I didn't say he was crap... He sure did some good acting when he was young.

It was in the middle where it felt like he got a bit lost in all that "hot young actor" crap and most of us lost sight of his raw talent.

Then after The Beach (which I truly enjoyed until it went kind of nuts nearing the end) he matured to a point where you could see his confidence and real talent as an adult.

That's when he really unleashed his brilliance.

Oh and of course you hate Titanic you're Cameron hater... ;)

lol I didn't mean to imply that you were saying he was crap. I was just differentiating between the two possible interpretations of "came a long way".

Like I said, he's had a few questionable movies, but even those I tended to like. Even while he was in the middle of that "pretty boy" stage, he still managed to put out some fine performances.

Quick and the Dead (I kinda like it) but that was a "hot young actor" type role. But right after that he puts out The Basketball Diaries which was a very fine performance.

Romeo and Juliet (he still did good in that too) but that was a hot young actor role. Right after that, Marvin's Room.

The Beach, I actually like where it went kind of nuts towards the end. I think that's where he shined the most. I really do like that movie too.

I'll say in his latter years he seems to have become more consistent (or maybe that's just in role choices) and definitely more mature in his craft. I still think though that some of his finest performances to date are some of his earlier roles. I'll put Gilbert Grape up there with any of his performances, even The Aviator.

And yes, I hate Cameron lol I just can't stand how overrated the guy and most of his movies are. Honestly though, Cameron or not, I found Titanic to be a boring pile of crap. I still to this day do not understand why Titanic is praised so highly while Pearl Harbor is panned so harshly. I hated both equally, but they're both practically the same movie to me, with Titanic maybe having a bit more air of "elegance" than Pearl Harbor.

But, I won't get started on all that Cameron stuff again lol

Was he in Critters? That movie was great!

I gotta say that I'm more than a little shocked to find other people besides myself and my wife who actually enjoyed The Beach. I liked the idea of that "Utopian Society" they had going there and still laugh my ass off every time they show him in the jungle pretending he's in a videogame.

JL, Cameron has contributed some pretty incredible things to Hollywood. I'm a fan and am surprised to see you so hateful on the man that gave us Aliens, Terminator (more importantly T2) and Avatar.

Cameron movies I will admit can be fun sometimes. For instance, Avatar, I didn't hate it, I enjoyed it well enough (like I do any of his movies that I do enjoy--on a very superficial level). Just thought it was highly overrated and didn't deserve such a title as highest-grossing movie of all-time and the prestige that comes with that. As a producer he's very good. As a writer and director he's VERY lacking. I'll leave it at that. lol

Back to Leo though, I agree. That's what I was simply trying to state earlier. That I never thought his talent ever waned or that he wasn't good to start (or even as good as he is now), he just went through a maturing stage that was simply the result of going from being a kid to an adult. The same "indentity" stage we all go through in those early years of transitioning to adulthood.

I agree that The Beach was probably his pushing off point from that previous "testing/indentity/transi tional" phase. Or maybe the cusp of it, then Gangs of New York was where he became the matured thespian that we know today that had truly honed his craft.

I think Leo is a damn fine actor and rank him quite high on my list of actors whose projects I look forward to seeing. I still think that Gangs of New York and The BasketBall diaries are his 2 best performances.

Leo not already having an Oscar is something of a travesty really. That and bad luck. The Aviator shouldn't netted him his first, but unfortunately for him that was the same year Jamie Foxx turned in a phenomenal performance as Ray Charles. I think they got that one right, but it just sucks for Leo cause his performance was Oscar worthy as well.

He should at least have a Supporting Actor one at this point though. I'm sorry, but there's no way I would've given Tommy Lee Jones the Oscar over Leo's Gilbert Grape role in back in '93.

He definitely needs an Oscar though. And to boot, he should definitely be in line to get a Lifetime Achievement Award later on down the line.

As for Sinatra, last I heard about that was early last year sometime. I know there were rumors about DiCaprio doing it, but he came out at one point and debunked that saying he had no intentions at the time to play the role.

The absolute last thing I heard (that I remember) is him saying he wanted Al Pacino to do it. Of course the idea behind the movie is to do different stages of Sinatra's life so there's the possibility of multiple actors playing him in the one movie.

And here, have another bubble (one to Matt too). Yea, I got the magic like that lol

Yeah, Leo's Best Actor Oscar is long overdue in my opinion. But it is also inevitable just as we've seen with Scorsese's Best Director Award for The Departed—almost like a Lifetime Achievement type honor.

The Hoover film is definitely the type of film that can test an actor's mettle and I am confident that a Nomination could follow. That movie should also be awesome and the cast is coming together nicely.

According to this link: http://hoboken.patch.com/ar... DiCaprio has been officially tapped by Scorsese to play Sinatra. If this information is true, then DiCaprio will have another robust shot at getting that Best Actor Oscar. Sinatra is such a compelling figure and one of those old time personalities that most admire despite not knowing much about him. This will also be a movie I'm going to be all over because Sinatra is such a cool ass dude and I love Marty's work. Him and Leo are quite the potent duo.

Lol, sorry that it's your last bubble. But good conversation!

Hmm, you're right. Seems he is on board, upon actually investigating it. I never heard about that. I guess maybe because there's still a chance the film won't be made.

John Wayne is an American pastime. He was the foremost American movie star and gained widespread recognition across the Globe (one of the first and most lasting); if you ask a person in China to name a famous American actor, the first name they'll tell you is John Wayne.

It is virtually impossible to possess the extreme depth of talent necessary to justify such a larger than life image. Therefore, I agree with your premise that Wayne is not an extremely gifted actor in the conventional sense of guaging 'true talent.' As you articulate, he was quite one dimensional and did not really ever exhibit an ownership of range. But Wayne was stupendous in his specific kind of niche role; the classic western or the war hero story. Stagecoach, The Searchers and Rio Bravo are just three special examples of why I respect Wayne's contribution to film, and why so many adore him. He is without question an American Icon.

@ Soldier one

Haha yes the video was funny.

@ bolland123

I completely agree with you.

I find John Wayne flicks to be completely unwatchable. Partly because I can't stand Westerns and another thing that bugs me is exactly what JL said. He's one dimensional (so is Will Farrell) and I just find his characters to be all the same thing.

I don't want it to sound like I'm bagging on the guy necessarily. Just I don't think he was a great actor by any stretch of the imagination. I would never attempt to say he's not absolutely an icon and a legend though.

And I do enjoy plenty of his movies. Of course that was in part because yes he did do well in his niche role, playing roles that were him pretty much being himself on-screen. Also partly because all the well written and good westerns brought him in just because he was John Wayne. There is a limit however to how much Wayne I can take in a given period of time. Because he is in fact pretty much the same guy/character in every movie.