Dirty Harry Returns......Sort Of

I've long hoped that someday Clint Eastwood would revive the iconic character of "Dirty Harry" Callahan, the hard-bitten San Francisco detective who fearlessly took on all criminal lowlife, from muggers and bank-robbers to trustafarian revolutionaries, all the while ready to let sarcastic one-liners fly along with slugs from his trusty .44 magnum. Twenty years have passed since Dirty Harry's last appearance on the silver screen (The Dead Pool), but Eastwood this December is releasing a movie featuring a character with Dirty Harry's resolve and determination, if not his name.

The film of which I speak is named Gran Torino. The main character, played by Eastwood, is an aging Korean War veteran named Walt Kowalski, whose difficulties begin when one night he stands up to a Vietnamese street gang with his trusty Garand rifle. Here's the preview:



Looks promising.

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Since I brought up Dirty Harry, here are some of my favorite quotes of his through the years:

"I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?" - Dirty Harry, 1971

Mayor: "I don't want any more trouble like you had last year in the Fillmore District. Understand? That's my policy."

Harry Callahan: "Yeah, well, when an adult male is chasing a female with intent to commit rape, I shoot the bastard, that's my policy."

Mayor: "Intent? How did you establish that?"

Harry Callahan: "When a naked man is chasing a woman through an alley with a butcher knife and a hard-on, I figure he isn't out collecting for the Red Cross." - Dirty Harry, 1971

"A good man always knows his limitations." - Magnum Force, 1973

"Nothing wrong with shooting as long as the right people get shot." - Magnum Force, 1973

"Go ahead, make my day." - Sudden Impact, 1983

"Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one." - The Dead Pool, 1988

Harry Callahan: "I don't like your game. In fact, I don't like it at all."

Peter Swan: "Look, the dead pool is a very harmless game. We just pick who's going to die, because they are either old, have medical problems, are a drug addict, and..."

Harry Callahan: "Maybe I'll start my own 'dead pool' and put your name on it." - The Dead Pool, 1988

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Speaking of great quotes, here's one that ties in well with the previous entry about Barack Obama's Stalinist friends:

"How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin." - Ronald Reagan, September 25, 1987

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Speaking of Marxism, check out this interview (via Ace of Spades) Barack Obama gave to a public radio station back in 2001:



And some people still insist that Obama isn't a Marxist?