Well, hello there, kind folks. If you’re visiting this blog of mine, I presume that you have a certain interest in the cinema. As for me, even since my early childhood, I have had a deep love of everything related to movies and television. As far as I can remember, I have been more at ease in front of a screen than in the yard, outside, playing. It is a great way to travel, though other people’s stories, without having to foot any kind of steep bill. Over the years, I feel that movie-watching has even fuelled my own creativity.

All that being said, I welcome you in my Cinephile’s Nest. I hope you enjoy it here, feel free to come back at any time. Here you will find reviews of current movies and older ones. TV shows also. Some classics that have remained some of my favourites, some that have disappointed me. I will use a very basic star (*) system to grade them from 1 to 5 (5 being sliced bread level). Remember, these are just my tastes. I will try to explain in each review what I liked about these particular movies, without giving spoilers.

Il y aura aussi des critiques en français pour les films francophones, car j'aime également le cinéma dans ma langue maternelle. Avant d'apprendre l'anglais, plus jeune, je louais des tonnes de films traduits en français, surtout ceux de Bud Spencer et Terrence Hill. Ma mère a eu le choc de sa vie lorsqu'un jour, dans la boîte d'un de ces films, Deep Throat avait malencontreusement inséré. Une expérience formatrice pour le jeune cinéphile que je suis.

Bienvenue à tous, amusez-vous bien.

I welcome you all here, enjoy yourself.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Dirty Harry (1971)

Genre: Action / Thriller
Directed by: Don Siegel
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Andy Robinson, Harry Guardino
Running time: 102 minutes



Harry Callahan is a police inspector for the San Fransisco Police Department. They call him Dirty Harry because he always ends up with the dirtiest jobs and he rarely plays by the rules. When a serial killer who calls himself Scorpio starts leaving dead bodies and notes behind him, asking for money in exchange for an end to his reign of terror over the city, Callahan springs into action.

This is the first of the five installments in the Dirty Harry franchise. Here, we have Clint Eastwood in top form playing to his strengths, with guns, fights, blood and a few witty words from the protagonist.

Sure, Dirty Harry is not a work of finesse and subtlety. Sure, it might offend some sensitive souls out there with the language (which is on occasion racially-charged) and the depiction of a rough kind of justice. That being said, this 1971 remains a great action film where it is quite easy to root for the main character against a villain trying to use to weaknesses of the system to get his way.

Clint Eastwood was greatly convincing in what he had to convey here. The verbiage was not extensive, but the lines they gave his character were solid. And, Eastwood knew how to deliver that sort of thing. That “Do you feel lucky, punk” spiel is now part of history. The support cast was also very good.

The Bay Area made for a beautiful backdrop for this action film, which has become an ageless classic over the years and which will still keep you on the edge of your seat, if you are watching it for the first time. If not, it is still worth watching again and again.
Rating: «««««

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