The Film Thread: Page 28 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

The Film Thread

RocktheCasbah

Asa, I thought DiCaprio was brilliant in The Departed. That pretty much changed my opinion of him actually.

As for The Innocents, it's a completely different film made in the 60's set around a gothic mansion and a child who may or may not be possessed. A great ghost story and nothing to do with Rec other than the fact I watched both in the same weekend.

y va marquer

I agree, apart from his performance in This Boys Life, I had little time for DiCaprio until I saw him in The Departed.
I really felt and feared for his character all the way through the film.

I think the problem with quite a lot of his earlier performances was that even in his 20's he looked like a teenager.
He needed to age.

asajoseph

The Departed was all about Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg for me. Oh and Jack Nicholson. But Leo Di was pretty good in it as well, I'll give him that.

Then again, compared with Ray Winstone's accent in that film, you could have had Keira Knightley playing a mafia don and been convincing.

I absolutely loved that climactic scene in the car, with the Dropkick Murphys belting out towards the end.

Timbob

Scorsese thinks that Di Caprio is the best actor of his generation. Cant say I see it myself.

Klaus

He was very good in "The Aviator" and "Gangs of New York" too (which - and I know that no one will ever agree with me on this - is also the best film Scorsese has ever made). He just was a bit unfortunate to play against Daniel Day-Lewis who chipped in with his best performance ever in the latter one. I liked Leo in "Catch Me If You Can" as well.

I think "Gangs of New York" drew some kind of line in his career. Prior to that he wasn't very good, I'll give you that. "The Beach", "The Man in the Iron Mask", "Gilbert Grape", that horrible Baz Luhrmann version of "Romeo & Juliet"... he made a lot of tripe where he in addition seemed out of depth for the kind of characters he was trying to portray. It's like he's been growing up as an actor for the last decade.

asajoseph

Day Lewis has been brilliant in so many films. Can't beat 'there will be blood' for me. I kinda liked Gangs of New York too, but it felt a bit hammy at times. Loved In the Name of the Father, but that wa all about Pete Postlethwaite.

Klaus

Yeah, he's the best actor of his generation for me. Hardcore method actor. Apparently he learned how to talk real stockbridge dialect when he made "The Last of the Mohicans". I think Pete Postlethwaite might've been the only one to ever steal a scene from him.

RonBurgundy

I don't think DiCaprio is the best actor of his generation, but he's up there for me. I think he did a great job in Catch Me If You Can (as Klaus said) and was very good in Gangs of New York, despite playing second fiddle to Day-Lewis. Nobody's mentioned his role in Blood Diamond - he was very impressive. He got a bit of stick for his Zimbabwean accent, but trust me, it's one hell of a difficult accent to perfect, especially for non-Africans. Overall it was a great acting performance.

I liked him in The Departed too, and I'm quite embarrassed to admit I haven't yet seen The Aviator.

Oh, and for the record, I think he was well above average in both Shutter Island and Inception. Inception is a bit of an enigma in that it's an exceptional film, but extremely plot-centric, which makes it more difficult for actors to shine. It's no co-incidence that it got no acting nominations at any major awards ceremonies.

Klaus

Ron Burgundy wrote:
I don't think DiCaprio is the best actor of his generation, but he's up there for me.

I was referring to Daniel Day-Lewis in my post above.

Edit: I just realised that it might not have been directed at me!

y va marquer

asajoseph wrote:
I absolutely loved that climactic scene in the car, with the Dropkick Murphys belting out towards the end.

That was excellent stuff alright.
I could do with listening to that tune now, really ear bleedingly loud.

RonBurgundy

Klaus wrote:
Ron Burgundy wrote:
I don't think DiCaprio is the best actor of his generation, but he's up there for me.

I was referring to Daniel Day-Lewis in my post above.

Edit: I just realised that it might not have been directed at me!

Haha, yeah - was referring to Scorsese's claim. Day-Lewis is one of the greatest of his generation for sure.

asajoseph

Blood diamond was a very good film, I thought, especially as I had very low rxpectations

Kel Varnsen

watched next three days today. thought it was a brilliant film. paul haggis a great director and he is able to portray intensity and emotions really well on the screen. terrific film.

goon

Speaking of Leo and Scorsese, I saw Shutter Island a couple of days back, it's a bit wierd and confusing at times, but decent film.

Timbob

In acting circles isn't kenneth Branagh supposed to be the best of his generation? I'm sure I've read that about him quite a few times. Kind of like the Messi of actors-pure genius.

Burnwinter

It's simply not the case, though. Branagh might be a great Shakespearian and a great technician - I absolutely love him pretending to be Woody Allen in Celebrity, for instance - but he's only a fraction of the screen actor that Day-Lewis is.

As for The Departed, good movie but I'd plump for Infernal Affairs. Love the guy that plays the Di Caprio role in the HK version to pieces.

Klaus: what the fuck are you smoking? The Baz Luhrmann adaptation of Romeo and Juliet is superb, probably the best Shakespeare adaptation since 1990, with the possible exception of the Ian McKellen version of Richard III.

Brilliant set design, brilliant editing of the play, and brilliant performances from Harold Perrineau, Paul Sorvino, and Pete Postlethwaite as well as career highlights for John Leguizamo and Claire Danes. It's seriously good, even if Di Caprio's performance goes off a cliff after the tension increases and isn't that good to begin with.

RocktheCasbah

Personally, I can't stand that adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. But then I'm not a massive fan of the story.

Klaus

Kenneth Branagh's version of Hamlet is superior to them both.

I thought Romer+Juliet was a horrible movie, like everything else Luhrmann has ever done.

Timbob

It's certainly true that Day-Lewis is brilliant in pretty much every role he does. Wish he'd work more, but then maybe the time he gives himself between movies is one of the reasons he's so good. Didn't he take a year or two out of acting to become a bespoke shoe maker or something? Thought i read that.

Of the leading actors Johnny Depp dissapoints me. I really thought he'd be something special a few years back, he was brilliant in Donnie Brasco, but he's become a bit of a charicature of himself these days. Silly accents and even sillier movies. Then again, maybe me having a pop at Depp is similar to that bell boy who caught George Best in bed with Miss World and asked where it all went wrong....

Burnwinter

Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom isn't bad, but I doubt you'd have seen it? Everything else he has done I acknowledge to be pure shit - in particular I hate Moulin Rouge - but I have a huge soft spot for that version of Romeo and Juliet.

Whereas Branagh's Hamlet, though a glorious curiosity, is a miscast bloated vanity piece, and half of its interest lies in its absurd cameos (like that Depardieu one!) and its "put in everything plus the kitchen sink" ethic. I much prefer the earlier Branagh versions of Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing.

There hasn't really been a good Hamlet that I've seen, even the Olivier one's a bit off and obviously the Mel Gibson one is pretty durn average.

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