Cry Macho

Man this was a perfect end cap for this week.

Cry Macho I will firmly say is not a masterpiece but it was much better than I expected. It's a very mellow role for Clint as a broken down horse wrangler named Mike sent to Mexico to bring his boss' son over to the States. And believe it or not, for a film with that simple of a premise there is a lot to unpack and read into. Quite a bit happens in this movie, both positive and negative that affects our duo in their journey. I might say this is my favorite Clint Eastwood role, like if Gran Torino wasn't as amazing as it is this film would have no competition. I genuinely feel like this is what the real Clint is like, oh sure he has his gruff and crotchety moments, but you get a lot of humor, love, and wisdom out of him in this and it's nigh impossible to say one bad thing about him. I know some people might give Eduardo Minett a rough time, but he's playing a teenager, teenagers are a lot of talk, very sure of themselves and yet driftless in making decisions and have a lot of reservations about themselves. He plays that perfectly! He's still a kid and gets checked by Mike as they grow this bond. They make their trek, learn about each other, Mike teaches him how to ride horses, Rafo gets him to appreciate his rooster Macho, hell they even find love interests. They kinda make a semi-new life for themselves in this town and you know exactly what this is like. Whether you went on a vacation, or changed schools, or met these really lovely people who you know you probably won't meet again, and it's so bittersweet. And now comes the part where I shamelessly admire Natalia Traven, who not only is a gorgeous woman who I would blush profusely in her presence, but easily has one of the best romances I have seen in movies in a long time. The chemistry between Marta and Mike is f***ing lovely. Like stole my heart and ran to the bank with it! It was so gosh darn gee willikers sweet, I was all there for it. And this has one of the nicest endings to a Clint Eastwood film period. So yeah call me a fan, because I loved this film. 4 stars, 8/10, by all means give it a watch cause it is fully worth your time.

Unforgiven

Told you I'd be eating my words.

Now obviously to compare Tombstone and Unforgiven is difficult and unfair, they are two very different movies with very different qualities to appreciate. And it's not really the film you would expect when reading a synopsis of the plot, with an aging gunslinger teaming up with his old partner and a young man to essentially kill two cowboys who cut up a woman of the oldest profession in the world. It sounds like a revenge plot, and well you all know how I feel about revenge. You'd expect a good deal of action, some chases, typical actiony kind of stuff with a big climax and a happy resolution. That is far, far from what you get. Unforgiven is a western movie that takes it's time, has discussions, and actually severely looks down on any gunplay. Hell I have to give a lot of respect and have a lot of admiration for the film to have that kind of message. Every one of our main characters has a solid moment where they fully emotionally express their desire not to kill anyone. And for those people who didn't like the movie because of the deglorifying opinion on guns, and the lack of action well then you missed the point entirely of the story. All the acting here is very good, you could almost say it's understated. With Clint being an outlaw who has been out of the saddle for years and can't even shoot that well or wants no part of any bad deeds is not only appreciated for the uniqueness but just how he plays this part, very reserved and you can see a lot of the history and pain of the character on his face. Gene Hackman has one of the most morally grey characters in cinema, because he's a lawman who's trying to keep order in a town and you see kind of a retirement angle with him building a house and being up there in age, and yet he really abuses his power and beats the shit out of people. But he's not a ruthless guy, it's such a hard character to pin but he plays it wonderfully. Morgan Freeman, spoiler alert, is great and honestly has the second best bit of acting in this movie, again in correlation with how he feels about guns and killing. The movie is a bit slow until you meet his character then you get more invested and engaged. Jaimz Woolvett has the best piece of acting in the film near the end, and again he doesn't play this bastard shooter, he talks a big game and could be seen as bloodthirsty but how the events of the film play out it doesn't show a single character in a positive light. It's not a morbid, highly depressing, or even just a bit of a downer film, it makes you think. I mean really think about the choices and fallout if you ever pull a trigger, and I'm not honestly surprised that the same person who wrote this film also wrote Blade Runner, introspective and thoughtful writing is something he is damn good at. Now I said awhiles back that Once Upon A Time In The West is my favorite western ever, and Unforgiven is mighty close to that. The writing is spot on, the shots in this movie regarding scenery is unbelievable, the cast is excellent, it's so worth the time to watch. 4 stars, 8.5/10, see you later on down the road this Friday.

Trouble With The Curve

It's been awhile since I last saw this so I figured it would be good to revisit it.

So 4 years after the supposed final acting role of Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, he was brought back into the fray by one of his movie making pals and convinced him to do this movie and I'm very happy he did. I actually quite like the story to this movie, it takes a dash of sports movie predictability, adds some good and even really shocking family drama in, and just has Clint Eastwood being a crotchety bastard throughout as he plays a sports scout for the Braves named Gus who reconnects with his daughter and comes to terms with his failing sight while scoping a promising new draft pick. The first thing I gotta say is, holy balls this cast is something else. Grumpy Clint Eastwood, smartass yet awesome Amy Adams, pretty boy Justin Timberlake, cool John Goodman, and a surprising heel turn for Matthew Lillard which is really great to watch tell you the truth. You really have this A-grade cast and they all pull it off, even Justin Timberlake who in the pantheon of music stars turned actors does fine work. The direction is basic but good, but I actually expected that a bit since this was the first time Robert Lorenz was in the director's chair after being assistant director on many of Clint's films. I very much enjoyed the dynamic between Amy and Clint, they got good chemistry and the baggage the characters have while some of it is really out of left field, and even striked me sort of unnecessary, didn't take away from the rough impact it leaves on your mind once you learn of it. Again, not much of a sport's person and will never be but from the sports films I have covered in the past there's more to it than just the game cause that is what draws me in. It's not about Rocky Balboa boxing, it's about the character of Rocky. It's not about baseball in The Sandlot, it's the fun stories of these kids during the summer. It's not about Goldeen winning the gold at the Olympics, it's...well everything about that movie. It's probably gonna be years before you see me get to something like The Blind Side, Friday Night Lights, Major League, The Mighty Ducks, etc. mostly because I don't give a rat's ass. I gotta read like 6 Dune books before October people! But anyway, good film, solid 3 stars, 7/10, see you next time when I eat my own words.

Gran Torino

Again, another movie I thought I reviewed. Christ man, we're inching closer to 800 of these suckers, it's a miracle I remember my birthday.

Gran Torino, probably my favorite of Clint Eastwood's films and I got a lot of nice things to say about many of his movies. So veteran Walt has just buried his wife and is dealing with his less than loving family, when a Hmong family moves next door, and slowly but surely he connects more to that family and finds a quantum of solace in his later years. I think that's mainly why I like it so much is because of the dynamic between these characters, and all the actors do genuine great work. I know it's easy to make grumpy old man jokes, but I will refrain from that since I myself am a severely grumpy old man. But even I will admit Clint plays his part to perfection, a rugged, pissed off, unfortunately racist, and lonely man who gets out of his shell and becomes very attached to this family. I know people give shit to the racist remarks and I did too, but I know why it's there. The movie does have a no nonsense, all too real look into the world. There is racism and stereotypes, there are gangs, there are angry and violent people. But it also has people who genuinely care, people who get hurt because of unfair situations, people who think they are helping but make things worse. That's the world, it's bullshit, and a lot of people hate it but you either complain about it or start fixing it any way you can. That's what I got out of it, it's a movie that doesn't beat around the bush and I respect it for that. I mean Clint directs well enough and acts wonderfully, but I gotta give some major love to Ahney Her who plays Sue, sweet mother of sunshine this woman is the best. I love her attitude, her intelligence, the fact she can take shit and throw shit back, and I'll be damned if I don't praise her now. Fan-flippin'-tastic man, best character for me. It's been a minute since last I saw this so I was pleased to know there was more than what I remembered, a gruff wiseass veteran gets a young boy to help out around the place after he tries to steal his car. That is an injustice to the plot and intent of the movie. It's way more and way better. I am the first in line to complain about how movies should be escapism and not be a little too true to the world, but on the other hand I've seen grand films, wonderful films, films that make you go "Ooh" and actually say something important and brings up issues that need to be rectified. This is one of them, don't be a dick, live your life better, don't get pressured into stuff, accept differences. It's good stuff to be reminded of now and then. And it just goes to show how well the movie gets that through in various ways, it got me talking so what could it possibly do for you. Do I like the ending? Yes and no. I know fully why they did it that way, I like they did it that way, it would make the movie useless if they wanted to go all out but did I want a bit more? Sort of but I ain't complaining at all. And for a film 13 years old that still has some measure of impact and is still very true to this world, rubbish that it may be, it's just facts that not many movies have achieved such a thing. I of course say you should see it, full heartedly even, total 4 star movie, give it a solid 8/10. I very much enjoyed seeing it again, and I will tell you I will be goddamned if I did not like hearing Clint sing. Mighty good week for reviews, I'll see if I can throw something good for you next week.

The Mule

Pretty damn good.

I gotta tell you I'm not usually one for crime movies, or heist movies, or what have you, because all it comes down for at the end for me is do they get caught or do they make it out? Now you might be saying but Dude the story isn't the important thing because there's hardly ever any surprises in a crime movie so it's more about the acting and the characters. And you are absolutely right. You already get a great actor and director to helm the movie then you add talent upon talent and that is what makes the movie interesting. It's such a different light to see Clint Eastwood in a grandpa type role, sure he can be gruff and crack a wiseass joke, but he's actually really nice and incredibly likeable! So story wise, an old man who has spent too much of his life with work and not family, is given the opportunity to be a drug mule for a cartel and he uses the money to help out his friends, family, and other people. On the other end of the spectrum we have Bradley Cooper who is given the assignment to bust the drug cartel, and it's Bradley Cooper he always does fine work. If that sort of movie interests you and you want to see Clint Eastwood in another great role this is definitely a rental or even a buy, he knows how to direct and tell a story and because of the characters we are invested in the story. It's very well shot, has drama, has humor, and a good spirit of altruism! So obviously you got good writing, great actors, a fine director, and it turns out to be a pretty good movie! And I'm interested to see what Clint will do next, the last movie he was in was Trouble With The Curve, another good movie of his which you should check out, and that was six years ago. So I am very curious to see what comes next, and I know this was an odd choice (and short but if the 90s taught me anything it's WYSIWYG) but different ain't always bad, I can tell you that right now and we have another recent movie I've been wanting to check out so until next time!

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

What many consider to be the best western ever made, how does it stack up in my eyes?

Let me make one thing perfectly clear, I do not hate this movie. I do not dislike this movie. I do not think it is a bad movie. It is however, an overrated movie. Sure the scale is the biggest we've seen in this loosely connected trilogy, the story is pretty simple and can lead to one hell of a showdown at the end, but....it's very cluttered. So let me try to explain, Clint Eastwood returns as our favorite bounty hunter who just captured a bandit named Tuco played to absolute brilliance by Eli Wallach, who soon escapes and through various circumstances they both discover a raided confederate camp, where one dying soldier departs information of a large sum of gold buried in a cemetary. Clint Eastwood's character, now named Blondie (no relation to the singer) knows the name of the grave, and Tuco knows the name of the cemetary but neither of them is telling. Meanwhile, Lee Van Cleef returns as a ruthless, malicious, son of a mother bounty hunter known as Angel Eyes, who wants the gold too and is tracking our duo. So you may be wondering, well the story seems simple so why is it cluttered like you said? One reason, sidetracking! Mother of God the sidetracking! It is padding levels of boredom! This movie should barely be an hour and a half long and not almost 3 HOURS!! 3 fraking hours?! Lord Of The Rings was 3 hours, but that was because they had a lot of story to tell and pretty thick books to adapt! This movie is at least half sidetracking doing other BS meaningless things, instead of heading to their goal, the cemetary. No, let's not just address the fact this takes place during the Civil War but let's spend at least more than an hour reinforcing that fact with Angel Eyes interrogating our duo at a internment camp for northern soldiers, them getting wrapped up in this completely meaningless and prolonged sequence with a colonel wanting to destroy a bridge and fight off enemy troops, I mean sweet Jesus when do we get back on track here?? I don't hate this movie man, I swear! The action though offtrack at times is excellent. All our leads are outstanding especially Eli as the cunning, foul mouthed, yet awesome Tuco and Lee Van Cleef is a great villain, granted I loved him much more as Douglas Mortimer in For A Few Dollars More but that's besides the point, so acting is spot on! The music by Ennio Morricone is the stuff of legend in this movie, with one particular track Ecstasy Of Gold being soooo good Metallica plays it before every concert they perform, seriously! Cinematography is gorgeous and expansive, showing massive battlefields, great stunts, and the mexican standoff we all know and love. Needless to say that is the highlight and best scene of the movie, even if you haven't seen the movie you have seen this standoff. You love it, I love it, it's amazing! But honestly, that's the only part worth anything. Just go to YouTube and watch that scene and save yourself almost 3 hours of unnecesary padding, that just so happens to be shot very well and has good actors in it. I'm sorry guys, I just don't see why people say this is the best western. It's a good western with a massive scale and terrific action, but for the life of me it just couldn't stay on track to tell the story. It's a basic story that tried to prop itself up to be an epic, when in reality sometimes less is more.

For A Few Dollars More

My favorite and the best of The Man With No Name trilogy.

This is the best in terms of story, action, and characters. So the story picks up with two bounty hunters on the hunt for one target, both cross paths and they butt heads for a bit but decide it would be easier to work together. So we have a great dynamic between Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef, as they first start off as opposing forces but grow into a good partnership and I think that's what really makes this movie soar above the first. So we get 2 major badass bounty hunters that would give Boba Fett a run for his money, and both have their own character dynamics, but what's a hero without their villain? And this film has one of the most insane, sadistic villains you would ever see in a western, played by the same actor who played the villain in A Fistful Of Dollars. I guess he just does good work as a murderous bandit, go figure. And compared to the first movie, the pace feels much more up beat and well paced, whereas the first movie kinda dragged in places but everything works much better in this movie. Every aspect in terms of story, action, characters, directing, sets, just everything is done to damn near perfection in this movie. I love Lee Van Cleef in this movie as a more heroic bounty hunter than Clint Eastwood's, he is what makes this movie the best to me because of his character, his motivation, and it culminates into a highly satisfying ending. It's my definite example of a spaghetti western, so I definitely say to watch this if you haven't already. You won't be disappointed.

Oh, but we're not done yet! Next, we have what many consider to be the best western ever made. Tomorrow we end with The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.

A Fistful Of Dollars

Yeah, The Dark Tower got me on a western binge.

So A Fistful Of Dollars was the first spaghetti western released outside of Italy and has gotten quite the reputation in 50 years, it introduced an entire sub genre of westerns to the world, was Clint Eastwood's first major starring role, and combined the efforts of Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone for the rest of their careers. The plot is more or less a more heavily western version of the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo, centered around a stranger who wanders in a small town controlled by two rival families and decides he can make a bit of profit out of it. But of course, not all goes to plan and needless to say none of these people are leaving quietly. It's not all shootouts and double crosses though, there's surprisingly some decent drama and good character in our lead. You don't know much about him, I don't even think they mention his name in the movie, but you get glimpses of who he is. A stone cold killer, but deep down has a heart and Clint Eastwood does it incredibly well. He can play the gunslinger, the manipulator, the fool, and the hero damn near flawlessly, and in a multi-cultural and multi-language production where hardly anybody spoke every language of the people who worked on the movie that must be highly commended! You get a good story, good characters, really decent action, and a conclusion that has been done countless times. And you know what I noticed? This film could almost be done as a pure silent film, you can follow the story from beginning to end without any dialogue spoken. And I really love when movies do that, because it knows that films are a VISUAL medium, show don't tell! When movies are told cinematically, visually, with no exposition or excess dialogue it's a sight to behold. Who would have thought a spaghetti western could work as a silent film? Not me, that's for sure. And while we're at it, the score by Ennio Morricone though minimal is still highly memorable and suits the film just right. True, westerns aren't everybody's cup of tea so I don't expect everyone to see this movie, but for those that do want to see it or have seen it, then you can take my word for it when I say it's good.

So hell, why not? Let's do the other two films. Check back tomorrow for, in my opinion the best of the bunch, For A Few Dollars More.

The Dead Pool

Yeah, you read right. The next time you say you're going to watch that Dead Pool movie, keep your audience in suspense until you decide to tell them Clint Eastwood is in it.

The Dead Pool is the last in the Dirty Harry series, and surprisingly the shortest, clocking in at an hour and a half. The plot revolves around Harry being put on a hit list with several other celebrities forming the dead pool, with Harry trying to stop as many deaths as possible including his own. For the last installment in the series, it doesn't end on a bad note. The plot though simple works, and this movie really delves into the 80s tropes from the get go with in your face badass 80s music, the clothing, the hair, the workout fad at that time, a friggin' Guns N' Roses song showcased in the movie, it doesn't screw around. Now for the whole identity behind the creator of this dead pool list, it starts out good but really gets better. I give credit where credit is due, but most of the time I wonder why they add these mystery elements to the stories if they don't really play them all the way through, with the exception of this movie. I know they are more action films than detective films but still. But anyway, the cast is not half bad in this movie, Clint in my opinion really gets better with age and this is a good series to prove that, we get Liam Neeson in this movie (I am so not kidding!) and my God it's weird but really cool, and we even get Jim Carrey (Again, no joke!) in a bit part before he became super famous which is interesting to see. Really got to admit though the final ending to the entire series feels kind of abrupt, it just sort of ends immediately after the final kill. Still a good movie though, but I think it is the weakest of the series and that's the interesting thing. Not one of these movies are bad so you really just have to judge each of them on their merits and see which one you like the best. Now for next week, not really anything planned but who knows? So until next time my friends.

Sudden Impact

This is the second best movie in the entire series.

It comes very close to being as good as the first, so that must mean something. You know how I said I wanted this movie to be dark? Well it certainly delivered. It literally starts off dark with some great shots of San Fransisco at night with some real badass 80s music. And then it gets darker...dear sweet Jesus does it get darker. Probably the darkest the series has ever gotten, and I enjoy it but still, I mean damn. The plot involves Harry taking up a homicide case, and you know how I said in Magnum Force there was a mystery that lasted for about 25 minutes? Well this movie's mystery lasts about 5 minutes, you know who is doing this, you figure out why a little while into the movie, and yet it doesn't hurt the film. It's a revenge story and done very very well, to the point where you don't care there isn't a mystery cause you roll with it quick. Clint Eastwood not only starred, but produced and even directed the movie and he did a phenomenal job. Harry in this movie is older, meaner, and even less tolerant of punks than he was in the past movies. The action though sparse is still done well, Harry even gets a kicking new badass gun, the music is better than the last movie I got to say, and the ending is what I wanted. So not much to complain about, it's one of the best of the series so there you have it. Really the best part of this entire movie series is the continuity, you can watch any of them, in any order and still enjoy them. Kinda reminds me of the Man With No Name movies that Clint did in his early spaghetti western parts, loose continuity, can enjoy them all, but hey we got more movie to review. So let's see if this series ends on a high note.

The Enforcer

This movie was better than I remembered.

Alright so new movie, new threats, new partner with Harry dealing with some heavily armed militants and a female partner. And you know, I got to admit his partner Kate Moore played perfectly by Tyne Daly kinda steals the movie. She is a badass. When I say badass...I mean a badass, she's rad man. She keeps up with Harry, and even bests him in some departments, she is just terrific. So far these movies have been holding up pretty dang well, I mean they know what they are doing, what they want to achieve, and what is important in the story. The movie's director is James Fargo and he got what was right really right, and there was only two problems that I had with the movie, one I can't talk about cause it delves into the spoiler realm but the other just seemed odd. So basically there is this militia group raiding a weapons warehouse, and during the course of this one of them is having problems lifting weapon caches and looks like she's having some serious cramps, so I figure there will be this weird pregnancy sub-plot in the stream of things and you know what it turns into? Absolutely nothing. Just seems a bit odd to have it in the movie if it doesn't come to any fruition, no one talks about it or says anything so it almost seems like it was going to be a part of the film but they cut it. Sorry to go on that small tangent but it bugs me people! But we'll be back tomorrow with the next movie, the very first one made in the 80s. So here's hoping for some dark material and great action.

Magnum Force

The second installation in the Dirty Harry series, how does it hold up?

I got to admit it's a fantastic follow up to the first movie, with Harry encountering some mysterious murders of the most prolific of San Francisco's crime syndicate both big and small. Harry takes up the case to prove that it is not himself that is murdering these criminals, and that's all well and good...until the 25 minute mark. I mean the mystery rolls pretty good, it makes you ask a few questions, and then it turns painfully transparent who is commiting these murders. Even though it is clear what is going down, the movie really doesn't lose that much. The action is still good, Harry gets some good character development proving that he does the law his way but he still has respect for the system of law and order, Harry gets a new partner and I think he's awesome, so it certainly doesn't downgrade from the last movie. The music once again composed by Lalo Schifrin is good but very minimalistic, oh it's there but it is not prevalent in every scene. The scenes speak for themselves, and are directed very well so music is not always required. Clint gets a lot of stuff to do in the movie, he stops plane hijackers, the entire finale he doesn't even fire a single shot and wins, and he gets a little uh, hey hey...if you know what I mean. He was a good looking fella back then, so I kinda get the attraction. But anyway, good movie, watch it if it peaks your interest, and we shall continue the series tomorrow.

Dirty Harry

Yesterday I was thinking about what I could review this week, when I remembered a movie series that many people might not know is a movie series and it's a action movie so I figured why not?

So without further delay, let's look at all 5 Dirty Harry movies this week. The first movie is definitely the best one in my opinion, a true Clint Eastwood classic. The story follows San Francisco officer Harry Callahan as he tries to track down a serial killer by the name of Scorpio. The plot is your basic cop movie plot, but I'm not sure why this movie does it better than many, many other cop movies of the past few decades. Probably because it was one of the first that followed the formula of hardboiled cop, no rules to follow but his own, gets a partner he doesn't want, has to hunt down a serial killer, and all the while be a complete badass. The film was made and is set in the then present day of 1971, so of course it's going to look straight up 70s but I love that, it gives the film it's own unique look and feel to the story. The music composed by Lalo Schifrin is excellent with great female choirs, and a very almost jazz type of music that really makes the movie for me, especially the very last song. The cinematogrophy is pretty inavative for the time and sucks you into the movie, with handheld cameras, zoom ins, and sweeping shots. The acting is great with Clint Eastwood being well, Clint Eastwood in a part that fits like a glove on him. The Scorpio killer played by Andy Robinson is psychotic and creepy even though the actor himself is a pacifist and all around a nice guy. All in all, it's a great movie and I do recommend it if you are a fan of Clint Eastwood, or just like cop movies. But there is much more ground to cover this week so I will see you tomorrow.