Dinner and a Movie

Jaye · Post by **Jaye** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:41 pm

Saturday night I went out with my friend Debbie. After driving around for a bit (all the mall restaurants were full), we had dinner at Red Robin, then went to see "Gran Torino". After the movie, I stopped at Walmart on the way home for some necessities, then spent the rest of the night surfing the web.

Virginia · Post by **Virginia** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:02 pm

Hey, Jaye,

How about a quick movie review?! How was "Gran Torino?" Clint Eastwood right? They say he does a good job in the movie.

Was the "our" Debbie (Dunkle) or another Debbie?

Love,

Virginia

Erin L · Post by **Erin L** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:36 pm

Recently saw "Doubt", with Meryl Street, Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Really good film and excellent performances. Also had flashbacks all night.

Joann NJ · Post by **Joann NJ** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:54 am

Went to see Gran Torino too....... If you like Clint, you'll like the movie. He's a legend, and plays a really good part.

Post by **KimberlyS** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:57 am

Fun Jaye.

Jaye · Post by **Jaye** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 1:54 am

Virginia,

Yes, that was Debbie Dunkle.

As for "Gran Torino", I give it four stars. Clint Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a Korean War vet and retired Ford plant worker. The title comes from the '72 Ford Gran Torino which he built and still lovingly maintains. His wife just passed away, and his children want to put him in a retirement community. His neighborhood is full of Hmong (immigrants and native-born). He doesn't like them, and the feeling is mutual. That changes, of course. If I tell you anymore, it'll give away the story.

I've watched just about every movie Clint Eastwood has made, either as an actor or director, and I think he has grown tremendously over the course of his career. He's got a gift for evoking all the right emotions. Aside from one character, all of the Hmong in the film are amateurs, and their performances come across in a very real manner.

Walt is 100% believable. When he growls "Get off my lawn," you want to do what the man says. The M1 Garand in his hands just drives the point home. In a lot of ways, he reminds me a lot of my late (I say late; he passed away in 1991) grandfather. He'd served in North Africa and Italy during World War II. I think he brought a Garand home, too. He was a racist, too, but I always got the feeling he could have been brought 'round. I don't know what he would have made of me as I am today, but he was a very intelligent man. He might've surprised us all.