Once Upon a Time in the West

#24 at the time of writing.

The fact that this is often lauded as the best Western movie ever made confirms to me that I'm not a fan of the genre. Pioneering and railroad building and strong characters (male and female) should be right up my street, but honestly I find it hard to have patience for the whole slow paced, lonely desert, angry men, badly dubbed thing.

Having said that, even if I wasn't at the edge of my seat, I appreciated the massive amount of artistry in this film. I suspect that, now I know what to expect, my enjoyment of it would only grow if I watched it again. (And I am prepared for the mindset I'll need to enjoy director Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy whenever I get round to watching that.)

Mrs. McBain travels from New Orleans to move in with her new family in frontier Utah, only to find them murdered. But by whom? And why? The prime suspect befriends her and offers to go after the real killer, accompanied by the mysterious Harmonica man on his quest to get even.

I was fascinated to learn that (as well as Bernardo Bertolucci) horror master Dario Argento had a hand in creating the story. How much, I wonder, of the success of 1960s Italian-made "Spaghetti" Westerns in subverting and enriching the genre is down to the creative cleverness of these men, and how much is simply down to approaching the subject matter from a different, more detached cultural context?

Interesting that Clint Eastwood was offered a role, but turned it down. He was getting offered roles a grizzled gunman in 1968?! That guy must be SO OLD by now.

Ennio Morricone's score must also be mentioned as a highlight.

Million Dollar Baby

#174 at time of writing.

This film, about an ageing boxing coach who reluctantly agrees to train a relentlessly determined and positive woman, does not end up going in the direction you expect, and is all the more powerful as a result.

Clint Eastwood plays almost the same character as in Gran Torino, which is ranked higher on IMDb, but in my opinion this is the superior film. And the Academy clearly agrees with me, having awarded this the Best Picture Oscar (and three others).

You have to admire Mr Eastwood for continuing to direct and act in such compelling and challenging films despite being older than sin - he was 74 when this was released and he's still going strong almost a decade later.

Even more respect to him for sticking with this difficult story, based on short stories by F.X. Toole, despite the typical narrow minded studio reaction to anything that doesn't fit the formula. Several studios refused to fund Million Dollar Baby until Tom Rosenberg stuck his neck out to provide half of the $30million budget. Box office receipts ended up exceeding $200million.

Hilary Swank puts in a stellar performance that would steal the show, except that Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman live up to their reputations as masters of gravitas while they compete to see who can be the gruffest old man.

A movie that can be hard to watch, but is full of heart.

Gran Torino

#77 at time of writing.

Violence begets violence. And casual racism makes you a hero.

I have a feeling I'm not going to be entirely fair on this film.

Don't get me wrong, it's good, I liked it. But it's too flawed to be so high on the Top 250. It's as subtle as a breeze block wrapped in silk. The acting is occasionally shaky (although not from Clint Eastwood). It's stuck between parable and realism in a way that niggles at my suspension of disbelief.

But the characters are cool, the dialogue is witty, the story is simple and compelling. So maybe I'm being unfair, but this gets a solid seven out of ten for me - and no film would get into my personal Top 250 without at least a high eight.

Entertaining? Yes. Makes you think? A little. All-time great? Nah.

Letters from Iwo Jima

#187 at time of writing.

It could have been seen as a gimmick when Clint Eastwood decided to film the story of the Battle of Iwo Jima from both the American perspective (Flags of Our Fathers) and the Japanese perspective (Letters from Iwo Jima). But it is not a gimmick.

This film is remarkably brave, honest and non-Hollywood. It portrays the Japanese soldiers as ordinary people forced by circumstance to battle for a lost cause, abandoned by the mainland and doomed by an insane cultural fear of losing face. It's visceral in scope and personal in tone, and there's always an assured hand in dealing with the performances and characters.

There are some desperately moving scenes as the soldiers and General Kuribayashi gradually realise the hopelessness of their situation. One of the most affecting aspects of the film is the tension between those soldiers that think it treasonous not to commit suicide in the face of failure, and those soldiers - the General included - who doubt the wisdom of such sacrifice.

As you watch the events unfold, you feel fear, loss, anger, and a mixture of sadness and admiration for the courage and persistent humanity of these ill-fated people.

This film is a significant, fascinating achievement.