Year of Eastwood #32

Mystic River (2003)

Starring: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins

Directed by Eastwood

Mystic River was supposed to be Clint’s return to Oscar glory. The intense, multi-layered drama had an all-star cast and Clint firing on all cylinders with a script about the mystery surrounding the murder of a young woman in middle-class Boston. Mystic River received multiple nominations (including Best Picture and Best Director) but when awards season rolled around, Clint ran into the buzz saw that was Lord of the Rings and the film walked away with only a couple of awards.

Sean Penn, the Kevin Bacon, and Tim Robbins were childhood buddies, playing street ball and other concrete-related activities. One day when one of the boys was abducted for a few days, the innocence of youth is lost and repercussions are still felt years later. As adults, Sean has (somewhat) put his thug past behind him and Kevin joined the force. Tim just kinda mopes around all day. Then one fateful evening, Sean’s teenage daughter disappears and the three friends are pulled back together once again.

Sean grieves and regresses back into his old ways. Kevin interviews suspects and talks to his estranged wife on his cell phone. Tim kinda mopes around all day. Old wounds are opened up again, secrets are revealed, and stories begin to unravel. Heavy stuff that don’t really make for an enjoyable film, but one that is certainly deserving of all the praise it received.

The truly disturbing performance in the film is from Marcia Gay Harden. As the wife of Tim, she becomes suspicious of her husband’s story about being bloodied and mugged on the night of the murder. As Tim struggles with his own demons, her eventual betrayal ends Tim up on the short end of a beat down at the docks. Sean has lost the only pure love he has known in his life, has killed the wrong man, and ends up the new kingpin on the block. Kevin gives him a good stare down though.

Clint has developed into a real actor’s director. In recent years, he has won Oscars for Gene Hackman, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman; and nominations for Meryl Streep, Marcia Gay Harden, and a couple for himself. This film won a Best Actor award for Sean and Supporting Actor for Tim. Now, Sean does a fine job and career-wise is probably deserving of an Oscar or two. But this particular year, Bill Murray gave a subtle performance in Lost in Translation that deserved recognition. Bill got robbed, and my enthusiasm for the Academy Awards has never been the same since.

Drake Bulldogs

It’s a monumental year for Drake Basketball. The Men’s Basketball team, which has not had a winning season in 20 years, has turned it all the way around in 2008. The Bulldogs have won the Missouri Valley Conference title for the first time since 1971, after winning 20 straight games and taking a commanding lead in the standings. The team has beaten every other major school in the state of Iowa and has been rewarded by being ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in 30 years. Drake finally seems destined to make it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time that I can remember (although, Drake did make it to the Final Four in 1969 … losing to eventual champ UCLA (with future Kareem). The team has struggled a bit down the stretch but did beat the #8 team on the road on Saturday - Drake’s first win over a Top 10 team since 1982. Next up, the conference tourney, then on to the NCAA’s … go Duckheads!

Year of Eastwood #31

Midnight in the Garden
of Good and Evil (1997)

Starring: Kevin Spacey, John Cusack
Directed by Eastwood

Midnight jumps right into the action as we are introduced to the high society of the deep south. Lavish parties, drunken gentlemen, shrimp etouffee, and painted up hussies - this joints going to be rockin' well past midnight ... or at least until somebody throws up in the driveway.

Cusack is a failed novelist visiting Savannah, Georgia to write a magazine piece about the high falootin’ party scene attended by upper crust of the old crusties. The leader of these shaky-doo’s is Spacey, a fancy lad who has a strange relationship with a trashy hustler played by Jude Law. Law has made his rounds pleasing all the guys and gals of the South and he and Spacey argue quite a bit and Law ruffles up his doilies in a huff. Like so many of his movies - Jude ends up dead and Spacey has to stand trial for his murder.

Meanwhile, Cusack runs around Dixie enjoying the nightlife … kicking back at piano bars drinking Mint Juleps and carousing around graveyards with an old high priestess who likes to throw around chicken’s feet and profusing wisdoms like “yes um, the spirits is angries.” There’s never a bad time for a love interest and this one feels really tacked on as Clint’s daughter Allison shows up for a few scenes just to flaunt around town with Cusack … uhh, I’m having a Sondra flashback.

Just for fun, there’s a transsexual, Lady Chablis - who wisecracks with Cusack, vamps it up at a Cotillion and then because it’s narratively convenient … has to provide wisecracking testimony at the murder trial. But it’s not really clear what she’s adding to the trial and her scene doesn’t really break the case wide open. So the trial continues on and Spacey lies about the events of that fateful night - Cusack finds out the truth and is surprisingly horrified by all the going ons - until the jury, lead by Clint-staple Geofferey Lewis who likes to keep horseflies on leashes, reaches their verdict.

Oh wait, then Spacey has a heart attack and Cusack and Allison go to the park to enjoy a picnic of Lady Chablis’ special chicken. Feels like Clint had quite a bit of material to squeeze into 2 ½ hours and he wanted to remain true to the material. The novel was a best seller and I’m sure the whole Lady Chablis angle made for some interest reading but by the late 90’s the nation had been Crying Gamed out and the reaction to this film was a big collective yawn.

Midnight is actually quite a misstep in Clint’s career. I’m not actually sure what drew Clint toward this story, but it doesn’t really feed into his strengths as a director and story-teller. Clint is a born and raised California golden boy - Midnight takes place in the deep South, rich in tradition … and apparently voodoo and transsexuals. None of this really equals a connection with the material. His straight-forward approach which has worked so effectively in other projects just kind of falls flat with this courtroom drama.

Oh yea, Clint doesn’t even appear in Midnight, unless he’s a gargoyle or something.

Year of Eastwood #30

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Starring: Eastwood, Hilary Swank
Directed by Eastwood

Let’s take a moment to look back on the life that is Clint Eastwood … TV star that made his big break into movies with Spaghetti Westerns … biggest movie star in the world thanks in part to the Dirty Harry movies … quite the ladies’ man with the squint and the swagger … mayor of a small town in California … Academy Award winner with his triumphant return to the Western genre … everything else has to be gravy.

By the turn of the century, Clint had garnered as much acclaim as a director as he has as an actor. In 2004, Clint turned his attention to a collection of short stories written by a struggling cut-man and the result was a sleeper hit that cleaned up at the Oscars once again for Clint. In what was considered a bit of an upset at the time, Million $$$ Baby won Clint his second awards for Best Director and Best Picture.

Clint has said that this film is his final appearance in front of the camera - and what a way to go out, as the role earned Clint his second Oscar nomination as Best Actor (Unforgiven). Clint is a struggling boxing trainer always missing out on his break into the big time. The fighter he has spent years slowly preparing for a title fight jumps ship right before winning the title. All this strife is sure to leave any guy hardened. Dude’s so cranky, he could even lead a priest to curse.

So when spunky Hilary shows up at Clint’s gym, he don’t want nothing to do with no girl fighters. Hilary doesn’t give up so easy. She’s been munching on left-over steaks and dumpster fries just to save up enough money to pay for her gym membership. Clint needs the money cuz the 24 Hr. Fitness next door has challenged him to a winner-takes-all dodge ball competition. Slowly but surely, Hilary wins Clint over by showing up everyday and pounding on the bag until Clint agrees to take her under his tutelage.

Million $$$ Baby has more daddy issues than Lost … is there anybody on that island who has slapped, punched, or shot their dad? Hilary’s dad was the only caring person in her life, but daddy left early and momma was poor. Clint has lost touch with his daughter and despite his several attempts she has no interest in knowing him. Clint never seems to have any luck with the family life. Clint has always been the epitome of the swinging bachelor … never anyone back home to slow him down. A few times he’s been divorced or widowed, but so far in this Year of Eastwood, Clint’s only been married once … and even in that one he had to share his wife with Lee Marvin.

For skeptics, Hilary’s rise to the top of the women’s boxing world is unbelievable. She virtually steps into the ring and wins fight after fight without even taking a punch. When she quickly makes it to the title fight, the champ is such a blatant cheater that the referee must have had a lot of other things on his mind (like how to make his mortgage payment) instead of actually paying attention to the fight.

It’s probably not much of a spoiler by now to say that things don’t turn out too well for Hilary in the end. She won her first Oscar as a girl in boy’s clothing who gets beaten and killed by a couple of Nebraska good ol’ boys. This go-round she wins another Oscar having to spend the final third of the movie motionless in a hospital bed strapped to ventilators. The final scenes of Million $$$ Baby are agonizing, as Clint struggles with the decision to grant Hilary’s last wish.

Clint has spent his career building his macho screen presence, but this film - along with others such as Bridges of Madison County - have demonstrated his astute skill as a moving story teller.

The House ... before pictures

The ladder isn't included.

Living area.

.

That's one funky kitchen.

Bedroom.

Basement.

Downstairs bath.

Sun porch.

a place for my bunnies...

Year of Eastwood #29

The Dead Pool (1988)

Starring: Eastwood

Directed by Buddy Van Horn

The fifth Dirty Harry film finds our loveable McGruff the Crime Dog having to deal with the media getting in his face every time he breaks open a big case. Harry is now a celebrity and he can’t tell the difference between a mob hit and autograph hounds. That liberal media is always causing trouble.

The Dead Pool tries its best to be topical. The title is taken from a morbid game where players try to pick which celebrity is going to die next. McGruff ends up on some of the lists and he ain’t none too happy about being included with the Buddy Epsens and Shelley Winters. But that’s the price you pay for celebrity. Some people would do anything to get their face of the tube, even setting yourself on fire. All these sound like cutting edge stuff but the film just kinda clunks along.

There is some fun with one scene where McGruff is chased thru the streets of San Fran by a remote control car equipped with explosives. It’s got all the standard moves of any car chase, but it’s kinda amusing to watch McGruff speeding away from a miniature Vette. Until it blows up and nearly kills McGruff’s new partner … guess that’s no surprise by now.

Watching 20 years later, the fun in watching this movie is McGruff’s co-stars who went on to fame of their own. Patricia Clarkson takes over the Sondra Locke part as a driven tv reporter who hounds McGruff for a story but ends up falling for the old coot. Patricia went on to be an indie film favorite in The Station Agent and Pieces of April. Liam Neesen shows up as an egotistical horror film director who butts heads with McGruff. Liam, of course, went on to play a Master Jedi in some Star Wars movie.



The biggest surprise is Jim Carrey, mugging it up as junkie rock star Patches or Squares or something, who lip sync’s his way thru Welcome to the Jungle during the filming of a music video. The song was lifted from Guns N Roses before they hit it big time and it’s beyond over the top to watch Carrey pretending to be screetching like Axl. Slash even shows up in a cameo. Carrey follows it up by overdosing on some designer drug and drops dead five minutes into his big break. Clint must of taken a liking to Carrey as he also played an Elvis impersonator in Pink Cadillac before he went on to dumb and dumber things.

There’s been some pressure on Clint to make a “final” Dirty Harry film. Which of course would be a lousy idea, but hey the media has to bug the old guy about something. So far, Clint has resisted unlike some of the more desperate among us (Sharon Stone with Basic Instinct 2, Schwartzenegger with Terminator 3, and Stallone with Rocky VI and Rambo IV (I think). Clint has said he can’t imagine what Harry could do to make an interesting movie at this point … collect retirement checks? I think maybe we can put this one to rest…

Year of Eastwood #28

Sudden Impact

Starring: Eastwood, Sondra Locke

Directed by Eastwood

I’m really starting to worry about Clint. Somehow trouble just seems to follow him wherever he goes. The poor guy goes into a café to get a cup of joe and the joint’s getting robbed. Can’t the guy just get a lousy cup of coffee? Instead, he’s gotta pull out the piece and start busting the place up. Of course, the fat cats down at city hall don’t like Clint’s ‘methods’ so they’re constantly busting his balls. Sure, maybe crashing a wedding reception and giving some mobster a heart attack ain’t by the book, but hey the guy gets results.

To top things off, all these criminals that get off on technicalities are constantly chasing Clint thru the streets of San Fran and burning up his car. It ain’t cheap getting your car reupholstered all those times. The guy can’t even hang out in a dumpster without a bunch of gangsters trying to shoot him up. What Clint really could use is a vacation … Roadtrip!

So Clint decides to get out of town for a few days. Maybe see a few sights, take in some local colour. I hear that wine country is a nice place to spend a few days. Sure nuff, the first town he pulls into - he stumbles right into the middle of a bank robbery. If it weren’t for bad luck…

Speaking of bad luck - this sequel falls smack dab into those dark days of the Sondra Locke era, so you can bet Clint is going to include his main squeeze in on the action. Oh Sondra, you temptress, why must you mock me over and over again? Sondra seems like a perfectly normal, well-adjusted gal - restoring vintage carousel ponies - but look closer at her twisted paintings of bunny rabbits and dragons and you’ll see that crazy look in her eyes.

Sondra’s hiding a dark secret from her past … and now she’s seeking revenge against the thugs who did those terrible things to her and her sister (now an inanimate object) many years ago. Lookout, she’s got a gun! She likes to put one bullet in the head, one in the shorts. All the boys think she’s a spy, she’s got psycho Sondra eyes.

Clint is hot on Sondra’s trail. Usually one step behind every target on her to-do list. The thugs are led by Large Marge - a cackling, bitch-smacking wench who chews up every scene she’s in. I’m sure theatre crowds cheered when Clint popped her a good one.

BTW, the trivia answer is Sudden Impact. The question is … which Dirty Harry sequel spawned the uber catchphrase “Go ahead, make my day.” Used by US Presidents and witty pundits the world over. But this ain’t your father’s Dirty Harry. The 80’s seem light years away from the gritty 70’s crime drams. Sure, Insp. Harry Callahan is still at it, smacking punks around, but now the soundtrack’s got a hip, beat-box scratching intro … one more to go…

Year of Eastwood #27

The Enforcer (1976)

Starring: Eastwood
Directed by James Fargo

Listen up jive-ass turkeys, a few years have gone by and Clint is back again for the Dirtiest Harry of them all. Or at least that’s what some marketing genius came up with to promote Clint’s third take on Inspector Harry Callahan. Actually, this time out Harry doesn’t seem to be quite as edgy or violent, he’s still just as curmudgeonly and difficult to get along with as ever.

The Dirty Harry films were not only successful as exciting action films, but also served as social commentaries to the frustration building in the 70’s. The original film tackled the topic of an ineffective judicial system and Magnum Force examines the effects of out-of-control vigilante tactics. This time around Clint takes on radical political groups that are terrorizing the nation with their hippy, Charles Manson-loving, dope smoking attempts to overthrow the establishment that’s always trying to keep the Man down.

Well, lookee here, it’s the fuzz … Clint’s not too concerned what your political affiliation is - you break the law, and he’s gonna chase you around on rooftops until he brings you down. The People’s Revolutionary Strike Force has taken the mayor of San Fran captive and demanding that their message be heard … actually, they’re demanding $5 million dollars. So instead of some deep, insightful social commentary on the state of our nation, they just really want to get paid.

Clint kills off another one of his partners, so this time they pair him up with a female sidekick. Now, I’m not saying that Clint is sexist or anything, but most of the women in Dirty Harry don’t even have names - so for him to now get paired up with a chick - well, that don’t sit too well with Clint. Tyne Daly follows Clint around for most of the movie, but in the end she gets to shoot a couple of bad guys - but in the end, she can’t escape the curse that is being Clint’s partner. Dead.

Apparently, Clint was a little jealous of all the attention his co-star, his .44 magnum, was getting, because The Enforcer has to introduce an even larger weapon to show that pansy gun just who’s in charge. A single-shot, over the shoulder, missile launcher blows up a few things and Clint even uses it in the big finale to blow up the bad guy. Plus, it’s disposable so you don’t have to worry about it wanting more screen time. Last I heard, Clyde the monkey and the .44 were in talks to do a buddy picture together.

The Enforcer abandons the second film’s attempt to humanize Dirty Harry. There’s no scenes of personal life or struggling to balance his checkbook. Nope, this time the movie just goes from scenes of Clint busting his car thru a bank to get the bad guys to scenes of the radical hippies plotting their big schemes until we get the big finale out on Alcatraz island … where I hear you can get a really good deal on a studio apartment.

The early Dirty Harry movies were great popcorn action flicks with a message behind all the shocking violence. With the trilogy, Clint had created a classic Hollywood icon. Originally, Clint planned to put this character to rest after three films, but audiences wanted more (and I’m sure the paycheck was pretty good too) so there’s still two more sequels to go … perhaps he should of quit after three …

Year of Eastwood

Half-way point

26 down ... 26 to go. Hard to believe that what started six months ago is still going on, but Year of Eastwood is half-way over. What have we learned so far? Not a whole heck of a lot ... but there have been a few surprises (the Eiger Sanction) and a few disappointments (Heartbreak Ridge, I'm looking at you).

Top Five at the Half-way

1. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
2. Eiger Sanction
3. Dirty Harry
4. In the Line of Fire
5. Unforgiven

So, stay tuned for the final 26 - except there might be a bit of delay because right now The Enforcer is a "very long wait" on my Netflix queue ...

Year of Eastwood #26

Magnum Force (1973)

Starring: Eastwood
Directed by Ted Post

Clint hit pay dirt with Dirty Harry. The film was a phenomenon that made Clint the biggest star in the world and Clint finally had the ultimate prize of any actor … a catchphrase he could take to the bank. “Do you feel lucky, punk” was being used at every office meeting, dinner table, and wife swap around the country, so naturally a sequel was inevitable. And two years later, Clint gave the public what they wanted … Insp. Harry Callahan was back with Magnum Force.

Before today's sequel fatique, a sequel usually meant a bump up in budget, better effects, and a fine-tuned machine running on all cylinders. A few sequels come to mind that might in fact be better than their predecessors … Godfather 2, Empire Strikes Back, and Aliens. Of course, when there’s money to be made the result is a gluttony of sequels to every successful film that comes along - even when the sequel is just a retread of the original. My personal favorite is Weekend at Bernie’s 2. The guys are still trying to party it up with a rapidly decomposing corpse. For the love of God, put the poor man in the ground already.

But Magnum Force ups the ante on Dirty Harry’s success. The film poses an interesting question ... what is the result if everyone started copying Harry’s antics of taking the law into their own hands? Clint has his hands full with a group of vigilante cops inspired by Harry’s success and plan on executing every criminal they see fit. While Harry goes around shooting hi-jackers and robbers - the vigilante cops kill mobsters, hippies, and pimps. How is what they’re handing down any different then Harry’s methods? Apparently, Harry brings down the bad guys in the line of fire while the cops just track down people in their motorcycles and shoot them in the head.

In the original film, Dirty Harry was a singularly-driven man focused on his pursuit of justice. Magnum Force attempts to show the more human side of Harry. Clint hangs out with some friends, enjoys some beers, and even gets it on with Sunny from downstairs. Life is looking pretty good for Harry, but once again not so much for his partners … this one gets blown up from a bomb in his mailbox.

Look for a cameo from a pre-Three's Company Suzanne Somers. She's skinny-dipping at some hippy party ... then she gets shot. Guess those vigilantes were doing a pre-emptive strike against the Thigh Master.

Watching Magnum Force today, 25 years later, it’s easy to see the effect this gritty crime drama had on other forms of entertainment. TV dramas like Baretta featured the rogue crime fighter chasing down killers week after week. Even 70’s porn embraced the Dirty Harry storyline - loner private dicks fighting crime in between banging hot chicks. (Not that I would have any idea what 70’s porn is all about - but Dirk Diggler’s claim to fame was his series of Brock Landers, Private Eye films.)

In fact, the opening credits of Magnum Force has a certain 70’s porn feel to it. A long steady shot of Harry’s impressive tool - his .44 Magnum - while the wakka chikka wakka soundtrack plays in the background. And wait for it, wait for it. Finally, the money shot as the gun turns slowly to the camera and unloads it’s chamber right at the camera.