I Used to Like Clint Eastwood

As we have previously established, Uncle P is old. Old enough to remember when actor/director Clint Eastwood was hot. Seriously. In those Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns and on "Rawhide?" Damn! Hell, even in Unforgiven. I have not watched his current wife's 'reality' show on the E! network (though I generally loathe those kinds of programs), so it's been a while since I've seen him.

Last night, however,  Mr. Eastwood was the much bally-hooed "Surprise Guest" at the Republican National Convention, where he proceeded to ramble on to a empty chair for nearly 12 minutes (he had been given 5) and nearly caused Twitter to break down. If you haven't seen it, here it is:

Honestly, if any other 82 year-old had been caught talking to an inanimate object in public for 12 minutes, they would have been sent to a home. Still, I don't understand how an avowed Hollywood liberal (as illustrated in the graphic above) can support a platform of homophobia, misogyny and science-denial. Is this what happens after one turns 75? Does one suddenly change political parties and lose all sense of fashion at the same time? If that's the case, then please shoot me when (and if) I turn 70.  Better dead than poorly-dressed and ill-informed (or something like that). Oh - and no matter how old I am, if you ever see me with a comb-over, you have my permission to slap me as hard you can (hopefully dislodging the comb-over in the process).

I can only hope that dementia has set in. It's the only explanation for Eastwood's behavior last night that makes any sense to me. Of course, maybe someone slipped him some acid just before he went on. 

The whole thing makes me tired, angry and sad.

More, anon.
Prospero

The Impossible

I can't begin to imagine the horrors suffered by the people who both died and survived the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. I remember feeling hopeless and helpless as I watched video of tourists and natives in Indonesia being swept away in one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history. Over 220,000 lives were lost in Indonesia; Sri Lanka; India; Thailand and the surrounding island nations. Among many others, openly gay American Interior Designer Nate Berkus lost his life partner, Fernando Bengoechea in Sri Lanka during the event.

Screenwriter Sergio G. Sanchez and director Juan Antonio Bayona (both best known for the excellent 2007 Spanish-language horror film The Orphanage), have collaborated again to tell the story of one family affected by the tsunami in the upcoming film The Impossible.

I first saw the trailer I am about to share the day before yesterday and found myself weeping almost uncontrollably within the first few minutes. Ewan McGregor (I Love You, Philip Morris; Moulin Rouge); Naomi Watts (Mulholland Dr.; King Kong) and Geraldine Chaplin star in this true account of one family caught up in a truly horrific event.

Director Clint Eastwood briefly visited this theme with his 2010 supernatural drama Hereafter and the tsunami scene in that film was devastating. 

Watching the trailer for The Impossible a second time still has me sobbing like child. I don't know what seeing the actual film will do to me, but I know that I MUST see it. The Impossible is scheduled for release in the U.S. in December. Watch both of those clips in Full Screen for the fullest effect, though I can't promise you won't be profoundly affected by them. I was and am.

More, anon.
Prospero