Clint Eastwood to speak at Republican Convention tonight

[AKA23]

Here's an article detailing the setup for Eastwood's speech. Apparently, as I may have pointed out earlier, the Romney campaign trusted Eastwood, so they didn't vet what he was going to say. They also didn't approve his use of the empty chair or his improvisational routine. A few minutes before showtiime, Eastwood asked for a chair, but they thought he would likely sit in it. They didn't know what it was for. Eastwood was apparently only slotted to speak for 5 minutes, but spoke for 12, and ignored the red flashing light that told him he was done. I personally found this article to be very interesting. If anyone else is interested, here's a link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/01/us/politics/romney-aides-scratch-their-heads-over-eastwoods-speech.html

[AKA23]

Bill Maher, who is a left-leaning stand-up comedian, has defended Eastwood. I'm hesitant to post a link, since some of his comments are politically charged, and the moderators don't like political commentary on the board, but I will post the excerpt that relates to Eastwood's speech. These were Maher's thoughts:

On his HBO show on Friday, Maher gave the actor “props” for pretending that President Obama was sitting in an empty chair next to him onstage.
“As a performer, as a stand-up comedian for 30 years who knows how hard it is to get laughs, excuse me, he went up there … without a net, on a tightrope. There was no teleprompter. He did a bit with just an empty chair and killed,” Maher said. “He committed to it, it was consistent and it worked.”
“People have been saying for years: these conventions are too scripted, they’re too slick, they’re too overproduced,” he added. “A guy who went up there who wasn’t slick … and killed with the crowd? I gotta give him props for that.”

[gwb, pt deux]

You just KNOW the Dems will have Bill Hader from SNL doing his Eastwood imitation at their convention this week....

[rr-electricangel]

Eastwooding- Eastwooding involves posting a picture online of yourself talking to an empty chair.

OUCH!

[herofan]

Eastwooding- Eastwooding involves posting a picture online of yourself talking to an empty chair.

OUCH!

  Comedians often imitate Eastwood's mannerisms and famous scowl, but comedians impersonate everybody.  When they do Eastwood, it's almost a compliment.  This is the first thing that I recall Eastwood doing where people can actually "make fun" of him and make him seem silly.  Ouch is right.

[dane with no name]

This is the first thing that I recall Eastwood doing where people can actually "make fun" of him and make him seem silly.  Ouch is right.

Indeed. Some people seems to ripping into him with downright glee...  
 
Roger Ebert has commented on the whole affair as well, and written a pretty decent article on the affair

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2012/09/_what_exactly_happened_when.html#more

And he likes Trouble with the curve  

I've seen his new film, "Trouble with the Curve," and it is wonderful. Let me be clear: I love this man. I don't give a damn what his politics are. For me it was the same with John Wayne.

[Americanbeauty]

Eastwooding- Eastwooding involves posting a picture online of yourself talking to an empty chair.

OUCH!

Yep. Planking is SO yesterday 

[Sonny]

Indeed. Some people seems to ripping into him with downright glee...  
 
Roger Ebert has commented on the whole affair as well, and written a pretty decent article on the affair

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2012/09/_what_exactly_happened_when.html#more

And he likes Trouble with the curve  

It's great that he liked Trouble with the Curve,  That's all that matters.

I don't think his speech will have any effect on the movie.   People go to movies to be entertained not to be bothered by politics.  If I stopped going to the movies because I disagreed with an actor  politically then  I wouldn't watch a whole lot of movies. lol

[KC]

Thanks, and welcome to the Board, Sonny!

[rr-electricangel]

Roger Ebert's article is spot on. He saw what I saw in Clint's speech. 

[Lin Sunderland]

Welcome to the Board Sonny and thank you for the thoughtful post. 

[Sonny]

Thanks KC and Lin.

[Perry]

Well Maher didn't really completely defend Eastwood.  He also had some diparaging remarks, but then Maher was probably kinder to Eastwood for the most part than most others have been including myself. He did say he liked his movies.

                    Roger Ebert is a classy guy.

[rr-electricangel]

"Clint Eastwood: 'Hot-Doggin' It' at the RNC"

I laugh at this title because of how it seem to relate to a topic in my screenplay. Now that's funny...

[KC]

"Clint Eastwood: 'Hot-Doggin' It' at the RNC"

I laugh at this title because of how it seem to relate to a topic in my screenplay. Now that's funny...

Did you mean to link to this?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-caroline-cicero/clint-eastwood_b_1848163.html

His performance also makes me wonder if Eastwood is indeed more like the foul-mouthed, gun-toting old widower Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino than I previously cared to believe. ...

Maybe for someone like Kowalski or Eastwood, making an offensive speech at a political convention was on his Bucket List. It is easy to picture Jack Nicholson making a similarly erratic speech, isn't it? Maybe the Democrats will bring Nicholson out next week at their convention.

One thing is for sure: once again, a Hollywood performance stole the show.

[KC]

Here is critic David Denby's "In Defense of Clint Eastwood":

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/08/in-defense-of-clint-eastwood.html

[higashimori]

 " Obama Still 'a Huge Clint Eastwood Fan' After Ribbing "!!

 By Matthew Larotonda

 http://news.yahoo.com/obama-still-huge-clint-eastwood-fan-ribbing-230946100--abc-news-politics.html?_esi=1

 

President Barack Obama says the ribbing Clint Eastwood gave him at the Republican National Convention last week doesn't mean he won't watch his movies.

"I am a huge Clint Eastwood fan," the president said in an interview excerpt released today.

"He is a great actor, and an even better director," he continued. "I think the last few movies that he's made have been terrific."

 

"We're all Clint Eastwood fans here in the Obama campaign."

 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/republicans-praise-clint-eastwoods-speech-367191
 
 

"I saw the audience get very silent, and it was telling that an actor commanded more attention than other people of more substance," said Jim Stoltenberg of Texas. "Some in the audience talked over important speakers, but when Clint came on, they quieted down like they were in church, even the drunks in the hallway."

 Forte because Clint plays the Reverend twice!! 

 
 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/idol-worship/clint-eastwood-speech-rnc-american-idol-taylor-hicks-367294

[rr-electricangel]

Did you mean to link to this?

Not really. There was nothing positive in that article so I decided not to link it. I just liked the title. Articles like that are too politically charged for me to get all worked up about. I'll just leave it at that...

[FJD]

The more I watch the speech the more I love it! If you are worried about left leaning entertainment people not liking something that supports the right that says more about you then Clint. Clint spoke his mind and put his name on the line. Also if you watch this speech over I have found that I would not want him to deliver this speech any other way. He stuck the knife in at every point he wanted too.

[Jed Cooper]

I saw Clint speak as it happened and I’m sticking with my initial impression.  It was weird.  Clint seemed uncomfortable, as if he was out of place.  In a sense, he was.  Public speaking is not his forte.  He’s not very good at it even when accepting awards.  That’s not to say he’s a bad person and it has nothing to do with his view on politics.  The delivery was just plain bad and unconvincing.  I honestly believe if more care were given to the manner in which he was speaking, his speech would’ve been much more effective and would not have been criticized to the degree it has been thus far.  Not only that, I feel he would’ve received a standing ovation.  So yes, there were things he stated that made all the sense in the world, some of what he attempted to be funny with did come off as amusing.  I understand and respect other’s opinions that differ from mine on this matter.  However, to me, over all, it was just not very good.