Forrester's prowling as understandable; slightly wrong, and risky, yet certainly not harmful. Mostly one feels sympathy for Forrester, a character drawn in anguished shades of gray. He is a decent man, with no drive or hope, seeking a little illicit happiness. As the novel progresses, his relationship to Jenny takes a surprising turn of events. Highsmith's mastery lies in the pedestrian inevitability with which she introduces abnormal and even shocking twists of the plot. Because we are lulled into Highsmith's own distinctive world of the darkness of ordinary lives, our anxiety for Forrester is gradually heightened without our even being aware of it. By the time the plot gets around to the events which categorize the novel as a mystery, we are deeply engaged in the psychologies of Forrester and Jenny, as well as several other characters. The suspense thus springs from their own interior struggles, rather than the machinations of a conventional murder plot. Predictably, therefore, there are no easy solutions in the end, no complex train of events to be tied up in one simple explanation. The adding up of the actions of people who are no more conscious of why they do what they do than any regular person, has, in this novel, an utterly gripping and painfully believable tragic outcome.

There's actually another book I have on my shelf that I think would be more ideal, but at the moment I can't remember the title or author.

[eustressor]

Eustressor: Only one Eastwood film has scored an Oscar nomination for screenwriting (Unforgiven, which lost to The Crying Game). Which (if any) Eastwood-directed and -acted films do you think deserved a Best Screenplay nomination, and which (including Unforgiven) should have won?

Thanks for the tag, MC. I enjoyed reading your answers to both Doug's question and my own, BTW.

As far as nominations go, I think the script for A Perfect World may have deserved a nomination, but I doubt that it would have won. I thought it was an excellent screenplay, but the acting and directing were the inner fire in that film.

Unforgiven, Unforgiven, Unforgiven... Don't get me going on Unforgiven KC had a related quote recently, let me find it...OK

Regarding Philo's question as to whether she truly felt Unforgiven was flawless, she replied:

Nothing is flawless ... all I can tell you is that I, personally, couldn't point out any flaws in it.

A great quote and I completely agree. Which is to say, Unforgiven should have won the screenplay award (it REALLY should have won Best Screenplay), but more than that, any other category it could have possibly qualified for, up to and including Best Best Boy!

And that's my detached, objective answer. I'm holding back my headstrong, biased opinions until the appropriate film discussion arrives

Tags in a few...

[eustressor]

Tagging:

AKA23 - In a parallel universe, Clint never took up directing. However, he did have the clout to pick and choose his projects, and to look for films that best suited the kinds of issues he wanted to address. Therefore, his filmography remained the same. What movie do you think would have suffered the most minus Clint as a director, and are there any you feel would have been better without him sitting in the Big Chair?

bcm - If Clint had the ability and the inclination to remake just one of his movies with the benefit of hindsight, which one do you think he'd be most likely to choose? What do you think would be the biggest change?