"The Village Voice"
12/27/00
'I'm on Leonardo DiCaprio's side...'

Cara Seymour has become the year's flashpoint actress, with small but pivotal roles in two controversy-courting films She's in Rome at the moment, shooting Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (as is her Good Baby costar, Henry Thomas), tricked out in pointed teeth as legendary gangfighter Hellcat Maggie. "I'm on LEONARDO DICAPRIO's side" she clarifies.

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Associated Newspapers LTD (London)
12/27/00
'peaktime on a cold January night'

The whole Christmas season is always a bad time for us. There's very little demand for airtime because of competition with the BBC and because people go away for holidays. For some reason BBC always try to win the ratings at Christmas. 'They're showing Titanic. We wouldn't be putting Titanic out at Christmas Day when you get six to seven million people. We'd put it out at peaktime on a cold January night and get 11 to 12 million.' Here RTL feels able to put out its premier film, Titanic, on Christmas Day and is able to ask a record breaking Dm302,000 (£101,000) for a 30-second slot during breaks in the adventures of LEONARDO DICAPRIO on the doomed ship.

Link to story
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Chicago Sun-Times
12/26/00
G.O.N.Y. 'a tale of revenge'

...don't believe rumors that Daniel Day-Lewis has a mere walk-on role in Martin Scorsese's much awaited "Gangs of New York," starring LEONARDO DICAPRIO. He's the leader of the most powerful gang in New York," actor Henry Thomas told me. Thomas plays a young Irish street thug who is DiCaprio's best friend.

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BBC News
12/26/00
Hollywood's year of nostalgia

A look back at 2000 "Hollywood's year of nostalgia"

Excerpt from the BBC News:

Controversy... dogged a number of films.

Heart-throb LEONARDO DICAPRIO's 'The Beach' caused a row in Thailand over the alleged environmental damage to Maya beach, on Phi Phi Le island, during production.

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The Washington Post
12/22/00
Hollywood's Strike Force

The [movie] industry has gone into high gear, because everyone assumes there will be trouble when contracts for the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild expire in May and June, respectively. But all that is manageable compared with the quagmire of "Catch Me if You Can," in which LEONARDO DICAPRIO was signed up to star as an underage felon and con artist. Emphasis on "was."

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Associated Newspapers LTD (London)
12/21/00
DICAPRIO has them swooning

The Glasgow girls already know what they really, really want for Christmas. The girls in question are about 13, maybe 14. LEONARDO DICAPRIO has them swooning; Kate Winslet induces silence.

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters)
12/21/00
'Gilbert Grape' director Lasse Hallstrom

It is Oscar season again and, for the second year in a row, HE is back in Tinseltown and back in contention. No, not Tom Hanks, a near-perennial nominee among actors, but Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom. His credits also include 1993's critically acclaimed ''What's Eating Gilbert Grape,'' which earned an Oscar nomination for LEONARDO DICAPRIO portraying an autistic teenager.

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Associated Newspapers Ltd. (London)
12/20/00
How to win the party war

The traditional office party is also getting a makeover. The company [BSkyB] employed events organizer Sara Blonstein. Earlier this year she staged the premiere parties for THE BEACH and X-men. THE BEACH party is rumored to have cost £500,000 and involved converting a derelict Covent Garden library into five differently themed floors, including a jungle. "LEONARDO DICAPRIO danced until dawn so I must have done something right," she says.

Full story

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Variety
12/20/00
Oscar wars brace for the Miramax factor

The onset of Oscar season this year seems even more crazy-making than usual.

In 2001, the company [Miramax] will release its share of mega-pics, led by "Gangs of New York" starring LEONARDO DICAPRIO and directed by Martin Scorsese. Again, rumors swirl around this high-profile film, but Harvey says its budget is still lurking under $90 million and is delighted with the footage.

Link to story

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Philly.com
12/19/00
MAD Magazine Top 20

The dumbest people, events and other things of 2000, according to Mad magazine:

#9 LEONARDO DICAPRIO interviewing President Clinton

The "Top 20" List

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Seattle PI
12/19/00
DICAPRIO among the big names

Seattle's AtomFilms, a distributor of Internet short films, was acquired by Shockwave.com in a stock swap. In less than two years, and far from Hollywood, Atomfilms.com became a Tinseltown player. The company has become a darling of independent filmmakers and bigwigs alike. Some AtomFilms facts: "Star Wars'' mastermind George Lucas, "Being John Malkovich'' director Spike Jonze, "Titanic'' heartthrob LEONARDO DICAPRIO are among the big names that have signed production and advisory deals with AtomFilms.

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USA Today:
12/14/00
Laurin's way

Laurin Sydney has hobnobbed with celebs for a decade as CNN Showbiz Today co-anchor, so who better to tell us how to party like stars? She doesn't need excuses for dropping names in her new book on entertaining and gift-giving, Why Bother? Why Not! (Cliff Street Books, $30). Barbra Streisand used Mary Micucci's Along Came Mary firm to plan her wedding, and Mary has tips for Laurin. Kelsey Grammer got special chocolates for his birthday, and Laurin tells how you can get some. Leonardo DiCaprio gave The Beach cast and crew gifts wrapped in shells — an idea for you? Laurin says: "I wrote this because I truly believe that (the stars') wonderful, magical lifestyle is not about their money, it's not about their power — I'd love to have that, don't get me wrong! But it's about the way people treat them, those little touches that are done for you constantly. For instance, if Brad Pitt was coming over to my house for dinner, I wouldn't leave the laundry as a centerpiece! "It's all about treating everyone in your life like a star."
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Guardian/Observer:
12/14/00
"Plum" role returns to haunt DiCaprio

An abrasive, low-budget film starring a young Leonardo DiCaprio will take centre stage at next year's Berlin Film Festival, despite the actor's attempts to have it buried. Shot in 1994 by first time directors RD Robb and John Schindler, Don's Plum is an improvisational, ensemble drama in the style of Diner, about a collection of angst-ridden twentysomethings who congregate around an LA café. The film, which also stars Kevin Connolly and DiCaprio's close friend Tobey Maguire, was stitched together for a humble $100,000 (£68,590) in the days before the actors were famous. Concerned that the film might damage their reputations, DiCaprio and Maguire, soon to star in the movie version of Spider-Man, filed suit against the makers last year, claiming that they regarded Don's Plum as the equivalent of an acting workshop and had never intended to make a full-length feature film for theatrical release. In a settlement, it was ruled that the film could never be sold or exhibited in either the US or Canada. Unhappily for DiCaprio, the judge said nothing about Germany. The Don's Plum saga echoes the case of Total Eclipse - a low-budget art house drama which starred DiCaprio in the role of the poet Rimbaud and boasted a full-frontal nude scene. A flop on its release in 1996, the picture became a big seller on video following the success of Titanic. With the uncovering of Don's Plum, another early DiCaprio role has come back to haunt him. The film screens in the Panorama section of the 2001 Berlin Film Festival, which runs from February 7-18.
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Arkansas Democrat Gazette:
12/14/00
Imus is dead?

The new morning crew that replaced syndicated talk-show host Don Imus on KABZ-FM, 103.7, got lots of attention for its first show Monday, but not necessarily the best kind. "They hacked off a built-in listening audience," says one former listener who did not appreciate the new hosts declaring that Imus was dead. The situation is reminiscent of one a few years back when another personality at the station declared that Leonardo DiCaprio was dead as part of an April Fools' joke. "Well, the show was dead," General Manager Hal Smith says of the Imus joke. "You know, the passing of the Imus show. I didn't hear the whole thing." But people who did hear it say that's not quite how Bruce Brady and Melissa Lamb, who recently arrived from Chattanooga, Tenn., played the joke. They started by saying that producers of Imus' TV show on MSNBC called his house when he was late and learned he had died. "Then they started going into some really bad-taste stuff," says one listener. Such as Imus had died of an overdose of drugs. "I just thought it was very poor taste," says the listener, who knew Imus wasn't dead because he could see him on MSNBC. The listener says it didn't seem like Brady and Lamb started indicating they were joking until calls of complaint started coming. Imus' office in New York apparently was deluged with calls from Arkansas. "No kidding?" Smith says. "That I had not heard." But he did hear from listeners. He won't say how many contacted the station. "I don't know," Smith says. "We didn't count them."
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Variety:
12/14/00
DiCaprio's "Plum" plucked for Berlin

A controversial Leonardo DiCaprio film called "Don's Plum," which he starred in four years ago before "Titanic" made him a superstar, has landed a prime spot at the Berlin Film Festival (Feb. 7-18). The film, made for $100,000 by first-time director R.D. Robb, also stars Tobey Maguire, Heather McComb, Meadow Sisto, Jenny Lewis, Kevin Connolly, Scott Bloom and Amber Benson. "Plum," a raw and improvisational picture centering on a group of twentysomethings hanging out at an L.A. diner, will screen in the Berlin festival's Panorama section. DiCaprio and Maguire took the filmmakers to court last year, claiming that they never agreed to make a full-length feature intended for theatrical release. Under a settlement, the filmmakers agreed not to sell or release the picture in the United States or Canada.
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AlterNet.org:
12/13/00
A Full-Size Reproduction of the Titanic

If you don't have room for this in your backyard--and you should be damned embarrassed if you don't--you may still be able to surprise a loved one with this thoughtful gift. At least you will if the group which has proposed building an exact reproduction of the Titanic as a floating 568-room hotel on San Francisco's waterfront gets their way. And why not? Who wouldn't sleep well knowing they're on a duplicate of a ship which sunk, taking over 1,500 people with it and--wouldn't you know it?-- Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet weren't among them? If this is successful it will be joined by a Hindenburg balloon ride, a Chernobyl glow-in-the-dark funhouse, and the Hurricane Hugo Tilt-a-Whirl. So if the Titanic itself is too rich for your blood, just wait. DisasterLand USA will be open soon!
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Telegraph:
12/12/00
£32m street fight writ for DiCaprio

LEONARDO DiCAPRIO is being sued for £32 million because of his alleged role in a New York street fight over the actress Elizabeth Berkley. Her boyfriend, Roger Wilson, 41, claims that his career as a singer ended when he was hit in the throat during a brawl with friends of the Titanic star who were known as his "posse". He accused the actor of inciting his associates to attack him, telling them: "We'll go kick his ass." DiCaprio, 26, has been trying to have the case dismissed since March last year. A judge rejected a claim that he took part in the alleged attack. However, an appeal court has ruled that he must face a charge of aiding and abetting an assault. Court papers allege that an argument developed over Miss Berkley, 26, star of Showgirls, The First Wives Club and Any Given Sunday. DiCaprio, using intermediaries, was said to have extended several telephone invitations, asking her to join him and his friends for dinner. The lawsuit stated that Berkley refused, insisting that she was already involved with someone. Wilson confronted DiCaprio at a Madison Avenue restaurant, the Asia de Cuba, and an argument moved on to the street. He claimed that the actor "turned to his posse" and ordered them to attack him. His assailant, whom he was unable to identify, "lunged from behind and struck him with a blind side blow to his throat". Wilson alleged that his larynx was "instantly and severely" damaged as well as other internal organs. Paul Callan, DiCaprio's lawyer, rejected the allegations as "absolutely false." His client "fully expects to be vindicated" when the case goes to court soon after Christmas.
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E! Online:
12/12/00
Leo Smackdown Case Going to Trial

Attention New Yorkers, coming soon to a courtroom near you: Leonardo DiCaprio. A late night street fight involving the reigning king of the world has quickly mushroomed into a courtroom battle of titanic proportions, as a Manhattan appeals court has ruled a $45 million lawsuit brought against him can officially go to trial. And that means fans can see Leo for free during the court proceedings, which will likely go down next year. Roger Wilson, a 41-year-old screenwriter and B-movie star of Porky's, filed a lawsuit against DiCaprio for allegedly inciting his entourage to attack Wilson in a scuffle over Showgirls actress Elizabeth Berkley. According to the lawsuit, Wilson claims DiCaprio encouraged his posse to beat down Wilson outside the Asia de Cuba restaurant on March 4, 1998. The attack allegedly occured after Wilson confronted DiCaprio and pal Jay Ferguson over phone calls to Berkely, Wilson's live-in girlfriend since '96. Because he supposedly urged on the rumble, the appeals court said Leo's actions raised enough uncertainty to warrant a trial. It upheld a lower court's decision dismissing an assault charge against the actor, but agreed with Wilson's allegation that Dicaprio was "aiding and abetting an assault and battery." Also named in the suit is Ferguson and three other friends of Leo--two of them actors and the third a publicist. "We are grateful that the appeals court has sustained the dismissal of the majority of the claims against Mr. DiCaprio," the actor's lawyer, Paul F. Callan, says in a statement. "The remaining claim of aiding and abetting an assault is utterly false. We look forward to presenting a vigorous defense and to a dismissal of all the remaining claims at trial. The end result will prove that the allegations against Mr. DiCaprio are fabricated and without any merit." The actor will have plenty of time to prep for that first possible court appearance. DiCaprio says he plans on taking a vacation after wrapping 16-hour workdays in Rome shooting Martin Scorsese's 19th century gangster saga, Gangs of New York.
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Mr. Showbiz:
12/10/00
Court Allows $45M Lawsuit Against Leo

An old lawsuit is resurfacing against Leonardo DiCaprio, and it's a biggie. A Manhattan, NY, appeals court refused to throw out a $45 million lawsuit against the Titanic star for an alleged 1998 attack against the then-boyfriend of Showgirls actress Elizabeth Berkley. DiCaprio, 26, and several others were sued by Roger Wilson, 41, who says the Oscar-nominated actor incited his friends to attack Wilson on March 4, 1998. At the time, Leo was quoted by one source as yelling "Let's go kick his ass!" Wilson, a screenwriter and actor, asserts he was roughed up outside New York's Asia de Cuba restaurant by DiCaprio and his posse. Seems that the superstar was putting the moves on Berkley, and Wilson was none too happy about it. According to the New York Daily News, Wilson claims that his singing career was ended when an unidentified pal of the actor hit him in the throat. Last year, a Manhattan judge dismissed a claim that DiCaprio took part in the assault, but refused to throw out a claim that the actor helped instigate the attack. Thursday's ruling upheld the earlier decision, and sustained a charge of "aiding and abetting an assault and battery," according to The Associated Press. The appeals court wrote that there are enough questions surrounding the incident for a trial. Wilson's lawyer, Richard Zuckerman, told the Daily News that he expects depositions in the case to start soon after the holidays. DiCaprio's lawyer, Paul Callan, is quoted as praising the panel for dismissing the assault charge, and adding "the remaining claim of aiding and abetting an assault is utterly false." He says he plans a "vigorous defense" for his client.
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Guardian/Observer:
12/10/00
Court decision brings good and bad news

A New York court has given the go-ahead for a $45m (£31.1m) lawsuit to be filed against Leonardo DiCaprio by screenwriter and actor, Roger Wilson, regarding an alleged fight that took place over the actress Elizabeth Berkley. Wilson claims that the 26-year-old actor, currently linked to supermodel Gisele, encouraged several of his friends to make advances to Showgirls actress Berkley on his behalf and when Wilson confronted them, he was beaten up outside a restaurant in Manhattan in March 1998. The court dismissed the allegation of assault against DiCaprio, but sustained a charge of "aiding and abetting an assault and battery." According to the prosecution, DiCaprio incited his friends to attack Wilson. At the time, one source quoted the Titanic star as shouting, "Let's go kick his ass." The New York Daily News reports that Wilson claims his singing career was brought to an end by a blow to his throat from one of DiCaprio's pals. Wilson's lawyer, Richard Zuckerman, told the paper he expects depositions in the case to start soon after the Christmas holidays. DiCaprio's lawyer, Paul Callen, praised the court for dismissing the allegation of assault. Callen added that, "The remaining claim of aiding and abetting an assault is utterly false" before announcing that he planned a "vigorous defence" for his client.
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IMDB:
12/10/00
Beauties Line Up/ Replace Cindy Crawford

The race is on to replace curvy Cindy Crawford as the face of Revlon cosmetics. Crawford, 34, will take a smaller role within the corporate giant's adevrtising strategy. Meanwhile, bosses are looking for a new "face" and have, reportedly, shortlisted five women. They are:

Model Gisele Bundchen, a 20-year-old Brazilian bombshell whose dark brown hair and deep blue eyes have landed her on the covers of Vogue, Allure and Harper's Bazaar, while her relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio has landed her on the covers of various tabloids.
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Yahoo News:
12/9/00
NY Court OK's Suit Vs DiCaprio

A Manhattan appeals court has given the go-ahead to a $45 million lawsuit against "Titanic" actor Leonardo DiCaprio for his alleged role in a street fight over actress Elizabeth Berkley. DiCaprio, 26, and several others were sued by Roger Wilson, 41, who says the film star encouraged friends to attack Wilson on March 4, 1998. Wilson, a screenwriter and actor, says he was beat up outside the Asia de Cuba restaurant when he confronted DiCaprio's friends about advances made toward Berkley, his girlfriend, on DiCaprio's behalf. The ruling upheld a lower court decision that dismissed an assault allegation against DiCaprio but sustained a charge of "aiding and abetting an assault and battery." The appeals court wrote that DiCaprio's shouted incitement, and the immediate reaction of the others to follow and allegedly assault Wilson raised enough questions for a trial.
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Orange County Weekly
12/7/00
Damn Those Yetis Thanks to Leo DiCaprio, we’ve got the bent classicism of Stanoslav Szukalski

It seems that in addition to having a firm grasp on environmental issues, Leonardo DiCaprio knows a thing or two about art. Stop laughing! I’m serious! The skinny Boy Wonder turned in an impressive interview with President Bill Clinton in regards to Earth Day. We didn’t hear it because ABC killed the interview when broadcast journalists—broadcast fucking journalists!—were deemed more suitable to the task of asking tough questions. But a transcript of the kiboshed interview showed an articulate and detail-oriented DiCaprio asking follow-ups, even! And now? The Li’l Millionaire has provided the major support for an exhibit at Laguna Art Museum that has turned out to be one of the most whacked, bizarre and ultimately mind-expanding shows I’ve seen in Southern California. Do you think Leo made it to the opening? I wish I’d been there! Eeeeeeeeee! So what piqued DiCaprio’s—and therefore, everyone’s—interest? The self-described genius of dead Pole Stanislav Szukalski in "Struggle." The retrospective spans most of his 93 years (he died in 1987) except, of course, for what was destroyed by the Nazis. Goddamn those Nazis! Despite smashing Szukalski’s work in the ’30s, the Nazis didn’t get their hands on 14,000 other drawings. And then, of course, there’s the sculpture. I don’t care much for sculpture generally; what we usually see in Southern California—Minimalism along the lines of Tony DeLap’s bent planks or the "public art" that lines the drives to Laguna’s upscale housing gulags—leaves me colder than Laura Bush on a hot Austin night. I’m not saying such work is bad, just pointless and ugly. It’s all a matter of one’s personal preferences. But at the Laguna Art Museum, Szukalski’s large bronze busts—of subjects like An Irishman, Judas and My Blacksmith Father—are as powerful and overbearing as a faith healing. Some of his sculptures are classical yet bent, such as his diorama hollowed out like a Fabergé egg and holding a Pieta (Mary holding her dead son, Jesus, after he’s taken from the cross). According to Szukalski, the recessed scene represents a mannish Mother France baring her breast for a nation (dead Jesus, hands contorted into death claws) decimated by Nazis but preparing to rise again. Judas, the traitor, is the son of a Yeti, who are a large part of Szukalski’s outlandish cosmology—a cosmology that spans 39 volumes he wrote to depict our rise from the last Great Deluge, when we lived on Atlantis, which can be traced back to Easter Island. Goddamn those Yetis! I can’t even begin to summarize Szukalski’s potent Weltanschauung—what he called Zermattism—but it has something to do with Poland being the center of the universe and Polish being the tongue on which all other modern languages are based (Easter Island again—and mermaids). When his views crashed into established scientific theory—linguists who base modern language on the Indo-European tree, for instance—he just disregarded it. That’s balls. But his mythology, though heavily represented here, is beside the fact. In the end, it isn’t the lovely illustrations of Krak and the Salt Giants that stay with you: it’s war’s horrors seen firsthand and distilled through every bit of Szukalski’s weird world-view. Szukalski’s works are an entrancing blend of classicism and the best of the 20th century. Some crayon portraits, such as A Centaur, look like statues transposed to two dimensions, the planes of the face of the helmeted man layered geometrically like a Braque made round and human. He is robust—or doughy, depending on your point of view—with a Tom Selleck mustache and features hammered from bronze. Complementing these are busts, some organic and some that seem modeled as 3-D versions of the drawings. They are statues of drawings of statues. They are not human, but futuristic masks. Pages from Szukalski’s scrapbook end the exhibit. They are filled with magazine cutouts in themes. Many are bikini ladies, some are bugs, and some are food. But despite his focus on the chicks, there is an almost complete dearth of women in the exhibit. There are two portraits—each lovely in the manner of a 1930s film-studio glamour shot—and Erotic Landscape, a colorful painting that has marbled thighs rising like mountain ridges beneath an Arizona sky and green shrubbery flowing like a river over the faceless woman’s house-sized yoni. The rest are men. They are everywhere, muscled and strong, like Echo, whose thighs could crack walnuts and whose fingers are pointy like the scales on a Chinese dragon. Sometimes they are headless—also like Echo—but not in the manner of a classical statue that’s been decapitated by marauding armies. Instead, their heads implode into their necks, leaving only unmarred shoulder blades that could hold up the world. Did I mention that Szukalski was freaky? The statue for which the exhibit was named is a gnarled hand—all Szukalski’s hands are gnarled—its fingers transformed into cawing-vulture maws. The thumb is both scavenger bird and a gun pointed back at the hand. It is a scene of such violent, morbid death, so pregnant with unrealized terror—it’s easy to forget just how terrifying things were in the middle of this century. For all Szukalski’s Electric Kool-Aid nutjobbery, what finally comes through is the stink of whole nations falling in love with totalitarianism, marching in lock step to Kurt Vonnegut’s military-prison cell and George Orwell’s barnyard. Death is far from us today, in Chechnya’s steppes and Rwanda’s killing fields. It might as well be on Mars. But half a century ago, it was right upon us. It’s a lesson to remember as we head fearless into the brave new world.

"STRUGGLE: THE ART OF SZUKALSKI" AT LAGUNA ART MUSEUM, 307 CLIFF DR., LAGUNA BEACH, (949) 494-8971. OPEN THURS.-TUES., 11 A.M.-5 P.M. $5; STUDENTS/SENIORS, $4; MEMBERS/CHILDREN UNDER 12, FREE. ADMISSION FREE EVERY TUESDAY! THROUGH JAN. 7, 2001.
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DiCaprio69
12/7/00
These are a few of my favorite things...

Its been a very slow DiCaprio news week so take the time explore these DiCaprio sites

OMNI Leonardo

Fantasy Isle

Carpe Diem

Best Leo Site Ever?

and for other sites and links don't forget

DiCaprio69

NY Post:
12/7/00
Leo's gal pal

Gisele Bundchen will wear a bejeweled bra worth $15 million when she cuts the ribbon for the new Victoria's Secret on Broadway at 67th Street
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Alternet.org:
12/6/00
Winners and Losers of Florida Recount

Although you can't blame Al Gore for not conceding. This isn't a contest for junior high school hall monitor, this is for President of the United States of America. Leader of the Free World. We're talking King of the Planet here. Power. Domination. Babes. Think Leonardo DiCaprio with a nuclear football. Besides, it doesn't really matter who wins, they won't be able to govern. No mandate to speak of. Deadlocked Senate. "I don't have to listen to you. You're not the REAL President. You are not the boss of me." Less effectual than a compass in an elctro magnetic power plant.

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Telegraph:
12/5/00
Will America take to the Italian wasp?

In a country where fuel is cheap, it is hard to persuade people to ride scooters for practical reasons. So Piaggio plans to cash in on style as it returns to the US market, finds Andrew English TUSCAN scooter manufacturer Piaggio celebrated the fifth anniversary of its inception by exporting its Vespa to the US. Two years later, in 1953, it received the best possible shot in the arm when Gregory Peck rode a Vespa round the Colosseum, with love-struck Audrey Hepburn on the pillion, in the romantic comedy Roman Holiday...

...There is also a range of Vespa-branded clothing, leather bags and doodahs such as key-rings for franchisees to sell alongside the machines. Scooter-owning celebrities are a crucial element in America: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jerry Seinfeld and Steven Spielberg have Vespas, although it's difficult to see how Sting finds time to ride his, in between advertising Jaguars and having all that Tantric sex. The shops will offer restoration facilities for old Vespas, as well as hire facilities in resort areas such as Florida and Hawaii - "That's a place you really could earn millions with a Vespa franchise," said one potential dealer.

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Bergen.com:
12/5/00
O'Donnell scales heights for hero role

There's not much about Chris O'Donnell that suggests he'd be the kind of heroic, save-the-day figure he becomes in "Vertical Limit."...

...For O'Donnell, celebrity is still a novelty. "I have never in my life evoked the hysteria thing that Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Cruise do," he says. "The only hysteria I've witnessed is being at a mall with a bunch of little kids that have seen 'Batman.' And they don't pose much of a threat. "When I got married, for instance, all the attention was novel for us. My friends were like, 'Wow, we get our photos in the paper!' "The best thing about being famous is getting a nice table at a restaurant." O'Donnell was a student at the Chicago prep school Loyola Academy when he spotted an auditions announcement for a movie and decided to give it a shot. The film was "Men Don't Leave," and he snared the role of Jessica Lange's son.

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MSNBC ~ Jeannette Walls:
12/4/00
Notes from all over

When Bond girl Sophie Marceau heard that Leonardo DiCaprio was interested in co-starring with her, she coolly responded, “‘What is he, 13 or 11? Perhaps I could play his nanny,” according to the Birmingham Post
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USA Today:
12/4/00
Actors get big bucks to beat strike

Strike-spooked studios are scrambling to put as many movies into production as possible, but they are finding that the talent cupboard is almost bare. Although a strike by the Screen Actors Guild wouldn't happen for more than six months, most A-list stars are booked. Tom Cruise, for example, is doing Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky and Steven Spielberg's Minority Report. Ocean's Eleven, the remake of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack heist film, has locked in Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon. All are expected to have additional projects and remain busy until the June 30 strike deadline. With so many box office draws spoken for, stars who can fit another film into their schedules are being heavily wooed. Salary quotes are higher, says United Talent Agency partner Tracey Jacobs. ''It is the best time to extract a price that ordinarily'' isn't offered. Her client Johnny Depp has been in demand since The Man Who Shot Don Quixote was put on hold after co-star Jean Rochefort fell ill in October. ''He's gotten a lot of offers,'' Jacobs says. ''He hasn't chosen one yet.'' The biggest prize among the unsigned is Mel Gibson, who is weighing his options. Others who have openings: Mark Wahlberg, who is expected to slip in a movie after the now-shooting Planet of the Apes; Samuel L. Jackson, who next stars opposite Ben Affleck in the drama Changing Lanes but is considering doing a film after that; and Leonardo DiCaprio, who is filming Martin Scorsese's mob epic The Gangs of New York and might be able to fit in another film before a strike. Studios are pushing to get movies moving because most believe that April 1 is the latest a film could start and finish before the deadline. That means some second-tier material is getting the go-ahead. ''It's a great time to be available if you can find a good script,'' Jacobs says. ''The problem is, a lot of people are rushing movies into production that probably wouldn't have been done without this strike looming.''
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Official DiCaprio Web Site:
12/1/00
Form and Fame of a 'Forgotten Genius'

Described by those who knew him as a forgotten genius with an eccentric personality, Stanislav Szukalski was his own biggest obstacle to artistic acclaim. A Polish nationalist and staunch rebel, Szukalski protested Germany's invasion of his homeland, fought art critics, curators and gallery owners and refused to join art movements that would have furthered his reputation but categorized his work. For most of his life, he did not live as a career artist. Reluctant to sell his paintings and sculptures, he survived by drawing maps for a Southern California aerospace firm. It's no wonder that his first retrospective, "Struggle: The Art of Szukalski," will be presented posthumously, opening Sunday (November 12, 2000) at the Laguna Art Museum. "Here is this artist who barked off everything he thought, and that offended a lot of people," said Glen Bray. He and his wife, Lena Zwaive, own the artist's estate, and Bray is executor of Archives Szukalski, based in Los Angeles. "He was his own worst enemy. It took me a while to realize that he would not be famous in his lifetime because of his brashness." Szukalski began his formal training at the Krakow Art Academy at the age of 14. Since the 1940s he lived in Burbank, where he died 13 years ago at 93. He was virtually unrecognized in the United States, even though he was highly regarded in Poland during his early career. After he came to live permanently in the United States, he barely made enough money to pay rent, much less to rent a studio. Still, he created a large body of work. The retrospective contains 52 bronzes, including life-size pieces, statuettes and commemorative medallions, and 157 works on paper, including Conte crayon drawings and scrapbook pages and sketchbooks filled with studies and illustrations. Black-and-white photographs - the only existing images of works destroyed in the Second World War - and 26 handmade sculpting tools will also be displayed. Those who admire his works say Szukalski fused the movement and energy of Futurism, the emotion of Impressionism and the geometric configurations of Cubism into a single, poetic form. His art reflects his studies in anthropology and mythology. He tried to draw connections between different cultures, particularly the Greeks, the Meso-Americans and his Polish heritage. "Szukalski created these sculptures where the figures were crosses between animals and people, and he put these different cultural references into his artwork for this unifying theory of a better world," said Tyler Stallings, curator of exhibitions at the Laguna Art Museum. "His works have a sense of illustration. They're like storybook drawings that allow people to understand the narrative of his pieces." A collector by nature, Bray stumbled upon Szukalski's works in art books on the dusty shelves of a used bookstore. Little did he know that he and Szukalski lived in the same neighborhood. "Who would have thought that a famed Polish artist was living in your backyard?" Bray said. The two became close friends. Because Szukalski never had enough money to have his work cast in bronze - he made plaster molds only - Bray took on the task of having them properly cast. During the '20s and '30s, his bronzes won him recognition from the Polish government, which honored him in 1936 with commissions for large works. Most of these were destroyed by the Nazis. He fled Poland in 1939. His continual acts of rebellion only contributed to his obscurity, a situation his friends hope to remedy. One well-placed friend is George DiCaprio, an alternative comics artist who named his son after Leonardo da Vinci. The show is sponsored by the son, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, and his father, who befriended Szukalski through Bray. Through these admirers, Szukalski's reputation continues to grow. "It's amazing that an artist of this caliber and talent could go unrecognized," Stallings said. "I'd never heard of this artist, yet I'm blown away by the work…. It feels like discovering a secret treasure." Szukalski's art can be seen at the Laguna Art Museum in Laguna Beach, CA, through January 7, 2001. You may call the Museum for further information at 949/494-6531

***From the Los Angeles Times, November 11, 2000 This article is presented as it was written by Vivian Letran with two exceptions. The first being there is no photograph and second, some alteration has been made to the text due to our timing in presenting this piece.
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Washington Post:
12/1/00
The Ship That Sank Twice

In one of the biggest upsets in voting history, Tim Russert has beaten Leonardo DiCaprio. According to Nielsen Media Research's final November sweeps numbers--numbers that were mysteriously delayed again late yesterday--NBC's Tim Russert and his little white eraser board bagged nearly 19 million viewers on election night and ranked 12th among all November sweeps shows. The network's supremely overhyped broadcast television premiere of DiCaprio's big-break vehicle "Titanic" last Sunday logged just 17 million viewers and ranked 60th among the month's sweeps programs. Bet those NBC folks will think twice before deciding again not to cover major political developments live so that their precious movie airs uninterrupted. And Russert pulled this off even though at least seven other channels were offering virtually identical shows at the exact same time! Okay, they didn't have the eraser board and a game Tom Brokaw playing straight man, but you get the point. DiCaprio, on the other hand, did not have to compete against a slew of similarly sappy big-budget chick flicks.

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