Gran Torino - (Grand Roscoe)

[Kaing of Kaings]

There is usually the curious case that when ever I see a movie not in my home City, it can be either really good or really shitty. This weekend in Tucson, we saw another movie besides Revolutionary Road, and this was the good one.

Gran Torino is, from what I have heard, one of his last movies Clint Eastwood will act in. The man is 79 years old and he is showing it but he plays the grumpy old guy who lives next door to a T. I like almost everything about this movie. It has frustrating parts where you just want to beat a Buki, parts that are hilarious and get you laughing, parts that are sad and put a tear in your eye and parts that are just kick ass. Eastwood does it all by directing and staring.

(Minor Spoilers)
I won't give too much away and if you have seen the premise, you pretty much know the story. Clint Eastwood is the last openly racist who lives in his neighborhood full of migrants from other countries. A Hmong family moves in next door and things start heating up. Soon though, Eastwood finds that he likes this family more than his own. Eastwood takes on the task of teaching the younger Stuboy Hmong boy (and he does act like Stuboy too in some ways) how to not be a pussy and how to talk with girls. The young Stuboy comes to like the old man. There are also two good looking Hmong girls in this movie. You know how I have been a victim of the Asian Persuasion. Anyway, this is kind of like a modern western set in suburbia Michigan.

Like I said earlier, this is a good story and quite original. I don't know why my Wa thought this was like About Schmidt except that Clint is old and crotchety. It will be a sad day when this legend goes. The audience, like my woman and I, really got into this movie and we enjoyed ourselves which is what most movies should do. I give this movie 4.65 stars, definitely one of the better movies I have seen from 2008 and this will be toward the top of the list. I highly recommend this to Stuboy and even Leeroy Turtlehead. I think you might like this movie Leeroy and you should see it.




Clint: "Alright young Hmong Stuboy kid. Use this tape measurer to measure your shlong every night. When you reach 11 inches, you will be considered a man.

Hmong Stuboy Kid: "Hea....Kang Kang...Milo....who farted?"

Clint: "You want to act like a BABY? I'LL TREAT YOU LIKE A BABY"

[TheStuboy]

I actually happened to see this right at the same time Stu was seeing this film too.

I agree with Stu on most of his parts and yes, if you've seen the previews, you know what the movie is about...or do you.

I had a hard time understanding Clint some times and it reminded me like Million Dollar Baby, which wasn't one of my favorites. In that film, Clint and Morgan Freeman both spoke so low and craggly that you couldn't understand it.

I like the characters in this film, with a couple of exceptions. If I was Clint, I would have beaten that priest like a mantha (or in this case, a buki). He was a wuss, who gradually realized he couldn't control the old man. The other exceptions were the people who played Clint's family. They annoyed the heck out of me, and this was indeed the point.

Clint is getting older and his age is catching up to him. I hope he isn't finished though. I'd like to see one more Dirty Harry before he goes. I think he is a legend, even bigger then Paul Newman (not to say he wasn't).

The film is well filmed, well written and generally well acted. I'm guessing most of the Hmong family haven't been in films before, so I won't give them any guff for some acting errors.

I also agree with stu that this was one of the best movies of 2008 and will also be high on my list too. 2008 may have been a shitty year for everything else, but for movies, it wasn't THAT bad. At least it wasn't like last year's Oscars, terrible terrible terrible.


4.6 stars out of 5 for me. I liked it more than Mackenzie did, that's a first for us. She'll be beaten accordingly.


"You have to ask yourself one question...do I, Get off my law...You're my chil...ah ah ahhheeerrooooh"

Clint Eastwood Beatforce, one of the most finely tuned, fails during its hourly Internet update (a common cause for screw-ups with Beatforces).

P.S. The gun he is holding is an M1 Garand used during WW2 and the Korean War. You can use it in Call of Duty 1, 2, 3 and I assume 5.

[leeroy_t]

ok, maybe I will see it. I know a lot about the Hmong since there were a lot of them in WI. I worked as a maintenance worker with some Hmong guy who was a general in the Laotian army.