Air America beta radio has mentioned last friday an unauthorized documentary about Leonardo DiCaprio’s life.You’re probably wondering, “What is this, the 90s?” In a way, yes. All of the footage featured in “Hangin’ With Leo” looks like it’s from the late 1990s, when DiCaprio was riding the wave of “Titanic” ending up on “The Beach.”
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Archive for May, 2009
DVD Review: Revolutionary Road
Posted By Marcie on May 27th, 2009
By Paul on May 25, 2009 8:54 PM
Colin Jacobson casts an eye over the Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet film REVOLUTIONARY ROAD.
Exactly 11 years after their triumph in Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet reunite in 2008’s Revolutionary Road. Set in the 1950s, we meet young married couple Frank (DiCaprio) and April Wheeler (Winslet). A quick intro shows the start of their courtship, but then we leap ahead to find them married and living in suburban Connecticut.
But not happily married, it would appear. After seven years together, they find their more youthful ambitions in the toilet, so April proposes a major change. Feeling trapped by their mundane suburban life, she wants them to sell their house and move to Paris where she hopes Frank can live up to his perceived potential. Frank agrees but begins to reconsider when he receives a lucrative promotion offer at work. This leads to increased tension and complications as April and Frank deal with their lives and their future.
Going into the Oscars, Road seemed like the Winslet project most likely to earn her a prize, as it seemed like the meatier role of the two in which she appeared. I guess the Academy liked her Streep-wannabe “accent equals award” turn in The Reader, though; Winslet didn’t even get a nomination for Road.
I’m happy Winslet finally took home an Oscar, but I think Road provides her more satisfying performance. Indeed, she’s probably the best thing about the movie, and she thoroughly outclasses DiCaprio. I think Leo’s a decent actor, but he’s clearly not in Winslet’s league. He gets by more on personality and charisma, while she’s better able to lose herself in a part. She helps make the ill-defined April a breathing personality, while DiCaprio can’t quite bring life to Frank. He’s adequate to good, but that doesn’t cut it when up against Winslet.
Even if DiCaprio contributed a stellar turn, however, I’m not sure Road would live up to the hype. While a decent character study of Youthful Dreams Gone Off-Track, it offers a lot of sturm und drang that never quite goes anywhere.
Indeed, much of the flick feels awfully contrived. Road presents such a perfect storm of elements that conspire to demonstrate the cracks in the Frank/April relationship that it seems a bit unbelievable. Of course, we understand that the fissures already existed, but the movie doesn’t paint them well enough for us to see them. We enter in the midst of the relationship’s collapse, so we don’t get a good sense of what brought it there.
A few choices make matters less realistic. In particular, the use of a mentally ill character reeks of plot device. The son of the Wheelers’ realtor, he crops up for no reason other than to add some confrontation to the piece. These scenes don’t feel right to me, as they just show up to create dramatic tension. A better realized story wouldn’t need these artificial moments.
While interesting enough to keep us occupied over its two hours, I don’t think Road achieves its goals, partially because it never becomes clear what goals it pursues. Director Sam Mendes explored “the dark side of suburbia” to better effect in American Beauty. Here he creates an intermittently compelling offering that too often spins its wheels.
The DVD Grades: Picture B/ Audio B-/ Bonus B
Revolutionary Road appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. This was a generally solid transfer.
Sharpness came across well. Some wider shots tended to be a bit iffy, but those failed to create prominent distractions. Overall, the image was accurate. No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, but mild edge haloes caused some distractions. Source flaws caused no concerns, as the flick remained clean and fresh at all times.
Like virtually all period pieces, Express went with a stylized palette. The flick cast much of its material in a golden hue that gave it a vintage amber tone. Within that range, the colors looked solid. Blacks seemed deep and firm, while shadows provided nice clarity and delineation. For the most part, this was a positive presentation.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of Revolutionary Road worked fine for the material. The soundscape didn’t provide a lot of pizzazz. Music demonstrated nice stereo imaging, and some outdoor sequences added a decent sense of place. This was a forward-oriented mix that used the surrounds in a moderate manner.
Audio quality seemed satisfying. Speech always appeared warm and natural, with no edginess or other issues. Music was full, as the score showed solid reproduction. Effects also boasted good clarity and definition, though they didn’t exactly push the auditory envelope. Overall, the soundtrack was perfectly acceptable for this sort of flick.
When we shift to the supplements, we open with an audio commentary from director Sam Mendes and screenwriter Justin Haythe. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific look at the adaptation of the source novel, script/story issues, cast and performances, editing, shooting on location, photographic style, period details, and music.
We get a dynamic commentary here, mostly thanks to the chatty Mendes. Haythe chips in as well, but the director does most of the heavy lifting. All of the examined areas prove interesting, but I especially like the comparisons between the movie and the novel. The track tears through a lot of useful subjects and moves at a good pace.
Next we find a featurette entitled Lives of Quiet Desperation: The Making of Revolutionary Road. It runs 29 minutes, one second and features Mendes, Haythe, producers Bobby Cohen and John Hart, production designer Kristi Zea, property master Thomas Allen, costume designer Albert Wolsky, and actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Zoë Kazan and Michael Shannon. “Lives” looks at the project’s development and Mendes’s involvement, locations and production design, cinematography and period details, and the film’s themes.
Even thought the commentary covered a ton of information, we don’t find much repetition here. “Lives” digs into a mix of topics in a rich, involving manner. The additional perspectives add to its as well, so we get a good take on the film.
Five Deleted Scenes run a total of nine minutes, 50 seconds. These include “I’m Sorry” (1:22), “Birthday” (2:50), “Big Shot” (1:09), “Nothing’s Permanent” (1:17), and “Dear Frank” (3:12). Though most cut scenes aren’t very good, these have merit. I particularly like “Birthday”, as it reminds us how much Frank’s glory days seem to be behind him. The others don’t work quite as well for me, but all are interesting and viable.
We can view these scenes with or without commentary from Mendes and Haythe. They tell us a little about the sequences and let us know why the scenes didn’t make the cut. As was the case with the feature commentary, Mendes dominates. We learn some useful info about the excised clips.
A few ads open the DVD. We get clips for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Defiance, and There Will Be Blood. These also appear in the Previews domain. No trailer for Road shows up here.
American Beauty director Sam Mendes revisits suburbia to erratic effect in Revolutionary Road. The movie has its moments but doesn’t seem inventive or involving enough to soar. The DVD provides perfectly acceptable picture and audio along with a good little collection of supplements. This becomes a reasonably positive release for an erratic film.
Colin Jacobson, DVDMG.com
Presentation:
Widescreen 2.35:1/16×9
Audio:
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English
French
Spanish
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English
Spanish
French
Runtime: 118 min.
Price: $29.99
Release Date: 6/2/2009
Bonus:
Audio Commentary with Director Sam Mendes and Screenwriter Justin Haythe
“Lives of Quiet Desperation: The Making of Revolutionary Road” Featurette
8 Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary
Previews
Source: thehollywoodnews.com
Posted in Revolutionary Road
Al Pacino and Leo DiCaprio Will Read Your Mind
Posted By melissa on May 14th, 2009
Remember hairdo’d Malcom Gladwell’s pop philosophy bestseller Blink? It was all about the power of the mind or something, and now they’re making a bizarre-sounding movie out of it. Starring the increasingly bizarre Al Pacino.
The movie’s been on the table for some time now after Leonardo DiCaprio optioned it. Presumably he’s attached as a cocky young fella who can “read” people in a blink of an eye. We read the script a while back and it’s just… bad. Pacino will play DiCaprio’s papa, a scheming finance mucky-muck who tries to reach out to his estranged kid when he needs his particular brand of expertise to “read” judges so he can win a lawsuit. But this wunderkind is not so smart to know that the girl he’s fucking is 16.
Stephen Gaghan, he of Syriana and Traffic, got $2 million to write the strange thing for Universal. But now it’s being produced as an indie and now with Pacino’s involvement, it just reeks of a Devil’s Advocate rehash. What with the menacing father wrangling his headstrong son to do wicked, magical things. In that earlier film Pacino was the devil. And these days, what with the economy and all, a Tri-State finance guy is basically the same thing. So basically the movie is based on the book in name only, a thin little launching pad to discuss issues of fathers and sons, abilities and responsibilities. With, you know, mind reading.
Posted in Internet
The Amazing Kate
Posted By Marcie on May 12th, 2009
Spectacular roles, glam outfits, a stack of awards—Kate Winslet is having the best year of her life
By Elio Iannacci
Kate Winslet is sitting on a mauve couch, looking outside the window of her penthouse suite in the Soho Grand Hotel. Her view of New York City’s infinite number of highrise condos and skyscrapers is offset by the sound of metal cranes droning away on a nearby building in progress. Rather than getting perturbed by the swirling mess of dirt, gravel and noise below her, Winslet is fascinated by the racket. “Look at all this construction!” she says, kicking up her well-worn black Louboutin heel. “With all that debris, they might as well be building a bloody empire!”
It’s easy to understand why the 33-year-old actor is so intrigued by the breaking of new ground—she’s been doing it on the silver screen for more than a decade. However, out of the more than 25 films she’s starred, costarred and cameo’d in (as well as helped narrate), nothing has elevated Winslet’s own empire like her two most recent pictures: The Reader and Revolutionary Road.
In her Oscar-winning role in The Reader, Winslet skilfully plays a German streetcar attendant–cum–Nazi guard in her late 30s who has an affair with a teenage boy who is so scandalously young, he could be a Jonas brother. In Revolutionary Road, Winslet tackles the psyche of an equally complex woman—a psychologically unstable newlywed living in Connecticut in the 1950s—someone who’s living in a world that makes Desperate Housewives look like High School Musical. Both films are hard-to-watch yet satisfying-to-finish pieces of cinema, showcasing Winslet’s range in a way that blows her Titanic persona right out of the water. Which is a tad ironic, as Revolutionary Road—directed by Winslet’s husband, Sam Mendes—reunites the British actor with her former Titanic costar and beloved friend, Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays her husband in the film. The three of them grew so close during the making of the project that Winslet now wears her wedding rings from Mendes as well as a mysteriously inscribed piece of gold gifted to her by DiCaprio shortly after the film was made. “Yes, [Leo’s ring] is engraved on the inside,” she maintains, “but I’m not going to tell you what it says,” she adds cheekily.
Another mystery is how Winslet kept her professionalism intact while filming Revolutionary Road’s pivotal love scenes with DiCaprio (while her husband directed them). It seems as difficult a job as the one she had trying to lure the average moviegoer into sympathizing with her portrayal of a Nazi war criminal in The Reader. Yet, Winslet’s talent, a byproduct of what she deems “a manifestation of something within me and an accumulation of life experience,” managed to get her through both scripts without a nervous breakdown and attract audiences and critics with equal force. One look at the recent additions to her trophy case—two Golden Globes, two BAFTAs, two SAGs and one Oscar—and even the most jaded Hollywood casting agent will tell you Winslet can make any script work.
“Yes, [all the awards] are absolutely an acknowledgment of our hard work and a testament to the long hours we’ve pulled,” Winslet says, referring to Mendes, who not only had to hear her talk shop about Revolutionary Road nonstop (on set and in bed) but she asserts he was the one who urged her to accept the lead in The Reader after Nicole Kidman dropped out of the project.
| Winslet is the new face of Lancôme Trésor Sheer Fragrance, $72. |
“But I don’t think [the awards] have necessarily boosted my confidence. If I was younger and going through this particular time, it might make a definitive impact. I know who I am now,” she states. This is probably one of the reasons why she decided to take a break from acting this year and signed on to be the spokesperson for Lancôme’s Trésor Sheer Fragrance perfume. It’s a job that brings with it a lot more glamour and a lot less drama than the emotionally wrought scenes she usually slaves over. “The biggest cliché about acting is that it is glamorous,” she says. “The process is wonderful, but there is nothing glamorous about it.”
Winslet was easily convinced by Lancôme to step off the set for a while, and she cites the company’s previous spokespeople as inspiration—namely, Oscar-winning actor Juliette Binoche and esteemed icon Isabella Rossellini. “I admire the fact that [Lancôme] has chosen women like them, since they are risk takers and powerful, warm souls. I’ve met them on several occasions and I know they are women who are comfortable in their own skin, strong-minded and passionate. There is no point in having a pretty face if you have an ugly spirit.”
“The Amazing Kate” has been edited for FLARE.com; the complete story appears in the May 2009 issue of FLARE.
Posted in Magazines
Last ‘Titanic’ survivor aided by Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, James Cameron
Posted By melissa on May 12th, 2009
After learning about the mounting nursing home bills for Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the sinking of the Titanic, the stars and director of the top-grossing film have made a “considerable donation” to her care, the U.K.’s Independent newspaper reports.
Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio and James Cameron have all contributed to a fund established for Dean, 98, who had bee selling her autograph to make ends meet. (Celine Dion has also been hit up, but she hasn’t responded yet.) At 9 weeks, Millvina was also the youngest passenger of the Titanic. She now lives in Southampton, from where the ship set sail in 1912.
Posted in Internet
Kate Winslet Wears Ring from Leonardo DiCaprio
Posted By melissa on May 12th, 2009
Actress Kate Winslet has her ‘Revolutionary Road’ costar Leonardo DiCaprio wrapped around her finger!
Kate — who is married to ‘Revolutionary Road’ director Sam Mendes — wears a gold ring given to her from Leo, in addition to her wedding rings, according to Flare magazine.
“Yes, [Leo's ring] is engraved on the inside,” she describes the gift to the publication, “but I’m not going to tell you what it says.”
Kate and Leo were first seen on the big screen together in the 1997 Oscar-winning film ‘Titanic.’ The two reunited onscreen for ‘Revolutionary Road’ last year and Kate won her first Golden Globe for her role in the film.
Posted in Internet
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Shutter Island Poster
Posted By melissa on May 11th, 2009
The poster for the dark thriller Shutter Island has hit the web via our friends at FirstShowing. The poster which made its debut at cannes is very…. uhh… red? Not to exciting but definitely makes the point its an island and stars Leonardo DiCaprio. The cast includes DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley and Mark Ruffalo, all great actors.
The film is about 2 US Marshall’s who go to an island to track down a murderous woman and get trapped by a serious storm. Of course carnage, twists, turns and mayhem ensue. Ben Kingsley plays a doctor who has many dark secrets that may or may not add to the body count. Lets hope this thriller really thrills! The movie is based on the novel by Dennis Lehane.
Posted in Internet
Tag Heuer Launches New Advertising Campaign: “The Knights Of Time”
Posted By melissa on May 6th, 2009
TAG Heuer’s inspiring advertising campaign focuses on the personal journeys and achievements of four extraordinary individuals: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tiger Woods, Lewis Hamilton and Maria Sharapova
In a time of economic challenge, while other brands choose to stand back and cautiously focus on the short-term, TAG Heuer, the world leader in sports-inspired luxury watches and chronographs since 1860, is extending its bold vision of the avant-garde with a brand new, emotionally charged ad campaign that challenges the very rules of endorsement marketing.
The famous challenge of TAG Heuer, “What are you made of?” is the common thread linking the past campaign to this daring new one. Now, however, the confrontational claim expresses the unique drive and passion of these super-achieving Knights of Time.
Forget awards and trophies, what pushes these people to greatness are not recognition and laurels but something inside and unseen and deeply personal.
At certain times, it’s tangible. Think of Tiger Woods dropping a long putt, or Lewis Hamilton slicing out of the slipstream and accelerating through a curve. Think of the kinetic beauty of Maria Sharapova as she shifts direction in mid-stride and hits an impossible forehand out of her backhand corner.
On the screen, it’s even more apparent. What an actor like Leonardo DiCaprio is made of is visible in every frame.
But it’s not just the clutch moment or the key scene. It’s not just the victories and celebrity status. It’s the entire arc of exceptional lives. Every dream. Every obstacle. Every sacrifice. To power past the mundane and the mediocre towards an ever-new conception of perfection, to overcome, reinvent, challenge, and evolve - these values, as much as the remarkable men and women who live by them, are the stars of TAG Heuer’s inspirational new campaign.
“What is the new TAG Heuer Knights of Time campaign made of? Way more passion, prestige and performance than ever before,” says Jean-Christophe Babin, TAG Heuer President and CEO.
The visually stunning campaign coincides with the signing of new TAG Heuer ambassador Leonardo DiCaprio, who is partnering with the Swiss watchmaking legend to support two of the world’s most important environmental charities: the Natural Resources Defense Council and Green Cross International.
The Hollywood superstar and committed environmental activist will appear in the new campaign endorsements of TAG Heuer’s new ultra-masculine Aquaracer 500. Other visuals will feature world number one golfer Tiger Woods for Link, 2008 F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton for TAG Heuer’s bestselling CARRERA line and tennis superstar Maria Sharapova for women’s expression of Aquaracer and Link.
“TAG Heuer’s 2009 ad campaign is an inspirational tale of personal achievement,” said Jean-Christophe Babin. “It tells the story of extraordinary individuals who transcend obstacles to realize dreams and attain the unreachable - and then keep going, setting their sights even higher, on horizons not yet dreamed of.
These incredible men and women are champions who never stop thinking of themselves as challengers. This is why, in their stunning portraits by Tom Munro, they don’t wear the watches on their wrists but brandish them in their fists - as public declaration of their determination. The timepieces aren’t accessories; they are talismans - lucky charms accompanying heroes on a perennial quest to be better, stronger, and faster.”
Posted in Internet
Statuesque stars bound for Surfers
Posted By melissa on May 6th, 2009
May 4th, 2009
THE Wax Museum in Surfers Paradise wants to bring Hollywood to life on the Gold Coast.
Museum owners Peter and Roslyn Tomlinson have flown to LA for the Hollywood Wax Museum auction in the hope of bringing home some of the 200 hand-sculpted celebrity look-alikes, which started going under the hammer at the weekend.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Harrison Ford and Elizabeth Taylor are among the figures for sale. The auction comes after The Hollywood Wax Museum announced its newly refurbished museum would be exclusively Hollywood-centric. Since the Tomlinsons are planning to expand their collection, it made sense to fly over. Back home, their son Mark Tomlinson said he was excited to see what his parents had purchased.
“We’re very interested in acquiring more figures because the museum is expanding, we want to upgrade the museum and get more Hollywood figures in it.”
Standing next to a life-size model of Paul Hogan, dressed in his famous Crocodile Dundee attire, Mr Tomlinson said wax figures were an art of their own.
Posted in Internet
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet from Titanic
Posted By melissa on May 6th, 2009
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet from Titanic. (Paramount, 1997) Recreating one of the most iconic scenes in recent cinematic history, DiCaprio as “Jack” and Winslet as “Rose” are posed together with her arms outstretched at the bow of the great tragic ship. He wears brown pants, a tan long sleeve shirt, and black overcoat, and she wears a purple and black dress. The heads were sculpted in wax and portrait painted in oil by Logan Fleming, who was pleased when DiCaprio visited the Museum two days in a row to see and take pictures of his figure. Measure approximately 5 ft. 8 in. each. $4,000 - $6,000
Posted in Internet
Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy Join Christopher Nolan’s ‘Inception’
Posted By melissa on May 5th, 2009
Christopher Nolan has recruited another familiar face from Gotham City. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Batman Begins” actor Ken Watanabe will reunite with Christopher Nolan (and fellow “Begins” actor Cillian Murphy) for “Inception,” Nolan’s mysterious follow-up to “The Dark Knight.”
He’s not the only new castmember. Tom Hardy (”RocknRolla”) has also signed on, joining Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page and Marion Cotillard. Not surprisingly, the plot still remains under wraps, but THR reveals that Watanabe will be playing the film’s villain, a man who is attempting to blackmail DiCaprio. Hardy will be playing a member of DiCaprio’s “team,” which should put him together with grad student Page and Gordon-Levitt. Murphy’s role is still unspecified.
The cast continues Nolan’s tradition of attracting and landing top-notch talent. He has clearly grown fond of reusing his actors, especially if they have been through the training ground of Gotham City. In addition to Watanabe and Murphy, it is rumored that Michael Caine might come aboard, which would make the fourth time the actor and director have worked together.
The film is expected to shoot this summer (which leaves a few more weeks to add more “Batman” cast members), and is aiming to hit theaters in 2010. Hopefully, we will get some real glimpses at the film so we really have something to talk about!
Posted in Internet
