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January 25, 2009
Gran Torino
While I appreciate the cadence of Eastwood's late career films, I haven't made it a priority to see one since Million Dollar Baby. My friend chose this film, and I'm glad I saw it.
While the dialogue wasn't always realistic, it rang true to me. Racial epithets fly from people's mouths more often than sunny platitudes, especially men of my father's generation.
I was particularly happy to see a dramatization of the deep similarities between Korean War vets and first generation immigrants - after all, it's been a few generations since Americans as a whole needed true grit to get through life. While Kowalksi's family seemed at times like caricatures of overfed suburbanites, they were people I recognized clearly: upper middle class white folks, trying desperately to pretend they know nothing about being poor and clueless children who truly think they deserve every earthly possession of their elders.
I haven't seen any Dirty Harry movies, so I can't tell you how well this movie turned Clint's iconic character inside out. I know there was a black and white quality to the ending, one that could have left me as cynical as Ty Burr. But personally, I didn't think it was "the last temptation of Clint." Unlike Seven Pounds, I appreciated the ending of Gran Torino. It surprised me, but made sense. Though I liked Springsteen's song concluding The Wrestler more than I liked Eastwood's gravelly singing to credits in GT, this is a movie I could watch again. And I think it's an important bridge between mid-century American values and 21st century American reality.
Roger Ebert liked it too
77% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes agree with me
Posted by cj at 08:14 PM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2009
The Precipice of Change
Yeah, it's a time of political change and tepid hope for a magical lifting of the recession we reaped from our rapacious appetite for resources. I haven't thought too deeply about our times as an individual, because I was too focused on getting WILPF's priorities edited and published and advertised [e-newsletter not currently available online]. Right, so enough of that.
The precipice I'm most interested in is extremely personal. In November, 2006 I found a career that keeps me interested in going to work every day. In December, 2006 I began battling thyroid cancer. I've been relatively healthy for over a year, but right now, in the next month, is when I'm actually going to begin my post-thyca life.
By moving out of the Valley, I'll return to the life I knew before cancer: independent and full of possibility. I've put a major restriction on my apartment hunting by focusing on locations that will accept dogs. I've been yearning for a lap dog since that awful day I was sitting in my cubicle and got the call that confirmed I had papillary carcinoma. There are other companions I'd like to have on this journey, but I can't hold my breath waiting for those pieces of the puzzle to fall in place.
Time to focus on finding my next home.
Posted by cj at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)