I consider that torino one of the very last true muscle cars. The cobra jet 428 was about of production forever.Popcorn=7 bucks ,drinks 450 tickets 950 each. but it was some quality time with the wife out of school for a snow day.

 

Not even a mention of an Academy Award. I don't think it was Oscar material, but several were sure he would be nominated. However, I think one has to be kind of a "suck up" to get an Oscar. Look how Newman was treated.jd

 

I have not seen it,but plan too soon.I`m just glad that ol` Clint is still out there doing his thing and he didn`t turn out like Michael Jackson and all them other losers out there.

 

Exactly what I thought. Clint is a smart guy. He can no longer play bad-*** Dirty Harry guys. But he can still play a guy who used to be a bad-***, and is now feeling his age. His character in Unforgiven was much the same. I loved the movie, and it pisses me off that it was overlooked by the recent Academy nominations. Instead they like Milk?!? They don't have a clue.

When you saw the medical report that said he had cancer, didn't you see the ending coming? Maybe not exactly, but you knew he was gonna go out blazing.

Oh, also, "Get off my lawn" will become a cliche, just like "Go ahead punk".

 

Remember "The Shootist?" Wayne was old and dying too, but look at his choice. One of Wayne's best movies in my opinion.jd

 

I don't think it was released early enough to be in contention. If I am not mistaken, movies have to be released prior to the new year to be in considered for an oscar.

 

Liked it alot. I know/ have known guys like that.
Guy that had the camp next to ours was a WWII vet, captured and tortured by the Japanese. Lucky to be alive in the first place because he was a submariner. Survived the Bataan Death March.
Wanted nothing to do with "slopes" as he called orientals.
One 4th of July weekend in the late 70's when I was about 15, my dad and I were hanging out in his camp. Dad was playing cards with Bill and his WWII buddies that also frequented the camp. There is a campground about a mile down the road and that night there was a knock on the door.
It was a couple of young orientals that wonderd if they could use the electric outlet on his porch for their rice cooker.
His buddies and my dad had to literally physically hold him back from charging out the door and keep him away from the drawer in which he kept a loaded .45 and (honest to God!) a couple of old pineapple grenades.
My dad went out and "explained" the situation to the terrified young men, and told them they best be on their way.
It took weeks for Bill to calm down about the incident.
Walt reminds me a lot of Bill. Bill's fingers were all crooked and some were permanently crossed from being broken so often in POW camp. Submariners were particularly hated by the japanese.
When he died, his wife Jane told us that he was delirious at the end and (he was in considerable pain) he died screaming his name, rank, and serial number, as he thought he was being tortured again.
He was a heck of a guy and Gran Torino brought that memory out of the past for me.

My wife has never been particulary fond of Clint. Can take him or leave him. But she was crying at the end and said she couldn't wait to rent it on DVD when it comes out so she can see it again.

You know, there is a whole generation of men, now fading away, that served in WWII and Korea that have lived with the horrors of war without the benefit of any counseling or anything else that can help them find peace. Bill was one of those guys.
He found "peace" in Old Milwaukee pounders.
My grandfather joked that he was essentially one armed, because he always had a beer in his left hand, no matter that he was pushing a lawn mower, driving his truck, or painting his cabin.

RIP Bill and Walt. And thank you for the sacrifices you made for our country.


note: I am by no means saying veterans of the Vietnam conflict or the Gulf wars have had it any easier. But I do believe that the counseling services they have available to them are an improvement over those offered to previous generations of warriors.

 

What do you mean will become? I have already used it on the illegitmate brats that traverse my yard and dump their empties on my grass.

 

Your story is similar to our old neighbor where we used to live. He is still alive, and very much a Walt as well. I enjoyed the movie, and yes I saw the ending coming with the phone call to his son, and the actual acts of sickness and spitting up blood. My oldest brother, a WWII vet also, went through the same thing. My wife wanted to see Gran Torino, at first because she thought it was about the car and knows that I love the Torinos and Fairlanes. Then it was to see Clint, just one more time be the man. Great story, with or without the car.One more thing, I love your signature:"I tried being reasonable. I didn't like it."

 

It is a quote. Guess who said it? Google it.

 

Google says it is a Clint Eastwood quote, but I did not find any context. What movie or interview?

 

I thought it was a pretty good movie, Clint is definatly smart for realizing that he can't run around shooting baddies with his .44 Magnum any more. Not quite oscar material but definatly a good movie. As for what happens at the end well let me just say that the credits roll.

 

I don't remember where it came from. It was an interview, but I don't remember when it was given. It is not a line from a movie.
Sorry I can't provide context other than that.
Someone gave me his biography and I haven't read it in a while. But I do remember that he created Malpaso because he was tired of working for others and doing things their way. He wanted to direct and produce his own films. I believe the interview was related to that.

 

Submariner. Philippines December 1941. US submarines based in Manila withdraw to Java on Dec. 21, 1941. Bataan Death March April 1942.

Something doesn't ring right. As one can see all US subs pulled out of Manila before it fell on Jan. 2, 1942. If you, as a submariner, were still on the island then you missed your ship. The first confirmed sinking of a Japanese warship was Dec. 16, 1941 by the USS Swordfish. Don't think the Japanese had built up their dislike of US submariners yet.

While I don't necessarily doubt he was a prisoner of war I do doubt he was in the Bataan Death March. We had not lost an American submarine yet so there could not have been any present.

If he was a submariner who was a POW who survived then he would be on this list along with the name of his boat.

US SUBMARINE POWS OF WWII

 

My wife and I just got back and we absolutely loved it. I really thought the old grandma next door was funny as heck