Film Review; "GRAN TORINO"

A new year begins and with it a new crop of feature films ranging from romance to science fiction featuring the top stars of today and tomorrow.

But it is the return of a living legend to the big screen that has made my cinematic mouth water. He is among the last of the great American movie icons, a leading man who's career has spanned over 50 years, a career not only in acting but also including producing ,writing, and directing. He has given us such unforgettable characters like; Rowdy Yates, the man with no name, Will Munny and of course..."Dirty" Harry Callahan, and such unforgettable films like; "Flags of our Fathers"(2006), "Mystic River"(2003), "Million Dollar BABY"(2004) ,and "Unforgiven"(1992), I am speaking of none other than Clint Eastwood.

His latest venture which he wrote ,produced, and directed is "Gran Torino", one of his darkest films in which he has starred in since his academy award winning film..."Unforgiven".

Clint plays Walter Kowalski, a grizzled ,tough old Korean War veteran and retired auto worker living in suburban Detroit, recently widowed and estranged from his children and their families, he keeps to himself, spending his days sitting on his porch smoking his cigarettes and drinking beers observing with disdain the slow deterioration of his once proud and peaceful neighborhood.

Much to his chagrin his neighbors nearest to his residence is an extended Hmong family (Laos/Thai) who are noisy and disturbing, being a Korean War vet he has grown biased towards minorities over the years, especially those of Asian decent. Late one night Kowalski is awakened and discovers that someone is trying to steal his car, a prized possession...his 1972 Ford Gran Torino ( a souvenir from his many years on the assembly line at Ford motors), the wannabe car thief...one of his neighbors, a teenage kid by the name of Thao (Bee Vang), the shy teenager is actually a good kid but is being pressured into initiation by a local Hmong gang using strongarm tactics...Despite Kowalski's prejudicial thoughts he can't stand to see people bullied and pushed around so he decides to take action as only he knows how to do...with force!

Now if your going into this film expecting a typical "guns blazing" Clint Eastwood film...you may be dissapointed cause its not that kind of film, If I were to compare it to other films I would say it was a mix of "the Shootist"(John Wayne's final film/1976), "Death Wish"(Charles Bronson/1974") with a little "Finding Forrester"(Sean Connery/2000) mixed in for flavor.

The film is rather dark in tone but with some moments of humor but be warned ,some racially sensitive individuals may find the content objectionable but the film is primarily about race relations and the innacuracies and misunderstandings of bigotry and the damage that it can cause. Director Eastwood has cast first time unknown Hmong acors in most of the supporting roles...Ahney Her(who plays Sue Lor, Thao's sister), stands out among this group of unknowns, she turns in a believable, and strong supporting performance in the film.

Also starring in the film are; Christopher Carley( who plays reverend Janovich), John Carroll Lynch( who plays a local barber/friend-Martin), and also look for a performance by young Scott Eastwood (yes Clint's youngest boy) as Trey, he has a small role but memorable.

Eastwood directs from a screenplay by Dave Johnson based on a story by Nick Schenk.

The movie has a surprisingly shocking ending to it, one I am hesitant to reveal here but something happens in this film to the main character that hasn't happened in a Clint Eastwood film since way back to his feature "the Beguiled"(1971).

Nonetheless if you're an Eastwood fan like I am and have been over the years you'll be pleased with this, his latest cinematic adventure...it will "make your day"!

"Seasons Greetings"...

Just a brief message to all who visit my little spot on the internet wishing all of you and your families a very happy and safe holiday season and a very Happy New Year/2009.

2009 will hopefully be a more peaceful and prosperous year than the one that preceeded it. Stay tuned for further updates from right here at the "House of the Dragon" including;

* Website updates including new artworks in the gallery and convention announcements

* Project updates and announcements including;

-"Super-7"

-"Bubba; the Redneck Werewolf"

-"Billy; the Monster Hunter"

-"KUDU-MAN"

-"A Tale of REM"

* Additional Film & Book reviews

* Contest announcements

"HAPPY HOLIDAYS" everyone, see ya next year.

sincerely, Shawn Surface

SURFACE ART STUDIOS.

DVD Review; "The Return of the Hero/ Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

"Hello again SurfaceDwellers and adventure lovers";

Yes, this is a DVD review instead of my standard theatre release critique for many reasons, not the least of which is the deteriorating etiquette and behavior of the average movie goer nowadays.

I initially had reservations when I first heard that they were contemplating making a new Indiana Jones adventure, I was a fan of the first three films in the 1980's and liked the style in which they were made, in fact even director Steven Spielberg(E.T. the Extraterrestrial, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List) had all but written off his trilogy with the character and had moved on with his film making career. Interestingly enough ,it was none other than Indy himself (Harrison Ford) who was most interested in doing an all new installment and through his patience and persistence he convinced George Lucas, Spielberg, and Frank Marshall to re-unite for this production....the result; "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".

The latest installment to producer/writer George Lucas' salute to the schlocky Hollywood adventure serials of the early 1940's.

The adventure takes place in 1957 during the height of red paranoia and the early days of the cold war with the Soviet Union (Russia nowadays kids ), the story opens by finding our hero albeit a bit more aged and scarred but still managing to get himself into some interesting situations with some very unpleasant people-this time instead of the Nazis Dr. Jones is relentlessly pursued by the Russians who have abducted him and his assistant Mac (Ray Winstone/Beowulf) and have forced them to lead them to a secret U.S. military base to retrieve a special artifact, one that can very well tip the scales towards the Russians favor.

Unlike the previous Indy adventures; (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade) this latest journey has a distinct sci-fi taste to it reflecting on the time period in which the story is set. All the principals who comprised the production team of the original three films have returned (Lucas, Spielberg, Marshall, and Kathleen Kennedy).

The story is very interesting but I had some personal reservations with the decision to make the subject matter involve an alien culture-the effects were top notch and I applaud the choice of the film makers to not "overwhelm" the audience by saturating the movie with today's amazing top of the line digital work but instead they used restraint and actually tried to match the effects with the original films twenty years back-nonetheless the film is still quite impressive visually.

I was most impressed by Ford himself ( a man in his mid 60's) reprising a demanding physical role such as Indiana Jones-and it's as if he had never stopped playing the part, sure there are a few grey hairs and some additional wrinkles but the actor can still pull it off-convincingly!

Other notable actors involved in the production are; Ray Winstone(Beowulf), John Hurt(V for Vendetta/Alien) ,Shia LaBeouf (Transformers, Constantine), Kate Blanchett(Elizabeth/the Aviator) and returning as Marion Ravenwood, actress Karen Allen(Raiders of the Lost Ark) who not only provides a pleasant supporting role but also a pivotal one to the story itself and to the character of Indiana Jones.

The film has some imaginative and impressive visuals,a rousing new score by Academy Award winning composer John Williams(JAWS, Star Wars) ,trademark high adventure scenarios, good performances turned in by a talented cast with some tongue in cheek humor mixed in.

The DVD comes in an impressive 2 disc set with a lenticular cover of artist Drew Struzan's poster art and features an introduction by Spielberg and Lucas, interviews with the cast and crew, a brief history of the Indy films , and special, behind the scenes production featurette of the film...also available; the original first 3 adventures of Indiana Jones with newly remastered digital sound and prints each adventure features an introduction by Spielberg and Lucas and don't be an ignorant fool....watch them in "WIDESCREEN" as they were meant to be seen!!!

There are some scenes I would have changed or left on the cutting room floor ,and I would have liked to have seen a little more interaction with Indy and Marion story wise but all in all I was surprisingly pleased with what I saw. The film cleaned up at the box office both stateside and worldwide even in Russia, and the latest news is that there will most likely be another new adventure coming out in the next couple of years. I'm not saying this was the best Indy adventure but I do recommend it to Indy fans who loved the first three films -in closing, a nice addition to your Indiana Jones DVD collection......."trust me."