TAG, you're it!

[Gant]

Gee Matt... yours is an excellent question... tho' a tough one for me. Which is my fave Eastwood score or soundtrack ?
Music plays such an important part in Clints films and there are so many great ones.. I'm gonna give special mention to the score in The Gauntlet. I love this one an am a big Art Pepper fan. Obviously Bird is another very special example of a superb score. To be honest there are probably very few Eastwood movies that don't have something I like about the soundtrack.... The spagettis, Tightrope' Dirty Harry... I also like the sounds in Coogans Bluff...

Ok...gotta pick one. I'm going with Honkytonk Man. This has always been one of my favourite Eastwood films. I think the choice of songs, music and the production on them fits the movie and the era perfectly. Clints voice works and theres a lovely diversity to this soundtrack.. Western Swing, blues ,country... Ive got this soundtrack on lp and it is one of my most treasured pieces of vinyl.

OK.. my tag.

for philo

Which is your favourite vehicle featured and driven by Clint in one of his movies...?

[mgk]

raimius....yes, you have answered your question so now you should tag two people with a question for each of them.

[Matt]

Matt : I'd like to steal Philo's excellent question, and ask you, as I know that you've said that you're a real Harrison Ford fan, and would probably be able to give an even better answer than I was able to do. As written by Philo, You have a machine that can switch history around. You are going to take one Eastwood and one Harrison Ford film and switch the leads, leaving both suitable for future generations. Which do you choose and why?

I'll give it a shot.

You're right, I'm a Harrison Ford fan.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen a whole lot of his work.  Believe it or not, I still haven't seen any of the Indiana Jones films in their entirety.  But every film I've seen with Harrison Ford has been very enjoyable.  He's my second favorite actor. One of these days, I'll start collecting his movies and finally see all of them.  

Probably my favorite Harrison Ford film is Witness.  I noticed, AKA, that you said you couldn't see Clint as John Book, but I can!  (Actually, Philo asked me last time we played "Tag" to name an 80's film in which I could imagine Clint in the leading role, and I didn't think of this one.  Too bad!)  

Can you see Clint in this scene?

RACHEL: I just don't like my son spending all his time with a man who carries a gun and goes around whacking people.

BOOK: Whacking? Whacking?

A chance to combine more dry humor with a quality action and suspense thriller.  Whoo boy, I'd jump at the chance!  

And this film is beautiful.  Absolutely beautiful.  One of the reasons I love it so much is that I grew up near the Amish country in Lancaster, PA.  It's great to see a film that shows the Amish people and their beliefs so accurately, and rather than mocking them, portrays them with the dignity that they deserve.  But it never sounds preachy--the humor keeps it from being too sentimental, but not at the expense of the Amish people.  

Sure, I can definitely see Clint in the role.  I don't say that he'd do it better than Harrison, but he'd do it well.

Now, for the Eastwood film that could star Ford.....

I could imagine him in both The Beguiled and The Eiger Sanction.  I'll go with The Eiger Sanction.  I don't know if Ford would be willing to do all the stunt work himself, but I wouldn't put it past him.  As I said for Witness, I don't think this change of roles would improve the films, but I do think that it would work.

Back with tags...

[Matt]

TAGGING.......

DirtyDuffy45:  You are walking through a meadow and notice a leprechaun who has lost his way.  He asks you for directions, and when you give them to him, he rewards you with a strange gift.  Like it or not, you are about to become one of the Clint Eastwood characters, and live his life... (even if it means going back to live in a different era, if need be) FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.  The leprechaun asks you which character you choose to become.  Which would it be?  And would you like this strange gift, or would you prefer it if you had never run into that leprechaun in the first place?



bcm:  DirtyDuffy45 must have spoken too fast when giving directions to the leprechaun, because he's lost again.  This time, you run into him and help him.  This strange leprechaun only possesses one magical gift... and it's VERY bad luck to turn down his gift!  That gift is to put people into the lives of an Eastwood film character.  The leprechaun tells you that you can become any of Eastwood's leading ladies and live her life, but you'll also have to live her life to the end of yours.  Who would you choose to become?  And do you think you would welcome this "gift", or that you would have been better off never running into that blasted leprechaun?

[Brendan]

Brendan: Who is the best looking actress in all of Clint's westerns?

Marisol or Delilah.

[Matt]

Brendan, don't forget to tag two.

[AKA23]

What about my choice of Air Force One ? Have you seen that? You don't think Clint would be good in that role? Everything you've seen of Harrison's has been good. Hmmmm...did you see Random Hearts . Wow, so amazingly boring. I had a hard time staying awake. What about Six Days Seven Nights ? The Devil's Own wasn't too great either. K19 wasn't bad, but wasn't anything special either. This new movie of his looks pretty crap too, but I can see how it might be good. It isn't getting good reviews though.

As far as Bridges of Madison County , I might have to think more about that one. I can't see Ford saying I don't want to need you, cause I can't have you...then again, I couldn't really have seen Clint saying that until he did. Maybe if the film was reworked a little to Harrison's style. I can see him doing that kind of Eastwood film.

As far as your question Conan, I've been thinking some more about that one, and I can't honestly say that Kate's Theme is the best music in all the films of Eastwood. Do I need to make a distinction here though? Are we saying music in the context of the film, or the music standing alone? For instance, I think within the context of the film, Ennio Morricone's The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly score is top notch, but I wouldn't think that I'd find myself listening to it standing alone. It works within the film, but outside the film, it isn't something I'd listen to over and over again. Then again, you might not want to put too much stock in my musical discretion. I'm probably one of the most musically illiterate people that you could ever know. My musical tastes range from some classical music, some Arabic music, to the likes of Mariah Carey, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, Avril Lavigne, Shakira, Vanessa Carlton, and Norah Jones. Growing up, I was always listening to Kyxy 96.5 soft rock love song type things I guess, so I think I identify a little bit more with that then all of the popular rap music and things from the likes of Eminem that are so popular today. I don't like any of that. I wouldn't be able to tell you who the artists in most of these songs were, they would all be more or less before my time, but I could recognize the songs. Weird, huh?    

[bcm]

bcm:  DirtyDuffy45 must have spoken too fast when giving directions to the leprechaun, because he's lost again.  This time, you run into him and help him.  This strange leprechaun only possesses one magical gift... and it's VERY bad luck to turn down his gift!  That gift is to put people into the lives of an Eastwood film character.  The leprechaun tells you that you can become any of Eastwood's leading ladies and live her life, but you'll also have to live her life to the end of yours.  Who would you choose to become?  And do you think you would welcome this "gift", or that you would have been better off never running into that blasted leprechaun?

At first I thought I would never be able to answer that one, but then I found out it was easier to go one by one and ruling out (like a character survivor ). So, these are my results:
I have nothing against prostitutes, but I wouldn't wanna be one. Bye bye Gus Mally, Delilah and others. There are others who have professions I wouldn't want to work in, bye Lilly Raines, Katie Whitney, Sally Gerber, Jemima Brown.  I would not want to live with men like Tom Highway, Steve Everett or Dave Garver. Frank Corvin and his wife are getting old, I'd rather be younger . So I'm left with Francesca or Antoinette Lily. Francesca's life and mine are not too different, so I would know what I choose  . I don't like Antoinette Lily. But in the film she magically metamorphoses from the sarcastic sour lemon into the "rooting tooting cowgirl" , so I imagine her personality would be changing to the better . And she's got two big big advantages over Francesca: she can keep Clint , and she's got millions

eustressor: you answered my last tag with a nice picture, thanks! But now I'd like to know why you chose little Bill? So you can make fun of the duck (sorry, duke) of death? So you can be a carpenter?

philo: Which is your favorite poster of the dollar trilogy?

[AKA23]

Conan : What do you think is the best music in Eastwood's films?

Daisy : Have you gotten to see Blood Work yet? What did you think of it?

Brendan : What did you think of the [/I] Mystic River [/I] book, and can you see it working brilliantly as an Eastwood film? Do you think it can find an audience, or is it as tragically depressing as I it will be? Does this story have the capacity to be one of Eastwood's best films, or is that expecting too much

Christopher : I believe you've read the book. Same questions.

[Matt]

What about my choice of Air Force One ? Have you seen that? You don't think Clint would be good in that role? Everything you've seen of Harrison's has been good. Hmmmm...did you see Random Hearts . Wow, so amazingly boring. I had a hard time staying awake. What about Six Days Seven Nights ? The Devil's Own wasn't too great either. K19 wasn't bad, but wasn't anything special either. This new movie of his looks pretty crap too, but I can see how it might be good. It isn't getting good reviews though.

No, I haven't seen Random Hearts or Six Days and Seven Nights.  I saw Air Force One, but since I haven't seen it since it was in the theater, I just don't remember it well enough to tell you what I thought of it.  I did like The Devil's Own, but it wasn't his best.  

I just looked over on the IMDb, and I've seen every Harrison Ford movie he made in the 90's up until Random Hearts, and although I couldn't tell you much about them without seeing them again, I do know that I always enjoy his films.  

[AKA23]

Cool. If you go see Hollywood Homicide let me know what you think. If you recommend it, I might go and see it. I like Harrison Ford too, Matt, I just think that like a lot of actors, he's been choosing a lot of the wrong projects lately.

Eustressor : I've enjoyed a lot of your insights in the recent film discussion threads. I haven't always agreed with them, but by and large, you've given us all a lot to think about. So, I'll ask you the same question that I asked Matt. AND, I'm SURE I haven't asked you this one before already !

Eustressor : You're a friend of Clint, or his agent or something, and he comes to you for some advice. He asks you about his next film, he's not sure what he should do. He wants to know what kind of movie his fans want from him, and what kind of film he should do next. Of course, he wants to keep telling intelligent stories for an adult audience, what would you say? What would you like to see for Clint's next? Maybe give a  brief plot outline, or, if that's too difficult, the genre of the film.

[AKA23]

Oh, an interesting insight on how Harrison Ford has a similar acting style to Clint's, Matt. I saw an interview with him recently, and the Fugitive came up, and Harrison said that originally the scene in the sewer or whatever that was that they were in when Tommy Lee Jones was chasing Harrison Ford, right before he leaps into the water, originally had a lot of dialogue, and was very wordy. Ford said that in discussing it he felt that a lot of that should be trimmed down, that he didn't need to say all that, and that the things that were important in the scene were "I didn't kill my wife" and "I don't care." And, that's how it ended up in the film. Made me think a lot of Eastwood when I heard about that.

[Matt]

Yeah, I see some similarities in their styles, too.  As I said in the old Tag game, when Gant asked me who I'd like to see Clint star with the most, I said Harrison, and I added that I had a feeling they'd get along great off camera too.  

Now, if only it would happen.

[Matt]

And she's got two big big advantages over Francesca: she can keep Clint , and she's got millions

I thought of a third advantage for you.... Ms. Lily will always have a horse around... "Buster!"  

Thanks for answering my Tag, bcm.  I had no idea it was going to be such a tough one when I asked it.

[Christopher]

Matt, those leprechaun questions were...........original, to say the least (You felling okay? ).

My tag from AKA:

Christopher: What did you think of the [/I] Mystic River [/I] book, and can you see it working brilliantly as an Eastwood film? Do you think it can find an audience, or is it as tragically depressing as I it will be? Does this story have the capacity to be one of Eastwood's best films, or is that expecting too much

I really enjoyed the book, and I am looking forward to the movie. However, I don't know if it's ever wise to expect a lot out of a movie, especially after you've read the book that it's based off of. The story deals with some themes that Eastwood has worked with before, so I can understand why he was attracted to this story. One thing that I wouldn't like is if the story is in some way lightened up. That's been something that has bothered me in the past when I've read a book before watching the movie, but I can't see Eastwood doing that. And from the press I've read concerning studios turning Eastwood down on this project and saying that he should do something lighter, it doesn't sound as if he did that at all. Possibly his best film? That's not anything I'd ever expect.

I'd say it's possible that this movie could find an audience, but it's next to impossible to know if a movie will be commercially successful or not. One thing that I really respect about Eastwood is that he does what he wants, the way he wants. He treats his audience with respect. He knows that he doesn't have to water down the serious subject matter that Mystic River deals with.

Anyhow, I'll be interested in hearing how Brendan answers this question as well.

Be back soon with tags.

[Doug]

Doug:  Since you seem to be checking in with us every once in a while.......which Eastwood film do you think had more unanswered plot holes than any other movie of his?  And, do you think it hurt the success of the film?

Geez, I really don't know.  I haven't seen Absolute Power in a while (which has been criticized here for its plot holes).  Personally I thought Firefox had some, just the whole setup, with only he being able to steal the plane and that he can guide the plane with his thoughts.  Even that I wouldn't call a "plot hole" but just a weakness to the plot.  There's Clint movies where you have to take some things on faith or excuse certain coincidences or unlikely events, but then that's part of the nature of the action genre, too.  I don't usually notice big holes in the plots of his movies.  Maybe I don't look for them.  [Shrug.]  As for having to excuse unlikely events, The Gauntlet is probably the worse of all his movies.  The whole ending stretches credibility beyond all reason.

I don't know if that answer is worthy of tags, but here goes anyway....


Misty: Which Clint movie has made you laugh the most?

bcm: The opposite question, what do you think is Clint's darkest movie?

[Matt]

Matt, those leprechaun questions were...........original, to say the least (You felling okay? ).

DON'T knock the leprechauns.  They don't like it.

[misty71]

Misty: Which Clint movie has made you laugh the most?

Good one...because theres always at least one moment in a clint movie that will make me laugh, but when it comes to wich is funnier....well, its gets harder.
 Ok first Ill narrow it down to a top 3, which would be;
Every which way but loose
The enforcer
The eiger sanction
 Ok for those of you who are raising eyebrows, let me explain; well,my first choice is obvious;it's a comedy.
 as for "the Enforcer" its' always been a favorite of mine, because its the second CE movie I bought, and since the rookie was the first one, I watched the Enforcer A LOT, sometimes up to 3 times a day lol. I always thought it was hilarious, the "shetland pony" bit and the whole love-hate relashionship between Harry and Kate. It gets me laughing no matter how often I watch it.
 Now the Eiger Sanction; again, a favorite of mine, disliked by most (I think). I like Hemlocks dry humour, like when dragon says something like "sorry, but every year, my blood must be fully replaced" and Hemlock goes "With what?"   I just thought the whole movie was really enjoyable and silly.

Ok.....now time to narrow it down to one
(can you hear the drum roll?)
The Enforcer

yeah, thats probably the one that made me laugh the most...oh Thunderbolt and Lightfoot gets an honorable mention too...
Gotta go eat supper- be back later with tags

[Christopher]

Matt: Is there an Eastwood character whom you can strongly identify with? If so, who?

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

[Matt]

Matt: Is there an Eastwood character whom you can strongly identify with? If so, who?

No, not really.  There's a few of the characters that have gone similar circumstances as I have, but our personalities aren't anything alike so I don't really identify with them.  I identify with the circumstances though.

Good enough for a tag?  Or not?