FROM MTV.COM: Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" has all the makings of a mess. It's not an especially interesting movie to look at (it's set in a nondescript Detroit suburb), its message is deeply familiar (learn to love thy neighbor), and its central performance, by Eastwood himself, is so broad that it verges on vaudeville.
And yet the picture gets funnier as it goes along — it's sometimes startlingly hilarious; and the ending is original and unexpected, and very un-Clint-like.
Eastwood plays an irascible old coot named Walt Kowalski, a retired auto worker whose only loves in life, now that his wife has died, are his equally ancient dog and his mint-condition 1972 Ford Gran Torino, which he brings out of the garage during the day and parks in the front driveway, where he can admire its gleaming perfection from his porch, while sipping a beer.
Continue reading Kurt Loder's review of "Gran Torino" on MTV.com!
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No Oscar Love For Clint and DiCaprio. Who Should Have Gotten A Nod?
Posted 1/22/09 11:25 am EST by Josh Horowitz in Commentary, News, Uncategorized
If you're a Clint Eastwood fan (and who isn't?) today wasn't the best day. Eastwood failed to earn a nod for his much praised acting in "Gran Torino" and also failed to duplicate his Golden Globe nod for his song from the same film. Oh how I was praying for an Eastwood singing turn at the Kodak theater! And speaking of the Best Song category, how does Bruce Springsteen not get a nod for his soulful end credits contribution to "The Wrestler"? Read More...
Tags academy awards, Clint-Eastwood, gran torino, leonardo dicaprio, Oscars, the dark knight