‘I long for the good old days': Clint Eastwood lets rip on Hollywood
In a new interview, the 95-year-old actor and director slammed Hollywood's growing reliance on sequels and remakes.
'My philosophy is: do something new or stay at home,' the Oscar winner told Kuria, an Austrian newspaper.
'I long for the good old days when screenwriters wrote movies like Casablanca in small bungalows on the studio lot. When everyone had a new idea,' added Eastwood, whose career spans seven decades.
'We live in an era of remakes and franchises. I've shot sequels three times, but I haven't been interested in that for a long while.'
Eastwood is likely referring to the 1970s and '80s Dirty Harry movie series, in which he starred in four sequels: Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool.
The man puts his money where his mouth is. Last year, Eastwood directed Juror No. 2, an acclaimed original courtroom thriller starring Nicholas Hoult.
While the film made the National Board of Review's top 10 list, it did not receive a wide release in the US. It grossed $24 million overseas.
Eastwood, who's won four Academy Awards for the films Million Dollar Baby and Unforgiven, says he won't retire for 'a long time.'
'There's no reason why a man can't get better with age,' the Mystic River director said. 'And I have much more experience today. Sure, there are directors who lose their touch at a certain age, but I'm not one of them.'
A secret to his longevity, Eastwood says, are the work habits he learned early in his career as an actor.
'As an actor, I was still under contract with a studio, was in the old system, and thus forced to learn something new every year,' he said.
'And that's why I'll work as long as I can still learn something, or until I'm truly senile.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Herald Sun
16 minutes ago
- Herald Sun
Trump signs order to extend China tariff truce by 90 days
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. US President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a delay in the reimposition of higher tariffs on Chinese goods, hours before a trade truce between Washington and Beijing was due to expire. The White House's halt on steeper tariffs will be in place until November 10. "I have just signed an Executive Order that will extend the Tariff Suspension on China for another 90 days," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The truce on steeper levies had been due to expire Tuesday. While the United States and China slapped escalating tariffs on each other's products this year, bringing them to prohibitive triple-digit levels and snarling trade, both countries in May agreed to temporarily lower them. As part of their May truce, fresh US tariffs targeting China were reduced to 30 percent and the corresponding level from China was cut to 10 percent. Those rates will now hold until November -- or whenever a deal is cut before then. Around the same time that Trump confirmed the new extension, Chinese state media Xinhua news agency published a joint statement from US-China talks in Stockholm saying it would also extend its side of the truce. China will continue suspending its earlier tariff hike for 90 days starting August 12 while retaining a 10-percent duty, the report said. It would also "take or maintain necessary measures to suspend or remove non-tariff countermeasures against the United States, as agreed in the Geneva joint declaration," Xinhua reported. In the executive order posted Monday to its website, the White House reiterated its position that there are "large and persistent annual US goods trade deficits" and they "constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States." The order acknowledged Washington's ongoing discussions with Beijing "to address the lack of trade reciprocity in our economic relationship" and noted that China has continued to "take significant steps toward remedying" the US complaints. - Trump-Xi summit? - "Beijing will be happy to keep the US-China negotiation going, but it is unlikely to make concessions," warned William Yang, an analyst at the International Crisis Group. He believes China sees its leverage over rare earth exports as a strong one, and that Beijing will likely use it to pressure Washington. US-China Business Council president Sean Stein said the current extension is "critical to give the two governments time to negotiate an agreement" providing much-needed certainty for companies to make plans. A trade deal, in turn, would "pave the way for a Trump-Xi summit this fall," said Asia Society Policy Institute senior vice president Wendy Cutler. But Cutler, herself a former US trade official, said: "This will be far from a walk in the park." Since Trump took office, China's tariffs have essentially boomeranged, from the initially modest 10 percent hike in February, followed by repeated surges as Beijing and Washington clashed, until it hit a high of 145 percent in April. Now the tariff has been pulled back to 30 percent, a negotiated truce rate. Even as both countries reached a pact to cool tensions after high level talks in Geneva in May, the de-escalation has been shaky. Key economic officials convened in London in June as disagreements emerged and US officials accused their counterparts of violating the pact. Policymakers met again in Stockholm last month. Trump said in a social media post Sunday that he hoped China will "quickly quadruple its soybean orders," adding this would be a way to balance trade with the United States. China's exports reached record highs in 2024, and Beijing reported that their exports exceeded expectations in June, climbing 5.8 percent year-on-year, as the economic superpower works to sustain growth amid Trump's trade war. Separately, since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has slapped a 10-percent "reciprocal" tariff on almost all trading partners, aimed at addressing trade practices Washington deemed unfair. This surged to varying steeper levels last Thursday for dozens of economies. Major partners like the European Union, Japan and South Korea now see a 15-percent US duty on many products, while the level went as high as 41 percent for Syria. The "reciprocal" tariffs exclude sectors that have been targeted individually, such as steel and aluminum, and those that are being investigated like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. They are also expected to exclude gold, although a clarification by US customs authorities made public last week caused concern that certain gold bars might still be targeted. Trump said Monday that gold imports will not face additional tariffs, without providing further details. The president has taken separate aim at individual countries such as Brazil over the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of planning a coup, and India over its purchase of Russian oil. Canada and Mexico come under a different tariff regime. bur-bys/sla/bjt Originally published as Trump signs order to extend China tariff truce by 90 days
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
Chinese navy and Coast Guard vessels crash during high-speed pursuit of Philippine ship in South China sea
Two Chinese ships have collided in the South China Sea after one chased a Philippine Coast Guard vessel near Scarborough Shoal, escalating the ongoing standoff over contested waters. A China Coast Guard vessel struck a People's Liberation Army Navy ship on Monday while chasing a Philippine boat at 'high speed', causing 'substantial damage' to the coast guard vessel, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said in a post on X. According to Manila, the collision happened near Scarborough Shoal, where Philippine vessels and fishermen faced 'hazardous manoeuvres and blocking actions' from Chinese ships. Mr Tarriela said a Chinese vessel also targeted a Philippine ship with a water cannon, but the Philippine crew was able to evade the attack. Video released by the Philippine side shows the Chinese ship being cut off by the destroyer, leaving visible damage. The Chinese Coast Guard did not acknowledge the collision. Tensions remain high at Scarborough Shoal, a flashpoint in the disputed waterway where China maintains extensive claims despite a 2016 international tribunal rejecting its stance. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr warned that any US-China clash over Taiwan could pull his country into conflict, yet stressed Manila would persist in defending its sovereignty and asserting its maritime claims. 'Despite our fervent wish to avoid any confrontation with anybody anywhere, war over Taiwan will drag the Philippines kicking and screaming into the conflict,' Mr Marcos Marcos stated, 'We will continue to defend our territory. We will continue to exercise our sovereign rights and despite any opposition from anyone,' following the latest high-seas confrontation.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Footage captures two Chinese ships colliding with each other
Two Chinese ships have collided in the South China Sea after one chased a Philippine Coast Guard vessel near Scarborough Shoal, escalating the ongoing standoff over contested waters. A China Coast Guard vessel struck a People's Liberation Army Navy ship on Monday while chasing a Philippine boat at 'high speed', causing 'substantial damage' to the coast guard vessel, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said in a post on X. According to Manila, the collision happened near Scarborough Shoal, where Philippine vessels and fishermen faced 'hazardous manoeuvres and blocking actions' from Chinese ships. Mr Tarriela said a Chinese vessel also targeted a Philippine ship with a water cannon, but the Philippine crew was able to evade the attack. If you'd like to view this content, please adjust your . To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide. Video released by the Philippine side shows the Chinese ship being cut off by the destroyer, leaving visible damage. The Chinese Coast Guard did not acknowledge the collision. Tensions remain high at Scarborough Shoal, a flashpoint in the disputed waterway where China maintains extensive claims despite a 2016 international tribunal rejecting its stance. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr warned that any US-China clash over Taiwan could pull his country into conflict, yet stressed Manila would persist in defending its sovereignty and asserting its maritime claims. 'Despite our fervent wish to avoid any confrontation with anybody anywhere, war over Taiwan will drag the Philippines kicking and screaming into the conflict,' Mr Marcos Marcos stated, 'We will continue to defend our territory. We will continue to exercise our sovereign rights and despite any opposition from anyone,' following the latest high-seas confrontation.
