Blog Archives
We’ll Make Your Day Today, Clint
On this day back in 1930, actor/director Clint Eastwood was born in San Francisco.
Whoa. Ladies and gentlemen, just as a reminder, it’s 2019.
Celebrating a towering 89 years, Mr. Eastwood is still regarded as one of the toughest tough guys around. His films, ranging from westerns ‘Unforgiven’ and ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ to starring as a hardass cop in ‘Dirty Harry’ to a Secret Service agent in ‘In the Line of Fire’ to dramatizing the World War II battles on Iwo Jima in ‘Flags of Our Fathers’ to telling the real and deeply gritty ‘American Sniper’ to shining a behind-the-scenes light on ‘Sully’ — and dozens more movies in between — have left a definitive mark on Hollywood cinema that have and will continue to stand the test of time.
But just as important as the aforementioned serious films is Clint Eastwood’s sense of humor. And as famed comedic “roastmaster extraordinaire” Don Rickles showcased in a video clip below from many moons ago, ‘Dirty Harry’ is quite content for comedians to make his day.
Happy 89th Birthday, Clint Eastwood!
The Sound of Returning to Yellowstone
Movie and TV soundtracks are a musical art form reliant on imaginative pressure points and successful through emotional connection. Somewhere between the macro and the micro of the sound is the sweet spot of where we find ourselves between the intricately placed notes of the composer.
And in the case of the Paramount original series ‘Yellowstone,’ it’s composer Brian Tyler who has created a theme song as unique as the famed western escape.
For me, the ‘Yellowstone’ theme song draws me in by the past of Yellowstone yet I remain for the prospect of exploring a place like Prospector, Utah in the future.
The Never-Ending Big Sky of Dallas
Paramount Network’s first scripted TV series, Yellowstone, stars Kevin Costner in a role that seems all-too-perfect for the two-time Academy Award winner. Taking place on the massive kind of ranch whose size matches its influence under the Big Sky of Montana.
Written and directed by the screenwriter of Hell or High Water and Sicario, Taylor Sheridan has put a spotlight directly on the ongoing debates of ranching from the past and present. These tense dynamics and situations play out in bold, explosive strokes.
In this sense, the audience is being treated to a movie-like experience.
Dallas + gritty realism = Yellowstone.
When the scenery is a character, that alone makes watching this TV show a worthwhile experience.
P.S. The occasional language starring the four-letter persuasion is not bleeped.
Leaving No Stone Unturned in Yellowstone
Is Yellowstone–the new original TV show from the new Paramount Network–a modern-day version of Dallas with grit, realism, and Kevin Costner?
Sure seems like it.
And that’s ok because, based on the writer, the show will work through and suffer through and eventually settle into something truly memorable and honest.
While it’s impossible to achieve the rating bonanza that Dallas struck during its original run in the ’70s and ’80s, Kevin Costner portraying a rancher in Yellowstone earns comparable marks for casting…thus far. Add in Wes Bentley, Gil Birmingham, Luke Grimes and rising star Kelsey Chow for a solid cast.
Time will tell, likely well beyond the first season, as to whether the show lives up to its hype. The gifted writer of acclaimed films with similar dynamics, a cast that supports the star (and then some), plus a part of the country serving as a wide-open setting for wide-open storylines is building up to something wild, yet somehow contained by the skin of everyone’s teeth with that beaten-down, albeit sturdy perimeter fence.
Will Yellowstone ever reach the level of brilliance and relevance of the cinematic western masterpiece Unforgiven? No.
But it can be forgiven for that.
P.S. An unforgettable trip to the perfectly picturesque, snow-covered Yellowstone National Park around 17 years ago sparked immediate intrigue in this show for me, which included snowmobiling around that park. There are wild stakes in that wild country. If the show is anything like my vacation with my dad, his best friend from college and his son, then this should be one hell of a great ride.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 