Mediocre Actors Join Overrated Director

Hey guys, it's Donnie...Over the past two weeks or so, the cast for Clint Eastwood's next directorial effort has expanded exponentially. I've been pretty much ignoring this slew of casting announcements because...well, I've been pretty disappointed by Clint Eastwood the director as of late. I thought that Mystic River was mediocre at best, and any good will that the movie had garnered with me went flying out the window when Laura Linney made her unfounded, out-of-left-field Lady MacBeth turn at the end. Million Dollar Baby was actually pretty entertaining for the first half or so, but once it makes its abrupt 180 degree turn 3/4 through, everything else just pissed me off immensely. It's been a long time since I've walked out of a theater THAT upset at a movie. What it really boils down to is that I think Clint Eastwood is not very good at making the type of movies he wants to make right now. And for the love of God, he needs to get a new lighting designer, cuz Million Dollar Bullcrap had the most awkward, obvious, beat-you-over-the-head-with-the-imagery lighting in recent memory. And it was far from the best picture of the year.

That being said, his new flick is called Flags Of Our Fathers, and it's the story of the soldiers who raised the flag at Iwa Jima, told from the perspective of one soldier's son who's gathering the true story of what happened there. The cast now includes Paul Walker, Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Neal McDonough, Adam Beach and most recently Jamie Bell, aka Billy Elliott, who actually has a few flicks coming out soon, including The Chumscrubber, Dear Wendy, and King Kong.

I'm hoping that Eastwood will be able to turn himself around on this one. I really enjoy Unforgiven, so I don't think Clint is inept as a director, I think he's just having trouble finding his place right now. Maybe a big ole war movie will make the difference. Filming is set to begin soon in Iceland, and the crew has already started shipping over various tanks and amphibious vehicles, or as they're known in Boston, Duck Boats, aka a truckload of people I'd like to punch.