Lots of soccer, to be honest, but there were two movies.
First Man Into Space. Criterion is an interesting company, putting together arguably the most prestigious collection of recorded film ever (from laser discs to DVDs to Blu-ray), but also tossing in the occasion oddball. First Man Into Space is part of a four-film box set of horror and science fiction, and there isn’t much to any of the movies in the set. This one is laughable, cheap, and fun for anyone who grew up on this crap, but why Criterion released it is beyond me. 5/10.
Gran Torino. This one is a lot more pretentious than First Man Into Space, but not a whole lot better. Clint Eastwood once again directs as he acts … he’s a minimalist, economical, never a wasted move. Fifty years from now, people are going to look at those Best Director Oscars on his resume and wonder what the hell people were thinking. One last time, Clint saves the world from their own inadequacies … girl has pep and smarts, so she gets raped, her brother is also a victim of a local street gang, so Clint rides one last time (not only in the movie … he claims this is his last acting job), saves the day, and even gets killed in the process. He goes out with a bang. Eastwood is at his best when we sense he’s in on the joke, that he knows he is an entertaining hack who, as one of his characters once said, knows his limitations. He has produced a solid body of work and nothing more, and I bet he knows that. 6/10.
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