Uncut Gems
It's excruciating and exhilarating.
Harry Callahan
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The Enforcer (1976)
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Clint Eastwood
Roger Ebert
* This filmography is not intended to be a comprehensive list of this artist’s work. Instead it reflects the films this person has been involved with that have been reviewed on this site.
Clint Eastwood's Accidental Heroes
Perhaps Eastwood isn’t just interrogating heroism, he’s interrogating himself.
Thumbnails 9/4/15
Anthony Daniels on "Star Wars VII"; History of Action-Movie Heroes; Love in the films of Jacques Démy; Emma Thompson on Trump; How Netflix could change the movie business.
Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
May contain spoilersDon Siegel's "Dirty Harry" (1971) may not be the greatest film of Clint Eastwood's career but its title character is certainly the one that best defines it. Looking back, it's hard to imagine it took five years for such an acclaimed picture to arrive here in Mexico. Censorship wasn't common in those days but there was something about "Harry." The only other feature that I can recall getting a similar treatment was "Two Minute Warning" with Charlton Heston. Both dealt with mad snipers on the loose so my guess is that someone decided it was better not to give anyone ideas.
"Dirty Harry" is not fascist
From Scott McCrea, Henderson, NV:
Play Scoobie-Doobie-Doo for Me
BIG SUR, CA -- The Dirty Harry style, Clint Eastwood was explaining, is simplicity itself: "You start with this ultimate fantasy character, this guy who's always fighting the establishment, who isn't interested in the intricacies of society, who tells his boss to go to hell. You equip him with a .44 magnum, pointing out that it's the most powerful handgun in the world. You make him a cop and send him out into the streets. And you whittle down his dialog." Eastwood, as unlike this description as possible, was sipping herb tea on a veranda overlooking the Pacific. The dry December sunlight spilled down and the hills of Big Sur rose behind him, and his dialog wasn't whittled down at all. Among other things, Eastwood talks a lot more than the characters he plays, perhaps because he has more to say.
