gran torino

Oh, now it's not so funny after all. ;) I thought you were making fun of us two black sheep who thought the movie was below standard.

I'll be sure and rent the two mules for sister sarah.:cool:

Joe
 
JOERM said:
Oh, now it's not so funny after all. ;) I thought you were making fun of us two black sheep who thought the movie was below standard.

I'll be sure and rent the two mules for sister sarah.:cool:

Joe
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It's a great movie also.
We just had a marathon on TV of probably all his older movies. It was great!
 
Stainz said:
Tired of continued ethanol-related problems in my expensive Honda (The choke shaft is phenolic - jams open from swelling due to the ethanol - a common problem - no metal replacement available.) powered lawn mower, I ordered an 'American Classic' push mower (reel type) - $100 on Amazon with free shipping. I used one as a kid, lke many of us did... how hard could it be? My yard is too big, rough, and steep - but I persist. I am sopping wet when I'm half done. I'm also white haired - 61 - and way overweight. After several cuttings, that movie, Gran Torino, became available. I bought it - I'm a Clint Eastwood fan (Bloodwork was sad... he was a bad shot... maybe it was that 'worthless' -TIC- 8-banger?). My young wife watched it with me - laughed her butt off when he cut the grass - said now she understood... called me 'Walt' for a while.

The cruelest blow... a few weeks back, the 14-15 yr olds coagulating across the street saw me huffing & sweating, 93 F, code orange ozone - me gasping with my asthma, and offered to finish cutting my grass - for free. I must have looked bad. I finished it and went inside, my wife asking me if I was going to weed-eat the yard then. I gave my best Walt impression answer and headed to the shower.

Loved that movie - probably the most appropriate ending... but it was still sad.

Stainz

PS That weed-eater I bought runs on propane... pretty neat - and powerful.
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Stainz, don't you just LOVE yardwork in Alabama in the summertime?
 
I watched the movie last week. Well, it's a buddystory with some racism-themes. But all in all is the story very weak and not very logical.

Mr. Eastwood did a great job as an actor. The rest is sterotypic.
Only the girl stands a bit over the rest.

Swissman
 
Get off my grass!
2pq89oh.jpg
 
Excellent movie, truly excellent. Right up there with Unforgiven. The ending is, yeah, sure, dissapointing, but it is an excellent, appropriate ending as well, whereby Clint shows the maturity and intelligence of his character, Walt, and his icey cool courage. Not a comic book ending.

One of the things I liked is that while Walt uses lots of language that is un PC, racial epithets and such, he is in fact a fair guy who doesn't care about race. (He just insults everybody equally, including his barber bud. Ain't no big deal. No need to cry or call your congessman!) He cares about character.

Hmm. Probably appeals more to the older set -- which I feel is increasingly me, by default, if nothing else ;) -- than the younger, I bet.

And, yeah, I know, and admire, guys like that, too. What you see is what you get. Nothin' wrong with that. I prefer it.
 
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My wife is not a Clint Eastwood fan, but she liked this one. I guess it's because there can be no sequels!

Too bad I sold my M1!

I hate that push mower.

Stainz
 
It wasn't posted here but almost all the Hmong were not actors before this movie. I liked the movie a lot. I bought a copy from the previewed section at the video store for 7.95. Clint reminded me of some the WWII neighbor my dad had. I knew he was a WWII vet but found out after his death he was in the OSS. I wished I had talked to him about this before he was gone.
 
Onomea said:
One of the things I liked is that while Walt uses lots of language that is un PC, racial epithets and such, he is in fact a fair guy who doesn't care about race. (He just insults everybody equally, including his barber bud. Ain't no big deal. No need to cry or call your congessman!) He cares about character.
Click to expand...
I couldn't agree more and as I said in an earlier post, I liked the movie a lot.

A good example of how race neutral Walt Kowalski is is the scene where he stops to pick up the Hmong girl about to be assaulted by the bangers. He deals everybody what they deserve, regardless of race. The Asian girl, who has done nothing wrong yet needs help, gets rescued. The groveling white boy, who seems more than willing to throw the girl under the bus, gets called out for sniveling coward he is. The bangers get the choice of letting it go or dying. Each got what they deserved and I like that.

Bob
 
When I was a kid, we had a neighbor who was a lot like Walt.....crusty, cranky....scared the hell out of us kids in the neighborhood. Once we became teenagers and didn't mind approaching him, he was a really nice guy. He taught some of us how to work on our cars and lawn mowers. He really opened up when we were around. Just goes to show that things aren't as they seem.
 
bk43 said:
I couldn't agree more and as I said in an earlier post, I liked the movie a lot.

A good example of how race neutral Walt Kowalski is is the scene where he stops to pick up the Hmong girl about to be assaulted by the bangers. He deals everybody what they deserve, regardless of race. The Asian girl, who has done nothing wrong yet needs help, gets rescued. The groveling white boy, who seems more than willing to throw the girl under the bus, gets called out for sniveling coward he is. The bangers get the choice of letting it go or dying. Each got what they deserved and I like that.

Bob
Click to expand...

Exactly. Thats why I loved this movie. Walt isn't afraid of anything. He confronts evil even when he is greatly outnumbered several times in the movie. He even has a strained relationship with his children, yet steps up and takes care of the neighbor kid who tried to steal his car.

The lines about stacking um 5 high and using them for body bags in Korea and when he pulls up and confronts the bangers harassing the girl are classic.
 
I finally sat down with my bride and watched Gran Torino. All I can say is WOW! I have always been an Eastwood fan but this movie is in a class by itself. I laughed so much you would have thought it a comedy but one of the most powerful films in recent memory. Eastwood's delivery was uncanny, even for him. If there is anyone out there who hasn't seen this yet, do yourself a favor and watch it!
 
Gran Torino was a great movie. One of my favorite Eastwood films, up there with Pale Rider, Unforgiven, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and The Good The Bad and The Ugly.
 
I didn't like the end either. I guess the fact Eastwoods character was coughing up blood, suggesting he was terminally ill was supposed to justify his ultimate sacrifice. After the arrest of the bangers we're supposed to believe that the gang has no more members to wipe out the family? Must have been the new gang on the block. Clint is on the cover of AARP magazine this month. I like most of the rest of his stuff a lot.
 
Agree with all above, great movie. I didn't like the ending though. Eastwood is one of our iconic actor/directors.
 
Eastwood has said that Gran Torino is the last movie he'll act in. He will continue to write and direct, but as of now, he says no more acting.

Gran Torino was his swan song.

He went out the way he came in. Those of us who loved Gran Torino most likely also revered the Italian Westerns Clint starred in. We also enjoyed the Dirty Harry films.

At least Clint went out with an ode to those of us who enjoy movies when he brandishes a firearm.

Eastwood didn't go out with a Bridges of Madison County film.

The Academy snubbed Eastwood's Gran Torino despite it being a critical and box office success. They lavished Eastwood with nominations and Oscars for his "liberal" pictures.

Good for Clint for going out with a "bang!" He saluted all of us who enjoy his movies when he acts how we "like 'em!"
 
Gran Torino

I have not as yet seen the movie but my wife and I saw the car from

the movie on display at Warner Bros studios in Los Angeles. Clint let the

studio borrow the car for display .

Bob
 
i too enjoyed gran torino...as is the usual case with a eastwood movie...added it recently to my eastwood library of films
 
I finally watched this. Don't know why I waited so long. I didn't want to start a thread when this one was still here. I can't help but feel like I just watched the grown up version of Old Yeller. There was a horrible feeling that the ending was looming when he called his son. The worst thing that I carry away from this movie was that a good man had to die so that some punks could merely get locked away only to be presumably let back out too soon. But still, the movie illustrated a visible sign of what positive mentoring could bring. I wish that I could be that positive.
 
I thought the ending was perfect. He felt guilty about killing Asians in the war. He thought the only way to make it right was to sacrifice his life to help the Asians in his neighborhood. I was not expecting the ending but thought it made perfect sense. Great movie, I got it on blu-ray right along with Unforgiven.
 
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I like the majority of what he's done, but, tho' I'll admit this was a fine film, I didn't find it the right way to finish his acting career. If he WAS to make another "Harry" he might have had Harry die in some heroic fashion. (If for no other reason than to silence those who kept wanting more Callahan.) Still, while I appreciate the motives behind Walt's series of final actions, it left me cold as to his "finale." Also, while I also agree "Unforgiven" was a semi-masterpiece, I felt as tho' Clint was almost sneering at those fans who made his career. Same as his quips in the final DH movie. "Hey--you who made me a multimillionaire-- I now reject you." Good luck to him with his upcoming remake of "A Star Is Born." Certainly it has been his musical talents that made him the megastar he is now...
 
My favorite scene in that movie is when the Hmong kid pulls off the car talk routine at the construction site after Walt and his barber buddy teach him how to talk car talk. I thought that was hilarious, but it also rang true.
 
I thought it was very well done, an outstanding flick.Clints portrayal of the character was spot on.

I am getting it for my Eastwood DVD collection as well.
 
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