Latest news with #SergioLeone
Fox News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Clint Eastwood reflects on decades in Hollywood and his drive to keep working as he turns 95
Clint Eastwood declared that he has no intention of slowing down as he marks his 95th birthday. In a recent interview with the Austrian newspaper Kurier, the legendary actor and director, who turned 95 on Saturday, revealed that he is in pre-production on a new movie, dispelling rumors that 2024's "Juror #2" would be his final film. "There's no reason why a man can't get better with age," he explained. "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." Eastwood launched his acting career in 1954 when he secured a contract with Universal Pictures. He initially struggled to land roles and took on minor parts in movies, including 1955's "Tarantula" and "Revenge of the Creature" before Universal terminated his contract in 1955. The actor landed his breakthrough role when he was cast as Rowdy Yates in the popular TV western "Rawhide," which aired from 1959 to 1965. Eastwood also found international stardom during the 1960s when he played The Man with No Name — a fearless gunfighter whose stoicism masked his brutality. The character appeared in director Sergio Leone's Italian westerns, popularly known as "spaghetti westerns," and included 1964's "A Fistful of Dollars"; 1965's "For a Few Dollars More," and 1966's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." In 1967, the three films were released in the United States and became box office hits, establishing Eastwood as a bankable Hollywood star. While continuing to star in Westerns including "The Outlaw Josey Wales" and "Pale Rider," Eastwood made his directorial debut in 1971 when he helmed the critically acclaimed movie "Play Misty For Me." That same year, Eastwood starred as police inspector Harry Callahan in the action-thriller "Dirty Harry." The movie was a critical and commercial success and spawned four sequels. Eastwood received two Academy Awards in 1992, after directing and producing the classic Western "Unforgiven." "I'm going to work while I can still learn something or until I'm really senile." In 1995, Eastwood co-starred with Meryl Streep in the hit romantic drama "The Bridges of Madison County," based on the novel of the same name. The role marked a departure from his usual tough-guy roles and showcased his versatility as an actor. The California native found further success with the critical and commercial hits "Mystic River" (2003), "Million Dollar Baby" (2004) and "Letters From Iwo Jima" (2006). At age 74, Eastwood became the oldest person ever to win the Academy Award for Best Director for "Million Dollar Baby," which also earned an Oscar for Best Picture. A few of Eastwood's other acclaimed movies include "Gran Torino" (2008) "Invictus" (2009), "J. Edgar" (2011), "American Sniper" (2014), "Sully" (2016), "The Mule" (2018), "Richard Jewell" (2019) and "Cry Macho" (2021). While speaking with Kurier, Eastwood reflected on the secret behind his drive. "I always knew that you can get further with a positive attitude to life than with a negative one," he said. "You shouldn't see the glass as half empty. And I had that feeling when I was 25, as an aspiring actor who was contemptuously told by numerous producers that I was a failure. I even heard a little voice inside me back then that said you could do it." Eastwood also shared his thoughts on the current state of Hollywood movies, decrying the proliferation of sequels, remakes and franchise films. "We live in an era of remakes and franchises," he noted. "I've shot sequels three times, but I haven't been interested in that for a long while. My philosophy is: do something new or stay at home." Eastwood, who has been married twice and has had several long-term partners, is father to eight children including daughter Laurie, 69, daughter Kimber, 60, son Kyle, 57, daughter Alison, 53, son Scott, 39, daughter Kathryn, 37, daughter Francesca, 31, and daughter Morgan, 28. During his interview with Kurier, Eastwood was asked if his partners had been bothered when he worked with some of Hollywood's most beautiful actresses. "The women in my life have always known that I won't leave them just because I flirt with other women," he said. "I am happy with my life. At a certain point, I have always been older than my wives, but I feel just as young as them, at least mentally." "And physically I'm still doing well, so hopefully no one will have to worry about me in this regard for a long time," he added. Eastwood also explained why he believes he has continued to find success after a career spanning seven decades. "I didn't repeat myself, I didn't always make the same kind of film, I always tried something new," he said. "A new genre, a different role." "As an actor, I was still under contract with a studio, was in the old system and was therefore forced to learn something new every year," he added. "And that's why I'm going to work while I can still learn something or until I'm really senile."
ITV News
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ITV News
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Don't mess with the 'Man With No Name' - three gunfighters hunt for stolen gold in Sergio Leone's epic spaghetti western starring Clint Eastwood. Part of the 'Dollars' trilogy. More info
Express Tribune
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Iconic films that were completely snubbed by the Oscars
The Oscars may be cinema's most prestigious event but that doesn't mean they always get it right. Time and time again, the Academy has overlooked films that have gone on to become cult classics cultural touchstones or even masterpieces in their own right. Whether it was due to genre bias poor timing or simply being ahead of their time these iconic titles were shockingly shut out come awards season. From blood-soaked westerns to philosophical comedies and unforgettable romances these are the films that deserved Oscar recognition but never even got a foot in the door. 1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) Often hailed as the pinnacle of spaghetti westerns, Sergio Leone's epic tale of greed and gunslingers redefined the genre. Yet, the Academy didn't take notice—possibly because westerns weren't seen as serious cinema until decades later, when Clint Eastwood, the film's lead, won big for Unforgiven. 2. The Shining (1980) Despite its now-iconic status and Stanley Kubrick's masterful direction, this Stephen King adaptation was completely ignored. No nominations, even for Jack Nicholson's terrifying performance or the haunting score. Today, it's considered one of the greatest horror films ever made. 3. Before Sunrise (1995) Richard Linklater's romantic drama introduced audiences to Jesse and Céline, two strangers whose 24-hour connection became a generational love story. While the sequels earned Oscar nods, the original chapter didn't receive a single nomination. 4. Groundhog Day (1993) Bill Murray's time-loop comedy is widely celebrated for its clever script, existential themes, and heartwarming charm. It's now a classic, but the Academy completely passed it over in 1993. 5. Zodiac (2007) David Fincher's meticulous and haunting true-crime thriller about the infamous Zodiac killer was critically lauded but received zero recognition from the Academy. It's since become a cult favourite and one of Fincher's finest. 6. Heat (1995) This Michael Mann crime saga starred Robert De Niro and Al Pacino together onscreen for the first time. With electric performances and a legendary shootout scene, it seemed like Oscar bait—but somehow, it got nothing. 7. The Big Lebowski (1998) Jeff Bridges' turn as The Dude became a pop culture phenomenon. The Coen brothers' offbeat comedy didn't land a single nomination, even as it went on to become one of the most quoted and rewatched films of its time. 8. Once Upon a Time in America (1984) Sergio Leone's sweeping gangster epic starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci missed out entirely—largely because its U.S. release was a heavily edited version. Composer Ennio Morricone was also disqualified due to a studio error in the credits. 9. Reservoir Dogs (1992) Quentin Tarantino's explosive debut changed indie cinema and became an instant cult hit. Despite its unforgettable dialogue and impact on filmmaking, it didn't even score a screenplay nomination. 10. In the Mood for Love (2000) Wong Kar-wai's hypnotic tale of forbidden romance remains one of the most visually stunning and emotionally resonant films ever made. It's revered globally—but the Oscars never acknowledged it. 11. American Psycho (2000) Christian Bale's chilling portrayal of Patrick Bateman in this razor-sharp satire of yuppie excess has become legendary. The film was divisive at the time, but its influence is undeniable—and yet, it was completely overlooked.
New European
12-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New European
Sergio Leone's big dreams
'The screens will measure 50 metres, and certain films will be appropriate to be shown on them,' he continued. 'The sensation you get from a huge screen with stereophonic sound, 20,000 people surrounding you, buzzing with conversation, living and pulsating with the shows they are watching – that can never be replaced by a television-sized screen, however big it is.' Sergio Leone thought in widescreen. 'In the future,' the great director once said, 'I see gigantic stadiums. Each big city will have only two or three cinemas, but they will be huge. They will seat 10,000, 20,000 people – the opposite of venues being broken up into 10 small auditoriums. Leone was a big man whose talk and ambitions were equally huge. In Sergio Leone: By Himself, a sublime and sumptuous (and appropriately sized) new book of Leone interviews and articles, his biographer, Christopher Frayling, describes him as 'in some ways a Falstaffian figure – ample of girth, bearded, built like Orson Welles.' Sergio Leone pours some 'blood' on set in a Montreal location for Once Upon a Time in America, 1989. All photos: Sipa/Shutterstock When Frayling meets him for an interview in a London hotel bar, 'just before the usual pleasantries, Leone did something I had never seen before. He picked up a large bowl of salted cashew nuts, transferred the nuts to his left hand, and emptied the entire contents into his mouth in one go, some of the cashews falling into his beard. He then greeted me, with a broad smile and a knowing twinkle in his eye, and we took the lift to his room while he munched.' The maestro also indulged 'a passion for double corona cigars ('physically and sensually they suit me perfectly'), a taste for full-bodied Brunello di Montalcino wine and a prodigious appetite for Roman and Neapolitan delicacies; a deeply resonant voice – ideal for telling heroic or tall tales, or for making grandiose, allusive statements about his work.' His vision, of course, was vast – visually magnificent creation myths of an early America populated by warriors for who the dream was already dead. Giant close-ups and sweeping long shots studded the typical Leone film, which he defined as the 'picaresque epic told spectacularly in a mixture of fairytale and reality.' Epic heroes, epic vistas, epic betrayals, epic disenchantment. Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach in the duel scene from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and a poster advertising the film Leone began his career as an assistant on a small-scale masterpiece, Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves. More influential to his future would be the American proto-blockbusters Quo Vadis and Ben-Hur, on which he worked at Cinecittà in Rome. His vision took shape in the tightly budgeted spaghetti westerns A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965), after which, he said, 'when my rating on the market had freed my neck from the producer's noose once and for all, I started making films that were more complex and monumental… The reality is that epic cinema forces you to broaden the narrative scope and worry about the details almost obsessively.' He then reunited with Clint Eastwood to conclude the Dollars trilogy with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966), which Leone fondly remembered as 'an extremely expensive film, very long and over-elaborate, decidedly monumental. It was a pleasure to film, a joy even.' The magisterial Once Upon A Time In The West (1967) took Leone to Monument Valley, Arizona, the sprawling playground of his hero John Ford, for 'a ballet of the dead, a dance of death' that sought to bury not just the western's stereotypes – 'the whore with a heart of gold, the romantic bandit, the killer who wants to get on in the world of business, the businessman who fancies himself as a gunfighter' – but the genre itself. Eastwood and Leone on the set of A Fistful of Dollars The director on the set of Once Upon a Time in the West with Claudia Cardinale, 1969 A near-three-hour film was disdained by the studios for its length, and Leone spent much of the next 17 years trying to finance its pair. When Once Upon a Time in America finally emerged in 1984, it came at four hours long and shared its predecessor's elegiac feel. Leone called it a 'dream journey' through 'a land suspended as if by magic between cinema and epic… where John Dillinger dies under the neon sign of the Biograph Cinema in Chicago and where Chaplin and Fairbanks electrify the crowd on Wall Street. Here, violence becomes almost an abstraction and the hero is unaware of what Fate holds in store for him.' Leone never made another film, but he was always dreaming on the widest canvas. At the time he died of a heart attack in 1989, at the age of 60, he had three epic projects on the go. There would have been a civil war spectacular with Richard Gere and Mickey Rourke chasing buried treasure amid the carnage and cruelty, a second world war love story ('a lost love, lost in hell', Leone said) with Robert De Niro as an American journalist trapped in the siege of Leningrad, and an intriguing TV mini-series that followed a single pistol and its owners through the evolving American west. His frequent collaborator Fulvio Morsella said: 'Fifty years earlier, he would have been a great maker of lyric operas… he had that sense of the visual image, the sound and of course the spectacular. He had a theatrical sense of a scene. Unlike other great film-makers who stayed with the small, he would always make it big.' Sergio Leone: By Himself, compiled by Christopher Frayling, is published by Reel Art Press
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ABL to provide warranty survey services for Libya's Bouri gas project
ABL, a global energy and marine consultancy, has secured a contract to deliver marine warranty survey (MWS) services to Saipem for the Bouri Gas Utilisation Project (BGUP) in Libya. This collaboration will support the marine transportation and installation activities being conducted by Saipem at the BGUP. Under the terms of the agreement, ABL will carry out technical assessments and provide approvals for all project documentation, drawings and calculations pertaining to warranted marine operations. The company's responsibilities also include suitability surveys and other marine assurance deliverables for the proposed fleet. ABL's scope of work may extend to dynamic positioning trials if required. The consultancy will provide on-site attendance to review and approve warranted marine operations. Saipem 7000, a semi-submersible crane vessel developed by Saipem, will be deployed for the main heavy lift operations. ABL MWS project manager and business development manager Sergio Leone said: 'We are really pleased to be appointed to support Saipem on this project – following a long history of successful collaboration with the company. 'The BGUP project seeks to improve delivery and production of natural gas to Libya, with potential to supply further in North Africa. It is an important energy infrastructure project for North Africa as a whole.' The BGUP will enhance infrastructure such as offshore platforms and facilities at the Bouri gas field, located 120km north-west of Tripoli in water depths of 145–183m. This upgrade is set to reduce the field's CO₂ emissions, thereby improving its overall carbon footprint. ABL managing director for energy services Europe and West Africa Shai Tzucker said: 'Whilst the project will be managed from our operational HQ in London, on-site attendances and vessel surveys will be supported by our extensive marine surveyor footprint across Europe and North Africa. 'We also benefit from an established market presence and MWS track record in neighbouring Egypt.' The engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning contract for a 5000-tonne gas recovery model on the existing DP4 offshore facility was awarded to Saipem in August 2023. The contract also involves laying 28km of pipelines that will connect the DP3, DP4 and Sabratha platforms. "ABL to provide warranty survey services for Libya's Bouri gas project" was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
