Leonardo DiCaprio

[BobbyD 2]

Scorsese's "Departed" sets scene for Oscar rematch

 

Snubbed at the Oscars when "The Aviator" lost to Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby," Martin Scorsese has assembled a dream cast for his new movie "The Departed," setting the stage for a rematch with Eastwood.

 

Jack Nicholson plays a mob boss in Boston in the film about two informers, one a mobster planted in the police department, played by Matt Damon, and one a police officer who goes undercover in Nicholson's mob, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

 

Famed for his tales of Italian American mobsters, Scorsese turns his lens on contemporary Irish American crime in "The Departed," whose story is based on the 2002 Hong Kong thriller "Infernal Affairs." The movie opens on October 6.

 

"To have Jack Nicholson join up with Martin Scorsese and play a gangster is something that I think a lot of movie fans have been waiting for," DiCaprio told reporters at a press day in New York.

 

Scorsese's last film "The Aviator" lost out in the Oscar race to Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby," and "The Departed" pits the two head to head again, with Eastwood's World War II drama "Flags of our Fathers" also out in October.

 

When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences passed over "The Aviator" in 2005 Scorsese lost his seventh Oscar bid, despite making such celebrated films as "Raging Bull" and "Taxi Driver."

 

The word "Oscar" was not mentioned at the New York press event for the film, but "The Departed" has an unusually strong cast of male actors. The three big stars are backed up by strong performances from Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin as police officers.

 

NICHOLSON "MADE IT MORE OBSCENE"

 

Damon said Nicholson was largely responsible for what became a major theme in the movie -- the link between sexual prowess and power, with the mob boss's sexual excesses contrasted with the impotence of his protege.

 

"Jack brought this incredible new element, this new layer to that character -- he made it more obscene," Damon said. "That felt authentic because these guys will sublimate sex into violence and violence into sex."

 

The result is explicit sexual scenes, coarse language and unrelenting violence that may be too much for some viewers.

 

Damon said Scorsese called him the night before he filmed his first scene, in which his character meets the mob boss in a porn theater to discuss a police investigation of him.

 

"(Scorsese) said, 'A funny thing has happened, Jack Nicholson had some ideas for the scene .... OK, I'll just get to it, Jack's going to wear a dildo,"' Damon said.

 

Asked about tabloid reports of a very explicit sex scene involving Nicholson and two women that did not make it into the final cut, Scorsese said: "Ultimately I decided what's implicit is better than explicit in that bedroom scene."

 

DiCaprio, who plays the undercover cop constantly in fear for his life, said Nicholson kept him on his toes, particularly in a scene where the mob boss interrogates him over whether he is the rat giving secrets to the police.

 

"I remember coming in to do the scene one morning and the prop guy told me 'Be careful, he's got a fire extinguisher and a gun and some matches and a bottle of whiskey,"' he said.

 

Damon said the gritty atmosphere in the film came from extensive research by all those involved -- in his case that meant accompanying police on a raid of a crack-den in a scene recreated in the film.

 

"I was at the back of the line in my bullet proof vest," he said. "The guys who are in the shot with me are the guys who were with me that night."

 

"There's an authenticity that you can't fake and it's because he uses real people," Damon said. "Ultimately it's a magic trick, we're just trying to be believable."

 

Despite his stature in the business, Scorsese said it was not easy to keep making films that interest him.

 

"What I mean by that is to keep the energy going, to keep the interest going, the curiosity going, to continue to make films ... they have to mean something to me. And that's always been a struggle because of the nature of the way the system is now in Hollywood ... I'm still trying to find my way."

[Cutielb99 0]

ROLE SCRAMBLE

Page Six

 

October 9, 2006 -- JOAQUIN Phoenix, Toby Maguire, Heath Ledger and Leonardo DiCaprio are the leading contenders for the main role in the American remake of the French art-house hit "13 (Tzameti)." At the Eurasia Film Festival in Kazakhstan, Gela Babluanis, who directed the original - about a high-stakes game of Russian roulette - told Post film editor V.A. Musetto that he also would helm the new version, using an all-American cast. Babluanis said he was scouting locations in New York and New Jersey.

[BobbyD 2]

Leonardo DiCaprio says that native Bostonian co-stars of “The Departed” warned him not to botch the Boston accent in the flick. “[Matt] Damon and [Mark] Wahlberg were really stern with me from the beginning to make me understand that the Boston accent had been butchered in cinema in the past and that I would be the laughingstock of their hometown if I didn’t get this accent down,” DiCaprio told Australia’s NW magazine. “So I had to become an authentic Bostonian. The pressure was on and I hung out with a kid from the Boston projects. And on set Matt was always there, putting in his two cents’ worth!”

[fykeylicious 1,099]

Leonardo DiCaprio works with orphans from SOS Childrens Villages on the set of his upcoming film, "Blood Diamond"

 

During filming for his new movie, "Blood Diamond", due out December 2006, Leonardo had the chance to meet and work with 24 orphaned children from the SOS Childrens Village in Maputo, Mozambique. The children were asked to be extras in the film and got to spend part of their summer break traveling to the movie set and working with the actors.

 

Leonardo was extremely touched by his interactions with the children and was thrilled to be a part of such a memorable experience for them.

 

SOS Childrens Villages opened its first village in Mozambique in 1986, after 16 years of civil war in the country had left many children orphaned and destitute. There are now 3 SOS Childrens Villages in Mozambique, home to hundreds of children orphaned as a result of war, poverty, and disease; problems that have plagued the country for years.

 

About SOS Childrens Villages

 

SOS Childrens Villages has been providing homes for orphaned and abandoned children since 1949. Today there are over 450 SOS Villages in 132 countries caring for over 60,000 children and hundreds of thousands more are helped through education, medical, and emergency relief programs. SOS Childrens Villages has been nominated fourteen times for the Nobel Peace Prize and is the 2002 winner of the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Award.

 

SOS Childrens Villages relies on the generous support of individuals as well as businesses to provide long-term support for the orphans in their care. If you live in the US and want to make a tax-deductible contribution or sponsor a child, visit www.sos-usa.org. If you are outside of the US, visit www.sos-childrensvillages.org.

 

 

http://www.leonardodicaprio.com/leonardo/n...hp?articleID=50

[sanlee 49]

Did you guys hear something about Leo and McBongo doing some project together? If thats so, we all know they'll be doing IT together!!

[strwberryshortcake 0]

I can kinda see McBongo with a hot twink like Leonardo, actually, even if Leo's getting a little long in the tooth for twink status.

[Cutielb99 0]

JUST PLANE HYPOCRISY

Page Six

 

October 16, 2006 -- LEONARDO DiCaprio - the environ mental avenger - has no problems preaching about the evils of gas-guzzling cars, but, like his green pal Laurie David, he just can't give up the fossil fuel- chugging private planes. On Thursday, DiCaprio, his mom, his grandmother and girlfriend Bar Rafaeli flew on a private jet from Paris to Rome for a little vacation before the Rome pre miere of "The Departed." The group is keeping a low profile and is trying to go back to Paris for more fun after the premiere. "He asked Warner Bros. to put him up in the Bristol Hotel a little longer, and they said, 'Only if he would do more press,' " said our spy. No word on whether DiCaprio agreed. But nice to see he's pinching pennies. A rep for DiCaprio was unaware of his itinerary.

Edited October 16, 2006 by Cutielb99

[Cutielb99 0]

DiCaprio going green with ‘E-topia’ series

Show would chronicle eco-friendly reconstruction of an American town

By Kimberly Nordyke, Hollywood Reporter

Updated: 8:56 a.m. CT Oct 17, 2006

 

LOS ANGELES - Leonardo DiCaprio is helping to develop a reality TV series focusing on the environment.

 

“E-topia” will chronicle the eco-friendly reconstruction of an American town as it is transformed into a “‘green’ utopia of tomorrow.” The project, being shopped to broadcast networks, will document the monthslong endeavor in a town yet to be determined as teams of construction workers and laborers unaccustomed to the demands of a “green” lifestyle work with passionate eco-idealists, planners and architects.

 

Executive producers Craig Piligian (CBS’ “Survivor”) and Tom Mazza (NBC’s “Treasure Hunters”) brought the idea to DiCaprio, a high-profile environmental advocate, who signed on as co-creator and executive producer.

 

Piligian said the idea of doing a project “that had community in it, something with purpose and reason,” took off after the destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina last year and the global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” featuring Al Gore, “struck a chord” with filmgoers.

 

“We’re going to take a devastated community and help transform it as a prototype for the future,” Piligian said. “At the end of the day, we’re all going to have to change the way we live, the way we burn and use fuel ... We’re trying to show the country and the world by example, town by town by town, how we can change the way we live and fight global warming.”

 

In addition, each episode is designed to have a “call to action,” directing viewers to a Web site where they can learn more about ecology and find out how to participate in environmental initiatives.

[BobbyD 2]

Studio Too Far Out On A Limb

 

October 23, 2006 -- WARNER Bros. stands accused of making empty promises to provide prosthetic limbs to orphaned African amputees and then reneging so that the studio's movie "Blood Diamond" could get extra publicity.

 

During filming of the flick, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou, producers shipped in 27 teenage and child amputees - victims of tribal warfare - from surrounding hospitals to appear as extras.

 

In addition to paying the children day rates for their work, the producers - touched by the kids' tragic circumstances - promised to fit all of them with prosthetic limbs after shooting wrapped in June. But they're still waiting.

 

Young Nkululo Mnisi - whose arms and legs were cut off by machete-wielding rebels - used to be taunted by cruel classmates as "baboon" because of the way he ran on his stumps and crutches. Mnisi told a South African newspaper that the dream that kept him going was the promise of getting artificial limbs so he'd be able to play soccer like a normal child.

 

But months after filming ended, Mnisi and his fellow amputees were still waiting. When they asked Warner Bros. about the promised prosthetics, they were allegedly told, "You will have to wait for December, when the movie comes out, so we can get some publicity out of it."

 

A local African charity, Eastern Cape, came to the rescue when it heard of the amputees' cruelly dashed hopes, and outfitted them with limbs paid for by the organization. Eastern Cape has said that if Warner Bros. does finally come through with the money, it will go to 27 other deserving amputees.

 

A rep for Warner Bros. told Page Six, "We're working on it."

 

Meanwhile, The L.A. Times got it wrong when it reported that the DeBeers diamond cartel had demanded a disclaimer in the picture about so-called "conflict diamonds," which fund various African warlords. A rep for DeBeers said, "No one at DeBeers asked the filmmakers for a disclaimer or any other change in 'Blood Diamond.'

[Babloo328 0]

I never really jumped on the everyone-loves-Leo bandwagon after Titanic came out. However, after I saw The Departed, I'm so on it now.

 

He had this animal sexuality in that movie that was just too much to deal with. Whooie.

 

He did really well and I kind of want him to get an Oscar nomination from the movie. He's straight isn't he?

[MC 1]

I never really jumped on the everyone-loves-Leo bandwagon after Titanic came out. However, after I saw The Departed, I'm so on it now.

 

He had this animal sexuality in that movie that was just too much to deal with. Whooie.

 

He did really well and I kind of want him to get an Oscar nomination from the movie. He's straight isn't he?

I was really into him at the time Titanic came out, and being new to the internet, I was all over the groups, etc. I have no idea of his orientation. You may want to rent Total Eclipse - he was excellent in it. You can also check out a site that's been around for a long time: Leofans.com or Leo's own site: Leonardo DiCaprio.com that tells about his interest in environmental issues.

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

Wasn't he involved with his MUCH older manager for quite a few years, when he was in his teens/early 20s?? That's always weirded me out.....

[MC 1]

Wasn't he involved with his MUCH older manager for quite a few years, when he was in his teens/early 20s?? That's always weirded me out.....

I don't know but I can't imagine his mother letting anyone else get very close to him. She and HER mother go everywhere with him!

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

 

Wasn't he involved with his MUCH older manager for quite a few years, when he was in his teens/early 20s?? That's always weirded me out.....

I don't know but I can't imagine his mother letting anyone else get very close to him. She and HER mother go everywhere with him!

 

Then who am I thinking of???

[soho2chelsea 3]

^^I think you're thinking of Patrick Dempsey...he actually married her, too! Rocky Parker. She was over 20 years older than him

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

No, Dempsey doesn't sound right[though I don't doubt it happened]. I really really thought it was Leo. I also think it was happening around the time 15-yr old Juliette Lewis was living with (how much older?) Brad Pitt.....

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

It might be Edward Furlong I was thinking of (his "look" is much closer to a teenage Leo than Dempsey would have been, though the timing is still off from my--obviously faulty--memory) Furlong had a 5-yr affair with his tutor/manager and then she sued him for her 15%....He was 15 and she was 29 when they got together. Ugh.

Edited October 24, 2006 by Hoyaheel

[BobbyD 2]

Saw Blood Diamond the other day...I'm speechless. Leo did a good job...but the movie belonged to Djimon Hounsou(who should get a nomination and an oscar). It's a graphic and depressing flick, and will make you really look long and hard at getting diamonds and "bling-bling."

 

I hope it does well...but I think the people who should see it, the rich and hip-hop artists, probably won't.

[BobbyD 2]

Blood On Hands Of Leo Flick?

 

December 2, 2006 -- HUMAN-rights activists say Leonardo DiCaprio and the producers of "Blood Diamond" are dreaming if they think the jewelry industry has eradicated the problem of black-market "conflict diamonds," which provide funding for warlords in Africa.

 

The picture opens next week. DiCaprio recently told Movies.com's Jeanne Wolf, "Even though the story is based on real events and [shows] how conflict diamonds may have supported a lot of killing, I just never expected that the industry would react so strongly to a movie."

 

But the star seems to think diamond cartel DeBeers has solved the problem by selling only gems that are "certified" to come from legitimate mining operations. DeBeers also hired a Hollywood p.r. firm for damage control on the movie, which shows how machete-wielding rebels terrorize Sierra Leone using murder, amputation and slavery.

 

DiCaprio advises consumers, "You just have to go into the stores and ask for a certificate, ask for some sort of authentication that you aren't getting a conflict diamond. That's one of the biggest things you can do to bring this whole process to a stop."

 

And hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, who just returned from Africa, will hold a press conference on Tuesday to promote "nonconflict diamonds," which he sells through his Simmons Jewelry Co.

 

But some experts say it is impossible for dealers to distinguish between nonconflict diamonds and "blood" diamonds. "The industry is spreading misinformation," states activist group Global Witness. "They are trying to convince everyone that the problem is solved - but blood diamonds are not a problem of the past."

 

Political columnist Wayne Madsen blames Hollywood for the public's "diamond obsession." Films like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" tell viewers that diamonds "define the good life," Madsen told Page Six.

 

He also said the "activism" of Simmons and DiCaprio merely promotes their own products without solving anything. "It's a p.r. campaign," he said. "They should be saying, 'Don't buy diamonds at all.' "

[BobbyD 2]

Bad 'Blood' between Simmons and Zwick

 

Russell Simmons is defending his trip to South Africa and Botswana against 'Blood Diamond' director Ed Zwick, who believes the hip-hop honcho was being used.

 

Africa has spawned a new civil war - this time between hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and Ed Zwick, director of the new Leo DiCaprio drama "Blood Diamond."

Simmons just returned from a nine-day fact-finding mission to South Africa and Botswana after an invitation from the industry's Diamond Information Center. Simmons came away with mostly positive impressions of how the diamond business has improved the lives of the poor there.

 

But Zwick suggests that DeBeers and other companies used Simmons as their PR puppet. "I find it embarrassing for Russell Simmons," Zwick told us.

 

Take Simmons' conclusion that the sale of "conflict diamonds" - used to finance the continent's bloody wars - has dropped to less than 1% since the Kimberley Process was set up in 2003 to stop the vicious trafficking in those gems.

 

"That's a funky number," Zwick said at his movie's Hollywood premiere. "That number comes from diamonds that are mined in countries that are 'war-declared.' Conflict diamonds are also mined in countries where there is not a 'declared war.' If you want to know about conflict diamonds, you don't go to Botswana and South Africa. You go to Sierra Leone and Angola. … Russell Simmons is being embarrassed."

 

"Damnit," said Simmons, when we relayed Zwick's dig. "Why did he say that?"

 

The music and fashion honcho admitted that his observations help to improve the image of DeBeers, which supplies his Simmons Jewelry. "They're smart businesspeople," he said. "But to suggest I'm a sellout is wrong. I'm not here to defend the past of these companies. I'm here to talk about the current reality. Diamonds pay for education and medical treatment in Africa."

 

Simmons charges that Zwick's movie, set in ­Sierra Leone in the 1990s, "scares people away from diamonds. That's why Nelson Mandela sent a message to Warner Bros. reminding them that Africans are depending on diamonds to rebuild their countries."

 

Speaking of scaring people, "Blood Diamond" co-star Djimon Hounsou told us that DiCaprio may have saved his life when an armed man came after him at a restaurant in South Africa.

 

"He was threatening me," Hounsou told us. "He showed his gun in the holster. He was telling Leo what he wanted to do to harm me. Leo said to the guy, 'Come on, man. Talk to me. What did he do to you?' Eventually [Leo] found out he didn't have any reason. It was just his jealousy. So Leo talked him out of it."

 

DiCaprio didn't want to make a big deal out of the incident, saying only: "I'm very proud of this movie. … This film can actually translate into social change."

[kappy22 1]

Speaking of scaring people, "Blood Diamond" co-star Djimon Hounsou told us that DiCaprio may have saved his life when an armed man came after him at a restaurant in South Africa.

 

"He was threatening me," Hounsou told us. "He showed his gun in the holster. He was telling Leo what he wanted to do to harm me. Leo said to the guy, 'Come on, man. Talk to me. What did he do to you?' Eventually [Leo] found out he didn't have any reason. It was just his jealousy. So Leo talked him out of it."

 

DiCaprio didn't want to make a big deal out of the incident, saying only: "I'm very proud of this movie. … This film can actually translate into social change."

He was probably too drunk to realize how serious the moment really was. "Hey, I'm a movie star, man ~ talk to me ~ come on, I live to talk to real people . . . "

[princess 1,712]

Double Golden Globe nominee Leonardo DiCaprio and gal pal Bar Rafaeli stop by West Hollywood's Pink Berry for some frozen yogurt on Wednesday.

[Cutielb99 0]

'Departed,' 'Dreamgirls' win at Satellite Awards

Mirren, Whitaker take home top acting trophies

By ERIN MAXWELL, Variety

 

Martin Scorsese's "The Departed' was named best drama at the 11th Annual Satellite Awards on Sunday. The drama also took home prizes for supporting actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, best adapted screenplay for William Monahan, Siu Fai Mak, and Felix Chong and best ensemble pic.

 

In the comedy/musical category, "Dreamgirls" was named best of the year, with director Bill Condon tying with Clint Eastwood for "Flags of Our Fathers" in the helming race.

 

Top acting honors in drama went to Helen Mirren for "The Queen" and Forrest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland." For comedy, Joseph Cross was honored for his perf in "Running with Scissors," while Meryl Streep won for her take on the boss from hell in "The Devil Wears Prada."

 

The Satellite Awards were held at the Imperial Ballroom of le Méridian in Beverly Hills and are presented by the International Press Academy.

[sanlee 49]

janet charlton

 

 

LEONARDO DICAPRIO: ALL IN THE FAMILY

 

 

Leonardo DiCaprio just keeps getting better and better. We love that he really cares about his family and can't do enough for them. Now he's planning to bring several generations together in a Malibu.

 

According to Australian reporter Nelson Aspin, Leo's looking to buy three houses side by side in Malibu and gate them off as a large compound.

 

Leo will occupy one house, his mother will live in one house, and Leo 's grandmother will live in the third house. His grandmother lives in Germany and he often visited her there.

 

Now he wants to bring her to the warm climate in Malibu where she'll be near the family. We predict all the houses will be solar powered.

[BobbyD 2]

DiCaprio takes dip with the dolphins

 

While Hilton is sleeping with a monkey, Leonardo DiCaprio has been swimming with the dolphins.

 

The “Blood Diamond” star — a staunch environmentalist — spent a day in the pool at Las Vegas’s Mirage, paddling around in the water with new girlfriend Bar Refaeli, and then took in an evening performance of Cirque du Soleil’s “Love,” according to a tipster.

 

DiCaprio’s rep wasn’t available for comment.