In Contention

Tag: Leonardo DiCaprio

  • ‘J. Edgar’ trailer

    One of the great unknowns of the season (as I’ll get into momentarily with today’s Off the Carpet column) is Clint Eastwood’s “J. Edgar.” Well today, we finally get a glimpse of the film via the trailer at Apple. The first thing of note, naturally, is Leonardo DiCaprio’s accent, which seems to come in and out in just these few minutes. Also notable is the makeup, which I’ve been saying for a while will be transformative and most certainly something to watch for in that race. Finally, I’ve been hearing that Judi Dench gives the supporting performance to watch for, and that seems evident here. Check out the trailer by clicking on the image below or watch an embed after the jump.

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  • 9/14 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Plays storm the screen in Toronto, Liddell acquires ‘Killer Joe,’ Barker on Calley

    • Michelle Kung writes up Toronto from the perspective of plays taking to the screen en masse, like Tracy Letts’s “Killer Joe”… [Speakeasy]

    • …which Liddell Entertainment, by the way, picked up at the fest. [Variety]

    • Sasha Stone on life after the 2011 fall festival circuit. [Awards Daily]

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  • OFF THE CARPET: The year of The Beard?

    It felt really good to duck out of the looking-ahead business after last year’s fairly contentious (both amongst the films and their supporters) Oscar season. I didn’t saddle up to the upcoming season until a few weeks ago, hammering out preparations for this column, and even this, most would tell you, is too early.

    But at the start of July, in the midst of an interesting (critically speaking) summer movie season, and with half the year behind us, it seems a decent time to take stock of 2011’s Oscar business. And Disney may have gotten the conversation going just in time with last week’s debut of the trailer for Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse.”

    With the influx of film awards coverage this last decade, Oscar strategists have switched gears in how they campaign for the gold. With a cycle that chews and chews and chews on whatever is available to digest, being the early frontrunner has become the kiss of death. Films like “The Aviator,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Dreamgirls,” “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Up in the Air” failed to reach the winner’s circle in recent years after being hailed as tough cookies early on. Some of them put up better fights than others, some of them didn’t even manage to rise up to a nomination, but all of them looked formidable at one point or another before having their legs knocked out from underneath them.

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  • Nolan’s Hughes biopic: I say go meta

    When I spoke to Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas earlier this month at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the discussion of scaling things back with their next film came up.  After all, when it hits theaters next summer, “The Dark Knight Rises” will mark the third blockbuster in a row for Hollywood’s wunderkind.

    You can stretch it back to “Batman Begins” if you want, seeing as “The Prestige” was hardly a modest independent, given the period trappings.  So call it five in a row.

    Back when Leonardo DiCaprio was developing his Howard Hughes biopic, “The Aviator,” with director Michael Mann, Nolan had his own project in development.  Mann opted out of tackling another biopic after “The Insider” and “Ali” and DiCaprio asked his then recent professional acquaintance, Martin Scorsese, to take over the project.

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  • Forbes names DiCaprio 2010’s highest-grossing star

    In last week’s year-in-review superlatives column, I closed things up as I always do by offering up my choice for “entertainer of the year.”  It generally goes to an individual or organization I think made the most significant popular and/or creative impact on cinema in a given year, kind of a tip of the hat to Entertainment Weekly’s annual feature.

    In past years I’ve gone with George Clooney (2005), Clint Eastwood (2006), Phillip Seymour Hoffman (2007), Robert Downey Jr. (2008) and Weta Digital (2009), but for 2010, I couldn’t think of anyone more applicable than Leonardo DiCaprio, whose work in “Inception” and particularly “Shutter Island” raised his own bar and proved once again that he’s a star who wields his cachet smartly.

    And now he’s been singled out by Forbes Magazine as the year’s highest-grossing star.  Both films have made over $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office, so it’s a natural choice.  And neither needed the added impact of inflated 3D ticket sales, the piece notes.

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  • Best in show 2010: the year in superlatives

    The week, and with it, the bulk of my 2010 coverage, draws to a close today with a look at the best of the best. I’m offering up a personal list of superlatives, including most Oscar categories and some other fun fields thrown in for good measure. A tradition at this point.

    There will be plenty going on next week, though, despite travel and the holidays. As always, we’ll be at your disposal. But allow me to put a tidy bow on the year here and keep forging ahead…

    Best Picture
    “Exit Through the Gift Shop”

    Best Director
    Mike Leigh, “Another Year”

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  • DiCaprio contest winner!

    Thanks to everyone who submited a graph detailing a favorite Leonardo DiCaprio performance.  After poring through 60-plus entries, I settled on this one as, for me, the most convincing argument, courtesy of Peter Labuza:

    For me, DiCaprio was best in Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed.” In a film that is constantly moving and full of energy, DiCaprio brings everything in his body to the internal. While many of the actors in the film rush their words to give the film a jolt, DiCaprio anchors the drama by slowing things down, processing each layer of his character and the façade he has to create. Like “Shutter Island,” DiCaprio’s character loses his mind, but we don’t need Scorsese’s swinging camera and haunted atmosphere to see it—it’s all there in DiCaprio’s face.

    I also happen to agree with the choice.  So, drop me a line, Peter, and let’s get you your prize.

  • WEEKLY WRAP: The circuit takes hold, chatting up DiCaprio and Harris, top 10 lists

    • The week started off with “How to Train Your Dragon” predictably dominating the slate of Annie Award nominations.

    • Kris sat down with Leonardo DiCaprio and got Martin Scorsese on the phone for a large two–part piece on the actor and his impressive year.

    • He also caught up with actor Ed Harris to talk “The Way Back” and director Peter Weir.

    • It was good and bad news for The Weinstein Company as “Blue Valentine” won its ratings appeal with the MPAA, while “The King’s Speech”‘s was shot down.

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  • CONTEST: Win DVDs of ‘Inception’ and ‘Shutter Island’

    This morning we wrapped up a massive two-part interview with actor Leonardo DiCaprio, whose performances in “Inception” and particularly “Shutter Island” in 2010 reflected a movie star very much at the top of his game.  So in the spirit of his wonderful year of output, it seemed a good time to kick off our contests with a chance to win a DVD of each film.

    But you have to work for it.  Stretch the ole’ brain a bit and come up with an engaging piece of persuasive writing.  Using the comments section below, tell us what your favorite DiCaprio performance is to date.  That’s the full canon, starting with the groundbreaking, brilliant, truly stunning and revelatory, uh, “Critters 3,” and moving all the way through his latest portrayal in Christopher Nolan’s summer blockbuster.  Be convincing.

    It’s best to put a limit on things, for purposes of length and also to make sure we get some potent responses.  I think 100 words is plenty, so anything that goes over that mark, I’ll have to disqualify.  Have at it!

    [Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures]

  • INTERVIEW: Leonardo DiCaprio on ‘Inception’ and ‘Shutter Island’ parallels and a shifting industry landscape

    *PLEASE NOTE: There will be spoilers of both “Inception” and “Shutter Island” in this two-part interview with actor Leonardo DiCaprio.  For yesterday’s installment, featuring extended conversation with the actor and director Martin Scorsese, click here.

    Leonardo DiCaprio was very aware of the similarities between “Shutter Island” and “Inception” when he was considering starring in the latter. The idea of a man haunted by his past and living in an alternate reality, these are themes that interest him, in particular because he enjoys playing characters which are in some ways unreliable protagonists (to play on the “unreliable narrator” literary device).

    “There’s nothing obvious,” he says. “It forces you to sit with the other characters and be deceitful to yourself and to the people around you. No line is taken for what it is. You can never read a line with either of these characters and say to yourself, ‘He means exactly what he says.’ There’s a hidden agenda there. Both of these characters are lost in the labyrinth of their own mind and living an alternate life completely that they hadn’t come to terms with. And how one lies to oneself is interesting, too, with both of these guys.”

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  • INTERVIEW: Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese on building the perfect psychosis in ‘Shutter Island’

    *PLEASE NOTE: There will be spoilers of both “Inception” and “Shutter Island” in this two-part interview with actor Leonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese.

    Audience members flock the stage of the television Academy’s Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood, cameras and signables at the ready, as Leonardo DiCaprio patiently weathers the Black Friday-like storm of appreciation.

    They’ve all just seen “Shutter Island,” many for the first time. During a post-screening Q&A they’ve heard him tell stories of an “anxiety-ridden,” “intense” shoot, of playing through multiple versions of his character for the purposes of creative editing and of his perspective on virtually growing up on camera over the last two decades.

    But they want to be closer. They want to be around greatness, talent, fame: that unmistakable glow of movie stardom.  And yet DiCaprio has made a career of translating his celebrity into precious fuel for an insatiable creative fire. Rather than rest on paycheck laurels of notoriety, he consistently places himself at the crossroads of art and commerce, even putting his money where his mouth is as producer if need be. And two financially successful films that embraced creative risks in 2010 prove that the actor shows no signs of changing course.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Precursors begin, ‘Grit’ unveiled and Oscar hosts tapped

    • The biggest news of this busy week may well have been the announcement of James Franco and Anne Hathaway as this year’s Oscarcast hosts.

    • Unless you count “The Social Network” dominating the National Board of Review as bigger news, that is.

    • Or, for that matter, our first look at the Coen brothers’ “True Grit.”

    • Speaking of which, Kris reported on the current eligibility status of Carter Burwell’s score (still up in the air).

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  • Robert Duvall takes aim at “actor’s enemy” Stanley Kubrick

    It was interesting this morning to see Robert Duvall’s recent comments on Stanley Kubrick’s process with actors making the rounds.  Duvall chimed in with trademark candor at The Hollywood Reporter’s Actors Round Table when the issue of exhaustive takes came up.  “The Social Network” director David Fincher is known for doing quite a few, and Kubrick was infamous for it.

    The actor called the work of Kubrick actors “the worst performances I’ve ever seen in movies” and even went so far as to call the director an “actor’s enemy.”  I’d maintain that Kubrick’s films have rarely been about performance above formalism, but that’s me.  Though the comments did remind me of a similar aside I had with actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

    I sat down with the “Inception” and “Shutter Island” star over the weekend to discuss, mainly, the latter and his work with director Martin Scorsese over the years.  In the midst of detailing his on-set process with the director, DiCaprio went off on a small tangent about the potential value of exhaustive takes and I thought it would make a nice rebuttal to Duvall’s point of view.  Check out the audio after the jump.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Kicking the tires on the circuit

    On the precipice of December, the season feels at once stale and fresh. We’re in the post-Thanksgiving food coma paradox that hits every year. But things are going to start heating up real soon.

    The last two films out of the gate, “TRON Legacy” and “True Grit” (both ironically starring Jeff Bridges), have already started screening.  SAG ballots are already in the hands of nominating committee members and voting deadlines are approaching for various organizations.

    The circuit “officially” begins Thursday with the always arbitrary National Board of Review announcement. The Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association will get a jump on the critics awards once again when they announce one week from today, while the Los Angeles (12/12) and New York online (12/12) and print (12/13) critics will have their say the following week, as well as the BFCA (12/13) and HFPA (12/14).

    The excitement will build to the usual pre-holiday stall and pick right back up on January 4 when the writers and producers guilds announce nominees, followed the same week by the art directors and sound mixers. And the date most will have their eyes on — January 10 — will bring the DGA’s list of contenders. Before you know it we’ll be on a collision course with the January 25 Oscar nominations announcement and things will be mercifully nearing an end.

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  • 11/24 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Kunis on her ‘Machinist’ impression, Hammer talks twinning, bad boy celebrity

    (Ended up unexpectedly taking the day off yesterday.  Not that I’m complaining.)

    • Anne Thompson talks to “Secretariat” star Diane Lane. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Mila Kunis on dropping to a bony 95 pounds for “Black Swan.” [E! Online]

    • Dave Karger, meanwhile, wonders if the actress can score an Oscar nod alongside co-star Natalie Portman. [Inside Movies]

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Giving thanks

    As we move into turkey (or tofurkey, if that happens to be your speed) week 2010, it seems proper, if a tad bit obvious, to take a moment and give thanks. So in lieu of a proper analysis of the season’s progression this week, allow me to express my boundless, breathless appreciation for the following:

    The filmmakers.

    I’m thankful for Mike Leigh’s consistently maturing perspective on life and how he manages to gift that to film audiences each and every time out, for Peter Weir’s tenacity in the face of an unfortunate shift in cinema investment and for Darren Aronofsky’s well-rewarded (in the form of a two-year studio deal) efforts pushing the envelope.

    I’m thankful for Danny Boyle’s energetic perspective on the cinema and his obsession with filling his frame with that passion, as well as for Christopher Nolan’s determination to take studio goodwill and prove that there is an audience and payoff for pricey originality.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Leading men in the spotlight

    About a year ago I took to examining the 2009 Best Actor race.  The frontrunners for five slots seemed to be, in order, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Jeremy Renner, Morgan Freeman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Viggo Mortensen and Robert De Niro.

    A day later press members received their first invites to “Crazy Heart” screenings and were notified that the film would be released in 2009.  Jeff Bridges hit the ground running and never let off the gas until he was past the finish line.

    A year earlier we were looking at a pair of politico-biopic portrayals, either one of which would make a handsome winner: Frank Langella and Sean Penn.  But we were fairly sure the latter would be on his way to the podium one more time.

    But soon after, Mickey Rourke’s festival buzz caught serious fire and forged an atmosphere of doubt.  The season’s narrative seemed to be changing, and yet the early buzz carried through and brought Penn his Oscar.

    So that’s two drastically different directions – in as many years – that a lead actor race can take.  Given the mid-October fulcrum shared here, let’s consider our perspective on the Best Actor category right now.

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  • Scorsese/DiCaprio retrospective set to kick-start ‘Shutter Island’ campaign

    People have scoffed at the idea of a Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” campaign for months now.  The film didn’t hit with the critics, therefore it must be an also ran, right?  The thing is, it made decent bank and is packed with elements I know for a fact are well-respected from the industry, whether it’s Thelma Schoonmaker’s typically expert film editing, Robert Richardson’s throwback lensing, Dante Ferretti’s creepy production design or, indeed, Leonardo DiCaprio’s fantastic lead performance.

    All of that goodwill can build momentum in a year of 10 Best Picture nominees, and let’s face it, every DiCaprio/Scorsese collaboration has been nominated in the top category, in years of five, no less.  With Halloween right around the corner, now is the perfect time for Paramount Pictures to remind everyone of the film.  The studio is therefore kicking off the season’s festivities with a two-day American Cinemateque retrospective on their eight-year partnership.

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