Photos
[Gabe Liedman is a stand-up comedian. In his new column, he takes on the genre of Dude Flicks, where guns, pecs, car crashes and glib one-liners delivered in front of a burning building with only half a t-shirt on and nothing left to lose reign supreme. He loves those movies for so many reasons, all of which are that they turn him ON.]
Dirty Harry? More like Clint Nasty, all raised-beauty-mark and snarl, ten feet tall, and PISSED OFF. Thirty-nine years ago, before he was a hundred (with twice as many Oscars), Clint Eastwood was apparently the Cindy Crawford of bad boys: just gorgeous, and destined for greatness. In today’s Cinema Pour Homme, movies about a renegade cop who hates the fuck out of crime and doesn’t give a shit about what the Founding Wusses penned in their Bitchstitution are a dime a dozen; but, in the distant past when Dirty Harry came out, that idea was super-new and cool. So I Men in Black neuralized myself, and watched Dirty Harry with the clean slate of a 1971 retard, and girl, it was siiiiiiiiiiiick. Boom, boom, I’m under arrest!
It never even occurred to me to have a crush on Clint Eastwood. Earlier this year, I watched The Bridges of Madison County on the recommendation of a gal pal who swore that the sight of Clint, vintage camera slung over his shoulder, sipping lemonade in Meryl Streep’s bathtub, would give me a thrill. It. Did. Not. But, he wasn’t always a grandpa, and minus decades of direct sunshine, Clint was definitely a specimen of Hollywood’s schwinging past (a time before you needed double-D pecs and a 9-pack to be an extra in the movies). Here, he is lean, and angular, with some muscles, but not, like, ridiculous, strutting around in a stiff polyester suit, rocking his puffed-up cocoa-colored Murphy Brown ‘do like he’s the top and the world’s his bottom.
He plays Harry Callahan, or “Dirty” Harry to his enemies (EVERYONE IS HIS ENEMY). San Francisco’s being terrorized by Scorpio, a serial killer who picks people off with his sniper rifle from rooftops, like a real pussy. The first kill we see is a beautiful lady swimming in a very fancy swimming pool. Shouldn’t’ve done that, lady, it’s raining bullets. Harry wasn’t there to save her antiquely bikini’d ass, because he was across town eating a hot dog, when a bank got robbed and he had to handle that shit himself. As he delivers his famous “feeling lucky, punk?” line, Scorpio’s fled the scene, but left a note demanding a ton of cash from the city coffers.
Harry’s ready to rip Scorpio’s dick off once he finds out about him, but everyone around him is trying to slow him down with regulations and protocol. Plus, he’s gotta break in a brand new partner (his old one got all shot up), Chico Gonzalez, a pouty Latino college boy played by Reni Santori (Poppie from Seinfeld). Dirty Harry better break that pouty Latino college boy in real good…
The cops communicate to Scorpio, via a personal ad in the newspaper, that they will give him the money, but they need some time to scrounge it up. Scorpio DOESN’T LIKE THAT PERSONAL AD, so he decides to sniper someone from some rooftop as a sort of tantrum. He’s got some strangers in his crosshairs when all of a sudden a police helicopter catches him and is like “don’t do that!” and he runs away without murdering anyone (or being arrested).
Dirty Harry and Chico the Cute cruise the streets San Francisco later that night looking for anal Scorpio, and think they see him, but end up following some random dude home and watching him help his corpulent girlfriend take her sweater off. Then, across town, other cops think they’ve found Scorpio, but instead it’s some sniveling suicide-pansy threatening to throw himself off a building. Dirty Harry mocks the asshole callously until he decides he’d rather live than die (works for high school bullies?).
The next day, some 10-year-old kid gets his face blown off by Scorpio, and the cops all figure out which rooftop the psycho’s using as his office. Dirty Harry and Chico the Cute decide to stake it out that night, and wait until Scorpio shows up. In the meantime, Dirty Harry watches, through his binoculars, some fit, naked hippie chick hang out with her friend who is Janis Joplin for Halloween.
Finally, Scorpio shows up and Dirty Harry tries to blow his sick head off, but Scorpio escapes, and decides to kick things up a notch.
Scorpio kidnaps a teenage girl, rips out one of her teeth, steals her underpants and bra, and buries her alive. Jesus fucking Christ. He also demands twice as much money as before, which the cops tell Dirty Harry he should deliver to Scorpio later that night at the docks. But, when Dirty Harry gets to the docks, Scorpio’s not there, and leads him on an epic cross-city run from payphone to payphone, with Chico the Cute following in a car and listening along (Dirty Harry is wearing a wire).
Scorpio makes Dirty Harry meet him in a cruisy park with a giant cross in it. First Dirty Harry meets a homosexual who’s looking for homosex and calls himself Alice, so Dirty Harry tells him to go home and kill himself, literally. Then Dirty Harry and Scorpio meet up under the cross; Scorpio beats Dirty Harry up (crazy, right?) and then tells him he’s going to kill the buried teenager even though Dirty Harry has done everything he asked him to do. Chico the Cute doesn’t like this turn of events at all, and sneaks up to murder Scorpio with his gun; this distracts Scorpio for long enough for Dirty Harry to stab him in the leg and take the ransom money back. Chico the Cute gets shot, but survives, and Scorpio limps off without the cash, while Dirty Harry struggles with some broken ribs.
Later that night, some creepy hospital said Scorpio came in to get his stab wound taken care of, and the doctor even directs Dirty Harry to Scorpio’s “house”—the football stadium in San Francisco, whatever the fuck it’s called. Dirty Harry’s had it with Scorpio, so he goes over to his gigantic “house” with a million plastic seats in it that all face the center, which is a huge field with lines and numbers on it, and breaks the fuck in. He finds Scorpio and arrests him, after stomping sadistically on his stab wound.
But, since Dirty Harry wipes his butt with the Fourth Assmendment, he didn’t deign to get a warrant before arresting Scorpio, and the sick fuck walks free the next day.
Dirty Harry doesn’t like that shit at all, so he decides to use his me-time to stalk Scorpio and remind him he’s only as free as Dirty Harry says he is. Scorpio notices Dirty Harry following him in a tittie bar, late at night, and decides to pay someone to beat his face in, so he can blame it on Dirty Harry. Dirty Harry woulda done it for free, foolio. Scorpio boo-hoo’s all the way to the Gotcha Media, but no one believes Dirty Harry beat him up so bad and didn’t kill him. So, Scorpio robs a gun store, and takes a bus full of schoolchildren hostage, with their butchy female driver in tow.
He gives the city one more chance to pay him his damn cash, which everyone agrees would be best, exceptnodoy for Dirty Harry. Instead of delivering Scorpio the cash he wants so badly, Dirty Harry jumps off a bridge onto the top of the school bus, then shoots the fuck out of Scorpio in a gravel mine. Just before he delivers the fatal bullet, Dirty Harry recites (line for line) his “are you feeling lucky, punk?” monologue, thus wrapping this symphony of a dude-flick up in a bow made of steak.
In the final moments of the movie, Dirty Harry takes out his badge and throws it the fuck away, as if to say “it is I who truly feels lucky, like a lucky punk with a gun for a dick.” And so, every cop movie since has adjusted its attitude, just as I had to adjust my position on the couch to prevent my jeans from exploding.
 |
 |
You Might Also Like
 Here Are Some Morning Links! |  Oh Please, Like You’re Any Happier Than The Couple Who Got… |  That’s Your Boyfriend: Guy Whose Girlfriends Are 15… |  Intro To Smooching |
Leave a Reply
Sign inSign in with FacebookYou must be logged in to post, reply to, or rate a comment.
Joe Mande could be the new host of Movies for Guys Who Like Movies on TBS. He’s already qualified to host a Cable TV film screening, as he already beat Jesse Camp.
Except you mean Gabe Liedman, because GL wrote this review.
No I know, but I was making the Dave Holmes connection and DVD on TV and so forth. Meh, it was a stretch. I just wanted to bring up how awful his “verified” account is in a public forum,
Mission accomplished.
Someone tell Mr. Camp to put on some goddamn pants.
Each time I read this column I feel like taking on the WORLD. And then I comment on a blog under the guise of a sparkling cupcake I stole from a MySpace layout.
I wish I had a gun for a dick. I would dole out some serious justice. Seriously sext justice, that is.
Robert Rodriguez already did it in From Dusk Til Dawn. The character’s name was Sex Machine, he was played by the legendary Tom Savini, and his codpiece thing flipped open to reveal a barrel where his dick should be and two 6-round chambers underneath it, in no way connected to the barrel of the gun, therefore being absolutely ridiculous.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the day Robert Rodriguez runs out of ideas for attaching guns to people is the day he stops making movies.
Is Dirty Harry the one with the orangutan in it?
Hey Kenny. Hows the career going? How’s the chicks? Rootin for ya bud.
My 2008 kickball team was named Every Which Way But Lose. We lost every game.
IT’S CALLED CANDLESTICK FUCKING PARK SOFT GABE. (I’m not actually mad, just figured that’s how real men talk.)
Isn’t it 3com Park or some crap now?
It was Kezar Stadium where the scene was filmed. Bay Area representing.
I used to live close to Candlestick and went to check out the “Recreation Area” adjecent to the park. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, I saw a guy selling guns from his car, and drove away while trying not to make eye-contact. Good times!
It was called 3Com but now it’s Monster Park (sighs). But it will always be Candlestick.
that’s by where the old hippies live! also a McDonald’s! Not tough at all, is what I’m saying.
“I don’t know, some of those kids sitting outside Aomeba look pretty scary to me!” -You mom, while visiting you in San Francisco
“I don’t mind hippies, it’s all the gays and their sexual predilections that bother me.” -My step-uncle, while visiting me in San Francisco.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/17/BAA91891RN.DTL
its usually fine around there, but sometimes shit does happen.
whooo SF!
Chalk up yet another win for Soft “Dirty Gabe” Gabe.
clint is a knockout in this.
Dirty Harry is so racist, he’s not even racist. That’s the type of white guy everyone loves to have around.
I’m sorry, is this a new feature or the greatest feature that I have somehow missed?
The take home message is that you aren’t into the Gods and Monsters thing, so my elderly, bicurious ass should just stop trying, right?
http://www.gifsoup.com/view/301411/dirty-harry.html
Darn screwed it up:
When I first saw this film I remember finding the perp getting shot in his back passage hilarious. Now I’m older I still laugh, but feel bad about it. Is this what you humans call “Maturity” ?
Also this whole post has got me overstimulated, I need beer then straight to bed.
Soft Gabe, can we nominate movies for you to watch? If so, I nominate Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Look at these young strapping, sexy men…
SOOOOOOO SEXY!
My upvote represents my lady-boner.
This movie makes me want to be gay. No homo.
i nominate this one, because it can give people of all sexual orientations man-boners and lady-boners.
though on second thought it is a little rapey in that 70s way where it was ok then and is now super questionable.
Wasn’t she supposed to be engaged, too? Plus he kidnaps her first and handcuffs her to a toilet.
yes and yes. thequestionablesexualpoliticsof70scinemagum.
She’s not engaged; she lies about having a fiancee, and then he points out that she’s obviously super lonely and she’s like, “Doy. Busted.” And then it gets 70s-rapey (no rapo-rapo).
is he rockin’ some skin tags? cuz that’s totally 70′s sexy.
Two things.
1. Hot.
2. What are those two wart-like bumps under his arm pit?
Other than that, hot.
When I was in college I went into this used bookstore and I bought a book published in 1976 filled with photos of Robert Redford in his heyday. One of those photos is hung up in my cubicle. *Sigh*…if only I had a time machine.
My favorite Robert Redford is “They Way We Were” Redford. MMMHHHHMMMMM.
I realize this column is satire, but it was refreshing not to hear the same politically correct arguments, WHICH I AGREE WITH, against this movie.
C’mon guys. I agree with the politically correct arguments against this movie. All I’m saying is that it was nice not to hear them for the millionth time.
What about his hardware ? I demand to know what sort of pistol he’s packing.
That’s a 357 magnum, the most powerful gun known to man.
I hope you’re joking Krasdale, 357s are for pussies.
For God’s sake Harry – put it back in your pants!
Awww, you can tell he’s still tough because his khakis are flat-front. Pleated pants are for suckers.
Guys, it’s a .44 Magnum, which Easy Andy (in Taxi Driver) said could “stop a car at a hundred yards—put a round right through the engine block.”
God, everything about this movie and Harry Callahan/Clint Eastwood are the most fucking badass.
DID ANYONE else have this FUCKING game on NES? BECAUSE IT was some difficult ass bullshit.
The one with the “fuck you” room of no escape the developers put in for a laugh? And also snakes and suit-swapping pimps? I know of it: http://spoonyexperiment.com/2009/05/08/dirty-harry-the-war-against-drugs-nes/
Dirty Harry’s good, but the dude playing Scorpio is such a fucking spaz that I can’t get around it. Magnum Force is the better Dirty Harry film, catchphrase or not.
Here’s some recommendations of the greatest dude movies of all time:
Slap Shot
The Dollars Trilogy
The Dirty Dozen
I second the Dollars Trilogy, but also can we get a Guy Ritchie movie for Movies for Doods? Snatch, Revolver and Rock n Rolla are all pretty awesome and similarly badass. This guy knows what I’m talking about:
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels over the other those 3, plz. Rock n Rolla has one worthwhile scene (the chase with the Russian mercenaries), Revolver was terrible, and Snatch — even though I do like it — is the poor man’s Lock Stock (which is, itself, a poor man’s Tarantino flick).
Lock Stock ain’t just for the dudes. MEEEE-OOOOOOWW
now do Deathwish!
I love this post so much, I want to put it under arrest!
I hadn’t seen Dirty Harry until very recently when it was playing with Bullitt in a double feature at The Castro Theatre. Since I am from SF but had seen neither film, my boyfriend and best friend dragged me to it. Holy cow was it fun to watch!
If you want to continue a journey through the politically incorrect streets of San Francisco, go with Bullitt! Steve McQueen stares off to the distance (/down at tables) so often I wondered about it being an action film, but the car chases are top notch.
Also recommended for future posts: Easy Rider
Recommendations:
Roadhouse
Taken
Point Break
The Running Man
Commando
Predator
Running Man is SOOOOO GGOOOOOODDDDD.
and Top Gun!
Why does the bad guy have to be Scorpio? It’s a fine sun sign that a lot of perfectly well adjusted people happen to be born under.
Do Falling Down!!! Yay! This feature rules.
GL, you wanna get married?
I’d like to nominate Jeremiah Johnson and Cool Hand Luke for awesome, older, dude movies.
Request: Léon the Professional.
I request a list of upcoming films to be covered, so we can play along at home.
Bad Ass Movies Request:
The Wild Bunch (ensemble)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Warren Oates)
Yojimbo or The Seven Samurai (Toshiro Mifune or ensemble)
Die Hard (Bruce)
Bullitt (Steve McQueen)
The French Connection (Gene Hackman)
The Dirty Dozen (Lee Marvin + ensemble)
The Great Escape (McQueen + Bronson + ensemble)
True Grit (John Wayne)
The Killer or Hard Boiled (Chow Yun-Fat)
The Night of the Hunter (Robert Mitchum)
I do not apologize for the long list.