Do you feel lucky, punks? Then download this critical roundtable podcast on Clint Eastwood

In the spirit of Changeling being this year’s Centerpiece selection at the New York Film Festival–and that Clint Eastwood will most likely gain a bunch of Oscar nominations for Gran Torino–Film Comment decided to host some of New York’s leading critics in a discussion about Eastwood’s career as a director. Film Comment’s Evan Davis led a distinguished panel that included:

• Ed Gonzalez, Film editor, Slant Magazine
• Akiva Gottlieb, Contributor, The Nation & Slant
• Kent Jones, Editor-at-large, Film Comment
• Kevin Lee, Director, Shooting Down Pictures
• Karina Longworth, Editor, SpoutBlog

The wide-ranging discussion covers such topics as the (de)merits of Changeling, the reckoning of Eastwood the director with Eastwood the icon, Eastwood and class, the racial complexities of Gran Torino, Eastwood’s relationship to music and structure, and the director’s ultimate place within American cinema.

[Download the MP3 podcast now]

Many thanks to Glenn Raucher, Paul Brunick, and our sound man, Don Schul!