An Ode to Leo

Since I was a young girl, I have had a deep and creepy love of Leonardo DiCaprio. Did I make a scrapbook of magazine pictures of him when I was 13? Maybe. Do I still secretly hope that he will stop dating supermodels and I'll run into him on a Hollywood boulevard and he'll sweep me off me feet? Yes. I told you: creepy. However, I also believe Leo to be one of the finest actors of our generation and would therefore like to discuss some of my favorite Leo films.

Lets start with the first movie to capture my heart: William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. I laughed, I cried (really, really, nose-dripping, red-eye, sobbing crying) and I was completely enamored with this movie at the age of 12. I saw it over and over again, bought the (still awesome) soundtrack and memorized every word. I still watch this movie several times a year. I love everything about this movie.

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Jump forward a mere year to Leonardo's true breakout role in Titanic. I, like so many other females, saw this movie repeatedly in the theaters. Fresh faced, winsome Leo once again had me obsessing over a movie. He was wonderful as Jack, as Kate Winslet was to Rose, and Billy Zane was to Cal. James Cameron created a larger than life movie about a truly tragic event that for many years held the prize for highest-grossing film of all time with $1.8 billion worldwide sales (I can't totally begrudge Avatar for claiming that title now, which grossed $2.5 billion worldwide). It also won 11 out of 14 Academy Awards. One award which was not won was Best Actor for Leonardo, which he has still not been awarded, a crying shame but it's only a matter of time. If you did not see Titanic or if you did not like Titanic, you are an idiot.

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Next up is one of my favorite movies of all time, The Departed. Leonardo began breaking out of his pretty-boy persona after Titanic fame, but it was The Departed which confirmed Leo as a remarkable, serious actor loved by both males and females. This movie, which won Best Picture and Best Director (yay Marty), was so original, so shocking, and so awesome that I can't possibly do it justice here. Great acting, great story, great soundtrack. It is GREAT. It is appropriately violent (it's the mafia, if people aren't dying it's a sissy, pansy movie), but perhaps too violent for some tastes (not mine). If I was stranded on a desert island and could only take 5 movies, this one would be in that list.

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I am skipping many other great movies and roles by Leo, but to hit the highlights, I must do so. The next great role for DiCaprio was in Shutter Island, which came out last year. The previews belied a horror film and almost had me convinced not to see it, but I am so glad I man-ed up and went to see it in theaters. This movie is not a horror movie. It is dark and mysterious and keeps you on the edge of your seat. There were some moments of surprise, but nothing that I couldn't handle (and I do NOT do scary). It's hard to talk about this movie without giving away too much, if you haven't seen it. It's about two FBI detectives who go to an island prison for the criminally insane. I knew the end was going to throw me, but I couldn't guess how. This is a definite must-see movie with a delightfully original story and angle. Leonardo is fantastic in this role, yet again, and further solidified himself to gritty, hardened man-actor.

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To conclude, I'd like to talk about HOW EXCITED I am to see Leonardo DiCaprio's next movie, Inception. Directed by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Memento) in what he (Nolan) claims to be his best film yet. No one knows much about this movie except that it's about people who get information from people's dreams. It looks like the Matrix meets Tom Clancy meets James Bond meets the Bourne Identity meets Requiem for a Dream meets awesome. Opens July 16.

I give it a preemptive
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-Emily