Clint Eastwood is 80

mike65

Happy brithday Clint!

JP Liz V1

LEGENDARY ACTOR, DIRECTOR AND MUSICIAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLINT

Podge2k7

Happy birthday, a true legend.

Karl Hungus

Yeah...

pixelburp

Happy Birthday 'aul Squinty Eyes. Can't believe the man is 80.

To me, he seems eternal and a timeless man from Hollywood, he has just been around forever.

Karl Hungus

To the man, the legend... Yeah...

mike65

Can we overlook the stupid ape movies?

PeterIanStaker

Happy birthday. Legend is an overused word, but it fails to do Clint justice.

mrgardener

Best director around for the last 10/15 yrs.

Karl Hungus

mike65 wrote: »

Can we overlook the stupid ape movies?

No! I loved those as a kid. :mad:

Renn

mrgardener wrote: »

Best director around for the last 10/15 yrs.

I love a good old joke on Mr. Eastwood's birthday!

Karl Hungus

Renn wrote: »

I love a good old joke on Mr. Eastwood's birthday!

While I wouldn't go as far as saying the best in the last 10-15 years, the man is certainly an incredibly talented director, and made some absolutely astonishing films in that role throughout his career. The Outlaw Josey Wales was one of the best westerns ever filmed, and he actually manages to trump that with Unforgiven. His recent work has been brilliant as well, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima, Changeling and Gran Torino were all fantastic.

Chriskavo

He has taken Martin Scorceses throne as best director in Hollywood today in my opinion. Scorcese with the exception of Shutter Island hasn't directed anything of Clint's standard in the past 10 years.

DrumSteve

mike65 wrote: »

Can we overlook the stupid ape movies?

right turn, clyde.

The Recliner

mike65 wrote: »

Can we overlook the stupid ape movies?

Nope they are part of the story that makes up the Legend of Clint

Renn wrote: »

I love a good old joke on Mr. Eastwood's birthday!

He would be in with a shout at that title in my reckoning, the volume of work and the consistant high standard would ensure that

The man has made some excellent movies and has gotten better with age

Karl Hungus

Chriskavo wrote: »

He has taken Martin Scorceses throne as best director in Hollywood today in my opinion. Scorcese with the exception of Shutter Island hasn't directed anything of Clint's standard in the past 10 years.

To be fair to Scorsese though, The Aviator was excellent, and I did like The Departed quite a lot.

Renn

Karl Hungus wrote: »

While I wouldn't go as far as saying the best in the last 10-15 years, the man is certainly an incredibly talented director, and made some absolutely astonishing films in that role throughout his career. The Outlaw Josey Wales was one of the best westerns ever filmed, and he actually manages to trump that with Unforgiven. His recent work has been brilliant as well, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima, Changeling and Gran Torino were all fantastic.

Could name a shítload of other guys I'd have ahead of him. When I see Eastwood's name beside the director slot, I always fear the worst. Maybe that's being a tad dramatic but let's just say I think he's way overrated by most out there. I've never come out of one of his movies and gone 'yeah, would love to see that again'. Even with Mystic River, I couldn't really be bothered going back to it as I know I wouldn't get anything from it. It's all there the first time, simple approach etc.

He just makes painfully boring, risk-free movies - Changeling, Letters, Invictus to name just a few of his recent borefests.

Btw guys, how can you tell you're watching an Eastwood movie? Honest question.

Chriskavo

Renn wrote: »

Could name a shítload of other guys I'd have ahead of him. When I see Eastwood's name beside the director slot, I always fear the worst. Maybe that's being a tad dramatic but let's just say I think he's way overrated by most out there. I've never come out of one of his movies and gone 'yeah, would love to see that again'. Even with Mystic River, I couldn't really be bothered going back to it as I know I wouldn't get anything from it. It's all there the first time, simple approach etc.

He just makes painfully boring, risk-free movies - Changeling, Letters, Invictus to name just a few of his recent borefests.

Btw guys, how can you tell you're watching an Eastwood movie? Honest question.

Scorcese is unquestionably one of the finest directors of all time and Clints best are very average to Scorceses best work. However I have enjoyed his movies more over the last 10 yrs. Changeling - I found far from boring. It had me gripped from start to finish and was a top notch drama IMO.

Duggy747

Legend isn't a word for Clint, it just doesn't match the true nature of this guy and what he has been worth to my favourite medium.

The guy is relentless on talent and with a shockingly high-value CV like his it's hard to imagine any actor in the future will have the same quality. Even as a director he's pushed out some of the best films of the last decade, Mystic River being one of my favourites.

He is the blueprint to all grizzled hard-asses and heros in movies, never afraid to take the piss out of himself either. I've always loved his type of dark, dry-witted humour too.........probably where I developed a lot of my humour from.

He just looks so bad-ass in his movie posters, that thousand-yard stare from his cold-steely eyes..........a man with a mission:


This one is my favourite as I remember loving it as a kid before I even knew who he was :pac:


Plus these were wallpapers I made and had up until recently (Rambo is the flavour of the month now )



He maybe 80 but dammit it feels like he's been around forever. An undeniable cog in the Hollywood machine.

Here's to you, Clint *raises beer*

mike65

A few of Clints directed films

Play Misty For Me
Bird
White Hunter Black Heart
Outlaw Josey Wales
High Plains Drifter
The Bridges of Madison County
Letters from Iwo Jima
Unforgiven
Bronco Billy
Million Dollar Baby

A mad list of titles when you think about it, from Capraesque comedy to plup romantic fiction to WW2 from the Japanese perspective in Japanese. Jazz and John Huston to boot!

Eastwood deserves plaudits for simply not playing safe and always giving it a go even if the final film may fall short of its stated aim. I'd sooner watch an interesting failure than a Ron Howard movie. Indeed I would ask anyone to name a "mainstream" American director who's output has been more diverse, more eclectic.

Renn

Eastwood deserves plaudits for simply not playing safe

Okay, I really don't think you even believe in that statement

mike65

You know Renn, God doesn't like a smart-arse.

Neither do I.

migozarad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLINT!He made westerns watchable (Josie Wales spitting tobacco on a deceased,hapless unfortunate to have crossed his path is seared into my conscious for all time) with his brooding presence..Perhaps,he didn't have a great acting range/versatility but as a silent,strong-type charismatic macho anti-hero,he was non-pareil...
Letters from Iwo Jima was a daring directorial choice for a self-professed Republican to make,surely?

Renn

Not trying to be a smartass at all. Just don't believe what you're saying at all - even die hard Eastwood fans would tend to agree that he never takes risks.

johnny_ultimate

Let's keep it friendly guys. It is possible to have an argument without attacking each other.

For the record, I'm also not the biggest Eastwood fan these days (I'd agree he plays it way too safe on occasion) but I appreciate what he has contributed to cinema in the past, especially the Western genre. He is the ultimate cowboy, the mysterious stranger. These days, I think his films tend to be bland, sometimes simplistic, usually just a little too safe. I've liked a few of them - Gran Torino was particularly enjoyable, if again not all that surprising or insightful! - but with stuff like Invictus and Letters from Iwo Jima I think he hammers home points a little too hard minus subtlety.

He has made a significant contribution to cinema, but I personally feel his best material is behind him.

Duggy747

Even though it's Ennio Morricone who created it this always plays in my head when I think of Clint, to me it's his theme :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOKhQ8ObQ7E

Morlar

Happy 80th Mr Eastwood. +1 for the comments about the outlaw Josey wales and unforgiven, 2 of my all time favourite movies. As an actor or director he is outstanding (clyde movies aside).

Renn

What's outstanding though? Once again, if he's that amazing and all that, please tell me what it is, as I certainly ain't seeing it. What differentiates him from others? It seems like more of a case where he's just got lucky with a couple of scripts. I can't imagine too many other director's out there that would have made such a balls of Invictus. Perfect opportunity to make a good movie given the subject matter, but nah, that'd be too much work.

mike65

With getting dragged into some stupid argument I listed films that covered 40 years and that touched on a very diverse range of subjects. I really yeild to no one in my basic contention as already stated. Unless someone can find me a bankable director who has gone from a study of meglomania in the African bush to a biopic of a Jazz legend to dissecting and even making a May-Sept romance that was far from awful - Breezy.

Renn

Yeah, he's done a few different ones obviously, but that's not what I'm getting at. Essentially they're all the same. Top director's have their own style, you can tell it a mile off. With Clint, anyone could have directed it.

indough

Renn wrote: »

Yeah, he's done a few different ones obviously, but that's not what I'm getting at. Essentially they're all the same. Top director's have their own style, you can tell it a mile off. With Clint, anyone could have directed it.

if he doesnt have a distinguishing style then how can all his films be the same given that they are about different subject matter

Corcs001

Happy Birthday Mr. Eastwood! Unforgiven is one of my favourite movies. I'm gonna go watch The Outlaw Josey Wales seeing as I missed it last Friday!:D

mikhail

Renn wrote: »

Yeah, he's done a few different ones obviously, but that's not what I'm getting at. Essentially they're all the same. Top director's have their own style, you can tell it a mile off. With Clint, anyone could have directed it.

There are a couple of factors at play there. First, he doesn´t meddle with scripts since Unforgiven - he trusts that the writer is a better writer than him. Second, his camerawork is very simple. These both would appear on screen as a lack of a signature style, but his methods have made some very good movies for him. Some less good ones too, but so it goes. There aren´t so many directors out there with an uninterrupted stream of great movies.

Eastwood is an icon of cinema - an actor who´s played more than one iconic character, and an oscar-winning director. Any hyperbole on his birthday can be excused.

mrgardener

Renn wrote: »

Could name a shítload of other guys I'd have ahead of him. When I see Eastwood's name beside the director slot, I always fear the worst. Maybe that's being a tad dramatic but let's just say I think he's way overrated by most out there. I've never come out of one of his movies and gone 'yeah, would love to see that again'. Even with Mystic River, I couldn't really be bothered going back to it as I know I wouldn't get anything from it. It's all there the first time, simple approach etc.

He just makes painfully boring, risk-free movies - Changeling, Letters, Invictus to name just a few of his recent borefests.

Btw guys, how can you tell you're watching an Eastwood movie? Honest question.

His name is generally on the poster and in the credits.
Your comment about boring, risk free movies is laughable. He makes movies that doesn't have tons of CGI, instead he makes small movies, gets the best out of his actors, and tells a story.
If you find that boring, theres always Transformers 2.:rolleyes:

Renn

mrgardener wrote: »

His name is generally on the poster and in the credits.
Your comment about boring, risk free movies is laughable. He makes movies that doesn't have tons of CGI, instead he makes small movies, gets the best out of his actors, and tells a story.
If you find that boring, theres always Transformers 2.:rolleyes:

lolz, because he's on the credits, lolz

Yeah, totally ignore what I was implying and just stick to a silly answer. They are generally boring (the ones he's directed anyways) and he doesn't take risks (well, not in his recent ones). You know what's going to happen, you know where it's going, you know how everything's going to come about, simple simple simple. But if that floats your boat, all well and good. But I'd rather spend my time watching some of the work of far superior director's out there. No doubt he tells a story but typically it's a ****ing dreary one.

And I'm not entirely sure as to why you've brought up CGI I'd have a strong bet that you're a regular poster on the imdb forums going by that statement.

johnny_ultimate

Final warning lads, stop insulting each other. It's impossible to have a discussion with all this sarcasm.

mrgardener

Renn wrote: »

lolz, because he's on the credits, lolz

Yeah, totally ignore what I was implying and just stick to a silly answer. They are generally boring (the ones he's directed anyways) and he doesn't take risks (well, not in his recent ones). You know what's going to happen, you know where it's going, you know how everything's going to come about, simple simple simple. But if that floats your boat, all well and good. But I'd rather spend my time watching some of the work of far superior director's out there. No doubt he tells a story but typically it's a ****ing dreary one.

And I'm not entirely sure as to why you've brought up CGI I'd have a strong bet that you're a regular poster on the imdb forums going by that statement.

Each to their own, i guess....

Savman

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I personally feel his best material is behind him.

Er, the man is 80 years old ffs. Of course his best material is behind him, I don't see him straddling horses in The Good The Bad and The Ugly 2 anytime soon so maybe try just show a little respect to a cinematic icon.

Whatever about his directorial films, a few of them I haven't seen, but he seems to have made the transition into filmaking a lot better than his peers. So much so, that he is being compared to Scorsese which is a greater credit to Eastwood IMHO.

We're not worthy.

johnny_ultimate

Savman wrote: »

Er, the man is 80 years old ffs. Of course his best material is behind him, I don't see him straddling horses in The Good The Bad and The Ugly 2 anytime soon so maybe try just show a little respect to a cinematic icon.

Whatever about his directorial films, a few of them I haven't seen, but he seems to have made the transition into filmaking a lot better than his peers. So much so, that he is being compared to Scorsese which is a greater credit to Eastwood IMHO.

We're not worthy.

Yeah, naturally he's past his cowboy days, but he's still extremely active at his age, producing almost two films a year at the moment. Even as a director, I personally don't think he's impressive as much anymore as he did with the likes of Unforgiven. It's the same as Woody Allen (although in fairness to Clint, few of his films are as outright bad as some contemporary Woody Allen films) - still soldiering on, and I totally respect their classic material, but for me the last few Clint Eastwood films I've seen have been relatively bland and heavy handed.

Chriskavo

This is without doubt one of his coolest, funniest, baddest scene from ' A Fistful Of Dollars'. A salutary lesson to anyone who thinks about slagging of someone's mule. Happy 80th Clint!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r5GlSSkl2U

Savman

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

for me the last few Clint Eastwood films I've seen have been relatively bland and heavy handed.

Ok, he may not be reinventing the wheel but nothing wrong with just making decent flicks. Not sure what people expect when they see "Directed By Clint Eastwood" - explosions maybe?? Dinosaurs?!?!

One man's "safe" is another man's "solid"!

I liked Mystic River and Unforgiven, but really enjoyed Gran Torino which showed he can still be a mean old bastard when he wants to. Here was me thinkin' he'd gone soft after "Rocky for girls"

Nolanger

Anyone else seen his first film Revenge of the Creature?

Black Swan

80? Not too much longer before Clint becomes the High Plains Drifter.

rednik

My first movie in the cinema was Kelly's Heroes and ever since then he has been one of my favourite film stars of all time. Probably one of the finest film makers ever.

johnny_ultimate

Savman wrote: »

Ok, he may not be reinventing the wheel but nothing wrong with just making decent flicks. Not sure what people expect when they see "Directed By Clint Eastwood" - explosions maybe?? Dinosaurs?!?!

One man's "safe" is another man's "solid"!

I liked Mystic River and Unforgiven, but really enjoyed Gran Torino which showed he can still be a mean old bastard when he wants to. Here was me thinkin' he'd gone soft after "Rocky for girls"

I'd be with you that a good few of them are 'solid' - Gran Torino, Changeling, Mystic River are all enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, I'm not disrespecting him at all. I'm just not all that blown away by anything he's made recently, and strongly disliked Invictus and Letters from Iwo Jima. Not denying him any respect, just saying his current 'safe' films aren't necessarily for me. I'm very much of the opinion that there is no director out there immune from criticism, even if they have made countless classics. As much as I love Manhattan and Annie Hall, I'm not going to let Cassandra's Dream by just because I respect Woody Allen! Same with Eastwood - as fantastic as Unforgiven or The Man With No Name films are (well, acting wise for Clint anyway!) I'm not going to call Invictus a great movie just because of that. All IMO, of course, but I still think Saraband is a better 'old age' film than Gran Torino !