The Final Poll: Million Dollar Baby (2004)

This was the last poll of the year. It landed on "Boxing Day" up here in Canada, so I thought why not have the poll be about boxing, even though the holiday doesn't actually have anything to do with the sport at all. There just weren't enough Christmas movies that I wasn't already going to watch, or hadn't already seen, but there were plenty of boxing movies we never got around to seeing. One of those movies was the winner of the poll, Million Dollar Baby. I knew this was a popular movie, but I didn't know how popular until I looked it up and realized that it won the Oscars for Best Actress, Best Supporting Male, Best Director, and Best Picture of the Year! That would be a lot to live up to, but don't worry, I didn't find any of that out until after I watched it. Hit the jump for my thoughts on this Clint Eastwood directed, produced, and acted in film.

Poll Position: "Million Dollar Baby"

It is sad to think that it took a poll for me to watch "Million Dollar Baby". It was on my list, but it kept on being moved down. Especially after watching "Gran Torino" and "Mystic River", it kept giving more and more excuses to see this. I slowly came to the conclusion that not only did I adore Clint Eastwood as an actor, but as a director also. He has this style, both as an actor and a director, which I've never been able to put a finger on it but it has always drew me in. But yes, thankfully I am finally getting to see this, hopefully it lives up to my expectations.

Force Fed Films: Magnum Force (1973)

Since I watched Dirty Harry not too long ago, it meant Puneet could finally recommend its sequel, and one of his favorite Clint Eastwood movies to me, Magnum Force. I was warned that it wasn't as good as Dirty Harry, but that it was still a good Clint Eastwood movie. Hopefully armed with sufficient knowledge to prepare me for the film, I dove in. One thing I could say before I even saw it, if they used the "Do you feel lucky, punk?" line in the film, it would only seem lame and forced due to the popularity of the line in first film. So did they use it and get lame, or does Magnum Force stand up for itself? Hit the jump to find out.

Dirty Harry asks "Do You Feel Lucky?" (1971)

After I saw October fly by and still not getting to see all the movies I wanted to in that horror themed month, I started realizing how quickly the days go by and how few days I have left to watch a new movie per day. It's made me rethink what I want to spend those days on, and I want to try to focus much more on movies I should have seen long ago. Today that meant I put on Dirty Harry to watch for the first time. I've had this movie on my list of shame all year long, and it's gotten to the point that the end of the year is in sight and I still haven't seen it! I told myself "this ends now!" I had a lot of expectations, and I was honestly worried this 1971 film could have aged too much and not lived up to what I had hoped for. My thoughts after finally seeing the movie after the jump.

Poll Position: Mystic River (2003)

Ooh, looks like I get to be the one to use the weird version of the movie poster this time! While the poster isn't really recognizable, it's still for Mystic River as that's what I watched today. Our lovely Kevin Bacon poll tied, so I'm catching up by also watching this film, which Puneet watched yesterday. Kevin Bacon actually takes a leading roll this time around, unlike in Frost/Nixon so it seemed to fit a little bit better considering that was the point after all. I remember this movie making a big splash (pardon the pun) when it came out, but I was younger and didn't care about dramas back then. I was curious to see this, but still had my reservations that it might be boring. My thoughts after the jump.

Poll Position: "Mystic River"

Last week we had another tie for our delicious Bacon Poll. Jim saw "Frost/Nixon" earlier today, and so I decided to check out “MysticRiver”. A movie packed to the brim with a talented cast. And better yet, the whole cast puts on that goofy New England accent that I adore. Nevertheless, I had to try my best to take this movie seriously for it is a dark crime/drama movies.

Poll Position: Unforgiven (1992)

Last week we had a poll of westerns on the site and the winner turned out to be Unforgiven, the 4 time Oscar winning Clint Eastwood produced and directed film. Not only that, but he stars in it too. I was half suspecting to see his name come up in the writing credits too, but that wasn't the case. Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman are a few more of the names that star along with Eastwood. Since I've only see a few westerns, and most of them involve Clint Eastwood, I had a pretty good idea what to expect from this one. Hit the jump to see if it was as predictable as I thought it would be.

Force Fed Films: Every Which Way But Loose (1978)

This week we were lucky enough to be asked to be on the Media Pulp podcast, and you can hear our interview in Episode 5, as I'm sure many of you know already. During the interview Wes suggested that I watch the Clint Eastwood movie with the monkey. Lucky for me, Puneet came to the rescue saying that he had both movies on DVD and that he would make it my Force Fed Film for today. So here we are. I'm sitting here with a movie starring Clint Eastwood and an orangutan. So was I really rescued by Puneet and Wes, or was I sentenced to a terrible fate? Hit the jump to find out!

Pale Rider (1985)

I had originally intended on watching eXistenZ today, but as I started to watch it, I realized I had see it years ago. I don't exactly remember what happens, so maybe I'll watch it again some day, but the point of this blog is to watch movies I've never seen. To that end I picked Pale Rider, which I had been saving in the wings for just such an occasion. Starring everybody's favorite man with no name, Clint Eastwood, I was quite looking forward to it. Being a 1985 film, I could tell he'd be quite a  bit older than some of his other westerns, but I was interested in seeing how that might change the movie. Hit the jump for more.

The Clock is Ticking in True Crime (1999)

There weren't any plans for seeing a particular movie today, so I just picked something at random that was handy. I lucked out in that there was a Clint Eastwood movie among my choices in the form of True Crime. At first I assumed from the title that Clint Eastwood would be a cop or something like that. But it turned out that he plays out-of-work reporter Steve Everett. It was an interesting role that I never thought of him playing, but can still be involved in crime all the same. Hit the jump to see if the role worked out or if he should have stuck to cops and cowboys.

Reader Recommendation: Hang 'Em High (1968)

Back when I first started watching movies for this blog, I burned through the Man with No Name trilogy in a single week. In the comments of A Fistful of Dollars a reader who only identified themselves as "Z" suggested that if I liked those, I should watch Hang 'Em High, another Clint Eastwood western. Does it stand up compared to his other westerns? Hit the jump for my impressions.

Gran Torino (2008)

I've been on a real Clint Eastwood high ever since watching his "Man with No Name" movies. As soon as I heard about this movie from Puneet, I knew I had to see it. In Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood plays an old man who lives alone after the passing of his wife. He has a disrespectful greedy family, new neighbors moving in he hates, and a local Hmong gang harassing everyone on the street. Can't a guy just sit on the porch with his dog and enjoy a few beers without been bothered? My thoughts on this movie can be found after the jump.

The Man with No Name Trilogy: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)

Well I certainly didn't expect that we'd have so many western films already, but today I choose to stick to my pattern of a Man with No Name trilogy movie every other day and finish off the set with the extended 3 hour version of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. This is easily the most famous of the trilogy, and has a lot of hype surrounding it. There's a lot to live up to, especially after an ever increasing level of quality in the first two movies. So without further ado, let's just jump straight into it shall we? My thoughts after the jump.

The Man with No Name Trilogy: For a Few Dollars More (1965)

Today I continue my foray into the spaghetti western world with the sequel to Fistful of Dollars. This time we find our hero has found his place in the world of bounty hunting. His quick skills with a six shooter serve him well and he's really bringing in the cash. However, he's not alone. There's another bounty hunter on the trail of the same bandit he's set his sights on, and it's clear that this guy is just as good of a shot, if not better! Is this town big enough for the both of them? Find out after the jump!

The Man with No Name Trilogy: A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

Today I decided to watch the first movie in a series of classic spaghetti westerns. The Man with No Name trilogy, sometimes also called the Dollars trilogy, star Clint Eastwood as The Man with No Name. The first movie in the set is A Fistful of Dollars. Directed by Sergio Leone, it reinvigorated the western genre in the 60's and gave Clint Eastwood one of his first big movie roles. Read my thoughts after the jump.