I figured since We have been watching all of the Dirty Harry films with the one and the only Clint Eastwood (Sudden Impact) and I figured we’d finish off the series. Do not confuse today’s film The Dead Pool with that hilarious Marvel Comics movie because this one is based off a twisted game. The Dead Pool is a game where they write a list of celebrities that each person believes will die within the year an the person with the most deaths wins the game. It all becomes a little real though when a musician is found dead and his name is on the very list of a director (Liam Neeson). Harry Callahan (Eastwood) is put on the case as more and more celebrities start to turn up dead that are all linked to the director. The film also stars Patricia Clarkson (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials) as Samantha Walker, Jim Carrey (The Number 23) as Johnny Squares, Evan C. Kim (V) as Al Quan, David Hunt (Jade) as Harlan Rook, Michael Goodwin (Stuck In Love) as Lt. Ackerman, Michael Currie (Sudden Impact) as Captain Donnelly, Anthony Charnota (The Rookie) as Lou Janero, Victoria Bastel (The Video Dead) as Suzanne Dayton, and the film was directed by Buddy Van Horn (Any Which Way You Can). To see the rest of the review, please click here to go to Moshpits and Movies.
Tag: Clint Eastwood
Day 335: Sudden Impact (1983)
This year we’ve been exploring films that I have never seen for a challenge that I have been doing for another blog. So, we’ve been exploring the Dirty Harry collection which stars the legendary Clint Eastwood (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) as Harry Callahan. For this week’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday film, we are checking out the fourth film in the series in Sudden Impact. Jennifer Spencer (Sandra Locke) and her sister were brutally raped by some men years ago, but the men never went to jail for it. Now years later, she is on the hunt for revenge which in turn grabs the attention of Harry Callahan (Eastwood). When things begin to heat up, he is forced on a “vacation” to Sao Paulo, California where he investigates the case in the small town that is linked to the crime in San Francisco. The film also stars Pat Hingle (Batman Forever) as Chief Jannings, Bradford Dillman (Escape From The Planet of the Apes) as Captain Briggs, Paul Drake (Beverly Hills Cop) as Mick, Audrie Neenan (Doubt) as Ray Parkins, Jack Thibeau (Escape From Alcatraz) as Kruger, Albert Popwell (The Enforcer) as Horace King, Wendell Wellman (Sommersby) as Tyrone, and the film was directed by Clint Eastwood. To see the stats and the rest of the review, please click here to go to Moshpits and Movies.
Day 253: Sully (2016)
There are stories in the world that truly capture the imagination when you hear them and sometimes it’s so incredible its hard to believe. Then there are miracles that happen in the world that you just want to know the incredible story behind them. That was definitely the case with US Airways Flight 1549 which was a flight that left New York’s LaGuardia Airport and landed in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009 which is explored in the new film Sully. Tom Hanks (Bridge Of Spies) plays former US Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger a.k.a Sully, a pilot who had to make a snap decision after losing both his engines due to birds flying into them on that faithful day. The film explores the aftermath of the event and all of the questioning he faced afterwards as to whether it was the right choice to make. The film also stars Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) as Jeff Skiles, Valerie Mahaffey (Senior Trip) as Diane Higgins, Mike O’Malley (R.I.P.D.) as Charles Porter, Jamey Sheridan (Spotlight) as Ben Edwards, Anna Gunn (Red State) as Elizabeth Davis, Holt McCallany (Fight Club) as Mike Cleary, Laura Linney (Mystic River) as Lorraine Sullenberger, Molly Hagan (Election) as Doreen Welsh, Ann Cusack (Stigmata) as Donna Dent, and the film was directed by Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby).
Spoiler Alert: There may be information contained in this Article that could potentially spoil the plot of the film so continue with caution or do not read any further if you do not want to know. I have always thought that the story is absolutely incredible and one that should be told for the ages. The film at first focused more on the aftermath of the whole event as it focused on Sully struggling with what happened and the committee not believing Sully. The issue with them not believing Sully is because of simulations saying that they could’ve made it back to either LaGuardia or the airport in Newark. So, the film is Sully’s hunt to prove that he wasn’t wrong and that he made the right choice. They eventually show you what happened on the plane twice which means two different points of view. One showing of the event starts with Sully and co. but then it switches to what the air traffic controller hears the whole time. Then when they are in a meeting, it goes from the point of view of everyone involved inside the plane, but more importantly through Sully. The man was a hero for what he did and the committee was literally treating him like he may have gone senile or had a nervous breakdown. I thought that the film was very good, but not great. It felt like it was just cruising along for the most part and I felt that the landing should have been the focus point of the beginning of the film rather than starting with the investigation. If you never knew about the event, you might have been confused about the beginning of the film. Nonetheless, as I said it was a very good film, but if you plan on flying you may not want to watch this till afterwards. I am going to give the film a grade somewhere between an B+/A- because the acting was great and the story was good.
Day 244: The Enforcer (1976)
A couple of weeks ago, we started watching the Dirty Harry franchise for Ass Whoopin Wednesdays when we watched Magnum Force. Since HBOGO has most of the series, I figured why not watch the next film in the series entitled The Enforcer. This time around, our favorite hard ass cop Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) has to investigate a group of disgruntled Vietnam vets who are calling themselves The People’s Revolutionary Strike Force, but there are a couple of obstacles in his way. The police force is coming down hard on Harry for the way he does his job and they have given him a new partner in a female police officer which he is not all that happy to be working with. Together, they’ll have to unfoil the groups plans and save the mayor of San Francisco. The film also stars Tyne Daly (Cagney & Lacey) as Kate Moore, Harry Guardino (Any Which Way You Can) as Lt. Bressler, Bradford Dillman (Escape From The Planet Of The Apes) as Captain McKay, John Mitchum (The Outlaw Josey Wales) as DiGeorgio, DeVeren Bookwalter (The Omega Man) as Bobby Maxwell, John Crawford (The Towering Inferno) as Mayor, Samantha Doane (The Gauntlet) as Wanda, Albert Popwell (Sudden Impact) as Mustapha, Jocelyn Jones (Tourist Trap) as Miki, and the film was directed by James Fargo (Forced Vengeance). To see the rest of the stats and check out the review, please click here to go to Moshpits and Movies.
Day 216: Magnum Force (1973)
Dirty Harry is a true American Icon of badasses in the world of cinema and sadly I have only seen the first film in the series. So, I figured what better place than here to see the next film in the series Magnum Force which sees Clint Eastwood (The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly) returns as police officer Harry Callahan.Some officers on the force dressed as a motorcycle cops are taking out all of the scumbags in the city of San Francisco vigilante style and that is upsetting the police force including Harry. After being off homicide for a while, Harry is put back on and is tasked with figuring out who they are before they take out any more undesirables. The film also stars Hal Holbrook (Men Of Honor) as Lt. Briggs, Mitchell Ryan (Electra Glide In Blue) as McCoy, David Soul (Starsky and Hutch) as Davis, Tim Matheson (The West Wing) as Sweet, Kip Niven (New Year’s Evil) as Astrachan, Robert Ulrich (Spenser: For Hire) as Grimes, Felton Perry (Dumb And Dumber) as Early Smith, Margaret Avery (Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins) as prostitute, Tony Giorgio (Foxy Brown) as Palancio, and the film was directed by Ted Post (Beneath The Planet Of The Apes). To see the rest of the review, please click here to go to Moshpits and Movies.
Day 151: Flags Of Our Fathers (2006)
First of all I want to start this article off by wishing everyone including the men and women of the Armed Forces a Happy Memorial Day. After all, this day is about remembering all soldiers past and present that have fought for this country. So for today’s film, I decided to watch a war film and I picked Flags Of Our Fathers which was directed by Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby). It’s 1945 and the war is almost coming to a close, but America is still at war with the Japanese. While on the island of Iwo Jima, the goal is to hang an American flag at the top of a certain point. The film follows the six men who raised the very flag that we see in that iconic image and all of the issues they had to deal with while at war and after it. The film stars Ryan Phillippe (Cruel Intentions) as John “Doc” Bradley, Jesse Bradford (Hackers) as Rene Gagnon, Adam Beach (Windtalkers) as Ira Hayes, John Benjamin Hickey (The Bone Collector) as Keyes Beech, Barry Pepper (True Grit) as Mike Strank, Jamie Bell (King Kong) as Iggy, Paul Walker (Furious 7) as Hank Hansen, John Slattery (Captain America: Civil War) as Bud Gerber, Robert Patrick (Striptease) as Colonel Chandler Johnson, Neal McDonough (Red 2) as Captain Severance, and Melanie Lynskey (Up In The Air) as Pauline.
As far as the film is concerned, it’s a very different type of war movie because not only do you see the horrors of war, but you see a very different side of it. You see a side of war that the politicians do not want you to see. For instance, throughout the film, the image of the men putting up the flag is more important to the cause then the actual truth behind the picture. The country practically has no money so they use the image and the remaining three men who are alive to try and raise money by selling bonds. They know very well that these guys are not comfortable with the whole hero thing, but they need to use that to try and draw money to win the war. Those are some of the things we do not get to see, but is the film controversial? Maybe or maybe not because it depends on who you ask like Spike Lee. Clint Eastwood as a director is money because I have yet to be disappointed at any of the films the man has made and that is truly amazing. There are some iconic images in this film like all of the warships out in the ocean to the gritty aspects of war. All of the acting was great, the cinematography was amazing, and the story was well written. This film may not be my favorite war movie in the world, but it certainly ranks up there. Like I said above, this day is about remembering all the men and women that served this country. Check out the film, learn some history about the nation, and I am giving the film an A- for a final grade.
Day 91: Mystic River (2003)
Out of all the films that have been filmed in and round the city of Boston, Mystic River was one of those films that I had never seen before. I figured what better place then here and what better time than now to review the film with an amazing cast and director. Mystic River stars Sean Penn (Fast Times At Ridgemont High) as Jimmy Markum, Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption) as Dave Boyle, and Kevin Bacon (Footloose) as Sean Devine, three childhood friends who drifted apart after a tragic event in their childhood. Unfortunately, all three men will be reunited after it’s discovered that Jimmy’s daughter Katie (Emmy Rossum) was brutally murdered. The film also stars Laurence Fishburne (Boyz N The Hood) as Det. Whitey Powers, Marcia Gay Harden (The Mist) as Celeste Boyle, Laura Linney (The Exorcism Of Emily Rose) as Annabeth Markum, Kevin Chapman (Blow) as Val Savage, Tom Guiry (The Sandlot) as Brendan Harris, Spencer Treat Clark (Gladiator) as Silent Ray Harris, Robert Wahlberg (The Departed) as Kevin Savage, Jenny O’Hara (The King Of Queens) as Esther Harris, Adam Nelson (The Abyss) as Nick Savage, Ari Graynor (For A Good Time, Call…) as Eve Pigeon, and the film was directed by Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby).
This was an amazing film from Clint Eastwood, who seems to have never directed a bad one in his career. This is one of those films that will leave you speechless when you find out who the killer is because it’s one of those I should have seen that coming. The whole time, you are ready to throw one of the characters up sh** creek because you think for sure that he/she is guilty and then they throw a curve ball at you. That is truly what I love about movies like this, I don’t want it to be predictable. I want to think that I have the person and then be shocked when it’s revealed. As far as the acting is concerned, you have Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, and Tim Robbins all in one film. That alone should speak for itself as far as quality is concerned and then you throw in Laurence Fishburne and that is the cherry on top. If I had o pick an MVP of the film, It would be a toss up between Penn and Robbins, but there is one performance no one talks about. I think Marcia Gay Harden does a great job playing the wife who is all torn up inside as to what she should do regarding what she thinks she knows. That was a powerful performance as well from her in the film. The cinematography is in the film is great as it comes complete with some great shots of the city of Boston. It was a great movie overall and you can’t go wrong by picking this one up. I am going to give the film an A for a final grade. It was definitely a great film to close the month of March.
Day 72: Diablo (2015)
For today’s film, I chose to watch a western because of the love my father has for the original American folklore that is Westerns. Not to mention that the film stars Scott Eastwood (Fury) who is the son of legendary Western actor Clint Eastwood. Eastwood plays Civil War vet Jackson, a man with a lot of skeletons in his closet. Nevertheless, he is sent on a crazy journey as his wife was kidnapped by Mexicans so it is up to him to try and save her before it’s too late. Although, the journey to save his wife is going to prove to be more dangerous than he expected. The film also stars Walton Goggins (House Of 1000 Corpses) as Ezra, Camilla Belle (The Lost World: Jurassic Park) as Alexsandra, Adam Beach (Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser) as Nakoma, Samuel Marty (Fargo) as Ishani, José Zúñiga (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) as Guillermo, Tzi Ma (The Lady Killers) as Quok Mi, Joaquim de Almeida (Clear And Present Danger) as Arturo, Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) as Benjamin Carver, Greg Lawson (The Legend Of Butch And Sundance) as Timothy, Yaniv Bercovitz (Rude Boy-The Movie) as Jeremiah, and the film was directed by Lawrence Roeck (The Forger).
I wanted to go into the film thinking that it was going to be one heck of a western only because of who Scott Eastwood’s father was. The sad fact is that no one will ever be Clint Eastwood again in the world of Westerns. Now by me saying that doesn’t necessarily mean that I hated the movie, it’s quite the contrary. I call it the tale of two different films and what I mean by that is that the first half of the film is actually quite boring and a little confusing. They go through scenes without really explaining much and characters all of sudden disappear and such. The second half of the film is when it gets really good because your perception of Scott Eastwood’s character drastically changes and he becomes more bad ass than before. Walter Goggins plays a very vital role in this film especially when it has to do with Eastwood’s character and all will be revealed when you watch the film for yourself. Goggins does a terrific job in the film playing what you believe to be the antagonist of the film until the film goes all Fight Club on us. And I don’t mean soap bars, fights, and Brad Pitt when I say that, but you’ll see what I mean. Like I said, if you’re expecting cool lines and action like a Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western then turn around now, but you’ll have to want to watch the whole film to get to the good parts. I thought it was an OK film which is why I am going to give the film an B-/C+ for a final grade. It’s borderline between the two grades.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 