The Very Last, True Movie Hero

The Very Last, True Movie Hero

Clint Eastwood, born in 1930. Made many a movie where he kicked the hell out of evil everywere. A man who revived the western in the 60's and in the 1970's, virtually invented the crime dramas that we see today with his Dirty Harry role. A true movie genius.

I have all of his spaghetti westerns he did Sergio Leone. My favorite is the last, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. An almost road movie, with some interesting sidekicks all for that search for that $200,000. These movies were instant classics and their low budgetness and mono soundtrack seem so real and so relevent today.

And then there are the Dirty Harry films, all 5 in a box set with the original being my favorite. Clint always played the "good guy" in this role. Sure he may have been above the law in a way, but he always showed complete and utter contempt for the bad guy. I always enjoy the build up in these movies. The scoping out of the enemy before he goes and gets his man. He sure was and still is the king of the one liners (Next to Lenny Brisco). "Oughta the way, Hammerhead".

I think, he summed up these characters he's played then and now with his role as Will Munny in Unforgiven, his western from 1992. He says, "It's a darn thing killing a man, you take away all he has, and all he ever will have." Then there is some more conversation with the young cowboy that's riding with him where the young guy is almost ashamed and says the guys they killed had it coming. Clint then says,"We all have it coming". But in this movie like the others, there is that point and he did it also in his movie Bloodwork. In Unforgiven, he grabs that whiskey bottle, and his gun, you find out what he really is and becomes that hero. And in Bloodwork, he goes to the back of the car, and get's that shotgun and instantly he is off to get the bad guy. I know Bloodwork wasn't his greatest flick, but when he went to the back of that car to get that shotgun, the old warrior came back, back from all those old movies to save the day. The guy is the master of his craft.

Which brings me to Friday, when Million Dollar Baby comes out. I think the film is going to be a very different but very good experience. The reviews for this film have been staggering. When I opened up my Entertainment Weekly last week, all I saw were A's acrossed the board. I don't even want to read anymore! I just don't want to know what its about. I just can't wait to see it.

Last week, true to form, Clint got on Michael Moore at the NBR awards. He asked Moore to avoid making him the subject of any future films and if he (Moore) showed up at his door with a camera, he'd kill him! Then he said "I mean it". He may or may not have been grinning when he said this but... Michael Moore has to ask one question to himself, "Do you feel lucky, punk?"

It's moments like these that make me proud to be a Republican. Long Live Clint!!!