Okay, so I'm watching this movie, right?
It's about this grumpy old guy. In the past he's killed a lot of men. The old guy is sick. In fact, he's dying. He meets this kid who's clueless and immature. He also meets a woman who's related to the stupid kid. The woman's presence seems to make the old guy less crusty and more human. At the same time, the old guy teaches the clueless kid to grow up and fly right. Near the end, the old guy gets his life in order and gets his hair cut. He's preparing for a showdown. The old guy goes out in a blaze of glory instead of letting his illness kill him.
Here's the question:
Am I watching John Wayne in The Shootist (1976) or Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino (2008)?
. . .
In other news, I finally saw Quentin Tarantino's 153-minute Inglourious Basterds, which I understand he cut down from 190 minutes (Thanks, Dude!) and which I will certainly watch again, once he's edited it down to a manageable 105 minutes. My favorite character, of course, is Brad Pitt's Lt. Aldo Raine, mainly because he doesn't regurgitate reams of dialogue. I also note how much actress Diane Kruger resembles Lilian Harvey. For a much more positive take on the film, see Kim Morgan.
5 comments:
I was totally thinking Gran Torino, until you pointed out The Shootist!
I'm saying the Shootist.
i LOVED Basterds, i would certainly enjoy seeing a 190 minute version!
Thanks for mentioning the reams of dialogue in Basterds, which make me leery of any Tarantino film. The man loves the sound of his own words, and he uses a lot of them.
There aren't any of his movies that wouldn't be made better by being shorter. I did a review of Death Proof along those lines. I hope you'll forgive me for plugging my own writing, but I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Tarantino needs an editor.
..."The Shootist"...now ask me about "The Theory of Everything"...but I get a cookie first...
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