The question of whether Chrysler pitchman Clint Eastwood’s “Halftime in America” ad was a backdoor Obama campaign ad may finally be answered, as Clint Eastwood was recently caught on tape by TMZ talking politics. An enterprising paparazzo celebrated Presidents’ Day by asking Mr. Eastwood to name his favorite U.S. President, and after rattling Read More
In spite of a fusillade of P.R. overkill about what a brave, risk-taking actor he is, and how he spent five hours a day in a makeup chair squirming, Leonardo DiCaprio’s portrait of a balding, sweaty, gristle-chewing, half-mad J. Edgar Hoover is gimmicky play acting. J. Edgar, Clint Eastwood’s exhausting chronicle of power obsession about the enigmatic, self-serving egomaniac who, as director of the F.B.I., kept America trembling with terror for half a century under the phony guise of patriotism, is a long, tedious and hollow disappointment. Read More
Our autumnal horn o’ plenty of web goodies begins today with the return of one Joaquin Phoenix to late night TV. Then we segue into somber, sad Matt Damon looking sad and being somber and seeing dead people and we finally end up with about 30 seconds or so of hell on earth. It isn’t Read More
When I was a boy, “dirty” was the epithet of choice for the hated other. It wasn’t enough to call someone any of the slurs for being Jewish or black or Latino. You had to put “dirty” before it.
The genealogy of the insult was firmly established in the history of the world. Your tribe-your Read More
Michael Caine is such a consummate actor that it’s a major cause of concern to see him in Harry Brown, another hateful vigilante flick the wags in England have already labeled Dirty Harry Brown for reasons that are immediately obvious.
Following in the worn avenger footprints of early gut-riddled Clint Eastwood crime melodramas, Charles Bronson Read More
Invictus
Running time 134 minutes
Written by Anthony Peckham
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon
If I went to Clint Eastwood’s rousing, rah-rah Invictus with less enthusiasm than some of my colleagues, it’s because I am weary of all these worthy filmmakers churning out movies about South Africa nobody Read More
Monday: Men of a Certain Age
When it comes to original programming, TNT hasn’t fared nearly as well as fellow cable netlet USA. That’s because whereas the latter channel has succeeded by matching high concept fluffiness (Burn Notice, Royal Pains, White Collar) with up and coming actors (Jeffrey Donovan, Mark Feuerstein and Matthew Bomer), Read More
Monday: In the Line of Fire
With Gran Torino burning up the box office in limited release, it’s clear that people can’t get enough of Clint Eastwood. So it might be a good time to revisit him in Wolfgang Petersen’s 1993 film, In the Line of Fire. The thriller should be as hackneyed Read More
Gran Torino
Running time 116 minutes
Written by Nick Schenk
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her
Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, from a screenplay by Nick Schenk, based on a story by Dave Johannson and Mr. Schenk, caps his career as both a director Read More
Normally, the Best Original Song category at the Academy Awards is the bane of our existence: an overloaded mess of badness that extends an already unending night into ass numbing proportions. No matter how the producers try to gussy up the presentation–"let’s have Beyonce sing all the songs!"–the performances invariably stink. Of course the exception Read More
