Leonardo DiCaprio = amazing in The Departed. You knew that already but it's worth repeating from time to time.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
"Cranberry Juice"
Leonardo DiCaprio = amazing in The Departed. You knew that already but it's worth repeating from time to time.
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So should have been nominated for this. Maybe even won. He was actually win-worthy for The Departed, plus, since it's the Oscars, I would allow him "Blood Diamond" bleed-over.
I like Whitaker but I like my lead actors to be the narrative focus and have the emotional arc of the movie.
His best performance aswell as the best male leading one of that year. I'll never understand why AMPAS thought his "Blood Diamond" was any better --- oh wait, I do. =)
Oh, no doubt.
I still like him better in The Aviator, though. ;)
Yeah, he was incredible in The Aviator. I thought so at the time, but I was underwhelmed by the film and its story/structure so that detracted from his performance for me, but watching it again since has made me realise how great he was in it.
The Departed is a better movie though, so I enjoy his performance in that better. Gilbert Grape is his best performance though. Supporting Actor 93 was a ridiculously competitive category though.
I thought the film was okay, but Leo was incredible. His best performance if not Gilbert Grape. I didn't understand the Diamond nom either.
Yeah, it took me some time to get over Titanic, but truly, this is the movie where I realized just how good an actor he is. With all those people on screen, he was he was missed when he wasn't on it. And he was, like, a man! Not just the skinny kid from the 90s.
Say what you will about Titanic, but DiCaprio is still good in it. Personally, I absolutely love the film, but I am well aware of how bad the script is. Leo did a great job of being charismatic and charming.
As our own Nat said about Shia LaBeouf in Transformers:
"arguably not since a certain ship sank has an actor so charismatically avoided being humiliated by horrific dialogue."
(I'm assuming he was talking about DiCaprio in Titanic and not Kevin Dillon in Poseidon ;) )
HEE. that I was...
yeah the blood diamond thing. The mind boggles. The only possible explanation I can muster is still really really lame. Timing. (but then that still doesn't explain how you avoid a BP movie in favor of another movie that isn't even half as good. ARGH.
Yes. You should have nominated him for it, silly.
I think I'll have to watch The Departed again. I think his performance in The Departed was more subtle than Blood Diamond so the showier performance got nominated. His Aviator performance was better than both IMO.
I think that his best performance was in Gilbert Grape. My sister is mentally disabled and I am around plenty of children that are, Leo captured it perfectly.
Queenie
"The baddest mammajama on the internet"
My favorite DiCaprio performance to date!
A big fat Oscar snub... and by Nathaniel. :)
Was Leo's character redeemed in Blood Diamond (I still haven't seen it)? That might explain it. People like redemption more than...whatever the hell note he went out on in The Departed. Truth be told, he kinda turned me off in that one -- Wahlberg too. I was much more of the opinion that Matt Damon stole that particular show.
Yeah, SIGH, why does the Academy screw it up so often. Although I must admit that I actually liked the Blood Diamond performance if only because it seemed like a pretty good movie star turn and presented an entirely different very grown up DiCaprio - his accent was pretty good too. But Billy Costigan was so much more. Leave it to Oscar to go for an accent over subtlety and pathos almost every time, though. I truly look forward to Revolutionary Road, where I'm hearing he gives another great, maybe even breakthrough, performance.
He was excellent. But Matt Damon was better. And of course, Tony Leung was a lot better...
Wasn't the Blood Diamond thing caused by whoever's decision it was that he was SUPPORTING in The Departed and telling other people to think that, including the SAG? Which is epically suckish.
I agree Damon was also great in The Departed and made an excellent flip side of the coin, so to speak. But better than DiCaprio he was not. I thick DiCaprio was the beating heart of the film and I never felt less than tense watching his Billy Costigan sweat with palpable paranoia as things heated up. The best compliment is that he was at least equal to Leung in how effective he was and that's saying plenty.
He's excellent in The Departed, deserved a nom for this waaaayy more than he did for Blood Diamond. If I met Zwick, I'd poke him in the eye. Hard. Probably wouldnt affect his movie quality.
DiCaprio was his all time best in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. When I was young, foolish, and uneduated, I saw Gilbert Grape and wasnt familiar with DiCaprio and really thought he was retar... mentally challeneged, in real life. He's my #2 supporting Actor performance of all time in it (after Walken in Deer Hunter).
OK people really need to think about this. In every moment of his performance he looked like he was guilty -- like he was hiding something. His eyes were brimming with it. Are we expected to believe the Jack Nicholson character couldn't see this? This was actually bad acting, but from a good actor. Damon was better, by far. And look to others like JRM in Matchpoint for how an actor needs to play someone who is deceiving others.
Matt Damon was better...
In every moment of his performance he looked like he was guilty.....uh, no. There was fear in his eyes, true, but wasn't that the point? Didn't he have every reason to be constantly looking over his shoulder like a scared rabbit? On the other hand, he also had to be tough and had to play his hand out with Frank (Nicholson) even though it was undoubtedly terrifying, while trying to keep his cool at the same time--no easy thing to pull off, but he somehow managed to do just that. It's a trickier performance than you seem to realize and very believable given the situation he was in. Damon had the easier role, but that's not to denigrate him. He was perfect, too, and found interesting shadings to add to the character. But, really, saying one is better than the other is actually kind of silly.
Leo=amazing in everything. Even Blood Diamond, which I had a lot of problems with narratively and politically. He has never disappointed me, even when his films have.
Someone said:
"There was fear in his eyes, true, but wasn't that the point? Didn't he have every reason to be constantly looking over his shoulder like a scared rabbit? On the other hand, he also had to be tough and had to play his hand out with Frank (Nicholson) even though it was undoubtedly terrifying, while trying to keep his cool at the same time--no easy thing to pull off, "
But that's my point. of course it was frightening. But he looked frightened and as if he was hiding something all the time, particularly when talking to Frank. The fear should have been shown when he looked away instead. How are we supposed to believe Frank bought his cover when his face constantly looked like that. I certainly agree it was a complicated role. I just don't think he carried it off correctly or well.
Mmmm, I don't know about this one. He was good in "Mr. Wrong," but that's about it. Or was that Ellen Degeneres? I'm always mixing those two up.
Does no one remember the mess of WB campaigning him for Supporting in this along with everyone else? One of the most tightly wound and best portrayals of tension I can remember seeing. He is absolutely incredible.
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