Don't Fence Me In

A Clint Eastwood series programmed in partnership with the Oscarbate Film Collective.

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It brings me such pleasure to finally announce the first part of a long overdue retrospective on Clint Eastwood, the actor and filmmaker. Long has Eastwood been a particular favorite of mine, a man representing a bygone era in Hollywood filmmaking that is slowly disappearing into the distance. Eastwood has had an interesting career as filmmaker, from his beginnings and more assured 80’s period, to his masterful 90’s and oddly controversial 00’s. Like many filmmakers that come under the lens of “Good Politics”, the media (who usually brandish this lens) tend to obscure the true inner workings of art, twisting its arms and legs to fit a narrative, one Eastwood has never ascribed to. In an era of true monsters on every side of the equation, Eastwood’s filmmaking emerges cool-headed, assured, and oddly ahead of the times.

This is a master who perfected his craft early on, refining it to an almost minimal symphony playing out the specific notes of an entire history of cinematic tropes and myth making. His films have tackled a wide range of subjects, and yet at the end of the day, his central ideas boil down to one of the more fascinating dissections of what makes a person justified in their actions, or wholly immoral. 

We may never see again the day where an artist as totemic as Eastwood, takes on the very fabric of their legendary image in Hollywood, along with the many overwrought notions of movie-made machismo and its “heroic” effects. Whatever your thoughts about Clint were before, we are here to set the record straight and let the films speak for themselves. It’s high time this man gets his due, so get ready, because this is only part one…

⁃ John Dickson (Oscarbate)