Topic: Gran Torino

[Stogi]

I don't think this movie was suppose to come off as hilarious, but I found myself laughing quite a bit. I don't know if it was the racial slurs or the way Clint Eastwood said "pussy", I loved it all.

Overall, the movie is quite good. The plot is subtle and slow, but the character interaction is superb. There's even a song at the end sung by Clint Eastwood to top of the movie! Listen to it, it's ridiculous.

Anyway, I recommend this movie to everyone.

[ShyGuy]

Fantastic movie, and an excellent performance. Very true to life. Clint Eastwood deserves the Oscar for best actor.

[Hostile Creation]

Great stuff, and yes, absolutely hilarious (of course it was supposed to be!).  Awesome re-envisioning of his Dirty Harry persona.  Old Clint is incredible.  He is the oldest, meanest man alive.  It's awesome.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Fantastic movie, and an excellent performance. Very true to life. Clint Eastwood deserves the Oscar for best actor.

::pukes::

[ShyGuy]

Does NWR have an ignore feature? GP just dishonored CLINT FREAKING EASTWOOD and I don't think I can bear hearing anything else from her.

[NWR_Lindy]

GP is seriously treading in perma-ban territory here.

ASK YOURSELF...DO YA FEEL LUCKY, GP?  DO YA?

[Maverick]

The kid in this movie CAN NOT ACT.  The racial slurs were hilarious, though.

[ShyGuy]

From what I understand, the Hmong people in the movie were not actors but locals that they hired on location in Michigan.

[Maverick]

Which was a terrible decision when it came to casting the person with the second largest role after Clint himself.  "Toad's" sister was very good though.  Sure she was a local?

[Shift Key]

I don't think this movie was suppose to come off as hilarious, but I found myself laughing quite a bit.

I pissed myself laughing at Clint Eastwood saying "Get off my lawn".

Of course, he says it while pointing a gun at them, but that's not the point.

[ShyGuy]

Which was a terrible decision when it came to casting the person with the second largest role after Clint himself.  "Toad's" sister was very good though.  Sure she was a local?

Yup. Sure she will be in other movies now though. http://blog.mlive.com/projectmayhem/2009/01/gran_torino_actress_ahney_her.html

[Maverick]

Cool, they should have re-written the flick to focus on her.  Toad ruined the movie for me.

[Stogi]

I didn't think he was good, but to say he ruined the movie is just too harsh.

[Maverick]

You're right, I guess I should say that Toad ruined key portions of the movie and made scenes that should have lots of emotional impact humorous and sad.  Clint, of course, was great and like I said I had many a good laugh with Mr. Old Grumpy Racist.

[Ian Sane]

Saw it Saturday night and I really liked it.  It was really funny to the point where I would almost recommend it to people as a comedy with some dramatic overtones (kind of like most Wes Anderson movies I guess).  The commercials made it seem like some super serious "geezer vs. the gangs" kind of thing and while that is certainly part of the movie it isn't really the focus.  It's more about a cranky old coot slowly making friends with his non-white neighbours, who we really only dislikes because he hates everyone different than him.

Toad just comes across as inexperienced.  It is literally his first ever movie.  I didn't think he was bad.  When I think of bad actors ruining a movie I think of Jake Lloyd in Phantom Menace or whoever the hell played the lead in Almost Famous or Sophia Coppola in Godfather Part III.  I'm not a great actor but I've made some short films with my friends and there are people that can act "good enough" and people that have absolutely no idea how to act at all.  The "not at all" people are the ones that ruin movies.  If you're passable that's all that matters to me, at least in regards to whether your performance will ruin a movie or not.  Toad was perfectly acceptable.

One thing that's funny about the movie is that Clint's character Walt will say something blatantly racist and the whole theatre would crack up.  I find that funny because racist humour is very politically incorrect... but almost everyone laughs at it.  Now serious racism where you're like a member of the KKK or something is considered wrong and it should be.  But the politically correct view of racism is like if you have any slight opinion of anybody based on race that's bad.  And yet everyone is a little bit racist in a way that is largely harmless and everyone will laugh at a racist joke once in a while.  The funny thing is Clint Eastwood and the others involved with this movie know that and use that to get some big laughs.  It's just like how everyone deep down finds crude humour funny and makes jokes about people different than them.

Hell the movie even relies on ageist humour.  A big part of the gag is that the lead character is a cranky old racist geezer, ie: typical elderly stereotype humour.

[Stogi]

Ya....everyone's a little racist. Not in a I'm superior sort of way, but in a stereotypical way. But that's human nature. If we've never seen a lion and we come across a blue one; we would think lions are blue.

Get it?

[Khushrenada]

Fantastic movie, and an excellent performance. Very true to life. Clint Eastwood deserves the Oscar for best actor.

::pukes::

And your choice would be?

[King of Twitch]

wall-e

[Dasmos]

Fantastic movie, and an excellent performance. Very true to life. Clint Eastwood deserves the Oscar for best actor.

::pukes::

And your choice would be?

Mickey Rourke.

[D_Average]

Saw this movie last night, I'd give it a 5 out of 5.  The contrast between cultures and generations was very well done, and Clint was just downright hilarious.  "Grrrr....."