Fin.

So, my time with Clint is over.

Reflecting over my time with Clint, I have found I have a new appreciation for Western movies and Ponchos. And truly believe that Clint is indeed immortal.

As I am writing this post Clint has a new movie about to come out J.Edgar and there are talks that he will be acting once again.

It’s been a roller coaster ride, but Clint, after fifty-five days together I think it is time for me to watch other actors, its not you it’s me.

Out,

Nicolle.

Invictus.

So is sports movies the new western for Clint?! Made in 2009, Invictus is directed by Clint and stars Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman (Am I the only one aware of their bromance?!).

Invictus depicts the tale of the events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, hosted in South Africa following the dismantling of apartheid. Nelson Mandela (Freeman) joins forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team, Francois Pienaar (Damon) and tells him that a Springboks victory in the World Cup will unite and inspire the nation. During their time together Mandela also shares with Pienaar a poem called ‘Invictus’, that has inspired him during his time in prison.

So Invictus isn’t Clint’s best film, but it is still good. Although Matt Damon should never do a South African accent again. I’m not a huge rugby fan nor sport movies fan, but Invictus was still an inspiring and beautifully told story.

85/100

Gran Torino.

Badass Clint is back! Yessssssssss. Gran Torino, not Grand Torino like I thought for a while, was made in 2008 and is directed by, produced by and stars Clint.

Clint play Walt Kowalski, a retired factory worker and Korean War veteran, and recently widowed after 50 years of marriage. His neighbourhood was formerly populated by working class white families, but is now being dominated by poor Asian immigrants, and gang violence is commonplace. The Hmong Vang Lor family live next door to Walt. Their son Thao attempts to steal Walt’s beloved 1972 Gran Torino, as an initiation into a Hmong gang run by Thao’s cousin. The Hmong gang then tries to attack Thao, but Walt get out his rifle and chases them off. As punishment Thao’s mother makes Thao work for Walt. The two eventually form respect for one another, and helps Thao get a construction job. The Hmong gang then perform a drive by shootig on the Vang Lor home, injuring Thao and kidnaps and rapes Thao’s sister Sue. Thao asks Walt to help him get revenge. Walt locks Thao in his basement and goes to confront the gang.

I’m not gonna lie, I cried like a baby at the end. For this to be Clint’s last acting film, it is a very good performance and film to go out on. And words cannot explain how happy I am that his last performance is as a badass.

90/100

Changeling.

SPOILER ALERT!

Oh Clint, you’ve done it again! Changeling was produced in 2008 and is directed by Clint. It stars Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich and Jeffrey Donovan.

The film is set in 1928, Los Angeles. Single mother Christine Collins (Jolie) returns home from work to discover her nine-year-old son Walter is missing. The LAPD really doesn’t do much to help Christine, so she turns to Reverend Gustav Briegleb (Malkovich) who publicises Christine’s case and the corruption in the LAPD. Several months later the LAPD tells Christine her son has been found alive. Due to the recent publicity, the LAPD organises a public reunion, however the boy claiming to be Walter isn’t Walter. Christine tells the LAPD that he is not Walter, but Captain J.J Jones (Donovan) insists the boy is Walter and pressures Christine into taking him home on a trial basis. Christine still convinced that he is not her son gets signed letters from Walter’s dentist and teacher confirming that Walter is an impostor. Christine then goes to the press to tell her story and as a result Jones sends her to Los Angeles County Hospitals psychopathic ward, there she meet another woman who tells her plenty of women have been sent there for challenging police authority. Whilst this is happening Detective Ybarra travels to a ranch in Wineville, Riverside County to arrange the deportation of 15 year old Sanford Clark to Canada. Clark then tells the detective that his uncle, Gordon Northcoot, forced him to help kidnap and murder around 20 boys and identifies one of those boys as Walter. The impostor Walter then reveals his motive was to secure transport to Los Angeles to see his favourite actor, Tom Mix, and that the police told him to lie about being Walter. Northcutt is then captured in Vancouver, Canada. Northcutt is found guilty of murder and is sentenced to death by hanging. Two years later, Northcutt sends Christine a message saying he is willing to tell her what happened to Walter on the condition that Christine meet him before his execution. She visits him, but he refuses to tell her if he killed Walter. He is then executed the next day. Years later a boy David Clay , who was assumed to have been killed by Northcutt, is found alive. He reveals that one of the boys he was imprisoned with was Walter. David, Walter and two other boys escaped, but were separated. David did not know whether Walter was recaptured or not, thus giving Christine hope that he is still alive.

Changeling is roughly based upon real life events; the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. I’m not usually a fan of Angelina Jolie, but I quite enjoyed her in this film. Jolie’s portrayal of Christine Collins; a single mother just looking for justice in a corrupt system, I believe is her best. Clint’s directing of the film is great, and the climax of the film; the two trials, was beautifully directed and edited.

Even though it is a sad film, I do love this film.

95/100

Million Dollar Baby.

SPOILERS!

Another best director oscar for Clint and rightly so. Million Dollar Baby was made in 2004 and was directed, co-produced, scored and starred Clint, as well as starring Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman.

Clint plays Frankie Dunn, an unappreciated boxing trainer, who has managed some incredible fighters. Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank) is a waitress from a Missouri town, she shows up at the Hit Pit, a run dun Los Angeles gym which is owned and operated by Dunn. Maggie asks Dunn to train her and he initially refuses as he doesn’t train girls. After training hard and with the influence of friend Scrap (Freeman), Dunn agrees to train Maggie. Maggie wins fights and proves she is a natural boxer. Dunn then arranges a title fight for Maggie. She is playing a $1 million match in Las Vegas against women’s champion Billie “The Blue Bear”, an ex-prostitute who has a reputation as a dirty fighter. Maggie has a shaking start, but then begins to dominate. After the round ended, Billie knocks Maggie out with a punch from behind. But before Dunn can pull the stool out of the way, Maggie lands on it, breaking her neck and leaving her a quadriplegic. Medical opinions confirm there is no hope of recovery. Throughout rehabilitation, Dunn never leaves Maggie side. As time passes Maggie develops bedsores and undergoes an amputation for an infected leg. She then asks Dunn to help her die while she can still remember the good times she had. Frankie initially refuses. Maggie then tries to take her life, but is saved by medical staff who then take measures to prevent further suicide attempts. After contemplation, Frankie sneaks in one night, and administers a fatal injection of adrenaline to Maggie, and then disappears for good.

Million Dollar Baby is a beautiful story. The character development of Frankie Dunn is brilliantly portrayed by Clint. As is the characters Maggie and Scrap, portrayed by Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman respectively. The movie was meant with some criticism about the ending, but I disagree with the views that they could have had Maggie triumphing over her disabilities. The film was essentially about the relationship Frankie and Maggie had, and how Maggie made Frankie care again, so the ending was absolutely perfect.

Clint, I am enjoying the last few movies!

90/100

Mystic River.

LOVE, LOVE , LOVED IT! So Clint only directs, Mystic River was made in 2003 and stars Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins.

Three boys, Jimmy Markum, Sean Devine and Dave Boyle are playing hockey in the street in 1975. The boys then spot some wet concrete, and write their names on it when a car pulls up, and two men pretending to be police officers, get out and tells the boys off for what they are doing, then they tell Dave to get in the car. The men are pedophiles and hold Dave captive and sexually abuses him for four days until he escapes. Fast forward 25 years later, the boys still living in the same neighbourhood , have drifted apart. Jimmy (Penn) is an ex-con who runs a grocery store, Dave (Robbins) is still haunted by his abduction and Sean (Bacon) is a police detective. Jimmy has a 19 year old daughter who is murder after a night out. The case is given to Sean, but Jimmy holds his own investigation. Dave quickly becomes the number 1 suspect in the case, with even his wife believing he killed her. A series of events lead to the killers being captured and also an innocent man being killed in the process.

Mystic River had my full attention throughout the film. While this is a simple whodunit story, Clint’s directing is an absolute masterpiece, and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the film. The film earned Sean Penn and Tim Robbins Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Academy Awards respectively. It is definitely Clint’s best film to date.

96/100

Space Cowboys.

Oh Clint the 80’s weren’t good for you, please don’t follow the same path in the 00’s. Space Cowboys was produced in 2000 and is directed by Clint, and stars himself, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner.

Space Cowboys follows four old ex-test pilots who were supposed to be the first men in space. Now they are called upon to repair an old Soviet satellite.

This movie doesn’t even deserve a post. It sucked. Hey Clint, can this please but your last sucky movie?!

50/100

The Bridges of Madison County.

So this is one of two Clint films I had seen prior to starting this expedition. The Bridges of Madison County is based upon a novel of the same name, it was produced in 1995 and is directed by Clint and also stars him and Meryl Streep.

The film is set in two different time periods; the present and the past. In the present, siblings Michael and Carolyn Johnson are at an Iowa farmhouse that used o belong to their mother Francesca Johnson (Streep), who is recently deceased. As they go through the contents of her safe deposit box and her will, they are shocked to find that she has left very specific instructions that her body is to be cremated and her ashes to be thrown off the Roseman Covered Bridge, which is not in accordance to what they were previously told. Carolyn then discovers a set of photos of her mother and letters. They go through the letters and discover a secret their mother kept. In the past; Francesca, an Italian war bride, meets a photographer Robert Kincaid (Clint), who has come to Iowa to shoot a photographic essay for the National Geographic on the covered bridges in the area. Together they have a four-day affair, while Francesca’s husband and children are away at the Illinois State Fair. The pair almost elope, but Francesca calls it off at the last minute, considering the implications it may have on the lives of her husband and children.

The Bridges of Madison County is very different kind of movie that I have now grown accustomed to seeing Clint in. It is a beautiful movie, the only flaw is Meryl’s accent.

90/100

A Perfect World.

A Perfect World is it? A Perfect World was made in 1993 and stars Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood and Laura Dern, and is directed by Clint.

A Perfect World is set in 1963 and follows two convicts; Butch Haynes (Costner) and Terry Pugh who escape from the Hunstville prison. Whilst on the run the pair stumble upon an eight year old boy called Phillip Perry, who is also a  Jehovah’s Witness. Needing a hostage to aid their escape Butch kidnaps the boy. Whilst on their journey Butch shoots Pugh as he attempted to molest Phillip. Butch carries on with his escape, bringing Phillip with him. As they travel together, Butch and Phillip discover common bonds and suffer the abuses of the outside ‘perfect world’.

The film is heartwarming and enjoyable, but you know I’m just waiting for Clint’s newer movies.

67/100

Unforgiven.

Unforgiven is arguably one of Clint’s greatest films. Made in 1992 Unforgiven is directed by Clint and also stars him, Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman. Clint returns to the west in one of his greatest masterpieces.

The film takes place in a town called Big Whisky, the town first seems normal, until a couple of cowboys cut up a prostitute. Unsatisfied with the justice from Sheriff ‘Little Bill’ (Hackman), the prostitutes put a bounty on the cowboys. The bounty attracts a range of bounty hunters including a young gun who goes by the name of ‘The Schofield Kid’, and aging killer William Munny (Clint), who gave up killing for his wife and children. But his wife is now gone, so Munny goes after the bounty, he calls upon his old partner Ned Logan (Freeman) to help.

This film blurs the lines between heroism and villiany, as Munny could be considered as both. The film has a film noir-ish style to it. The film is rather long, and does have some unnecessary aspects to it, but it is still a great movie. The film won many accolades including; Best Picture Oscar, Best Director (Clint Eastwood) Oscar, Best Editing Oscar (Joel Cox) and Best Supporting Actor (Gene Hackman), and was nominated for many more Oscar awards. The film also appears on many top 100 lists.

This is by far the best Clint western and so far his best movie.

95/100