Clint Eastwood’s film Changeling tells the true story about a single mother, Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) whose 9-year old son Walter goes missing in 1928. The Los Angeles police don’t seem to be too concerned, waiting 24 hours before putting out a standard missing’s person notice. Suffering from bad PR, the LAPD feel they would be best served if a break in the case would surface. A few months later, Christine is informed that her son has been found, and arrangements …
Gran Torino
At the beginning of Gran Torino, bitter racist Korean war veteran Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) just lost his wife. He doesn’t have much in common with his two grown children, and finds his grandchildren to be annoying and rude. Now living alone in his Detroit-area house, he’s diligently keeping the place well kept, while the neighborhood around him is slowly falling into decay, as more immigrants move into the area, much to Walt’s chagrin. His next-door neighbors are a Hmong …
Yo Ho, Yo Ho / Morricone!
Had a long day today, but it involved lunch with a friend in Culver City, a scoring session at Sony, and then I went to the Isituto Italiano di Cultura in Westwood, where the Italian consulate was honoring Ennio Morricone, who will be getting an honorary Academy Award on Sunday. He’s the second composer to ever receive the honorary Oscar (Alex North was the first), and while he might not care that much (he’s on the record as saying he …
Letters from Iwo Jima
Merry Christmas! To celebrate the day of the most-famous-of-Jews birth, I went with BigSheb to go see a film that had nothing to do with religion: Letters from Iwo Jima. This sister film to Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers shows the battle for Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese men who were stationed there. We learn a bit about them, their thoughts, and their ultimate failure as they try to defend the island from the invading American …
Flags of Our Fathers
I had missed the press screeening of Flags of Our Fathers, so I took advantage of my PGA membership and hit up an awards screening this afternoon. The film focuses on the battle of Iwo Jima in World War Two as seen from the side of the American’s. The film is told in flashbacks as James Bradley (Thomas McCarthy) is researching what his father did during the war. Apparently his father, John “Doc” Bradley (Ryan Phillipe) was one of them …
Mystic River
I went to see Clint Eastwood’s latest directorial effort, Mystic River at the Director’s Guild with John. The film takes place in a lower-class Boston suburb on the North Shore, and explores the relationships between three former friends when one of their kids is murdered. Sean Penn is the ex-con whose daughter is found shot and beaten to death. Kevin Bacon is the cop investigating the crime. Tim Robbins is the neighbor who everyone suspects of doing it. The three …