Next on our alphabetical Auteur 2009 list, Clint Eastwood. Aside from that whole mayoral flap in the 80s, he's done his damned-est to keep up with Woody Allen, but Woody's a tough one to beat. Woody's directorial gestation is still damn consistent: he lays one egg of a movie each year. Cassandra's Dream? Fuh-getaboutit. Clint's come close. Maybe if we move a couple movies around: move 1971's The Beguiled: The Storyteller to 1972, Breezy from 1973 to 1974, White Hunter Black Heart from 1990 to 1989... See, we can't quite cover all the gaps. Oh well. Up next is The Human Factor. There's kind of a big disparity between its title and subject matter. Maybe it's just me. It almost sounds like another Outbreak-style film about a deadly virus that needs containing, or another battle between men and machines, or another battle between men and their need to push the nuculear button. No, it's actually about Nelson Mandela, and I can only assume Matt Damon plays the REAL hero of the story, the guy who got Mandela out of jail. On one level, isn't it just a Cry Freedom reboot? As long as it's less blatant Oscar bait than Benjamin Button. All I know is, if I were Clint, I wouldn't be able to put out one film a year at his age. And I use the year-swap method here: let's count Changeling as his 2007 film, and Letters from Iwo Jima as his 2005 film. Or should it be the other one?
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Auteur Watch - Clint Eastwood
Next on our alphabetical Auteur 2009 list, Clint Eastwood. Aside from that whole mayoral flap in the 80s, he's done his damned-est to keep up with Woody Allen, but Woody's a tough one to beat. Woody's directorial gestation is still damn consistent: he lays one egg of a movie each year. Cassandra's Dream? Fuh-getaboutit. Clint's come close. Maybe if we move a couple movies around: move 1971's The Beguiled: The Storyteller to 1972, Breezy from 1973 to 1974, White Hunter Black Heart from 1990 to 1989... See, we can't quite cover all the gaps. Oh well. Up next is The Human Factor. There's kind of a big disparity between its title and subject matter. Maybe it's just me. It almost sounds like another Outbreak-style film about a deadly virus that needs containing, or another battle between men and machines, or another battle between men and their need to push the nuculear button. No, it's actually about Nelson Mandela, and I can only assume Matt Damon plays the REAL hero of the story, the guy who got Mandela out of jail. On one level, isn't it just a Cry Freedom reboot? As long as it's less blatant Oscar bait than Benjamin Button. All I know is, if I were Clint, I wouldn't be able to put out one film a year at his age. And I use the year-swap method here: let's count Changeling as his 2007 film, and Letters from Iwo Jima as his 2005 film. Or should it be the other one?
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