He tinkers and tinkers, almost like Henry Ford did with the assembly line, trying always to simply, streamline, or even rearrange the words to deliver just the right punch and just the right time so audiences do not simply smile, but bust a gut.

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It might not be the first word to come to mind, but he defended Hilary Swank's right to punch her weight in the Academy Award-winning "Million Dollar Baby, " and he has regularly cast strong, smart actresses in his films, women like Marcia Gay Harden, Frances Fisher, Diane Venora, Sondra Locke and Laura Linney.

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Shift your weight to the back foot and turn the body sharply to the right to catch the punch high on the left shoulder.

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