Autoblog

The first official trailer for Clint Eastwood's latest film, Gran Torino, which opens on December 17, has arrived over at Apple's movie trailer web page. Available in a variety of sizes including HD, but unfortunately not embedable, the trailer shows Clint using the gruffest voice possible to disparage the Asian family who moved in next door. Clint's character, however, becomes a hero after saving their teenage son. How does he do that? By pointing a shotgun at some gang bangers and saying, "Get off my lawn." Classic, classic Clint. The title character of the movie, Clint's 1972 Gran Torino Sport, makes an appearance in the trailer, but it's quick and there's no mention of how the car fits into the larger plot. Who cares? Clint Eastwood and a classic muscle car are enough star power to get us to watch. Throw in Asian gangs and a shotgun and you've got our Oscar vote. Click here to watch the trailer over at Apple.

[Source: Apple via Dumb Drum]

Clint Eastwood's Changeling has all the Oscar buzz going for it at the moment, but we're stoked for the other movie he has coming out this year, Gran Torino. And yes, the title has everything to do with the car, as you can see from the poster above, which was just released.

The plot summary, via IMDB: "Disgruntled Korean War vet Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) sets out to reform his neighbor, a young Hmong teenager, who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possesion: his 1972 Gran Torino." USA Today has a longer piece out that fleshes out the story some more.

Messing with someone's Gran Torino is wrong. Messing with Clint's... well, you asked for it, dummy. We'll drop the 10 bucks to see this one at the multiplex when it opens in December.

[Source: USA Today via In Contention]

While he's shown a certain flair for historical pieces, we sincerely doubt that Clint Eastwood would forego his formidable film-crafting talent to make a documentary about a mid 1970's Ford that can be had for a dollar per pound. Details are scant, but Warner Brothers has targeted December 2008 as a release date for Gran Torino, which Eastwood both stars in and directs. Eastwood is no stranger to the big Ford - he drove a '72 in Magnum Force, the sequel to Dirty Harry, in which he wheeled a '68 Ford Custom. Despite the title we tend to doubt the movie will be terribly car-centric - who'd want to watch that?

[Source: Variety via Inside Line]