Dan Dassow
Member Extraordinaire
 Offline
Posts: 936
|
 |
« Reply #120 on: January 13, 2009, 08:27:03 PM » |
|
New York Times linkThe Big Picture Patrick Goldstein on the collision of entertainment, media and pop culture Clint Eastwood's 'Gran Torino' is Hollywood's coolest car 05:22 PM PT, Jan 12 2009 Marketing consultant Terry Press had her 9-year-old son Ethan in the car when she heard the news that Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" had made $29 million to win this past weekend's box-office derby, easily outdistancing movies like "Bride Wars" and "The Unborn" that are populated with actors less than half Clint's age. When Press got off the phone, Ethan, apparently having seen a host of "Torino" TV spots, did his best Eastwood impression, barking, "Get off my lawn!" In Hollywood, whether you're 9 or 89, everybody is a Clint Eastwood fan. It's pretty clear that when it comes to living legends, there's Clint and there's everybody else. ...
Actors love to go to acting classes. You only wish Clint would offer a class for today's movie stars in career management. Perhaps because he's old and wise, perhaps because he's one of the last actors to start his career as a studio contract player, Eastwood is one of the rare movie stars who knows what people want to see him do and what they don't. Press, who worked with Eastwood on several films in recent years, says "Gran Torino" offers a double lesson, not just about the perils of ageism but the benefits of actors knowing their strengths.
"Clint learns from his mistakes," she says. "After 'Paint Your Wagon,' you didn't see him do any more musicals. If you think about it, his character in 'Gran Torino' has a lot in common with his character in 'Million Dollar Baby.' He's a gruff, unreachable guy who resists getting involved--he just wants to be left alone. But then he meets someone who touches him, who gets under his skin and he's willing to re-engage in the world. And you get involved with the story because his character demands respect."
Why has "Gran Torino" struck a chord with audiences right now? Keep reading: ...
"What people love about the character Clint plays is that he's a guy who says 'Go [screw] yourself' to all these nasty little thugs in the film," says Press. "I think the fact that he demands respect really resonates with moviegoers today. People are tired of living in such a disrespectful culture, a culture that has such a lack of manners and boundaries. Clint's character upholds tradition. ...
I think what Eastwood saw in "Gran Torino" was a story that had the compelling moral force of his favorite old westerns. (You could argue that his "homestead" in "Gran Torino" feels as if it's on the edge of the frontier, the frontier in "Gran Torino's" run-down Detroit simply being a more urban version of the Old West.) Once again, Eastwood gets to play the part of a man following his own moral code, much as he and his heroes have in westerns of earlier eras. The great Western heroes, from the John Wayne of "The Searchers" to the Jimmy Stewart of "Bend of the River" to the Eastwood of "The Outlaw Josey Wales," were the kind of intense, revenge-filled zealots who would've never made it past the studio development softening process, which would've filed away all their rough, often unlikable edges. But, like the curmudgeonly old cuss Eastwood plays in "Gran Torino," they were real American men, full of as much anger and resentment as stoicism and steadfast sacrifice. They were reluctant heroes who, by willing to risk their lives for a greater good, found redemption. It's a quality you don't find in many movies today, but it's all there for the taking in "Gran Torino."
|
|
|
|
Logged |
|
|
|
Dan Dassow
Member Extraordinaire
Offline
Posts: 936
|
|
« Reply #121 on: January 14, 2009, 06:45:11 PM » |
|
Alexandria (Minnesota) Echo Press link'Gran Torino' movie draws special guest Celeste Beam Alexandria Echo Press Published Wednesday, January 14, 2009 On Saturday, at the Midway Mall Cinema 9 in Alexandria, it was the first time Jimmy Chan can remember an R-rated movie being sold out – during the afternoon matinee.
Because the particular movie was in theater number five – a smaller theater – Chan, the theater’s manager, decided to move it to the number nine theater for the evening shows.
And boy, was he glad he did.
If he hadn’t, he would have had to tell a very important movie-goer he couldn’t attend because there were no more seats left.
Typically, this isn’t a big deal.
But when the movie is Gran Torino and the movie-goer is Dave Johannson, it’s a big deal.
Johannson happens to be one of the screenwriters of the box office hit starring Clint Eastwood. ... The Washington Times linkGrand opening for 'Gran Torino' Sonny Bunch Wednesday, January 14, 2009 Quick: Who's the only actor big enough to make Quigley Publishing Co.'s survey of top 10 box-office draws in four different decades (topping that list at least once in three of those decades)?
The answer, of course, is Sergio Leone's Man With No Name (although he goes by the alias Dirty Harry). ...
Expect this movie to have legs in the weeks and months to come. "It's a very simple movie, and it's also very, very poignant, and it's very entertaining," says Mr. Mason.
In other words, it's vintage Eastwood -- and as theater owners have known for decades, vintage Eastwood means beaucoup box office. San Diego Weekly Reader linkGran Torino Clint Eastwood, director, serves Clint Eastwood, actor, a nice fat one, a softball lobbed right down the middle of the plate and effortlessly belted over the fence: a sort of Grumpy Old Man version of Dirty Harry, a scowler and a growler (looking and sounding uncannily like a dog in defense of a T-bone), a new widower who has seen his Detroit neighborhood taken over by Hmong immigrants (“HUM-mong,” in his two-syllable pronunciation), a hard-ass retiree defined by a pair of prized possessions, the M-1 rifle that commemorates his service in the Korean War and the ’72 Gran Torino that commemorates his life’s work on the Ford assembly line. ... University of Alabama Kaleidoscope linkEastwood roars to life in 'Gran Torino' Mark Trammell, Features Editor Published On: 01/13/2009 Dirty Harry’s back! Well, sort of. Think of it as “old” Dirty Harry, and you’ve almost got the premise of Clint Eastwood’s latest film.
This is Eastwood’s second movie within the space of a year’s time, which should be enough to make most Hollywood types blush in guilt for their laziness, as well they should.
Eastwood is known for his conservative filmmaking style, in which he shows these young Hollywood whipper-snappers how it’s done by trouncing them at their own game, often shooting pages of dialogue in a day and still getting everyone off the set at a reasonable time.
Meanwhile, Stanley Kubrick spent years perfecting what turned out to be a glorified “Red Shoes Diaries” episode, “Eyes Wide Shut.”
Eastwood shows what you’d think Hollywood would have learned how to do by now: Make a top-notch movie with big-name stars and a decent budget and bring it in on time and under budget in as effortless a manner as imaginable.
There’s a reason Hollywood respects him as much as it does, and why actors drop everything to work with him, including their inflated paychecks. The guy commands respect because he’s earned it. ...
Eastwood grows, but without losing the grit we love him for, even as his character offends. The end result may not reinvent the wheel, but it gets the job done.
Email: kscopefeatures@yahoo.com
|
|
|
|
Logged |
|
|
|
Dan Dassow
Member Extraordinaire
Offline
Posts: 936
|
|
« Reply #122 on: January 14, 2009, 07:47:18 PM » |
|
The Huntville Item linkPublished: January 14, 2009 08:45 pm ‘Torino’ recaptures Eastwood’s fire By Matthew Jackson Staff Reporter Clint Eastwood is mostly known these days for his work behind the camera. Before “Gran Torino” hit theaters on Friday, he hadn’t been seen on screen since 2004, in a supporting role in “Million Dollar Baby,” and he hadn’t claimed a starring role since 2002’s “Blood Work.”
And you can’t blame him. The man is 78, after all, and still working harder than most people in Hollywood do in their 20s. We all understand why we don’t see that old Eastwood swagger as much anymore, and we’re grateful to have his brilliant directing to make up for it, but there’s still just a little part of the moviegoer in me that always wants more of the Eastwood that was; the Eastwood of “Unforgiven” and “In the Line of Fire.”
I think ol’ Clint knows we want that, and I think he might just miss a little bit himself, because with “Gran Torino,” he found a way to get it back. ...
As the film ends, we hear a raspy voice, Eastwood’s own, singing a soft ballad, and it all becomes clear. This is a film about a man near his end, made by a man near his end. Eastwood, meditating on his own mortality, finds beauty in the harshest of places, crafting a film that functions like a classic car – sleek, simple, and beautiful.
Matt’s Call: We didn’t have to wait long for the first must-see flick of 2009. Don’t miss it. It might be the last chance we get to see the dark side of a legend.
|
|
|
|
Logged |
|
|
|
Christopher
Member Extraordinaire
Offline
Posts: 6882
|
|
« Reply #123 on: January 14, 2009, 08:21:44 PM » |
|
|
|
|
|
Logged |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
KC
Administrator
Member Extraordinaire
Offline
Posts: 32408
Control ...
|
|
« Reply #127 on: January 14, 2009, 10:25:13 PM » |
|
Letterman: And you have, what is it, seven children?
Eastwood: At least.  |
|
|
|
Logged |
|
|
|
|
|
Dan Dassow
Member Extraordinaire
Offline
Posts: 936
|
|
« Reply #129 on: January 15, 2009, 08:08:44 AM » |
|
|
|
|
« Last Edit: January 23, 2009, 06:10:06 PM by Dan Dassow »
|
Logged |
|
|
|
Dan Dassow
Member Extraordinaire
Offline
Posts: 936
|
|
« Reply #130 on: January 15, 2009, 09:11:42 PM » |
|
Tallahassee Democrat linkNo country for old man Eastwood directs and stars in ‘Gran Torino’ James Dufoe • Senior Staff Writer • January 15, 2009 At the start of Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood stands in a church and quietly observes the people shuffling in and filling up the pews. He is Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski, and his wife has died. An older gentleman approaches him and gives his regards to the deceased, “She was a real peach.” Walt thanks him for coming. Just before the service is about to commence, Walt’s grandchildren arrive at their seats. Walt snarls at the sight of his grossly inappropriately dressed teenage granddaughter, who can’t find it within herself to cover her midsection even at her grandmother’s funeral. Walt’s sons sit near the back of the church with their wives and talk about their father, who is now alone. We learn a little bit about Walt in this snippet, and that’s the only reason it’s in the film. The two express concern over Walt getting into trouble in his neighborhood, now that he has no one to look after him. They don’t seem the least bit concerned about their own children’s immature behavior a few rows in front of them. ...
I had a blast watching Eastwood taking names just like in the old days. This really is one of his best performances. It is intense and emotional and, at other times, funny. It is a layered performance that reveals not only the experiences of a character, but also the experience of its veteran actor. Eastwood has directed a flawed film, but he’s flawless in it. New York Times linkJanuary 15, 2009, 9:40 am Driving for Oscar By The Baguette These days, the box office belongs to Clint Eastwood and “Gran Torino,” and last night’s National Board of Review Awards gala in New York turned out to be another lovefest for the laconic director and his acting chops in the film.
The Baguette asked Mr. Eastwood on the red carpet if the acting accolades for “Gran Torino” inspired him to go looking for his next acting gig? “Well it’s where I started, so it’s kind of fun,” Mr. Eastwood said. “But I’m gonna do a picture on Nelson Mandela. That’s my next project but I’m directing. I’m not playing Nelson. I can only stretch casting so far.” ...
With all the Clint Eastwood red carpet hysteria, Alan Horn, the Warner Brothers studio chief, nearly slipped through unnoticed. But the Baguette managed to get in a question about whether he was trying to talk Mr. Eastwood into acting in another movie for Warner Brothers. “Clint does what Clint wants to do, but I’m just delighted he’s come back both as director and actor and the audience’s response to this has got to be encouraging.” Columbia Tribune linkClassic Eastwood shines in funny, flawed ‘Torino’ By SCOTT A. MAY Published Thursday, January 15, 2009 Clint Eastwood drives home another winner in "Gran Torino," a surprisingly affective character study that puts a fresh twist on an old-school morality tale. It’s heavy-handed and flawed, for sure, but undeniably engaging.
I have to admit not expecting much from this Eastwood production, his second in just more than two months, hot on the heels of the lukewarm "Changeling." The previews for this movie are just awful, implying a dark drama with violence and revenge as the major themes. Thankfully, the opposite is true. ...
"Gran Torino" is manipulative, exploitative and funny as hell in all the right places. The crowd cheered at the end of my screening, and as a longtime fan of Eastwood, I joined right in.
|
|
|
|
Logged |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dan Dassow
Member Extraordinaire
Offline
Posts: 936
|
|
« Reply #134 on: January 16, 2009, 12:15:05 PM » |
|
KMPH-26-TV linkValley Actors Make Hollywood Debut in 'Gran Torino' Posted: Jan 16, 2009 01:10 AM CST By: Norma Yuriar and Caryn Kochergen Some members of the Fresno and Visalia community are watching the number one movie in America especially close after learning two of the actors have valley connections.
In the movie 'Gran Torino' Brooke Chia Tao plays the mother of Tao and Sue, a Hmong family living next door to a crusty war veteran played by Clint Eastwood. ...
Brooke says she's now focusing on her acting, getting new head shots and looking for a Hollywood agent to represent her. Associate Press linkBy JEFF BAENEN | Associated Press Writer 11:04 PM CST, January 15, 2009 ROBBINSDALE, Minn. - After winning out over 2,000 aspiring young actors to make his movie debut opposite Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang might ask himself: Do you feel lucky, punk? Vang, 17, grew up watching Eastwood in westerns and as Dirty Harry. Now he's part of last weekend's box office winner, "Gran Torino," which pulled in $29 million and gave Eastwood the best movie opening of his career.
"I thought this was life-changing," Vang recalls about learning he had been cast as Thao, the Hmong neighbor boy who leads Eastwood's crusty, bigoted, retired Ford worker, Walt Kowalski, on a journey of redemption in "Gran Torino."
Vang's parents were born in Laos, then moved to Thailand before emigrating to the U.S. around 1987. He was born in Fresno, Calif., and moved with his family (he has four brothers and a sister) to Minneapolis about two or three years later. He had never acted before but says he decided "on a lark" to audition for "Gran Torino." ...
Vang, a high school junior who takes all his classes at the University of Minnesota, is looking at studying premed but said his experience on "Gran Torino" has him thinking about acting and films. And he says he's proud to represent his heritage.
"It's not just me, but all the Hmong people were part of this. We're all quite happy and proud to be part of this." Vernon Morning Star linkVernon Morning Star Hand Eastwood another Oscar By Jason Armstrong - Vernon Morning Star Published: January 15, 2009 6:00 PM Gran Torino is far from a perfect film, but it is a perfect Clint Eastwood vehicle.
I mean, a grizzled, squinting, half liquored-up suburban Dirty Harry, scrambling off the porch and waving his gun at a bunch of hooligans who dare threaten his peaceful retirement? Why, “Get off my lawn!” could well replace “Go ahead punk, make my day!” as the actor’s new catchphrase.
Hand this script to anyone else and it’s a kind-hearted and profound but clearly pre-programmed ball of sentimentality and clichés. But in Clint’s rugged grip? Perfection. ...
Smart, funny and incredibly thought provoking, Gran Torino is a beauty. Is the climax a little generic? Perhaps if someone else gave it a shot, but not the manner in which our boy attacks it. It’s a perfect ending for this tale – and, if the rumours are true, a one-of-a-kind career. Just perfect. The Pulse: Chattanooga's Weekly Alternative linkEastwood Eternal Written by Jonathan Malcolm Lampley Thursday, 15 January 2009 21:54 The new year gives film fans an opportunity to reflect on the year just past, and it is a sad fact we have lost a number of Old Hollywood’s last genuine movie stars. Paul Newman is gone, and so is Charlton Heston; even good old Roy Scheider is no more. However, these losses make us appreciate those who remain all the more.
After a career spanning more than 50 years, Clint Eastwood endures, the very definition of Hollywood charisma and star power. In other words, he is a living legend, but a legend who continues to make engaging and challenging films instead of recycling the same old thing every year. Eastwood’s latest project, Gran Torino, is a case in point: On the verge of 80,
Eastwood could play some generic grandpa, or simply rest on his hard-earned laurels. Instead, he directs himself in an urban drama that requires him to play one of the least appealing protagonists in contemporary cinema. ...
Gran Torino is a delightful piece of work, with Eastwood turning in an Oscar-caliber performance as the grumpiest of old men. Indeed, the phrase “Walt Kowalski” should probably enter the English language as a new term for “old coot.” Eastwood’s Walt is so casually racist he makes Archie Bunker look politically correct, but Eastwood also makes us believe there is a heart somewhere beneath Walt’s crusty hide. Moreover, viewers cannot come away from the film without images of legendary Eastwood characterizations like The Man with No Name and Dirty Harry coming to mind; it is as if all the tough but heroic roles Eastwood has played over the years have been distilled into one indomitable figure, a symbol of another age that’s still relevant in the 21st century.
Gran Torino is not perfect; Walt’s rants are so over-the-top that they sometimes border on self-parody, and college kids will soon be playing a new drinking game (every time Eastwood grunts in anger, everybody does a shot). Yet no other film in recent memory does such an outstanding job of portraying the conflict between young and old America. In that context, Gran Torino promises to be as much a classic as the car that gives the film its name. Juneau Empire linkFriday, January 16, 2009 Story last updated at 1/16/2009 - 10:21 am Eastwood still gets better, even at 78 By Chester Duke Carson | The Big Screen Clint Eastwood is 78. Think about that as you consider what the man has done of late. Since 2004, Eastwood has helmed "Million Dollar Baby," "Flags of Our Fathers," "Letters from Iwo Jima," "Changeling" and of course, "Gran Torino." When he gets bored he also stars himself. Oh, and pre-production has begun already on "The Human Factor," a movie about Nelson Mandela that will star Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon under Eastwood's direction.
Seventy-eight years old. The man is pretty much the exact opposite of an ego-boost.
His current work, "Gran Torino," expanded into wide release last weekend and promptly took over the top spot at the box office.
Kicking butt at the box office, however, is not the only way "Torino" is remarkable. ...
Eastwood, at 78, is somehow still getting better at what he does. Walt is unquestionably tough, and yet alarmingly brittle. Eastwood is able to portray his racism in the most charming way possible before making Walt's movie-long transition believable. "Gran Torino" makes you, like Walt, genuinely care about its story and the characters in it.
Like I said, remarkable.
|
|
|
|
Logged |
|
|
|
higashimori
Member Extraordinaire
Offline
Posts: 4233
|
|
« Reply #135 on: January 16, 2009, 06:28:18 PM » |
|
For those who missed it: Part One and Part Two
 Thanks, Doug ! That's great !  ACT 3:
CLINT EASTWOOD
Clint enters in casual wear, kept warm with a long leather jacket. Dave asks, "Would you like to check your coat?"
Dave has a long list of Clint Eastwood's films and asks about some of his earlier ones.
The first: 1955 -- "Revenge of the Creature" -- perhaps you never heard of it.
We see a scene from another 1955 film, "Tarantula". Clint plays a squadron leader responsible for killing the giant Tarantula. I'm unfamiliar with the film, but I bet the tarantula gained its humongous size due to a nuclear mishap.
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) -- Dave says this film may have revitalized the western, and asks about director Sergio Leone.
Clint was once asked to be in a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. He met with Mr. Hitchcock and the experience was rather odd. Clint entered the room and Hitch never moved, not a muscle. Clint took a seat and only Hitchcock's eyes moved.
Unforgiven (1992) -- Dave has seen the film two or three times and calls it a nice entertaining, well-told novel, perfectly written. Clint Eastwood won the Academy Award for "Unforgiven" for Outstanding Director and Best Film and was nominated for a Best Actor Award. Checking up on "Unforgiven" I see it will air on the Hallmark channel on January 24th and 25th, though it would probably be better to just rent it . . . . . again.
Clint's new film, Gran Torino has received rave reviews and Dave wonders if he has a love of cars. Clint says he doesn't really but has always admired the Gran Torino. He wonders why Detroit doesn't make a hybrid Gran Torino. Detroit needs to make a sexy hybrid.
A sexy hybrid? I think we have them here downtown in the Village.
Clint was once the mayor of Carmel, California. How did that come about? He says he and some friends became unhappy with the current administration of Carmel and they decided to run for every seat available. It was then suggested that Clint should run for mayor and break the town wide open. He held the office of mayor for two years and did not run for re-election. His job was done.
Gran Torino -- in theaters now. We watched a clip. Wow, just from the clip alone, I'm going. Clint plays an old curmudgeon who is cynical and sick with the world, finding fault in everything . . . . . that's for me!
ACT 5:
Announce: "Tomorrow on the Late Show, Dave is joined by Kyra Sedgwick, and Gwen Ifill. Remember, for good television hygiene, the FCC recommends washing your television regularly. We'll be right back."
ACT 6:
It's time once again for "Alan Kalter's Celebrity Interview."
We cut to an angry Alan who is staring at Dave.
ALAN: "Shouldn't there be a parental warning for tonight's show?"
DAVE: "Excuse me?"
ALAN: "A parental warning? Do you think we'll need one?"
DAVE: "I'm sorry, Alan. I don't understand."
ALAN: "Well, I just figured it may be necessary since America just watched you screw me like a one-eyed whore."
DAVE: "Alan, I don't know what you're talking about."
ALAN: (mocking) "I don't know what you're talking about, Alan. Oh, bite my junk, suck-rod! You knew I spent weeks trying to books this week's guest for ‘Alan Kalter's Celebrity Interview.' Here, let me introduce him. The legendary Clint Eastwood."
The camera widens to reveal Clint Eastwood sitting beside Alan.
ALAN: "By the way, Dave, looking forward to seeing you in the gossip pages."
DAVE: "Alan, why would I be in the gossip pages?"
ALAN: "Well, I imagine they'll assume you're dating Clint's ass, seeing as how you've been kissing it for the past twenty minutes. (mocking) ‘Oh, Clint, you should win an Oscar for ‘Gran Torino.' ‘Ohh, Clint, will you hold me?' Hey, if I want to see Clint talking to a monkey, I'll rent ‘Every Which Way But Loose.'"
DAVE: "Alan, that's not exactly what happened."
ALAN: "That's exactly what happened! You got a pencil?"
DAVE: "Yeah, right here."
ALAN: "Then mark this down, ‘sdd'hole. You snake my ‘djoy' again, so help me I'll rip off your shriveled nuts and staple ‘em to your wrinkled ‘givl'ing forehead! And you . . . . . (to Clint Eastwood) . . . . next time, take me dancing before you screw me or so help me, I'll go Bronco Billy all over your ass!"
An angry Alan exits.
Clint Eastwood is left to sit there wondering what had just happened.
An embarrassed Dave throws to commercial. Apologies to Mr. Eastwood
|
|
|
|
Logged |
" They just don't make then like this anymore ." " I just don't meet then like him anymore !! "
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clint Eastwood Forums
Author