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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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....

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.

Klaus: it's a heartwarming romantic farce about competitive ballroom dancing. It isn't actually going to turn you on, I'd guess, but it isn't actively bad.

I didn't even bother to watch "Australia" - I knew from reading about it that in particular I'd be absolutely offended by the Aboriginal plotline, and let's face it Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman aren't exactly the sort of rocket scientists capable of redeeming a bad project.

In my opinion, Luhrmann is a bit of a twonk and it's his art director / costume designer that have put him where he is. He's a guy who constantly wants to make huge romances but doesn't understand how to make a classic, appealing leading man / leading lady romance at all.

Yeah, that's my opinion about him too. He's someone who wants to do highbrow stuff but he doesn't have the competence to pull it off. His Shakespeare reimagining felt like such a copout in that sense. He basically used someone else's genius to enforce his own image. In all honesty it was several years ago since I watched that "Romero + Juliet" film though and I went into it with my mind made up about the director already, which I admit isn't a good idea. I might give it another try at some point.

I think it's really good, honestly. The real strength isn't the lead performances, but it is one of the tightest and best editings of Shakespeare and interpretations of the text in film.

Kuyt hattrick ...

Leo is the best of his generation in my opinion although it is hard to define what exactly that generation is considering that he is a plus twenty year veteran at the age of 36. He had a small 'heart throb' period where he was dialling it in but has been brilliant the rest of the time.

Have to agree that Tony leung is excellent.

Captain: yeah, it IS Tony Leung isn't it? I find him almost unrecognisable with a tiny moustache in Infernal Affairs for some reason.

He is great in In The Mood For Love as well. Hero I dislike personally.

Tony Leung Chiu Wai to be exact (there's another famous Hong Kong actor with the same basic name); the one that has a knack for appearing in Wong Kar-Wai films.

"Infernal Affairs" is an excellent film but I liked "The Departed" a lot too. American remakes of foreign films usually turn out badly ("Vanilla Sky" literally made my spine contract) but that wasn't the case here. It felt like Scorsese used the same basic plot structure but told a completely different story. In several ways it was like a modern extension of the themes he explored in "Gangs of New York".

Thanks Klaus. That actually does explain my confusion to some extent, but I rechecked and I'm thinking of the guy from In The Mood For Love. His performance in Infernal Affairs is very classy - he's capable of quietly conveying the tortuousness of a decade undercover.

The other Tony Leung is the star of Election, a film which is crying out for its own Hollywood remake - the only thing would be the difficulty of transferring the premise to a US crime organisation.

He's not been in very many quality films (been in some real stickers actually - GI Jane!) but I think Viggo Mortenson is an excellent actor.
Possibly not of the same generation as Di Caprio but easily as good if not better an actor.

bill muzza is class

Viggo's great. The History of Violence, Eastern Promises, The Road - he's top notch in all of them. Can't necessarily be cast in any given role, though.

Do you mean that you think Viggo's more suited to playing darker more intense characters bw?

Bill Muzza ? yeah he's great, my father met him once playing golf, apparently he's quite droll and unassuming.

I watched "Appaloosa" a few weeks back. Viggo was amazing in that one.

ya v marquer wrote:

bill muzza is class

Greatest living actor today. Seriously:

How does he do it? How does he pull it off?

Viggo does menace well in my opinion, though he also does vulnerability quite well.

I already mentioned Eastern Promises and A History of Violence - really enjoyed his characters in both those films, and in both he's effectively a soft-centred man who has become addicted to, and inured to, violence through his traumatic experiences.

I can't see him playing an "everyman" or a comedy role terribly well - the sort of thing that Tom Hanks might take on would be too hard an ask (I believe). Though on the other hand he might be able to manage the sort of farcical comedy roles to which Clooney and Duchovny tend to gravitate.

As a leading man in LotR or Hidalgo he's just average, although I do hear he goes down well with the opposite sex.

Appaloosa sort of bored me actually. Too guy-centric. Ed Harris is not one of my favourites.

you dont like Ed Harris? wow Burnsy, you and i are like the complete opposites when it comes to anything to do with movies.. lol (although, not about Appaloosa)

Abyss? Apollo 13? The Rock?

as for Viggo, i always liked him, all the way back to Young Guns 2... (Take your medicine, son).. but i think he can only play the quiet, strong type characters really well..

My mum fancies Viggo. Think she called him "dishy".

Mums should keep this stuff to themselves. It's like how my mum always points out how handsome van Persie is whenever she sees him on the screen. I don't want to know that.

I fancy the bloke in I am No.4.

Which one in I am Number 4 ?
The guy with the blonde hair who looks a bit like Heath Ledger?

Ledger was an excellent actor.

Viggo only looked good as Aragorn.