Clint Eastwood picks his favorite 6 Eastwood movies

[Christopher]

Apparently in 2010, Clint Eastwood named his six favorite movies from his own films. I don't remember if that's ever been mentioned here before, but I came across this new article talking about those choices. Anyone have any thoughts about his choices? Here's the movies he listed:

Bird
Letters from Iwo Jima
Million Dollar Baby
Mystic River
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Unforgiven

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/clint-eastwood-favourite-clint-eastwood-movies/

[Hocine]

Yes, I remember that I read an article about Clint giving that list, when Hereafter was released.

I am not sure, because it was a long time ago, but I think that he also included The Bridges of Madison County in it.
In my opinion, his choices are logical since these films are pivotal in his career and represent some great achievement, artistically.
Bird, Mystic River and Letters from Iwo Jima are among the best films that Clint directed without being involved as an actor.
The Outlaw Josey Wales, Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby are perhaps the best films where Clint directed himself: I think that he deserved a Best Actor Oscar for one of these films at least.

On the other hand, Clint's career is so huge and so rich that we can't limit it to these 6 or 7 films.

Sometimes, Clint has also quoted the Dollars trilogy, The Beguiled, Play Misty for Me, Dirty Harry, Bronco Billy, Honkytonk Man as pivotal films in his career.
Even Every Which Way but Loose represented a new departure for him.

I think that The Good, the Bad and The Ugly remains his most famous film in the world, although it was directed by Sergio Leone.
In America, it may be Dirty Harry because it seems to speak better to American society, besides the fact that it is a great film.

I really hope that he will make an other film again.

[Christopher]

I've heard him speak highly of some of those movies as well, like Bronco Billy and Honkytonk Man.

I find it interesting that The Outlaw Josey Wales is the oldest and the only movie from that era of his career that he listed.

With this list being kind of old now, I wonder if he'd list any of his newest movies on there like American Sniper.

[AKA23]

This is a good list. I've definitely heard him speak very positively about all of these films in interviews, so this is what I would have expected to hear from Clint. I agree that these are some of his best films. Although I recognize that it was a passion project for him, and an impressive achievement, as it is technically very proficiently made, and explores its themes well,  I've never really found "Bird" to be entertaining. To me, it is too long, too slow, too dark and too depressing. I generally like jazz, so that is definitely not the reason it's not a favorite of mine.

[Hocine]

I've heard him speak highly of some of those movies as well, like Bronco Billy and Honkytonk Man.

I find it interesting that The Outlaw Josey Wales is the oldest and the only movie from that era of his career that he listed.

With this list being kind of old now, I wonder if he'd list any of his newest movies on there like American Sniper.

Usually, The Outlaw Josey Wales is considered as his first masterpiece as a director: in my opinion, it remains his best film of the 70s, with Dirty Harry. I would add Play Misty for Me, High Plains Drifter, Breezy, Bronco Billy, Honkytonk Man, Pale Rider and A Perfect World among his best pictures.

About his films released since 2008, Changeling, Gran Torino, American Sniper, The Mule and Richard Jewell are perhaps the best films he made. After Gran Torino, many films seemed essentially made for keeping Clint busy (Invictus, Hereafter, Jersey Boys, The 15:17 to Paris). They did not very well at the box office.
J.Edgar is interesting because it was not that bad but especially misunderstood and unexpected: most of the mainstream audience did not care about the intimate life of the main character. Moreover, making Leonardo DiCaprio look older and uglier did not appeal the audience too. They probably expected a film like Public Enemies directed by Michael Mann.

American Sniper is an important film because he was not only successful at the box office and boosted his latest career but also because this film had a true resonance with the themes developed by his films. Even if American Sniper divided the audience because of ideological reasons, it is still a great film.

Sometimes, I wonder what A Star is Born would look like, if Clint directed it instead of Bradley Cooper.

Eventually, if Clint updated the list of his favorite films now, I am not sure that it would be so different from the one he gave in 2010.

[Hocine]

This is a good list. I've definitely heard him speak very positively about all of these films in interviews, so this is what I would have expected to hear from Clint. I agree that these are some of his best films. Although I recognize that it was a passion project for him, and an impressive achievement, as it is technically very proficiently made, and explores its themes well,  I've never really found "Bird" to be entertaining. To me, it is too long, too slow, too dark and too depressing. I generally like jazz, so that is definitely not the reason it's not a favorite of mine.

This is a good list. I've definitely heard him speak very positively about all of these films in interviews, so this is what I would have expected to hear from Clint. I agree that these are some of his best films. Although I recognize that it was a passion project for him, and an impressive achievement, as it is technically very proficiently made, and explores its themes well,  I've never really found "Bird" to be entertaining. To me, it is too long, too slow, too dark and too depressing. I generally like jazz, so that is definitely not the reason it's not a favorite of mine.

Yes, I agree with you, AKA23.
Bird is not entertaining and mostly considered as an art film first. On the other hand, it was not supposed to be entertaining like The Gauntlet, Sudden Impact or The Rookie. In many ways, Bird needed to be long, slow, dark and depressing because of the main subject and the story. Anyway, the more I see Bird, the more I enjoy it.
As you said, it is a passion project for him. Columbia Pictures originally owned the project. So, Clint asked Warners to acquire the project and to give one project to Columbia Pictures in exchange (that project was Revenge directed by Tony Scott, starring Kevin Costner). That showed the determination of Clint to make Bird. Anyway, it was obviously important in his career. It announced his films of the next decades. Today, Unforgiven is fairly seen as the major turning point of his career but Bird could have been seen a little bit like that, had it brought more awards and more success to Clint. An other Clint film from that era which is considered as an art film and that I enjoyed, is White Hunter Black Heart, which is sometimes seen like a piece companion to Bird.

[Hammerhead]

I think that The Good, the Bad and The Ugly remains his most famous film in the world, although it was directed by Sergio Leone.
In America, it may be Dirty Harry because it seems to speak better to American society, besides the fact that it is a great film.

I wonder if Gran Torino might apply. A LOT of younger people (say under 40) have seen that film who may not have seen any of his other work.

[Hocine]

I wonder if Gran Torino might apply. A LOT of younger people (say under 40) have seen that film who may not have seen any of his other work.

Yes, Gran Torino seems to be, and by far, the most famous film Clint made within the last 15 years, with the exception of American Sniper.
Then, Gran Torino probably contributed to introduce Clint to the youngest generations of moviegoers. So, in many ways, you may be right.
However, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly is part of pop culture for more generations of moviegoers all around the world.
The fact is that Clint is still associated to the western genre and especially to the Dollars trilogy.

If you talked about Clint to the average moviegoer, he would think about the Sergio Leone films, the Ennio Morricone's music, the cigar, the hat and the poncho of the Man With No Name. Maybe he would start whistling the music. The image of the Man With No Name is instantly recognizable, like the image of Bruce Lee with his nunchaku or the image of Charlie Chaplin in the clothes of his famous character, the Tramp. The average moviegoer would also think about the Dirty Harry films, I guess. In France, the Dollars trilogy is more popular than the Dirty Harry films. I don't know how popular is the Dollars trilogy in the United States today but I think that the Marvel characters steal the show.

Personnally, I discovered Clint with The Good, The Bad And The Ugly and For A Few Dollars More, when I was 8 years old: by this time, Clint completed White Hunter Black Heart and was about to make The Rookie. I don't know why but after seeing the two Sergio Leone films, I knew that I would follow Clint's career for the rest of my life.
 

[Hammerhead]

Clint in Gran Torino has also been turned into a meme/gif which keeps Clint in the consciousness of younger people.

American Sniper is an interesting one. A huge hit but it seems forgotten now, especially here in the UK, maybe it's different in the US.