Eastwood Flicks That'll Make Your Day
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Written by: Ryan McNally
Clint Eastwood is arguably the most prolific actor/director of all-time, having acted in more than 40 films and directed more than 20. With Space Cowboys hitting video shelves this month, Film Frat presents its list of the Top 10 Eastwood flicks of all-time (in alphabetical order). Selections range from classic westerns to Dirty Harry flicks to jazz biopics to, yes, even a romance. |
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| 1. |
Bird
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Eastwood's biopic of legendary jazz musician Charlie Parker is arguably his most experimental film as a director; it won star Forrest Whitaker a Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival and Diane Venora a Best Supporting Actress award from the N.Y. Critics Circle. (For a full review of this film, click here.)
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| 2. |
The Bridges Of Madison County
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Eastwood's film version of the best-selling novel was a bold foray into romance for star Eastwood. It avoids much of the book's cheesiness and paid off with big box office and a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Meryl Streep.
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| 3. |
Dirty Harry >
This controversial film, directed with style by the legendary Don Siege (check out the dizzying helicopter shot above a football field), stars Eastwood as renegade cop Harry Callahan, a man who takes the law into his own hands when necessary. Spawned four sequels, most of which are well worth watching.
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| 4. |
In The Line Of Fire
>Eastwood gives one of his best performances as Secret Service Agent Frank Horrigan, a man with a checkered past who battles potential presidential assassin Booth (John Malkovich). Rene Russo and future "Practice" star Dylan McDermott are stellar, but it's the petrifying Malkovich who steals the show in an Oscar-nominated turn.
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| 5. |
The Outlaw Josey Wales
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One of Time's top 10 films of 1976, this western stars Eastwood as a loner who reluctantly takes a rag-tag group of wanderers under his wing. The meeting between Eastwood and a rival Indian chieftain is a classic, as is the Eastwood response to a potential assassin, "Dying ain't much of a living."
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| 6. |
A Perfect World
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This underrated film confounded many filmgoers with its unconventional storyline, in which Eastwood and co-star Kevin Costner don't even meet until the film's final scene. But this bold, original work features superb direction (and acting) by Eastwood, and boasts one of Costner's finest performances.
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| 7. |
The Spaghetti Western Trilogy (Fistful of Dollars; For A Few Dollars More; The Good, The Bad And The Ugly)
>Helmed by legendary Italian director Sergio Leone, these classic westerns established Eastwood as an international star and revolutionized the way westerns were filmed.
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| 8. |
Thunderbolt And Lightfoot
>This road movie (written by future Deer Hunter director Michael Cimino) avoids cliche every step of the way, from the intriguing relationship between Eastwood and co-star Jeff Bridges (a Best Supporting Actor nominee) to a surprising ending.
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| 9. |
Tightrope
>Eastwood delivers a stellar performance as sketchy New Orleans cop Wes Block. When he's assigned a case involving a serial sex murderer, Wes is forced to plunge into the seedy underworld and confront his own sexual deviance.
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| 10. |
Unforgiven
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Eastwood's masterpiece. This revisionist western shatters every Western cliche and delivers a powerful message about violence. A superb screenplay, flawless cast including Morgan Freeman and Supporting Actor Oscar winner Gene Hackman, and powerful direction by Eastwood earned this film a deserving Best Picture Oscar.
Also Recommended: White Hunter, Black Heart (arguably Eastwood's least commercial film, scored him a Best Director nomination at the Cannes Film Festival); Play Misty For Me (Eastwood's directorial debut; a suspense classic and the original Fatal Attraction); The Beguiled (a twisted tale set in the Confederacy and helmed by Dirty Harry director Don Siegel); Every Which Way But Loose (Eastwood kicks some ass and pals out with an orangutan); and High Plains Drifter and Pale Rider (more classic Eastwood westerns). Comments on our selections? Drop us a line and tell us which selections you agreed with, and which films you think we missed. You can pick any of these up at Amazon.com. |
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