Some people think Leonardo DiCaprio became a star when he acted in James Cameron’s Titanic. Others believe his stardom predated that movie when he starred opposite Claire Danes in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. However, the movie that made him an up-and-comer is a film that seems to have been all but erased from his filmography: the 1995 drama The Basketball Diaries, a movie that teamed him with a young Mark Wahlberg, earned good reviews and became a VHS cult hit among teens of the nineties. Yet, it’s a tough film to find unless you’re willing to shell out big bucks for the long, out-of-print Blu-ray (never released in the U.S) or an old-school DVD. You won’t find it on streaming, and it remains an oddly obscure film considering how popular it was in the nineties. What gives?
The Basketball Diaries is based on the life of Jim Carroll,...
The Basketball Diaries is based on the life of Jim Carroll,...
- 1/13/2024
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Black Easter (2021)
Director: Jim Carroll
Stars: Morgan Roberts, Ilsa Levine, Lamar Usher, Gerardo Davila
Is There A Plot?
Young genius Ram Goldstein accidentally invents time travel, only to see his scientific breakthrough immediately stolen by Muslim terrorists who want to go back 2,000 years and murder Jesus Christ. (Spoiler alert: Jesus dies.)
What’S The Damage?
After so many years doing this, it’s rare that a movie manages to surprise me with its insanity, so let us give thanks for the miracle that is Black Easter. There’s just something so special about watching a film made for Christian audiences where their Lord and Savior is executed at point blank range by a special forces mercenary who says this line:
I cannot believe Belfast won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay over this.
With its twisty time traveling and absolutely bonkers plot, Black Easter is like a a two-hour episode...
Director: Jim Carroll
Stars: Morgan Roberts, Ilsa Levine, Lamar Usher, Gerardo Davila
Is There A Plot?
Young genius Ram Goldstein accidentally invents time travel, only to see his scientific breakthrough immediately stolen by Muslim terrorists who want to go back 2,000 years and murder Jesus Christ. (Spoiler alert: Jesus dies.)
What’S The Damage?
After so many years doing this, it’s rare that a movie manages to surprise me with its insanity, so let us give thanks for the miracle that is Black Easter. There’s just something so special about watching a film made for Christian audiences where their Lord and Savior is executed at point blank range by a special forces mercenary who says this line:
I cannot believe Belfast won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay over this.
With its twisty time traveling and absolutely bonkers plot, Black Easter is like a a two-hour episode...
- 4/8/2023
- by Jason Adams
- JoBlo.com
In his round X-ray specs and solar-system button-up, Garrett T. Capps looks like he’s just emerged from the farthest reaches of outer space. The San Antonio musician sounds like it, too. Since forming his band NASA Country in 2017, Capps has been working to introduce an unconventional new sound into country music, one that mixes the electronic, experimental hum of Kraftwerk with the cosmic hippie twang of Doug Sahm. Capps calls it “Kraut-country.”
Perhaps shockingly, it works. Capps’ new album, People Are Beautiful, is an urgent, inventive reimagining of Texas music.
Perhaps shockingly, it works. Capps’ new album, People Are Beautiful, is an urgent, inventive reimagining of Texas music.
- 11/30/2022
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Lou Reed: Caught Between the Twisted Stars extensive and carefully curated exhibition runs through March 4, 2023 Photo: Ed Bahlman
On the morning of Tuesday, June 7, >music producer and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman joined me for the press preview of Lou Reed: Caught Between The Twisted Stars at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Curators Don Fleming and Jason Stern along with Laurie Anderson acted as the media’s intimate tour guides through the extensive exhibition, which includes photos by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Mick Rock, Billy Name, and Julian Schnabel (Lou Reed’s Berlin) and connections to Reed with Andy Warhol, Robert Wilson, David Bowie, John Cale, Garland Jeffreys, Metallica, Sterling Morrison, Robert Quine, Mike Rathke, Fernando Saunders, Václav Havel, Jim Carroll, Allen Ginsberg, Delmore Schwartz, Anne Waldman, Doc Pomus, Hal Willner, and Laurie, plus some greetings cards by Moe (Maureen Tucker) to Lou, whom she affectionally calls Honey Bun.
On the morning of Tuesday, June 7, >music producer and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman joined me for the press preview of Lou Reed: Caught Between The Twisted Stars at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Curators Don Fleming and Jason Stern along with Laurie Anderson acted as the media’s intimate tour guides through the extensive exhibition, which includes photos by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Mick Rock, Billy Name, and Julian Schnabel (Lou Reed’s Berlin) and connections to Reed with Andy Warhol, Robert Wilson, David Bowie, John Cale, Garland Jeffreys, Metallica, Sterling Morrison, Robert Quine, Mike Rathke, Fernando Saunders, Václav Havel, Jim Carroll, Allen Ginsberg, Delmore Schwartz, Anne Waldman, Doc Pomus, Hal Willner, and Laurie, plus some greetings cards by Moe (Maureen Tucker) to Lou, whom she affectionally calls Honey Bun.
- 6/10/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
This article contains major spoilers for The Suicide Squad. We have a spoiler free review here.
The Dceu is alive and well and dividing its time between Corto Maltese and Belle Reve prison. James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad gives us the most DC characters in live action in any one movie ever assembled!
Ok, fine, the vast majority of them die. And a fair portion of them most folks have never even heard of. But it still counts!
And yes, there are DC Comics Easter eggs in the movie, but perhaps not as many as you might expect. So we’ve decided to split the difference. We’re gonna give you the lowdown on all the characters, especially the obscure ones, and talk about what their existence in this movie means (or could mean) for the wider Dceu. And we’ll still give you all the DC Easter eggs we were able to spot.
The Dceu is alive and well and dividing its time between Corto Maltese and Belle Reve prison. James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad gives us the most DC characters in live action in any one movie ever assembled!
Ok, fine, the vast majority of them die. And a fair portion of them most folks have never even heard of. But it still counts!
And yes, there are DC Comics Easter eggs in the movie, but perhaps not as many as you might expect. So we’ve decided to split the difference. We’re gonna give you the lowdown on all the characters, especially the obscure ones, and talk about what their existence in this movie means (or could mean) for the wider Dceu. And we’ll still give you all the DC Easter eggs we were able to spot.
- 8/6/2021
- by Mike Cecchini
- Den of Geek
“The Suicide Squad” is cunningly scuzzy, disreputable fun. It’s being advertised as a movie “from the horrifyingly beautiful mind of James Gunn,” and as much as I love “Guardians of the Galaxy” and enjoyed most of its sequel, I can’t say that I ever thought of James Gunn as having a horrifyingly beautiful mind. It sounds like they’re talking about H.R. Giger or Pier Paolo Pasolini or Courtney Love. But, of course, that line is really a movie studio’s way of spinning something they don’t feel fully comfortable with: the fact that Gunn, in 2018, was called on the carpet for tasteless jokes he had tweeted out a decade before on such topics as sexual assault, AIDS, pedophilia, and the Holocaust. For a while, as Gunn hung in limbo, it looked like he might be canceled. That didn’t happen — he was saved by landing the...
- 7/28/2021
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
By now, it seems as if we’ve read, seen, and heard about every reaction possible to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, since it’s been the fodder for countless stories meant to explain to later generations why it was a pivotal point in history. But nothing quite prepared me for a tender moment between Andy Warhol and poet John Giorno 80 pages into his memoir, Great Demon Kings, on that day in 1963.
“Andy and I grabbed each other, hugged and hugged, pressing our bodies together, trembling. We both started crying,...
“Andy and I grabbed each other, hugged and hugged, pressing our bodies together, trembling. We both started crying,...
- 8/10/2020
- by Jerry Portwood
- Rollingstone.com
- 7/22/2019
- by Monica Sisavat
- Popsugar.com
Hollywood Vampires stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live‘s outdoor stage to play two songs, David Bowie’s “Heroes” and their own “I Want My Now.” The rock band, led by Joe Perry, Johnny Depp and Alice Cooper, gave a raucous performance, evoking old school arena rock with grandiose guitar riffs and all-black ensembles. Depp took the led on “Heroes,” transforming the glam number into a heavy metal ballad.
“I Want My Now” is the opening track on the group’s new album Rise, out June 21st. The 16-track album, produced by Tommy Henriksen,...
“I Want My Now” is the opening track on the group’s new album Rise, out June 21st. The 16-track album, produced by Tommy Henriksen,...
- 6/20/2019
- by Emily Zemler
- Rollingstone.com
In early May, Stef Chura was hosting a karaoke night at a Detroit bar when someone tried to steal her tip jar. “I almost lost my mind,” she says angrily. Karaoke is a way for the 30-year-old indie rocker to perfect her singing, but it’s also her day job. “I’m finally getting to the point where I’m really comfortable on the mic,” she says. “If I didn’t have an early flight, I would go hard tonight!”
Right now, Chura is sitting at a diner in Manhattan’s West Village,...
Right now, Chura is sitting at a diner in Manhattan’s West Village,...
- 6/10/2019
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
A high-school shooting claimed to have been inspired by a scene from Leonardo DiCaprio film The Basketball Diaries is spotlighted tonight on REELZChannel documentary series CopyCat Killers. The shooting at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky, in December 1997 saw 14-year-old Michael Carneal shoot dead three students and injure five others. It was later claimed he may have been inspired from a dream-sequence scene from 1995 film The Basketball Diaries in which DiCaprio’s character Jim Carroll shoots students at his school. In 1999 the parents of the three victims, Nicole Hadley, 14, Jessica James, 17, and Kayce Steger, 15,...read more...
- 6/24/2017
- by Julian Cheatle
- Monsters and Critics
"Mr. Robot" just concluded its first season. I spoke with creator Sam Esmail about it at length, and I have a review of the finale coming up just as soon as we use a dead puppy oven... "Come on!!!! I need to know what happened!" -Elliot What a fascinating, off-kilter, 100% "Mr. Robot" way to end this season. Everything about this show has always been off: the way characters so often are marginalized in the corner of a frame, or how we're so much inside Elliot's head that we feel like we're losing time right along with him. So it feels right — even if it may be frustrating for some — that the finale skips right past whatever Elliot and Tyrell did at the arcade, keeps Tyrell missing in action entirely, and just jumps us into the strange new world where fsociety has seemingly won and plunged the world into financial chaos.
- 9/3/2015
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
30. Sense and Sensibility
Directed by: Ang Lee
Ang Lee has gone in about eight different directions in terms of genre. His resume includes “The Ice Storm,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” Hulk,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Life of Pi,” and this delightful Jane Austen adaptation, starring Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, and young Kate Winslet. “Sense and Sensibility” took home the Oscar for Adapted Screenplay for the story of the Dashwood family, a mother widowed and left in difficult circumstances after her husband has left his fortune to his first wife, instead of his current one. So Mrs. Dashwood (Gemma Jones) and her daughters Fanny, Marianne, and Elinor (Harriet Walter, Winslet, Thompson) have to find a way to survive in a world ruled by men and the rules that seem to create obstacle after obstacle for them. Unfortunately, given the era, they are viewed as “unmarryable,” since they have no fortune and no prospects.
Directed by: Ang Lee
Ang Lee has gone in about eight different directions in terms of genre. His resume includes “The Ice Storm,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” Hulk,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Life of Pi,” and this delightful Jane Austen adaptation, starring Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, and young Kate Winslet. “Sense and Sensibility” took home the Oscar for Adapted Screenplay for the story of the Dashwood family, a mother widowed and left in difficult circumstances after her husband has left his fortune to his first wife, instead of his current one. So Mrs. Dashwood (Gemma Jones) and her daughters Fanny, Marianne, and Elinor (Harriet Walter, Winslet, Thompson) have to find a way to survive in a world ruled by men and the rules that seem to create obstacle after obstacle for them. Unfortunately, given the era, they are viewed as “unmarryable,” since they have no fortune and no prospects.
- 1/31/2015
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
Picture it. It's 1994. You're Leonardo DiCaprio. You've just made the leap from your successful stint on television's popular family sitcom Growing Pains to film with noteworthy turns in This Boy's Life with Robert De Niro and What's Eating Gilbert Grape with Johnny Depp. Now you're being told your next film will co-star that pant-drooping, often shirtless, always swaggering rap star/underwear model Marky Mark. You might not be happy. DiCaprio certainly wasn't. And Mark Wahlberg knows it. While doing the press rounds for his upcoming effort The Gambler, Mark Wahlberg looked back on his time making the 1995 biopic, The Basketball Diaries. Based on the Jim Carroll memoir, the film starred Leonardo DiCaprio as a tough New York kid with the heart of a poet. But when the critically acclaimed ingendude found out Wahlberg was up for a supporting role, he wasn.t having it. "Leonardo said, .No way, I.m...
- 11/12/2014
- cinemablend.com
If you love a dark tale of drugs, desperation and a little sexual perversion to go along with it all (we could say “real life” after all) and you don’t happen to have seen the movie, The Basketball Diaries, then please do something to rectify this forthwith!
But before you do so – it’s essential to know where the movie comes from and why. The Basketball Diaries is set in New York – a city very famous for its dark side. The book was originally penned in 1978 by punk poet and musician Jim Carroll. It’s semi-autobiographical based on Jim’s early life experiences in the Big Apple – a time when he was obsessed with basketball but simultaneously descending into a life of drug addiction.
On a slightly lighter note for most female movie fans, the 1995 movie which was directed by Scott Kalvert and stars a young Leonardo DiCaprio – which...
But before you do so – it’s essential to know where the movie comes from and why. The Basketball Diaries is set in New York – a city very famous for its dark side. The book was originally penned in 1978 by punk poet and musician Jim Carroll. It’s semi-autobiographical based on Jim’s early life experiences in the Big Apple – a time when he was obsessed with basketball but simultaneously descending into a life of drug addiction.
On a slightly lighter note for most female movie fans, the 1995 movie which was directed by Scott Kalvert and stars a young Leonardo DiCaprio – which...
- 7/26/2014
- by Guest Guest
- SoundOnSight
Scott Kalvert has been found dead at the age of 49.
The director was found at his home in Woodland Hills, California on Wednesday (March 5) and pronounced dead at the scene. His death is currently being investigated as a suspected suicide.
Kalvert is best known for directing the 1995 movie The Basketball Diaries. After working with Mark Wahlberg in the video for 'Good Vibrations' with his former band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, the director cast him in the film alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
The film was an adaption of Jim Carroll's juvenile diaries and chronicled his decline from promising basketball player, to heroin addict.
He also directed the 2002 crime film Deuces Wild which starred Stephen Dorff and Brad Renfro. Elsewhere, Kalvert took on the role of executive producer for 2009 Nickelodeon film School Gyrls, featuring Justin Bieber and Soulja Boy as themselves.
In his career, Kalvert also worked on...
The director was found at his home in Woodland Hills, California on Wednesday (March 5) and pronounced dead at the scene. His death is currently being investigated as a suspected suicide.
Kalvert is best known for directing the 1995 movie The Basketball Diaries. After working with Mark Wahlberg in the video for 'Good Vibrations' with his former band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, the director cast him in the film alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
The film was an adaption of Jim Carroll's juvenile diaries and chronicled his decline from promising basketball player, to heroin addict.
He also directed the 2002 crime film Deuces Wild which starred Stephen Dorff and Brad Renfro. Elsewhere, Kalvert took on the role of executive producer for 2009 Nickelodeon film School Gyrls, featuring Justin Bieber and Soulja Boy as themselves.
In his career, Kalvert also worked on...
- 3/8/2014
- Digital Spy
A Hollywood heartthrob who has been in some of the biggest, best and most successful American movies of the last two decades, Leonardo DiCaprio is a rare breed of talent. Currently Martin Scorsese’s muse, DiCaprio has been improving as an actor ever since we first saw him as a little boy in Critters 3 and we will soon see him back on our screens as Jordan Belfort with his fifth collaboration with Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street, which promises to play host to the bravest performance of his extraordinary career.
Scorsese has helped bring authenticity to the promising young actor and helped shackle off the stigma of Jack Dawson and Titanic, moulding him into the talented man he is today. DiCaprio has been the darling boy of some of Hollywood’s biggest directors as he has given performances for such greats as the aforementioned Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen,...
Scorsese has helped bring authenticity to the promising young actor and helped shackle off the stigma of Jack Dawson and Titanic, moulding him into the talented man he is today. DiCaprio has been the darling boy of some of Hollywood’s biggest directors as he has given performances for such greats as the aforementioned Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen,...
- 1/16/2014
- by Sam Moore
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Hot on the heels of some Stateside controversy and his second acting Golden Globe, Leonardo DiCaprio brings latest film The Wolf of Wall Street to the UK this Friday.
Wolf marks DiCaprio's fifth collaboration with legendary director Martin Scorsese, and together the duo have produced such modern classics as Gangs of New York, The Departed and Shutter Island. DiCaprio's incredible screen work stretches beyond his Scorsese partnership, though. He's tackled Shakespeare, faced down an iceberg aboard James Cameron's Titanic and dived deep into the human mind for Inception.
With Wolf of Wall Street on the horizon, Digital Spy staff reminisce about their favourite DiCaprio movies below...
Simon Reynolds, Movies Editor - Inception
Arguably Christopher Nolan's finest movie, this mind-bending sci-fi thriller saw DiCaprio marry intense introspection with action hero dynamism. Grieving over the loss of his wife Mal (a haunting Marion Cotillard), DiCaprio's Cobb leads a team of...
Wolf marks DiCaprio's fifth collaboration with legendary director Martin Scorsese, and together the duo have produced such modern classics as Gangs of New York, The Departed and Shutter Island. DiCaprio's incredible screen work stretches beyond his Scorsese partnership, though. He's tackled Shakespeare, faced down an iceberg aboard James Cameron's Titanic and dived deep into the human mind for Inception.
With Wolf of Wall Street on the horizon, Digital Spy staff reminisce about their favourite DiCaprio movies below...
Simon Reynolds, Movies Editor - Inception
Arguably Christopher Nolan's finest movie, this mind-bending sci-fi thriller saw DiCaprio marry intense introspection with action hero dynamism. Grieving over the loss of his wife Mal (a haunting Marion Cotillard), DiCaprio's Cobb leads a team of...
- 1/15/2014
- Digital Spy
Here's our pick of his finest performances – what would you add to the list?
Whether you think of him as the modern day Robert De Niro or an overpraised Norman Lamont-lookalike (as people used to say), you can't deny that Leonardo DiCaprio has been in some excellent films in the course of his 20 year career – and was the obvious choice to take the title role in Baz Lurhmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby.
We asked readers to nominate his greatest performances – and here's an attempt to narrow it down to five of the very best, with suggestions from @TomorrowsEnd, @esmehaycox, @bobbyblowdart, @BafflerMeal and @amyjkhan.
Sadly there's no room here for his film debut in Critters 3 – let us know what else you think should have made the list in the comment thread below. Warning: spoilers and adult content feature heavily in these clips.
1. The Basketball Diaries
Here's a notably...
Whether you think of him as the modern day Robert De Niro or an overpraised Norman Lamont-lookalike (as people used to say), you can't deny that Leonardo DiCaprio has been in some excellent films in the course of his 20 year career – and was the obvious choice to take the title role in Baz Lurhmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby.
We asked readers to nominate his greatest performances – and here's an attempt to narrow it down to five of the very best, with suggestions from @TomorrowsEnd, @esmehaycox, @bobbyblowdart, @BafflerMeal and @amyjkhan.
Sadly there's no room here for his film debut in Critters 3 – let us know what else you think should have made the list in the comment thread below. Warning: spoilers and adult content feature heavily in these clips.
1. The Basketball Diaries
Here's a notably...
- 5/17/2013
- by Adam Boult
- The Guardian - Film News
While the critical response to Baz Luhrmann's lavish take on The Great Gatsby has been lukewarm, reviews have by and large praised Leonardo DiCaprio's central turn as the mysterious, tragic Jay Gatsby.
Digital Spy looks back on five of DiCaprio's most iconic performances.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
At the tender age of 19, DiCaprio earned his first Oscar nomination for Lasse Hallström's touching family drama. Playing the mentally retarded younger brother of Johnny Depp's put-upon Gilbert Grape, DiCaprio was deservedly singled out for praise by almost every critic despite being a virtual unknown. It's an intensely likeable and physically specific performance that elevates an otherwise predictable story.
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
Adapted from Jim Carroll's autobiographical novel, Scott Kalvert's drama tracked a high school basketball star's descent into drug addiction. The film debuted to decidedly mixed reviews, but again DiCaprio came out largely unscathed, with Rolling...
Digital Spy looks back on five of DiCaprio's most iconic performances.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
At the tender age of 19, DiCaprio earned his first Oscar nomination for Lasse Hallström's touching family drama. Playing the mentally retarded younger brother of Johnny Depp's put-upon Gilbert Grape, DiCaprio was deservedly singled out for praise by almost every critic despite being a virtual unknown. It's an intensely likeable and physically specific performance that elevates an otherwise predictable story.
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
Adapted from Jim Carroll's autobiographical novel, Scott Kalvert's drama tracked a high school basketball star's descent into drug addiction. The film debuted to decidedly mixed reviews, but again DiCaprio came out largely unscathed, with Rolling...
- 5/17/2013
- Digital Spy
This week's gonzo teen nightmare Spring Breakers is trumpeting the fact that two of its leads - Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez - traditionally play "good girls". But the whole "teen idol gone bad" strategy is a longstanding Hollywood tradition aimed to help transition pigeonholed teen stars into "serious" actors.
Here are a few fellas who tried the tactic, to varying degrees of success.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas in Speedway Junky
The squeaky-clean kid from Home Improvement took a step toward tarnishing his image by playing an evil, bisexual hooker in this gritty drama, giving a whole new meaning to "Tool Time"!
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Mysterious Skin
Jgl also went the hustler route for his breakout from small-screen teen stardom - only the 3rd Rock star went "the full gay" in this unsettling and excellent indie drama.
Lukas Haas in Johns
Yet another teen heartthrob caught a case of gay hustleritis...
Here are a few fellas who tried the tactic, to varying degrees of success.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas in Speedway Junky
The squeaky-clean kid from Home Improvement took a step toward tarnishing his image by playing an evil, bisexual hooker in this gritty drama, giving a whole new meaning to "Tool Time"!
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Mysterious Skin
Jgl also went the hustler route for his breakout from small-screen teen stardom - only the 3rd Rock star went "the full gay" in this unsettling and excellent indie drama.
Lukas Haas in Johns
Yet another teen heartthrob caught a case of gay hustleritis...
- 3/15/2013
- by brian
- The Backlot
With the Ncaa Basketball Tournament, aka "March Madness," in full court, it seemed appropriate to gather 10 of the best basketball movies of all time. These movies inspire, teach, and are filled with all the great up-and-down-the-court action!
Top 10 Basketball Movies of All Time10. "Blue Chips" (1994)
This look at the world of college basketball shows the price of victory, while weaving in the corruption of amateur sports. Stand-out performances by Shaquille O’Neal and Nick Nolte.
Top 10 Basketball Movies of All Time10. "Blue Chips" (1994)
This look at the world of college basketball shows the price of victory, while weaving in the corruption of amateur sports. Stand-out performances by Shaquille O’Neal and Nick Nolte.
- 3/20/2011
- Extra
As Inception prepares to hit cinemas, we celebrate the ten very best performances of its star, Leonardo DiCaprio. No mention of Critters 3, though...
With Inception about to hit cinemas, I thought I'd take a look at the highlights of its leading man, Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio. Here's what I consider to be his finest performances - and feel free to argue them in the comments below..!
10. The Quick And The Dead
DiCaprio has a small but pivotal role in Sam Raimi's 1995 western The Quick And The Dead. Starring alongside Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone and Russell Crowe, DiCaprio holds his own in his role as Fee 'The Kid' Herod.
Although the film isn't the strongest piece of work any of the key names involved have been attached to, it's a decent enough movie, with some scenes that exhibit Raimi's visual flair and a good performance from DiCaprio at a time...
With Inception about to hit cinemas, I thought I'd take a look at the highlights of its leading man, Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio. Here's what I consider to be his finest performances - and feel free to argue them in the comments below..!
10. The Quick And The Dead
DiCaprio has a small but pivotal role in Sam Raimi's 1995 western The Quick And The Dead. Starring alongside Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone and Russell Crowe, DiCaprio holds his own in his role as Fee 'The Kid' Herod.
Although the film isn't the strongest piece of work any of the key names involved have been attached to, it's a decent enough movie, with some scenes that exhibit Raimi's visual flair and a good performance from DiCaprio at a time...
- 7/14/2010
- Den of Geek
Based on a true story, The Basketball Diaries (1995) chronicles the life-changing times of poet Jim Carroll's youth in the early 1960s. As a talented basketball player at a Manhattan Catholic school, Jim showed lots of promise for a professional career. However, his recreational activities with high-school buddies embroiled him in petty crime and hard drugs, including heroin. Now available on Blu-ray from Palm Pictures, The Basketball Diaries provides an interesting retrospective on Leonard DiCaprio's early acting career. After winning several awards for the 1993 critically acclaimed What's Eating Gilbert Grape, DiCaprio took on the intense dramatic role of Jim Carroll.
As much as Jim enjoys basketball and writing in his diary, he spends more time hanging out and causing trouble with his friends including Mickey (Mark Wahlberg), Pedro (James Madio), and Neutron (Patrick McGaw). His best friend Bobby (Michael Imperioli) fights a losing battle with leukemia, and Jim tries to...
As much as Jim enjoys basketball and writing in his diary, he spends more time hanging out and causing trouble with his friends including Mickey (Mark Wahlberg), Pedro (James Madio), and Neutron (Patrick McGaw). His best friend Bobby (Michael Imperioli) fights a losing battle with leukemia, and Jim tries to...
- 4/27/2010
- by Debbie Cerda
- Slackerwood
DVD Playhouse—April 2010
By
Allen Gardner
Ride With The Devil (Criterion) Ang Lee’s revisionist take on the Civil War is awash in moral ambiguity, along with some stunning cinematography, production design, and fine performances. Set during the Kansas-Missouri border war, Tobey Maguire and Skeet Ulrich star as two friends who join up with the Confederate-sympathizing Bushwhackers, finding an odd ally in a former slave (Jeffrey Wright). While it’s fascinating to see America’s bloodiest conflict through the eyes of a foreigner, thereby allowing much of the previously mentioned ambiguity a certain latitude, the film never loses the bad taste it leaves for one simple reason: it asks us, the audience, to side with not just the Confederates, but some of the lowest trash that made up the dregs, and the fringes, of the movement. Big points for audacity, but snake eyes on the story itself. Singer Jewel is impressive in her film debut.
By
Allen Gardner
Ride With The Devil (Criterion) Ang Lee’s revisionist take on the Civil War is awash in moral ambiguity, along with some stunning cinematography, production design, and fine performances. Set during the Kansas-Missouri border war, Tobey Maguire and Skeet Ulrich star as two friends who join up with the Confederate-sympathizing Bushwhackers, finding an odd ally in a former slave (Jeffrey Wright). While it’s fascinating to see America’s bloodiest conflict through the eyes of a foreigner, thereby allowing much of the previously mentioned ambiguity a certain latitude, the film never loses the bad taste it leaves for one simple reason: it asks us, the audience, to side with not just the Confederates, but some of the lowest trash that made up the dregs, and the fringes, of the movement. Big points for audacity, but snake eyes on the story itself. Singer Jewel is impressive in her film debut.
- 4/16/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
By Christopher Stipp
The Archives, Right Here
Check out my new column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp
The Basketball Diaries - Blu-ray Review
I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t believe it but this is without question the best film Leonardo DiCaprio has ever done.
A story about the young life of Jim Carroll, the film is an abrasive, dark, evocative portrait that showcases DiCaprio as an actor that seamlessly blends into the background of a story that is nothing short of compelling. Now in Blu-ray this is a wonderful chance to revisit a movie that helped Leo be known as an actor to contend with but, I think, the real joy in re-watching this movie is its dealing with drug culture that wasn’t proselytizing in nature but exposed it for what it was.
There was...
The Archives, Right Here
Check out my new column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp
The Basketball Diaries - Blu-ray Review
I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t believe it but this is without question the best film Leonardo DiCaprio has ever done.
A story about the young life of Jim Carroll, the film is an abrasive, dark, evocative portrait that showcases DiCaprio as an actor that seamlessly blends into the background of a story that is nothing short of compelling. Now in Blu-ray this is a wonderful chance to revisit a movie that helped Leo be known as an actor to contend with but, I think, the real joy in re-watching this movie is its dealing with drug culture that wasn’t proselytizing in nature but exposed it for what it was.
There was...
- 4/16/2010
- by Christopher Stipp
Leonardo DiCaprio, an actor no stranger to biopics (having portrayed author Jim Carroll in The Basketball diaries, billionaire Howard Hughes in The Aviator and con man Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me if You Can) is said to be in early talks to play the role of J Edgar Hoover in a new film directed by Clint Eastwood.
The film has also attracted the writing talents of Dustin Lance Black , who penned the Milk screenplay. This trio would make a powerful cinematic force if all the elements come to fruition.
J. Edgar Hoover was the controversial political figure who started the FBI in the 1930's and continued to reign over it until his death in 1972. Everything from his personal life to his tactics has been debated, and he continues to be an infamous character in American politics.
Unlike most other biopics, DiCaprio would not have to be made to age in the film,...
The film has also attracted the writing talents of Dustin Lance Black , who penned the Milk screenplay. This trio would make a powerful cinematic force if all the elements come to fruition.
J. Edgar Hoover was the controversial political figure who started the FBI in the 1930's and continued to reign over it until his death in 1972. Everything from his personal life to his tactics has been debated, and he continues to be an infamous character in American politics.
Unlike most other biopics, DiCaprio would not have to be made to age in the film,...
- 4/1/2010
- Screenrush
Actor would star in Clint Eastwood-directed 'Hoover,' penned by Oscar-winning 'Milk' screenwriter Dustin Lance Black.
By Christopher Campbell
Leonardo DiCaprio
Photo: Jim Spellman/ WireImage
Leonardo DiCaprio may portray former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover in a biopic directed by Clint Eastwood, according to Deadline.com.
The actor is reportedly in talks for the lead in the period drama, which was penned by Oscar-winning "Milk" screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and is being overseen by Eastwood's "Changeling" producer Brian Grazer. Titled "Hoover," it would be the first collaboration between DiCaprio and Eastwood, whose current favored actor seemed to be Matt Damon. Eastwood worked with Damon on last year's "Invictus" and the upcoming "Hereafter" but may have chosen Damon's "Departed" co-star as his next leading man.
DiCaprio previously embodied the similarly larger-than-life historical figure Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator." He also portrayed author Jim Carroll in "The Basketball Diaries,...
By Christopher Campbell
Leonardo DiCaprio
Photo: Jim Spellman/ WireImage
Leonardo DiCaprio may portray former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover in a biopic directed by Clint Eastwood, according to Deadline.com.
The actor is reportedly in talks for the lead in the period drama, which was penned by Oscar-winning "Milk" screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and is being overseen by Eastwood's "Changeling" producer Brian Grazer. Titled "Hoover," it would be the first collaboration between DiCaprio and Eastwood, whose current favored actor seemed to be Matt Damon. Eastwood worked with Damon on last year's "Invictus" and the upcoming "Hereafter" but may have chosen Damon's "Departed" co-star as his next leading man.
DiCaprio previously embodied the similarly larger-than-life historical figure Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator." He also portrayed author Jim Carroll in "The Basketball Diaries,...
- 3/31/2010
- MTV Movie News
Punk poet and author of The Basketball Diaries Jim Carroll passed away September 11th at the age of 60. His autobiography, which detailed his transformation from prep school basketball player to an increasingly desperate drug addict, was adapted for the big screen in 1995. Leonardo DiCaprio's raw performance as Carroll bolstered the young actor's rising star; the film also featured Lorraine Bracco as Jim's mom and Mark Wahlberg as one of his teammates and drug buddies.
Carroll also contributed two songs to the soundtrack, "Catholic Boy" and "People Who Died, " which was also used in the soundtracks for E.T. and the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.
The rocker and writer was also featured in the documentary Poetry in Motion, along with other famous modern poets like Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, and Anne Waldman. Check out some clips from the movie here, courtesy of Monika Bartyzel. After the jump...
Carroll also contributed two songs to the soundtrack, "Catholic Boy" and "People Who Died, " which was also used in the soundtracks for E.T. and the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.
The rocker and writer was also featured in the documentary Poetry in Motion, along with other famous modern poets like Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, and Anne Waldman. Check out some clips from the movie here, courtesy of Monika Bartyzel. After the jump...
- 9/14/2009
- by Jenni Miller
- Cinematical
The New York Times' obituary for author/artist Jim Carroll came as sad news to many fans. Hit the link for full obit: via-the-new=York-times The news of Carroll's death reminded us of the interviews we did (back in '95) for the big-screen adaptation of his classic coming-of-age story, The Basketball Diaries. Leonardo DiCaprio was very forthcoming in talking about [...]...
- 9/14/2009
- by Hollywood Outbreak
- HollywoodOutbreak.com
Punk-poet and Basketball Diaries author Jim Carroll has died, aged 60. The writer's ex-wife Rosemary Klemfuss confirmed that he passed away at his home in Manhattan after suffering a heart attack, reports The New York Times. Carroll emerged from the New York art scene of the 1970s alongside Andy Warhol and Patti Smith and achieved acclaim in 1980 for his punk album Catholic Boy. The track 'People Who Died' went on to feature on Steven Spielberg's soundtrack to E.T. His other LPs included Dry Dreams and I Write Your Name. The Basketball Diaries, which (more)...
- 9/14/2009
- by By Alex Fletcher
- Digital Spy
Punk musician and poet Jim Carroll has died following a heart attack. He was 60.
Carroll, best known for his memoirs, The Basketball Diaries, which were adapted into a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio in 1995, passed away at his home in New York on Friday.
He published his biography in 1978, in which he told of his hellraising youth as a basketball player and a severe drug addict in Manhattan.
He went on to become an acclaimed poet and punk star, who worked with the likes of Lou Reed and The Doors.
Carroll, best known for his memoirs, The Basketball Diaries, which were adapted into a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio in 1995, passed away at his home in New York on Friday.
He published his biography in 1978, in which he told of his hellraising youth as a basketball player and a severe drug addict in Manhattan.
He went on to become an acclaimed poet and punk star, who worked with the likes of Lou Reed and The Doors.
- 9/14/2009
- WENN
Punk singer, poet and prolific author Jim Carroll, who penned "The Basketball Diaries," has died. Carroll chronicled his youth spent at a private school into .The Basketball Diaries,. wich was turned into a 1995 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Carroll, age 60, died Friday of a heart attack in Manhattan, according to The New York Times. .The Basketball Diaries. was Carroll.s drug-fuelled recollections of his life as a teenage basketball star at a Manhattan private school during the 1960's. Atlantic records signed Carroll for his music, and he also published numerous poetry collections, including "Void of Course (1998)," .The Book of Nods. (1986) and .Fear of Dreaming. (1993). According to the Jim Carroll website, http://catholicboy.com/ : "I am...
- 9/14/2009
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
Punk-rock poet and musician Jim Carroll, who chronicled his wild teen years in "The Basketball Diaries," has died of a heart attack, his ex-wife told The New York Times.
Rosemary Klemfuss, who was married to Carroll in 1978 before they divorced in the mid-1980s, said he died on Friday at his Manhattan home. He was 60, the newspaper said on Sunday, although other biographical profiles listed his age as 59.
Carroll's most famous work, "The Basketball Diaries," was published in 1978. In it, he wrote of his wild youth as both a basketball star and a drug abuser during his teen years at Manhattan's private Trinity school, was made into a 1995 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Pioneering punk-rock singer Patti Smith told the newspaper "I met him in 1970, and already he was pretty much universally recognized as the best poet of his generation."
"The work was sophisticated and elegant," said Smith, who helped usher...
Rosemary Klemfuss, who was married to Carroll in 1978 before they divorced in the mid-1980s, said he died on Friday at his Manhattan home. He was 60, the newspaper said on Sunday, although other biographical profiles listed his age as 59.
Carroll's most famous work, "The Basketball Diaries," was published in 1978. In it, he wrote of his wild youth as both a basketball star and a drug abuser during his teen years at Manhattan's private Trinity school, was made into a 1995 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Pioneering punk-rock singer Patti Smith told the newspaper "I met him in 1970, and already he was pretty much universally recognized as the best poet of his generation."
"The work was sophisticated and elegant," said Smith, who helped usher...
- 9/13/2009
- by By Chris Michaud, Reuters
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bright flashes greeted him at every turn. His face was the centerpiece of every magazine, and his name was a-tip every tongue in the free world. In 1997, Leonardo DiCaprio made his big break with Titanic, and the world would not forget his name. At twenty-three years old, DiCaprio had already earned one Academy Award nomination for his work with Johnny Depp and Juliette Lewis in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? and had stunned his fair share of audiences with his brilliant portrayal of Jim Carroll in The Basketball Diaries. Some were hard-pressed to forget his name after his newcomer addition to the cast of Growing Pains back in 1991. His work in Romeo + Juliet would capture the hearts of many, and his work with Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, and Russell Crowe in The Quick And The Dead allowed DiCaprio to pass muster with film aficionados the world over. Yet, nothing could...
- 6/9/2009
- by Twilight Examiner
- t5m.com
I know, I know. I've written about documentaries a lot lately. But I promise -- this is the last one, at least for a little while. There's a film I watched during Hot Docs that I never mentioned, mainly because it was part of a retrospective and is a good twenty-seven years old -- Ron Mann's Poetry in Motion.
The film follows a large collection of North American poets performing their work in the early '80s, including: Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Amiri Baraka, John Cage, Michael Ondaatje, Anne Waldman, Jim Carroll, The Four Horsemen, and Tom Waits. The performances range from poetry set to music and given a rhythm, to sound poetry, to classic recitation. On their own, the pieces are an intensely interesting look at how performance can change poetry, as well as what the creative world was like almost 30 years ago. But they're also brought...
The film follows a large collection of North American poets performing their work in the early '80s, including: Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Amiri Baraka, John Cage, Michael Ondaatje, Anne Waldman, Jim Carroll, The Four Horsemen, and Tom Waits. The performances range from poetry set to music and given a rhythm, to sound poetry, to classic recitation. On their own, the pieces are an intensely interesting look at how performance can change poetry, as well as what the creative world was like almost 30 years ago. But they're also brought...
- 5/17/2009
- by Monika Bartyzel
- Cinematical
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