Leonardo DiCaprio was born on this day in California in 1974 – can you believe DiCaprio is only 39yrs of age? since his film debut in the scifi comedy Critters 3 in 1991 DiCaprio has established himself as one of Hollywood’s acting Elite, amassing 3 Oscar and 9 Golden Globe nominations – DiCaprio has already worked with the likes of Spielberg, Cameron, Mendes, Scott, Nolan, Eastwood, Tarantino and Scorsese (5 times) not bad eh! – The 3 movies pictured above in my view are Essential Leonard DiCaprio – they’re not only great films but they demonstrate Leo’s acting talent and his willing to portray diverse and interesting characters on the screen – recent performances have seen DiCaprio star as Calvin Candie a ruthless plantation owner in Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Jay Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann’s epic remake of The Great Gatsby – later this year reunites DiCaprio for a fifth time with director Martin Scorsese in The Wolf of Wall Street a true story based on the rise and fall of wealthy stockbroker Jordan Belfort, if the trailer is anything to go by then this will be another great Leonardo DiCaprio movie….
film reviews
All posts tagged film reviews
Sweet Vengeance (Sweet Water) (2013) – Movie Review ★★★¾
Stars Ed Harris, January Jones, Jason Isaacs and Eduardo Noriega – sometime in the late 1800’s a lawman who is in search of two brothers gets tangled up with a sadistic, murdering preacher (Isaacs) and a woman looking for her husband (Jones) VERDICT I really love a good western and although Sweet Vengeance has it’s failings (mainly it’s poor script) the film is lot’s of fun and has some fabulous photography and is surprisingly funny at times – January Jones gives a career best performance – Jason Isaacs looks delicious as the murdering god fearing preacher and Ed Harris looks like he’s having a ball playing the bumbling stumbling Lawman who’s obviously slightly mad – overall this is no Unforgiven but it’s a solidly made western with some fun characters, plenty of sheep and a great shootout in the films last quarter…
The Call (2013) – Movie Review ★★★★
Stars Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Morris Chestnut & Michael Eklund – from director Brad Anderson (The Machinist) comes a thriller about a 9-1-1 operator (Berry) who takes the call from a serial killer’s victims just before they’re kidnapped and murdered VERDICT high on suspense Anderson’s gritty kidnap thriller The Call is up there amongst the best movies of the year – Breslin & Berry are superb in their respective roles but for me it’s Eklund who steals the show giving a chilling performance as the evil Michael Foster, his character epitomising the word “creepy & psychotic” – along with the actors mentioned above there’s also a neat little cameo by one of my favorite actors Michael Imperioli (Life On Mars) – overall this movie is worth the dollar at the box office and even though the films third act could have played out differently it was still pretty engaging with the non-stop, gripping tension continuing to the end credits!
DARK TOURIST (also known as The Grief Tourist) stars Michael Cudlitz, Melanie Griffith & Pruitt Taylor Vince – Michael Cudlitz from TV’s “Southland” plays Jim a security guard who’s grim & morbid hobby is visiting places that tragedy or disaster has struck, his dark addiction takes him to Louisiana where he connects with a local mass murderer named Carl Marznap… VERDICT Suri Krishnamma’s DARK TOURIST draws obvious inspiration from the likes of as “Taxi Driver” and “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” to deliver a dark, upsetting & at times uncomfortable movie to watch – it’s lead Michael Cudlitz is utterly mesmerising, you watch with wide eyes as his character spirals into an abyss of obsession slowly loosing his grip on reality – along with Cudlitz there’s a small but effective turn by Melanie Griffith who plays Betsy a waitress who befriends Jim whilst serving him at the cafe she works – Krishnamma allows the film’s pace to be deliberately slow at times, this lends to the pictures terrifying nature, and allows the tension to build until its disturbing finale – hats off to all involved especially Cudlitz who deserves all the plaudits! ★★★★
ELYSIUM stars Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley & William Fichtner – set in the future where two worlds exist, one called Elysium a man-made space station, thats self contained with it’s population living in luxury and the added bonus of a healthy lifestyle guaranteed – the other a broken Earth, over populated, disease ridden and full of mayhem and destruction – Max (Matt Damon) is an ex-parolee who lives in the latter, and is about to have a pretty bad few days, after a series of unfortunate events Max is left with no option but seek out his past & take on a mission, one that will have serious consequences for those living on both worlds…VERDICT a couple of reasons why I loved Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium – firstly Sharlto Copley’s villainous turn as Kruger a sleeper agent working for Elysium who is based on Earth does one hell of a job in frightening the holy crap out of anyone who gets in his way, sporting a full on beard, battle scarred and looking totally “don’t fuck with me” bad-ass, Kruger makes Anton from No Country For Old Men look like a pussy and don’t get me started on that wonderful, menacing South African accent – and secondly this is pure cinematic entertainment, a popcorn munching, thrill ride from one hell of a director and a cast that includes Damon, Foster and Fichtner all having fun with their respective roles – yes Elysium does have it’s flaws – the storyline is predictable and some of the characters seem thinly written but hell this is a summer blockbuster (this is not Schindler’s List) just sit back and enjoy the ride… it’s a good one! ★★★★
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