After Robert Redford, could Clint Eastwood's retirement be next? 'I love what I do'

It's a pretty great year at the movies when a couple of legends like Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood are still entertaining crowds well into their 80s. Yet while Redford remarked that his latest, "The Old Man & the Gun," will likely be his acting swan song, Eastwood, 88, isn't hearing any of that retirement talk.

Asked if his interest in acting and directing is beginning to wane, Eastwood, whose new film "The Mule" is out Dec. 14, tells USA TODAY, "Maybe I just don't want a certain volume of work, but, no, it hasn't lessened. I love what I do."

In other words: Make his day, punk. He's not going anywhere.

"I'll probably keep on going. I feel good, but it depends on material. I probably wouldn't do something just because it was marginal – I have to kind of think it has some validity and has some relationship to today," says Eastwood, who mentions "Million Dollar Baby" and "Unforgiven" as two of his projects where "they're not necessarily problems of the day, but they have a certain dramatic appeal that is worth studying."

Eastwood is as efficient a filmmaker as ever: In a time when some directors take years to make a film, he prepped "The Mule" – in which he also stars an accidental drug courier for a Mexican cartel – in April and May before filming last summer and just putting the finishing touches on it earlier this month. He loves that he doesn't have dull moments in his career: "It has ups and downs, but it doesn't have a lot of monotony. When it gets monotonous, I think some people back away from it."

He does ponder why the prior generation of filmmakers he admired left the business early. "I wonder why Billy Wilder quit in his 60s, or did the business quit him? Or maybe he just didn't find enough good material," Eastwood says. "I knew Frank Capra in his later years socially a little bit and I always thought, ‘This guy is so bright. Why isn't he still doing it?' With a lot of other people, was it that their health went bad or did they just get bored with it? I often wonder, because I haven't gotten bored with it."

One aspect about performing in front of the camera that still appeals to him is the fact that he's always learning something. "In acting out somebody else's problems or adventures, it kind of brings out thoughts of how you would do it in real life or what your feelings would be about it to real life," Eastwood says.

He mentions his character in 2009's "Gran Torino," a racist Korean War vet who's negative about the world and other nationalities but ends up giving his life for his Asian immigrant neighbors. "Everybody thinks older people never learn anything – only school kids and young people," the filmmaker says. "Older people, if they keep their mind open, can be just as interested in improving and learning and new knowledge as they go along."

The law of attraction and how it affects your love life

I want a perfect partner! I want financial abundance! I want to be strong and healthy!

We all have desires. We want a life that is full and fulfilling.

The big question is: Are you a match to what you're looking for? If you want a partner who is kind, loving, caring, responsible and financially stable; go through your list and ask yourself: Am I kind, loving, caring and financially stable? The universe will deliver to you not what you want, but what you are.

Have you ever started the day annoyed with someone and found that the entire day was filled with annoying people or situations? The outer world is simply a reflection of your internal energy. Your internal energy is determined by your thoughts and beliefs.

If, when you were young, dad was always working and not around much; we form the belief that men are often absent. This belief creates a blueprint on a subconscious level about men.

Later in life you attract a man, feel a connection (because he matches your internal belief), get together and before long, he is frequently absent. If you're a man, living unconsciously, you would become like dad.

If, however, you choose to look at the role models in your life and question whether their behaviour was appropriate or not; you can now make a conscious choice to be a different person. You can choose to be present with your partner and family. This is conscious living and conscious choices.

So how much of your behaviour is driven by unconscious beliefs that you simply imbibed from other people? If you grew up believing in abundance – there is always plenty, then that belief serves you and doesn't need to be changed.

If you grew up surrounded by words and experiences of lack and poverty, and you're now experiencing lack and poverty, then you need to question these beliefs that are not supporting you; and consciously change it.

You start by looking at the abundance that already exists in the world. An abundance of air to breathe, nature is abundant; there are people with huge houses, fancy cars and thriving businesses.

The evidence of abundance is all around. As you begin to notice this and start believing that it is possible for you too, your internal picture changes and the world must reflect this change on the outside.

Guest Opinion: On Life and Love after 50 by Tom Blake

In the 24 years of writing newspaper columns about age 50-plus dating and relationships, there is a question for which I've never had a good answer.

What do unwed, older-than-50 couples call themselves?

I was reminded of that question last week by Mark Flannery of Fullerton, who emailed, "Donna and I have been together for eight and a half years. We were having lunch in Dana Point with Wally Horn and his partner of 30 years, Bobbi, and this question arose: ‘What do we call ourselves? Partners? Companions? Significant others? Boyfriend/girlfriend?'"

My partner Greta and I have been together for 20 years. We aren't married. I still find myself wondering how to introduce her. Often, "life partner" comes to mind. It's an OK term, but I still get a puzzled look from people who seem to be wondering what the heck a life partner is, or they think it's a lame explanation for why we aren't married.

Greta and I enjoy taking cruises. We always opt for open seating in the dining room, which means we are usually seated with different people every night. Frequently, table mates ask, "How long have you two been married?" Greta and I look at each other and one of us responds, "We've been together for 20 years."

It's easier to leave it that way than trying to explain that we are significant others or life partners or whatever we are calling ourselves at that moment.

When Greta and I would visit my mom in her retirement community in Santa Rosa, when we were out socially with Mom's friends, Mom would introduce Greta by saying, "This is Tom's Greta." That was her way of saying we were living together and not married, which she probably wasn't entirely thrilled about.

The fine folks at the Sea View Pharmacy in San Clemente know Greta and I aren't married. When I pick up my prescriptions there, they don't ask "Do you want your wife's prescriptions?" Instead, they ask, "Do you want Greta's prescriptions?"

In his email, Mark Flannery added, "Donna and I are a LAT (living apart together) couple. She is 69, still working, and lives in Irvine. I'm 71, retired and live in Fullerton. We go back and forth between the two cities a lot.

Our friend Wally is 84 and Bobbi is 75. They are both retired and have been together for almost 30 years. When we were talking about what to call ourselves, I floated an idea I've had for some time: "semispouse".

It received a favorable response from our foursome. It isn't perfect, but it seems to have qualities the other labels lack. The term is even included in the Urban Dictionary.

At first, I thought the "semispouse" term a little bizarre, visualizing a semi-truck driver with his wife riding with him in the cab.

I looked up the term in the Urban Dictionary. Its definition: "A significant other that plays the role of a spouse without being legally married."

And then I decided, when written, the term "semispouse" would look better with a hyphen inserted: semi-spouse.

While semi-spouse for unwed age 50 and older couples will work for now, still, I'm all ears to hear suggestions from readers for what to call mature unwed couples. Just don't call us, "Two old fogies living together."

Real life: I fell in love with the paperboy!

Melanie Tattersall, 41, from Chermside, QLD, shares her beautiful true life story;

I watched as Dad settled in to his favourite armchair and reached for his newspaper.

"Have I told you about my favourite paperboy, love?" he asked me.

"Yes, Dad," I smiled, rolling my eyes.

At 16, I couldn't remember an evening when Dad hadn't read the news.

It was his favourite pastime.

One of his fondest memories was of a boy that used to sell papers on the main road in Brisbane about 12 years earlier.

As soon as the boy spotted Dad's car, he'd dart across the intersection to make sure he delivered it before the lights changed.

"He was the best paperboy in town," Dad said. "I always gave him a tip."

He'd told me the story dozens of times.

Two years later, I moved in to a share house in Stafford, Queensland.

My mate Steve lived around the corner so I'd often pop over on weekends to hang out.

I was walking up the stairs to his house one day when I locked eyes with a good-looking bloke.

I felt giddy when Steve told me the guy, Paul, was his new flatmate.

"He's just split up with his girlfriend so he needs somewhere to live," he said.

Butterflies swirled in my stomach when Steve introduced us properly a week later.

Not only was Paul, 24, ridiculously handsome with his curly dark hair and olive skin, but he was down-to-earth and had a great sense of humour.

Given he'd just come out of a long-term relationship, I figured the last thing he wanted was a girlfriend!

One night, I was feeling brave after a few drinks when Steve offered to walk me home.

"I'd rather he did," I blurted out, nodding at Paul.

Thankfully, he agreed and we chatted and laughed all the way.

He looked shocked when we stopped outside my house.

"You won't believe this but I used to live here," he chuckled.

Turned out he'd rented my place the year before I moved in.

"What a coincidence," I laughed.

After that, the two of us became an item and moved in together the following year.

One day my uncles Andrew and Gareth popped round to visit.

They looked stunned when they laid eyes on Paul and he was just as shocked.

"It's you two!" he cried excitedly, shaking their hand. "I can't believe it."

Once they calmed down, they told me how they used to ride motorbikes and horses together in their teens.

Paul and I were thrilled when we welcomed our son, Corey, in to the world.

We went on to get married and had a daughter, Sophia.

We'd been together for 21 years, when one day we went to visit Dad and found him reading the paper in his chair.

"Have I ever told you about my favourite newspaper boy?" Dad asked us.

Not again, I thought.

I was about to stop him when Paul spoke up.

"I used to be a paperboy when I was 12," he said.

Watching them lock eyes, it was like they'd seen each other for the first time.

"It's you!" Dad cried, throwing an arm around Paul. "You were the best paperboy!"

I couldn't believe it.

My father had given my husband the tick of approval years before I'd even met him!

In fact, most of my family had.

Two years on, we still laugh about Paul being Dad's favourite.

We've had more coincidences in our 23-year relationship than most couples, but we think it's just a sign that we were meant to be.

Dad reckons so, too.

Julie Tan hits back after veteran actresses' spat casts spotlight on love life

A spat that erupted between veteran local actresses Pan Lingling and Hong Huifang on Monday has thrown former Mediacorp star Julie Tan's love life into the spotlight, prompting her to strike back against having her name dragged through the mud.

In an interview with Lianhe Wanbao published yesterday, the 25-year-old said: "My mother was heartbroken to see her daughter painted in such a negative light.

"No one deserves this kind of humiliation."

Hong, 58, recently severed ties with Pan, 49, via a lengthy WhatsApp text which was sent to around 50 of their mutual friends, highlighting three "thorns" which have plagued their friendship across two decades.

The breaking point came last month, when Pan allegedly commented on Hong's son, Calvert Tay, and his current relationship during a dinner with friends.

Tay, 18, was rumoured to be dating Tan.

According to the text, Pan recommended that Tay get vaccinated against sexually transmitted diseases as a precaution, given Tan's string of past relationships - one of which was with a foreigner.

Tan, who is furthering her acting career in China after leaving Mediacorp last year, told Lianhe Wanbao that she spent the whole day in tears when news of the spat broke.

"To the one talking s*** about me, you know what, f*** you. I used to respect you cause you're a 'qian bei' (Chinese for senior), but now sorry lost all respect," she fired back on social media platform Instagram.

Tan has since clarified that she and Tay are friends but are not dating.

She also expressed her gratitude towards Hong for sharing the truth and giving her the chance to speak out against this act of bullying.

"Women are already unfairly treated by society when it comes to love - women with numerous past relationships are shamed, while men with numerous past relationships are praised," she told Lianhe Wanbao.

"As a woman yourself, why would you worsen the situation for other women?"

Tan admitted that she is not as lucky in love as Pan, who married her first boyfriend, former actor Huang Shinan.

"I had to go through various experiences in order to better understand myself and find the right person," she said.

"Still, this new generation is courageous enough to accept the consequence of their actions.

"Hopefully our seniors can serve as good examples to us, by taking responsibility for their words and actions too."

Pan reportedly apologised in a phone call to Tan's mother yesterday morning.

In her latest comments on the spat, Hong said it is "not a war, so there is no winner or loser".

Guest Opinion: On Life and Love after 50 by Tom Blake

Is This Single Senior Woman Being Too Fussy in Dating Men?

Senior dating is challenging. Single seniors mention that to me often. It's particularly hard for women. A comment on my Finding Love After 50 Facebook page this week underscored how difficult for them it can be.

Barb stated that she was thinking of giving up on senior dating. She based her comment on experiences she's had with four men, which she shared. She asked if she was being too fussy.

Barb wrote, "I have been off and on dating sites since I was 60 and now I'm 79. One man I met online was an hour and a half away, we dated two months.

He wanted me to move in with him. I was in the middle of moving in with him, when he found out his daughter was getting divorced. He decided it was not a good idea for me to move in, because he was going to remodel his house and have his daughter and her two daughters move into his house.

Plus, he didn't like television so he wanted me to buy earphones to wear when I had my television on. Well, that was the end of that relationship.

The second guy I met invited me out New Year's Eve to a dance. He had a funny little step in his dance that was hard for me to catch onto. He kept telling me all night how well his ex-wife and he could dance together.

While walking me to my door, he put gum in his mouth, and in a minute, he said, "Oh my God, I just lost one of my teeth." Well that was the end of that man. I just saw him recently, which was a year later, and the tooth is still missing.

The third guy I met seemed nice and we had fun together. My sister lived near me. When her husband was dying, I went to be with her the night her husband was passing and this guy got upset and told everybody I gave him up for my sister. So that was the end of him.

A couple of weeks ago, I met a fourth man online. We exchanged messages. He asked for my email address so we could email instead of being on the dating site.

But I couldn't get to know him as all he talked about was that he had lost his wife five years ago to cancer. He wanted to meet a woman who would make his house a home and be his special woman. He wanted me to forsake all others to be only with him.

I tried to talk about the future and what it would be like if we got together. It always went right back to the kind of woman he was looking for and how he wanted her to be his own and love only him.

So now I'm giving up on trying to find someone. It's too hard. I think I would rather go it alone. It seems like I can't find anybody. I don't know maybe I'm too fussy. What do you think?"

I responded to Barb. "Too fussy? Certainly not with the experiences you described. However, I do think deciding to move in with the first man who lived an hour and a half away after only knowing him for two months was a rushed decision.

The second guy, the one with the funny dance step and the missing tooth, wasn't right for you. Any man who talks about how great he and his former wife could dance isn't tactful and doesn't get it.

And, not only was the third guy insensitive, he was a jerk for saying what he did, during the time your sister's husband was dying.

And finally, the fourth man, was self-centered and had no clue about what women want in a relationship. Besides, discussing having a future together with someone you've known for only two weeks is what I would call, ‘jumping the gun.'

So, Barb, you aren't being too fussy, and I don't think you should give up dating, but I do think you need to change the places where you are trying to meet men. You may be ‘looking for love in all the wrong places.' Perhaps, get out locally and attend social functions and network through friends—these options might work out better. Maybe that will make senior dating easier.

Life without your true love

Love is the most beautiful thing ever and if you have ever been in love, you will understand what I am saying. It makes you smile and giggle for no reason. It makes you break into different dance moves.

Love, that sweet feeling that makes your heart beat faster. It makes you feel like a child again. You are so happy with your love that you don't want to do anything to hurt them.

When you are in love with someone, you want to hold them, touch them, kiss them, make love to them and make them happy. You want to protect them and make their dreams come true. You do things without waiting for them to ask first.

Love is sweet. Love is beautiful. Love is sensual. Love is orgasmic. Love makes you high. Love leaves you fulfilled. Love makes you radiate with joy. Love brings you peace. If you have not fallen in love, you haven't truly lived.

This is why I don't understand why people end up with men and women they don't love. I don't understand why a man or woman would give up the love of their lives because of religion and family members.

How can you subject yourself to a lifetime of unhappiness and misery because you want to please family members? It's your life. You should be the one to decide who you want to spend the rest of our life with and not your relatives.

You can marry your love and make your relatives understand that you have taken the decision for both of you and your to-be-children or sacrifice your love for their sakes and cry for the rest of your life.

I heard a story about a young man who is living a sad life today because he allowed his elder sister dictate to him who he should marry. This man was in love with a beautiful, smart, hardworking and well behaved lady who was also head over heels in love with him.

They met in the University and became glued to each other throughout their University days. It was love at first sight according to him. He fell in love with her the first time he saw her. They shared everything together. They encouraged each other. They planned their future together.

They were happy. Their mates envied them. They became the reference point for other young lovers but they didn't see that they won't be together forever like they had planned. It took the elder sister of the young man to destroy everything they had built. They were condemned to a life of unhappiness afterwards.

After school, they both decided that it was time to get their families involved in their love story that lasted for five years. But that was when their problems started. The elder sister of the guy hated the girl for no reason. She told her brother that he won't marry that girl. And because she was his benefactor and the one who saw him through school, he obeyed her.

After pleading with her for some months to allow him marry the love of his life, he gave up. He sadly informed his love, the one his heart beats for that their dreams of being husband and wife won't be a reality. He told her he can't go against his elder sister's wish because she was like his mom.

He told her that she took care of them after their parents died. So, he has no choice but to do her bidding even if it means living miserably for the rest of his life. The situation broke the young lady's heart. She pleaded with him not to break up with her but his mind was made up.

Years after they broke up, the lady invited him for her wedding. They have been in contact even after breaking up. At her wedding, he broke down in tears. He cried seeing her holding another man lovingly and looking into his eyes. He cried listening to her make the same promise she made to him to someone else.

As much as he tried to hide it, he couldn't contain his emotions. He left during the church ceremony. He couldn't stand her marrying another man. He thought he was over her but when he saw her saying her wedding vows, his emotions took over. He was filled with regret. He regretted listening to his sister. He felt like a coward for not fighting for his love. It was clear that she was the love of his life.

At another time, he attended the wedding of their course mate in the university and saw her again, his mood changed. Before she arrived with her husband, he was in high spirits chatting with their other course mates but as soon as she stepped into the venue; his eyes welled up with tears.

He suddenly became quiet. His friends noticed what was going on and tried to cheer him. But he left after some minutes. He said he couldn't help crying whenever he sees his ex with her husband. He doesn't feel for his wife what he felt for her.

He has been married for seven years now and has three children but he's miserable. He said his wife has tried everything in her power to make him happy but she has not succeeded. He is also unhappy making her miserable because he doesn't love her as much as he loves his first love.

I feel for this man. It is not a pleasant thing to lose the love of your life not because they died but because someone said you can't marry them. You watch as they leave and build their lives with someone else while you live a sad life and continue hoping that one day, both of you will reunite and live out your beautiful love story.

Are you living with a man or woman you don't love? Do you still miss the love of your life?

How are you coping in a marriage with someone you don't love like your ex? What happens when you run into the love of your life? Do you start crying or become moody?

Do you silently wish that they divorce their spouses and come back to you? Do you regret not fighting for your love? Did you allow family members or religion keep you from ending up with the love of your love? If you didn't end up with the love of your life, how is your life now? Will you give up the love of your life for someone?