Heresy alert: I thought the Clint Eastwood ad for Chrysler during the Super Bowl was great. I saw it when it originally aired and my first thought was not of President Obama. Maybe Republicans see his hidden hand more often than we should. Obama isn’t everywhere subverting the American dream — he is almost everywhere subverting the American dream. Read full article > >
Can Clint Eastwood possibly be 81? The man striding youthfully into a Georgetown hotel room — just off a plane, still wearing his navy blue windbreaker and Nikes — defies chronological age. With the exception of the gray hair and one or two wrinkles, Eastwood still bears an uncanny resemblance to the rangy young cowboy who made men’s and women’s hearts go pitter-pat in “ Rawhide ” and those Sergio Leone Westerns in the 1960s. Read full article > >
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Clint Eastwood talks ’J. Edgar,’ politics and why he’s still working at 81
Former president almost enlisted Clint Eastwood as his running mate.
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Vote Bush/Eastwood in ’88?
Calling an album “ This Is Country Music ” is rather clever in its simplicity, decisively answering a hotly debated topic before anyone else has a definitive say. What is country music? Well, Brad Paisley will tell you: There’s a lot of banjo and steel guitar, a few songs about love, and obviously, Clint Eastwood is involved. And if someone’s going to define the genre, why not Paisley, he of the soothing voice and utterly adorable love songs? His success over the years, thanks to twangy guitar skills and irresistible hooks, qualifies him for the task as much as anyone. Read full article > >
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Quick spin: ‘This Is Country Music’ by Brad Paisley
You may think this is just another picture of Leonardo DiCaprio hanging around, looking suave (and maybe it is), but it’s also a pic of Leo on the set of his new movie, J. Edgar, in which he plays legendary law man J. Edgar Hoover. These aren’t official photos from the set, but they were taken during production as Leo stepped out for a smoke. The film, which is being directed by Clint Eastwood, will track Hoover throughout his career highlights with appearances from Naomi Watts (playing Hoover’s secretary Helen Grady), Armie Hammer (Hoover’s right-hand man and possible lover, Clyde Tolson), Ed Westwick (playing Agent Smith, who was hired to write Hoover’s biography) and Josh Lucas (as aviator Charles Lindbergh).
A box-office hit is born? With Beyonc
A film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Matt Damon will close this year’s New York Film Festival, organisers announce.
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Eastwood movie to close festival
The government’s decision to axe the UK Film Council attracted further controversy today when it emerged that DreamWorks Studios, the Hollywood studio founded by Steven Spielberg, had written to the chancellor to “express its concern” over the move.
A letter signed by an executive at DreamWorks, Steven Molen, who is in charge of location decisions for the studio, was sent to George Osborne last week, adding to the high-profile list of figures who have spoken out against ending the council’s funding. Among the films made by DreamWorks on location in Britain are Sweeney Todd and War Horse.
It is the second letter of concern Osborne has received from Hollywood in a week: the first, from the Oscar-winning actor and director Clint Eastwood, spoke of his “great concern” over the scrapping.
Eastwood praised the efforts of the council during the London-based shoot of his most recent film, The Hereafter, and said that such a production could be less likely to choose the UK as a location after the council’s abolition.
And more than 50 actors and actresses, including Bill Nighy, Timothy Spall and Emily Blunt, last week signed a letter to the Daily Telegraph making clear their opposition to the decision.
A Treasury spokeswoman said the chancellor had received the DreamWorks letter, but declined to discuss its contents. However, Ed Vaizey, the minister for communication, culture and the creative industries, defended the decision to scrap the council as part of a raft of cost-cutting measures. “We’ve got a plethora of quangos, and I would question whether the Film Council is solely behind the success of film in this country,” he told Sky News.
Criticising what he called “hysteria” surrounding the decision, Vaizey said film tax credits, lottery funding and a infrastructure for film production would continue to entice big film studios to the UK. He invited Hollywood figures to call him personally with their concerns rather than speaking through the media.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: “The government is stopping the support for a film quango, not the film industry. The key mechanisms that support the industry, including the film tax relief, which is worth more than £100 million a year, will remain in place, and Lottery funding for film is set to increase because of the changes the government has made.”
In their letter to the Daily Telegraph, the actors argued that the UK Film Council had been key in luring Hollywood to Britain, as well as providing important funding for films such as In the Loop, Bend it Like Beckham, This is England, Gosford Park and The Constant Gardener.
“Everyone, including those in the film industry, knows that times are tough and the government has to make savings. But the UKFC doesn’t waste money, it makes it,” they wrote. “For every pound it invests, the country gets £5 back. Thanks to its efforts, our film industry — worth £4.5bn a year to the UK — has rarely been stronger or more successful.
“We can’t afford to take this strength for granted. Canada, New Zealand, Australia and other countries have recognised the benefits in jobs and revenue that a thriving film industry brings. They are increasing their support to woo films away from Britain. By scrapping the UKFC, the risk is that their job is made easier.”
Others who have spoken out include the director Mike Leigh and Rebecca O’Brien, who has produced nine films directed by Ken Loach, and Christopher Hampton, most famous for the screenplays of Dangerous Liaisons and Atonement, who described the decision as a “thrashy response”. An online petition to save the council has also attracted thousands of signatures.
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Oscar-winning film star Clint Eastwood writes to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne appealing not to axe the UK Film Council.
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Eastwood plea over Film Council
Clint Eastwood talks ’J. Edgar,’ politics and why he’s still working at 81
Friday, November 11th, 2011Steven Spielberg’s studio ‘concerned’ by move to axe UK Film Council
Friday, August 13th, 2010
This article titled “Steven Spielberg’s studio ‘concerned’ by move to axe UK Film Council” was written by Paul Lewis, for The Guardian on Thursday 12th August 2010 17.49 UTC