tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post5396623719070683871..comments2024-03-03T10:32:45.969-08:00Comments on Mr. Peel's Sardine Liqueur: In All This ExcitementMr. Peel aka Peter Avellinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10553482286909862975noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-32475710068423554682011-01-30T18:55:34.017-08:002011-01-30T18:55:34.017-08:00That should read "cribbed". Typo. My bad...That should read "cribbed". Typo. My bad.Michael Learnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-62279628676214579902011-01-30T12:06:29.277-08:002011-01-30T12:06:29.277-08:00Ned--
I did write about the Harry sequels--except...Ned--<br /><br />I did write about the Harry sequels--except for MAGNUM FORCE, which I hope to get to soon--back in '08 but the pieces might not be as, um, lengthy as they would probably be now. So help me, I stand by liking THE DEAD POOL but I was probably just the right age for it at the time. <br /><br />And I've never written about COBRA but last year I actually took part in a podcast where it was discussed. I may as well link to it here, it's a fun listen: <br /><br />http://proudlyresents.com/cobra-3/<br /><br />Michael--<br /><br />Some good points about a few other films that have lifted from DIRTY HARRY...which is still better than all of them. Glad you liked it, hope some of the titles I pick in the future are ones you enjoy as well!Mr. Peel aka Peter Avellinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553482286909862975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-10798519081470971732011-01-30T07:04:25.424-08:002011-01-30T07:04:25.424-08:00Your film selections have been striking chords wit...Your film selections have been striking chords within me of late. The Dirty Harry post caused me to seek out the blu ray and Best Buy happened to have it along with Magnum Force for 12.99 last week (the Warner Brothers 'Action Pack'!). The transfer is exceptional on the Dirty Harry blu ray. Anyway, the film holds up great and I was surprised to see just how many subsequent films cringed from it, especially Shane Blacks first Lethal Weapon screenplay, and not just the talking a jumper down scene, but the new partner angle and Martin Riggs is really just Harry Calahn with a touch of crazy added. Also Die Hard With a Vengeance phone booth to phone booth plot device. Anyway a great write up by you as always. Not going to touch on the politics of the film because what is there really left to say about it anyway? Oh, the stadium helicopter shot and Harry on the bridge are just aesomw shots, truly iconic.Michael learnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-70856508533882790602011-01-28T12:20:07.347-08:002011-01-28T12:20:07.347-08:00Sounds like an incredible event, Peel. Thanks for...Sounds like an incredible event, Peel. Thanks for documenting it here. <br /><br />I revisited DIRTY HARRY and caught up with the sequels in early 2010 when I got the Blu-ray set. While Siegel's original stands tall above the rest, I was pleasantly surprised by all except for THE DEAD POOL, which, for me, was the only really poor film in the series. So, I don't feel like the reputation of the series has been that besmirched by the sequels. I'd say that dishonor goes to the ROCKY series, which I think would have been much better served, at least in cinephile circles, by stopping at numero uno (I admit to having a real soft spot for part III, but I loathe IV and V and ROCKY BALBOA was probably over-praised due to it being so superior to the prior two entries). <br /><br />Back to DIRTY HARRY, I, too, as a liberal, find the brouhaha raised by progressives at the time in much the same way you do...it's now somewhat curious. Eastwood's own political bent, which is certainly more complex than garden variety "conservative," has probably helped to mellow things on this front over the years. <br /><br />Interestingly, he got in another dig at academics in EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE, when he gets into a verbal joust with a female grad student in a cowboy bar after he tries to pick her up. I don't recall now which college she said she went to.<br /><br />Curious to hear your thoughts on the HARRY sequels. The Clint-directed SUDDEN IMPACT was mean and nasty and just might be my second favorite in the series. It's another of those films that takes on another level of fascination when compared to the latter-day, Oscar-bait Clint fare. SUDDEN IMPACT dishes out the sleaze with the best of 'em and ex-Clint lover Sondra Locke comes off very well as the tormented vigilante.<br /><br />As for COBRA, which I revisited recently after many years, I also found the insertion of Santoni and Robinson into the cast rather calculated and the political message (by Stallone) of having Robinson, best known as a (Hollywood) hippie psychopath, play a sniveling, suit-wearing superior was oh so UNsubtle. I sure do love Stallone in certain vehicles--ROCKY, FIRST BLOOD, NIGHTHAWKS--but when he injects his jingoism into his vehicles, sloppily at that, my blood boils.Ned Merrillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15436251586131278302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-10003162237333356232011-01-28T12:16:57.724-08:002011-01-28T12:16:57.724-08:00le0pard13--
Fantastic comments, many thanks for w...le0pard13--<br /><br />Fantastic comments, many thanks for what you had to say! Glad you enjoyed the piece!<br /><br />J.D. --<br /><br />Thanks to you as well, very glad you liked it. You're right, I wish there had been a few more collaborations between the two but a few of the ones we got make it all worth it. It's been too long since I've seen ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ!<br /><br />Tarantino is fantastic to listen to when it comes to this sort of thing and it was such a wonderful added bonus that night.Mr. Peel aka Peter Avellinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553482286909862975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-42525698069129326342011-01-26T08:44:18.512-08:002011-01-26T08:44:18.512-08:00Excellent review of this iconic film. Still the be...Excellent review of this iconic film. Still the best of all the Dirty Harry films and when you see the other you realize just how much Siegel brought to the first one with his no-nonsense approach. He and Eastwood were just so sympatico and I always wish they made more films together but I cherish the ones they did.<br /><br />Another fantastic piece and thanks for the highlights on the screening as well. I always felt that Tarantino should do more audio commentaries for movies not his own. He clearly can talk and has an encyclopedia knowledge of film.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-12172007583538693722011-01-25T16:09:49.286-08:002011-01-25T16:09:49.286-08:00Excellent review of the film and a fine recap of w...Excellent review of the film and a fine recap of what must have been an extraordinary evening at the NEW BEVERLY, Mr. Peel. I was a senior in high school when this came out and it made quite an impression (classmates talked it up a plenty after they saw it). Back then, DIRTY HARRY was listed in the canon of <i>Ultraviolence</i> films (which I think Newsweek in an article included Polanski's MACBETH and Russell's THE DEVILS there, among others). The scene where Andy Robinson's character asks (to the guy he's hired) for the full measure of a beat-down he's already experienced and paid for (then the camera shows the audience his pulp of a face) still is absolutely startling. I've seen it many times since, and it still causes me to catch my breath. Plus, it makes Harry's comment afterwards even more sobering:<br /><br /><i>Chief: Have you been following that man? <br />Harry Callahan: Yeah, I've been following him on my own time. And anybody can tell I didn't do that to him. <br />Chief: How? <br />Harry Callahan: Cause he looks too damn good, that's how!</i><br /><br />Robinson's marvelous work in the film really typecast him for the longest (certainly stunted his career for the rest of that decade, I think). DH remains a remarkable film, even after all these years. Politically or cinematically speaking, few equal it, IMO. For those of us who survived the 70s, that span of years still managed to produce some of the greatest crime films around. This one especially. This was a great written piece and I really enjoyed reading it, my friend.le0pard13https://www.blogger.com/profile/09421175808461787862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-77560160044706391312011-01-25T13:29:08.461-08:002011-01-25T13:29:08.461-08:00Bob--
It would be the one that it's been the ...Bob--<br /><br />It would be the one that it's been the longest amount of time since I've seen it, wouldn't it? I was deliberately avoiding while writing this piece, I'll be taking another look at it soon. Very glad you liked the piece, thank you very much!<br /><br />Ivan--<br /><br />Thanks to you as well! I like THE GAUNTLET, although I haven't seen that one for a few years either. Another one I'm going to have to revisit soon!Mr. Peel aka Peter Avellinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553482286909862975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-55256722681061353302011-01-25T11:37:37.956-08:002011-01-25T11:37:37.956-08:00Great essay, and seeing Dirty Harry projected on t...Great essay, and seeing Dirty Harry projected on the screen is always a treat. <br /><br />I, too, am a fan of Magnum Force, but don't really consider it a "Dirty Harry" flick--to me, it's more like "The Gauntlet" where Eastwood is playing a cop who's a variation on Harry Callahan (or Eastwood himself), but he's not as much of a hard-ass or as p.o.'ed with the world. <br />(I wrote about it at my site, with loads of framegrabs:<br />http://ivanlandia1.blogspot.com/2009/10/magnum-lolita.html)<br />Thanks,<br />IvanIvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16443946766217092846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2118574901486983093.post-29957728827674386022011-01-24T18:37:56.409-08:002011-01-24T18:37:56.409-08:00Mr. Peel, there is a pretty extensive car chase in...Mr. Peel, there is a pretty extensive car chase in the incredibly sleazy, insanely violent "Magnum Force". I know it's considered the more philosophical, apologetic flip side to "Dirty Harry", but I think it's a deranged, near masterpiece of corrosive cop action(a real shame they didn't turn Don Siegel loose on that one). It sure isn't a kinder, gentler, Harry Callahan prowling the streets of San Francisco in 1973. <br /><br />I can't add much to your great piece here, except one insight as to the filmmaker's mindset is a tagline from one of its one-sheets -- "Dirty Harry and the homicidal maniac. Harry's the one with the badge." Ha! <br /><br />Thanks again for one more wonderful write up, Mr. Peel.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00274916206944493165noreply@blogger.com