Kyle Eastwood
- 2008
The weapon in question is not a firearm (as might be expected) but a camera: from the 1950s through the early 21st century, photojournalist and sports photographer Eddie Adams (1933-2004) caught a series of indelible images through his lens that dramatically reshaped the way in which the general public perceived the world. Adams perhaps gained broadest recognition for his wartime photography, delivering his most leaden punch in Vietnam, with a series of gritty, grainy and ere-shocking images that never shied from revealing the carnage and vile brutality of the war; in particular, his image of General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Vietcong prisoner via a gunshot to the head attained iconic status and led many to attribute the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam to Adams. Yet Vietnam only represented one of the photographer's coups; among other accomplishments, he "served" in twelve additional wars and used a series of photographic images to convince then-president Jimmy Carter to offer asylum to two hundred thousand boat people from Vietnam. In her documentary An Unlikely Weapon, filmmaker Susan Morgan Cooper takes on Adams as her subject, and - shearing away all explorations of his personal life and history - focuses exclusively on his professional life and personal vision as a photographer. Cooper cross-cuts between onscreen images of Adams's work and revealing interviews with many of his colleagues including Morley Safer, the late Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kiefer Sutherland
- 2008
Three siblings must come to terms with their mother's mortality as they decide what to do with her valuable belongings in this warm family drama from filmmaker Olivier Assayas. Helene Berthier (Edith Scob) is about to turn 75, and her children are gathering at her home in the country for a party. Adrienne (Juliette Binoche) has flown in from New York City, where she lives with her boyfriend James (Kyle Eastwood). Jeremie (Jeremie Renier) has taken a rare break from his globe-trotting business interests to stop by with his wife (Valerie Bonneton). And Frederic (Charles Berling), the only one who lives close enough to visit regularly, has also come with his spouse Lisa (Dominique Reymond). Helene has inherited a large and valuable collection of art from her brother, and with her health beginning to fail, she approaches Frederic and asks that he, Jeremie and Adrienne come up with a plan to deal with the pieces after her death. Frederic wants to keep the collection together and see if they can persuade a gallery to purchase and present them as a set. Jeremie and Adrienne have other ideas, but as he's pondering a business opportunity in China and she's planning on settling in America for good, they don't have as much influence over the final decision as Frederic. L'heure d'ete (aka Summer Hours) was produced in part by the celebrated French art gallery Musee d'Orsay, and was one of a handful of films created to honor the museum in its twentieth anniversary year. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, (more)
Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Harden, and Miles Heizer star in director Alison Eastwood's tale of two families locked into an emotional -- and physical -- collision course. There once was a time when Tom and Megan Stark had all the time in the world to take their dream vacation and start a family, but these days the couple's marriage is suffering and their time appears to be running short. Megan has been diagnosed with a potentially terminal illness, and when the prospect of losing his wife becomes too much to bear, train conductor Tom seeks escape in his work. On the tracks Tom is in control; all the routes are predetermined and he knows he'll eventually arrive at his destination. But sometimes even the most predictable events can go suddenly awry, and when Tom's train hits a car that was parked on the tracks by a suicidal mother, his life is plunged into ruin. While there was no way that Tom could have possibly stopped the train on time, the grieving conductor's woes are suddenly compounded upon realizing that he may lose his job because of the accident. Not only that, but the deceased woman's son Davey is consumed by the guilt that he could do nothing to prevent the accident, and he now places the blame for his mother's death squarely on Tom. But not all sad stories have to end in tragedy, and perhaps in the aftermath of this fateful accident Megan could receive a second chance at fulfilling her dreams, Tom could learn to open his heart before he is consumed by bitterness, and Davey could finally learn the true meaning of family. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Harden, (more)
After bringing the story of the American soldiers who fought in the battle of Iwo Jima to the screen in his film Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwood offers an equally thoughtful portrait of the Japanese forces who held the island for 36 days in this military drama. In 1945, World War II was in its last stages, and U.S. forces were planning to take on the Japanese on a small island known as Iwo Jima. While the island was mostly rock and volcanoes, it was of key strategic value and Japan's leaders saw the island as the final opportunity to prevent an Allied invasion. Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) was put in charge of the forces on Iwo Jima; Kuribayashi had spent time in the United States and was not eager to take on the American army, but he also understood his opponents in a way his superiors did not, and devised an unusual strategy of digging tunnels and deep foxholes that allowed his troops a tactical advantage over the invading soldiers. While Kuribayashi's strategy alienated some older officers, it impressed Baron Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara), the son of a wealthy family who had also studied America firsthand as an athlete at the 1932 Olympics. As Kuribayashi and his men dig in for a battle they are not certain they can win -- and most have been told they will not survive -- their story is told both by watching their actions and through the letters they write home to their loved ones, letters that in many cases would not be delivered until long after they were dead. Among the soldiers manning Japan's last line of defense are Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a baker sent to Iwo Jima only days before his wife was to give birth; Shimizu (Ryo Kase), who was sent to Iwo Jima after washing out in the military police; and Lieutenant Ito (Shidou Nakamura), who has embraced the notion of "Death Before Surrender" with particular ferocity. Filmed in Japanese with a primarily Japanese cast, Letters From Iwo Jima was shot in tandem with Flags of Our Fathers, and the two films were released within two months of one another. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, (more)
The Bridges Of Madison County is one of those rare examples of a movie improving on the book it was based on. Adapted from the monster, if purple-prosed, best seller by Robert James Waller, the film tells the simple story of an Iowa housewife, Francesca Johnson (Meryl Streep), who meets a traveling National Geographic photographer named Robert Kincaid (Clint Eastwood), who has arrived in Madison County, Iowa to shoot its picturesque covered bridges. The two begin a four-day affair while her husband and children are out of town that reawakens long-lost passions and yearnings in Francesca. Kincaid, meanwhile, confronts his own roving, rootless nature; he asks Francesca to come with him, but they both know that after their brief interlude, they can never be together again. A framing story follows Francesca's children, after her death many years later, as they discover their mother's secret and take stock of their own lives. Eastwood and Streep deliver masterful, touching performances, while Eastwood's subtle direction and Richard LaGravenese's screenplay build the film into a deeply moving reflection on the choices one must make in both life and love. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Meryl Streep, (more)
Clint Eastwood put his tough-guy image on hold for this personal project, which follows a musician taking one final chance at the big time. Red Stovall (Eastwood) is a would-be country singer who has been bouncing around the margins of the music business for years. With nowhere in particular to go, Red arrives at the failing Oklahoma farm of his sister for an extended visit, where her son Whit (Kyle Eastwood) quickly bonds with his uncle. However, it's obvious that Red is in very poor health, drinking heavily and breathing with difficulty, and when Red is invited to audition for the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, Whit tags along for the road trip to keep an eye on his ailing uncle. En route, Red and Whit are joined by Whit's grandfather (John McIntire) and another hopeful vocalist, Marlene (Alexa Kenin), who like Red is chasing her own dreams of stardom on the Opry. Clint Eastwood performed his own vocals and guitar work for Honkytonk Man, and a number of Nashville legends appear in cameo roles, including Marty Robbins, Porter Wagoner, Ray Price, Merle Travis, and Johnny Gimble. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Kyle Eastwood, (more)
