Eastwood stays fresh with latest pic

Leonardo DiCaprio stars in J. Edgar. Mengers In a moment when Hollywood is flailing about with tired remakes, Clint Eastwood, among its more senior filmmakers, appears more determined than ever before to stake new ground. His gripping new film "J. Edgar" may be the polar complete opposite of contemporary studio product -- a searing biopic in regards to a megalomaniacal right-wing ideologue.Under his four-decade reign, J. Edgar Hoover used the FBI to blackmail presidents and manipulate the media to mold his image because the nation's lone protector against gangsters and "Bolsheviks." Top political figures and reporters were scared to show that J. Edgar (fantastically performed by Leonardo DiCaprio) would be a mama's boy having a gay lover.Eastwood's picture opens November. 9, so I'm not likely to evaluate it here apart from to express it's in line with Clint's legacy. His protagonists really are a study in surprise -- cure would roam from Dirty Harry to Wally Kowalski (of "Gran Torino"), from Josie Wales to Nelson Mandela, in the military of Iwo Jima to some "Billion Dollar Baby."Request Clint about his strategy, and that he will, obviously, deny the presence of any. I'd a leisurely talk to him last weekend in Carmel, Calif. (he used to be the mayor), where he demonstrated his new film before buddies and neighbors in the Carmel Film Festival. "My existence is a number of accidents," Eastwood demands. When John Grazer first pointed out Hoover to him, he wondered why producer was thinking about vacuums. A peek at the fabric, coupled with a phone call from DiCaprio, spurred his interest. Dustin Lance Black was introduced aboard to create the script (he'd won an Oscar for "Milk") and remained using the film through production.The profile of J. Edgar is really a measured one. A driven guy who fought against very introducing science in to the untidy whole world of crime-busting, younger crowd was both callous and psychologically unstable.By comparison, Clint, age 81, appears as rock-solid and relaxed as always. He's a guy notoriously lacking of intellectual pretension. He steadfastly declines to intellectualize about his work. Indeed, his films appear to unfold as adventures in self-discovery. A libertarian by instinct, he is another humanitarian by character -- a profoundly decent and accessible guy who covets the "accidents" that comprise the ongoing development of his career.Inside a 2010 profile of Eastwood within the NYer, David Denby observed that "individuals who have been skeptical of Eastwood 4 decades ago (I am one of these) have lengthy since capitulated, upon the market or died. He's outlasted everybody." Speaking to Eastwood last weekend, I did not sense he would connect with Denby's remark. Rather, he appeared to regard themself like a filmmaker in mid-career who had been already planning his next film. And it wouldn't be considered a remake. There is an excessive amount of more to understand and explore.Recalling MengersLofty tributes were compensated to file a lawsuit Mengers a week ago, but more attention was handed to her parties rather than the numerous pictures she come up with. The fabled agent, who died a week ago at 79, had an instinct for nice material and was prepared to push, bully and cajole to obtain her deals closed.I remember when i sent her the very first draft of "Paper Moon," declaring that, "Vital developed it, I really like it however i can't persuade Peter Bogdanovich to consider it on or learn how to cast it." Not much later, Mengers was on the telephone, purring, "Don't be concerned, honey, I have got Ryan O'Neal and the daughter Tatum and I'll beat the shit from your friend Bogdanovich to direct it." Bogdanovich, it switched out, needed the beating, however the whole project joined together and would be a hit.Mengers put glitzy parties for celebrities and, on the way, paved the way in which for other energy-seeking women of her generation. The obits, however, brought to mind the brevity of her heyday. She would be a major pressure through the early '70s but losing her energy through the early 1980s. By age 54 she surrendered her energy base at ICM, serving briefly as leader from the William Morris Agency only to discover that, while major stars remained as accepting her party invites, they weren't willing to register again as clients.A few of her star clients found resent her forcefulness. Mengers was skeptical of Barbra Streisand's decision to direct "Yentl," and Streisand herself opposed Mengers' urgings to star inside a film to become directed by Mengers' husband, Jean Claude Tramont (a captivating stock picker but an unskilled director). Increasingly more, Mengers was growing weary of Hollywood's corporate making decisions and was activating the company in general. She spent her final years in relative seclusion but ongoing to ask her preferred couple of to her house.On the personal level, Mengers would be a gracious ally in my experience. She found my parties, assisted me come up with my pictures and, in the future, frequently dropped me notes of praise for my documents. She once even offered me a glancing hug on my small oral cavity, coming smoke during my face as she moved closer (it wasn't a Pall Mall). For Mengers, this was a astonishing show of love. It had been greatly appreciated. Contact Peter Bart at peter.bart@variety.com