The actor: Leonardo DiCaprio The character: Howard Hughes The film: The Aviator The line: “The way of the future.” I know what you’re thinking. The one I’m pointing to is the last one, not one of the few dozen that he rattles off in the couple minutes of screentime just before, not even one of… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #37
The actor: Leonardo DiCaprio The character: Jordan Belfort The film: The Wolf of Wall Street The quote: “I’m not leaving. I’m not fucking leaving!” In 2013, Martin Scorsese had yet to make two of his best movies period in Silence and The Irishman, which both turn on extended moments of indecision from their protagonists. Rodrigues,… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #92
With the Oscars around the corner, I’m doing blurbs for each of this year’s Best Picture nominees in lieu of full reviews. (I don’t plan anything I do, so I’ve linked to ones with reviews already published…) I’ve ranked the films from best to worst below as a method of organization. Occasionally I’ll reference my… Read More 94th Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees, Ranked
Dir. Adam McKay. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep There are spoilers here for a recent release, though Don’t Look Up definitely strikes me as the kind of movie that’s hard to actually “spoil.” The funniest thing in Don’t Look Up is the running gag about the general at the White House who charges… Read More Don’t Look Up (2021)
To see my running list of the hundred greatest movie stars in American film history, click here All stars are listed with a single film which is particularly important, though not exclusively so, to understanding what makes them vital to American movies. 25) William Holden / Key film – The Wild Bunch The 1954 film Executive… Read More Better than AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars: 21-25
Dir. Steven Spielberg. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken Steven Spielberg’s top six movies, per the AFI in 2007: Schindler’s List (8th) E.T. (24th) Jaws (56th) Raiders of the Lost Ark (66th) Saving Private Ryan (71st) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (64th in 1998, off the list in 2007) Steven Spielberg’s top seven movies, per Metacritic:… Read More Catch Me if You Can (2002)
Dir. Martin Scorsese. Starring Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson I’m contractually obligated to bring up the rat crawling in front of the Massachusetts State House, one of my least favorite shots ever, but on rewatching The Departed for the zillionth time, it seems like the reason it’s in the movie at all is because the filmmakers… Read More The Departed (2006)
Dir. Quentin Tarantino. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie This is a recent release at the time of publication, so I’ll throw a generic “spoilers” alert up for it. There was a friend of Bob Rafelson’s named Donna Greenberg, who recalled a story about a weekend morning when she was at home with her… Read More Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
One of the Grantland legacies I’m fond of, although I’m sure the idea didn’t start there, is the championship belt (RIP Grantland, long live Barnwell and Hyden). The purpose is to go year by year and create a list of who’s at the top of some field, which is a deceptively simple task, and one… Read More Anglophone Director Championship Belt, 1918-2018
The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 50-46
Seeing Things Secondhand 