Movie Diary 2023 (4/6-5/31): Let’s Just Get Through May to Start
Two sentences per movie. The last time I did a retro movie diary, I had three weeks to catch up on. Now I have…more than that. No sweat!
Tag: Clint Eastwood
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
Dir. Clint Eastwood. Starring Clint Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Bill McKinney My favorite piece of film criticism from the past five years or so is probably Angelica Jade Bastien’s review of The Beguiled, and if it’s not my favorite it’s the one I spend the most time thinking about. When The Beguiled was released, the… Read More The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
Dir. Clint Eastwood. Starring Adam Beach, Ryan Philippe, Jesse Bradford A photograph can win a war, an aged Dave Severance (Harve Presnell) says. It’s the sort of dialogue that sounds hokey, but get past the literalism and the message is clear enough. Propaganda is worth something. Maybe it’s harder to pinpoint the ROI on propaganda… Read More Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
Better than the Oscars: 35-31
The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 35-31
Better than the Oscars: 80-76
The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 80-76
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Dir. Clint Eastwood. Starring Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman Hurt, sad, defeated, [Emma Stone] collapses, face first, onto her bed while a wall-sized image of Ingrid Bergman smiles behind her. It’s not often that a movie finds a way to create a self-describing image, but La La Land, bless its heart, pulled it off.… Read More Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Unforgiven (1992)
Dir. Clint Eastwood. Starring Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman If you give an actor the director’s chair, he’ll want his star persona to go with it. This is how we end up with Unforgiven, which looks like it’s rattling along as an interesting movie until it works itself out, unsurprisingly, as Eastwood machismo killporn… Read More Unforgiven (1992)
The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
Dir. Clint Eastwood. Starring Meryl Streep, Clint Eastwood, Annie Corley The Bridges of Madison County is empty. In a movie that needs beautiful moments to live, there is only one beautiful moment in the entire flick. Happily it occurs at a key moment, lingering on a turn signal, the sight of a man through a windshield,… Read More The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
Seeing Things Secondhand 