NY Post:
1/30/01
DANA: HIDDEN ASSETS?

FORMER money manager Dana Giacchetto is due to meet in Brooklyn federal prison today with bankruptcy receivers trying to locate the $20 million he fleeced from his celebrity clients. But foxnews.com's Roger Friedman reports Giacchetto, due to be sentenced Feb. 7, will not co-operate. And Judge Robert Patterson Jr. will probabl;y not be feeling lenient after reading "Pontifex Vivam," a rambling nine-page handwritten poem in which Giacchetto pleads: "Your Honor, I bare my neck. Please continue to believe in repair. For isn't it true that one soul saved is one less suffered? And to this end, an end to end all means."
###

NY Daily News:
1/30/01
Why 'Lenny' Got the Boot

Would "Titanic" have been as a big a hit if it had starred Lenny Williams? That's the name that an agent once told Leonardo DiCaprio to adopt if he wanted to make it in show biz. But the screen hunk told an adoring audience in Rome on Saturday he'd never "insult" his heritage. Picking up his Rudolph Valentino film award, DiCaprio threatened to bite the hand that fed him by declaring how proud he was to have German ancestors and the middle name of Wilhelm. But, that said, he went back to his roots. "Living in Rome for the past five months," said the goateed actor, who has been there shooting "Gangs of New York," "I have been struck by the passion of the people, the beauty of the art and culture. ... What impressed me most of all is the overwhelming pride that we Italians take in who we are." Just as Italian art has "endured for hundreds and hundreds of years," he added, "there is one film maker whose work will positively last through the ages." Namely, "Gangs" director and fellow Valentino-winner Martin Scorsese. "Grazie," said DiCaprio. The crowd roared. It didn't hurt that he was wearing an Armani tux.
###

BERLIN (Variety):
1/30/01
51st Berlin Intl. Film Festival

The full list of jury members for the Panorama sidebar competition at the 51st Berlin Intl. Film Festival was announced Sunday. Joining former Fox Film Entertainment honcho Bill Mechanic are actress Jacqueline Bisset, Italian horror film maestro Dario Argento, Brazilian helmer Hector Babenco, German director Fatih Akin, French actress Dominique Blanc, critic and author Diego Galan, New York-based Japanese film historian Kyoko Hirano and Chinese director Xie Fei. Films screening in the Panorama section include the French-German pic ``The King Is Dancing,'' Leonardo DiCaprio starrer ``Don's Plum'' and Sundance hit ``Hedwig and the Angry Inch.''
###

People News:
1/29/01
Leo gets camera shy

Actor shuns lens after weight gain Leonardo DiCaprio is developing a phobia of photographers as a result of his expanding waistline. Appearing at the Rudolph Valentino Awards in Rome on Saturday night, the portly star horrified Italian film nobility by appearing in the hall at the Cavalieri Hilton with his presence mere moments before appearing on stage, staying upstairs in his suite throughout the celebrity-packed dinner beforehand. DiCaprio shuffled awkwardly up to podium to be presented with his awards by Italian actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta, having previously made sure that there were no photographers present other than his own trusted one and the correspondent from Italian news agency ANSA. DiCaprio also demanded that the organizers guarantee, in writing, that there would be no secret photographers disguised as waiters at the event. ‘Leo had to put on 18 kilos to play his character in Martin Scorcese’s Gangs of New York,’ whispers a friend of the Titanic actor. ‘He’s always hated photographers but he avoids them like the plague now.’

Detroit News:
1/29/01
Detroit seeks buzz Hollywood-style

Sean "Puffy" Combs made an appearance. So did Leonardo DiCaprio, his supermodel girlfriend, Gisele, and his bodyguard. In many ways it was a typical Hollywood party filled with a handful of stars and lessor known celebrities, along with agents, producers and plenty of booze and scantily clad women. What made the soiree unusual was its host -- General Motors Corp.'s once-dowdy Cadillac division. It was an unusual scene with button-down auto executives mixing with a young West Coast party crowd filled with nightclub bouncers, transvestites and former child stars. The party, an idea GM would have shot down a few years ago, illustrates how important the entertainment industry has become to the business of selling cars and trucks...

...And what would a Hollywood party be without a scuffle between DiCaprio's bodyguard and an over-aggressive tabloid photographer
Full story
###

Excite News:
1/28/01
Leonardo reveals his middle name

DiCaprio, goateed for the filming in Rome of Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York," revealed his hidden "W" Saturday night while picking up one of Italy's Rudolph Valentino film awards. Given his "distinctly Italian name," the 26-year-old film star told audience members, they and everyone else know of his Italian heritage through his father's side. But "what you probably don't know is my middle name: Wilhelm," said DiCaprio, tuxedoed for the occasion. That came from his mother's side, he said, speaking of summers spent with his grandparents in Germany as a child. Italy regards DiCaprio as something of a wandered-off native son because of his surname, and DiCaprio made clear he shared "the overwhelming pride that we Italians take in who we are." But DiCaprio emphasized he was proud of the "Wilhelm" in him as well. So much so, he said, that he resisted agents' recommendation for a more American name at the outset of his career: "Titanic" star "Lenny Williams?" DiCaprio has been in Rome since fall filming Scorsese's project on 19th-century gangs in New York. The film depicts the clash between the city's Anglo-Protestant poor and the United States' first real wave of immigrants, the Catholic Irish. Filming is at Rome's Cinecitta studios. Scorsese, who also picked up one of the Valentino awards, told reporters he put DiCaprio with Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman in the ranks of "really instinctive actors."
###

Il Messagero
1/28/01
Interview with the director, that is turning to Cinecittà Gangs in New York and last night he has received Rodolfo Valentino award

Scorsese: my amarcord of America «I want to tell the moment in which in the 800 the Country was opened to the world»

By LEONARDO JATTARELLI Rome -

Only Rodolfo Valentino has succeeded in the enterprise. Stanato has him, placed under the reflectors and ridato the word has him breaking a silence that lasts from almost one year. Martin Scorsese, myth and teacher of the cinema, that he yesterday has received the prestigious prize entitled to the everlasting Rudy in an evening of frill to the Hilton together with Di Caprio and to Virna Lisi, have decided to tell and to tell clippings of his secret set to Cinecittà, film become by now a kind of metropolitan legend: Gangs in New York. Ninety million dollars, one of the most expensive epics of the history of the cinema with a shiver cast: Leonardo Di Caprio, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day-Lewis.

For the first time we succeed in breaking the barriers of his armored set...

«I need extreme concentration. Of a very difficult film is treated, of a history that asks to be original, fresh, with great surprises. I have him in mind since the '70 and I would not like to disperse nothing».

An epic all American that is historically moved in an Italian space as Cinecittà. Why this choice?

«Cinecittà for me has always had a special taste, it is a magic place of which some have gone out among your most famous films. And Gangs in New York, believe me, she was already born probably in me from when I was child in my Little Italy. Therefore I wanted that the film had a po of Italian blood, even if it is exquisitely a film American».

It will now find difficult to return to work on the road. Have the studioses spoiled her?

«Here I have all New York in a palm of hand, it is true, and it is an unique feeling. It is easier to cross Cinecittà that the Big Apple, there is no doubt. But I needed indeed a faithful reconstruction in the New York of half Eight hundred that it doesn't exist anymore. Search of the details, riproposizione scenografica of documetazioni that I have tracked down in so many parts of the world».

How are you found to work with a young superstar as Di Caprio?

«I am a great admirer of Leonardo since his first films, first still that exploded with the Titanic. It is an instinctive actor that the character of De Niro remembers to me, of Al Pacino. With di Caprio as with Daniel Day - Lewis is established a feeling of great familiarity, very beautiful»

"The gangs in New York" represents a rediscovery of his roots?

«Undoubtedly, because from when I lived to Little Italy I was aware that in that space, many years before, he was installed the first community of Irish immigrants that had populated the city. And the history of the film is developed really in the district in which the first cathedral was raised Catholic St. Patrick. This native community, women and children, will have above all to defend from the attacks of the new immigrants, from the gangs of Irishmen Protestants that the true Americans are defined and don't admit interferences. My film, settles down in short instant, in which, for the first time, America opens doors to the world».

And it arrives really in the moment in which today's America time page with the election of Bush...

«I don't have idea of how the things they will go with the new administration. But it is certain that, cinemaly speaking, by now the independent cinema has become very strong, it has created supereroi, the great fiction of the effects special and certain it won't be stopped. It could be a bench of test».

When will you finish the resumptions of Gangs of New York?"

«Will still want us six, seven weeks. It is a very complicated job».

Does it already have in mind new projects?

«I am keeping on working to the documentary on the Italian cinema. A part is finished, but they is still there a lot of things to add, to see again».

According to Scorsese, is it still time of divismo?

«The superstars have a great power on I screen him/it, damage expression to our feelings. We dream with them and they give them us so many hopes. But, I recommend to me, remembered that behind the taking car someone always exists».

Tanslated by Ann
###

Excite News:
1/27/01
NEW photo's of Leo receiving "Rodolfo Valentino" award in Rome

Leonardo Di Caprio, 26, gestures after receiving the golden statue of the "Rodolfo Valentino" award, assigned during a gala dinner in Rome's Hilton Hotel, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2001. The 27th edition of the award, named after the late Italian movie star Rudolfo Valentino, was given to Leonardo di Caprio, for the category of best actor, American Martin Scorsese, as best film director and Italian Virna Lisi, as best actress. Photo by Claudia Gazzini (AP)

Slate:
1/26/01
Mad About You

Whenever the mainstream press swoops down into the cozy haven of Tabloidland, Keeping Tabs can't help but feel a little territorial, like the local reporter who's been dutifully following a story only to be left in the dust when the networks descend. By now, virtually every media outlet known to man—including both the venerable New York Times and the Washington Post—has dutifully reported on this week's National Enquirer exposé about the Rev. Jesse Jackson's "love child." ...

...The Enquirer's Mike Walker seems to have been put on the Hollywood fury beat full-time: This week he reports that Leonardo DiCaprio "went loony" after being asked for an autograph by a movie extra, screaming, "Get out of my way! Don't you know you're not allowed to speak to me?" When the outburst was over, DiCaprio then supposedly "rushed over to the guy in charge of extras and read HIM the riot act."

Article source
###

JAM Showbiz:
1/26/01
Q & A Martin Short

Last week in Los Angeles, TV critics had a chance to meet Jiminy Glick, a chubby and chummy Hollywood insider. Glick, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Martin Short, gets his own talk show next fall.

THE SUN: If you were interviewing Kathie Lee Gifford, what would you ask her?

GLICK: I'd say, "Kathie Lee Gifford, how wonderful. Who do you think ultimately killed Johnny Stompanato, the Lana Turner lover?" I think you can get off the obvious, like, "What are you going to do next?" "How Christian are you?"

But I think the more intriguing questions are: "What happened to Natalie Wood? Was Chris Walken really asleep?" These are things I want to know!

THE SUN: Do you like a more spontaneous interview?

GLICK: I think that you go ... go with the moment. For example -- and sometimes you can make a mistake -- I felt like a fool when I asked the late Shari Lewis if she missed Dean. Sometimes your information is simply not what it should be.

THE SUN: Jiminy, is there some bad blood between you and Martin Short?

GLICK: Martin -- there's a pushiness to him. I feel sometimes that he's saying, "Please love me. Please love me. Love everything I do. I'll do anything for you."

I don't think people want to see that. They want mystique. That's why the wonderful Leonardo DiCaprio, when he's in those clubs with his posse, downing jug after jug of liquor -- I think there's a mystique there. I don't think Martin Short has mystique.
###

News of the World:
1/25/01
We nose Gisele's secret

STUNNING Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen (below) wasn’t always quite as streamlined as she is today, I can reveal.

NY Daily News:
1/25/01
Actor's Web Image Is Rated X-Tra-Large

Tobey Maguire is trying to fight back. The 25-year-old star of "Spider-Man" has had it up to here with the finger-pointing and innuendo that have dogged him since a revealing photo of him began making the rounds on the Internet. Perhaps you've seen it. Maybe you've even downloaded it. The picture shows Maguire with Leonardo DiCaprio and magician David Blaine; they're sitting around a coffee table dressed in Japanese kimonos. Only in Maguire's case, the kimono is wide open and shows private parts that appear supersize, to say the least. Two weeks ago, Maguire's rep said the photo was a fake. But this is the first time that the actor himself is commenting. And, yes, he has seen it, too. "Obviously, it's been doctored," Maguire told me. "We're having it investigated. I have lawyers looking into it, but so far we've turned up nothing." While Maguire is embarrassed by the photo, he can't do much more about it than wait to see if a culprit is found. Unfortunately, because the image shows him semi-nude on a couch next to DiCaprio, the gossip already swirling around these two goes to another level. "Because I've been friends with Leo for years, I've had to listen to all kinds of rumors about us," he said. "I try not to let it affect me, but it does."
###

Telegraph:
1/25/01
What is Gisele's secret?

Hilary Alexander reports on the underwear catalogue keeping the world's hottest model busy THE world, it seems, cannot get enough of Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen. Last year, the "queen of curves" was signed up, for a fee said to be millions of dollars, as a Victoria's Secret "Angel", the name given to the voluptuous beauties who grace the glossy catalogues produced by America's most high-profile lingerie company. Now, having fought off strong competition from the other Victoria's Angels - including Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and Laetitia Casta - Bundchen has been chosen as the cover-girl for the company's Swimwear Catalogue 2001, soon to drop through millions of mail-boxes. Her tanned, 5ft 10in frame is pictured lounging on white Caribbean sands in a tiny, sequinned "string-kini". The catalogue features everything from gleaming, gold swimwear - designed to be worn from the beach to the dinner-table - to the tiny string-bikini in bright tropical colours and Pucci-esque prints, the key look for this year's sunbathing babes. So what is Bundchen's secret? Her arrival on the international catwalks in 1998 heralded a return to the kind of full-on glamour that has not been seen since the original supermodels. Model of the Year at the VH1 Fashion Awards in 1999, she is now in her fourth year at the pinnacle of her profession, and shows no sign of losing her allure. Already in 2001, she has graced the Dolce & Gabbana and Polo Jeans campaigns, and is Nova's January cover-girl and Marie Claire's next month. Her on-off romance with Hollywood heart-throb Leonardo DiCaprio does her public image no harm, either. The Victoria's Secret Swimwear Catalogue 2001 was launched on Friday on HERE

Leonardo DiCaprio and Gisele Bundchen are shown here shopping in Malibu, California last Friday...

CLICK HERE
###

NY Daily News:
1/24/01
Itemizing

Leo DiCaprio returns to Rome this week to continue shooting on "Gangs of New York." He and director Martin Scorsese, who's had DiCaprio over to his villa for cooking lessons, will pick up Rudolph Valentino awards on Saturday. (The Italian honor recognizes those who embody the charisma of the silent-movie god.) Leo and girlfriend Giselle Bundchen were just in London, where the "Titanic" star has been fighting the effects of pasta by swimming laps at their hotel
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DiCaprio69.com:
1/23/01
Who is David LaChapelle?

Official DiCaprio Chat Site:
1/23/01
Got an idea?

What will keep you coming back to LEONARDODICAPRIO.COM for more and more ??

e-mail us your ideas for weekly content that you would like to see on the Web Site !!!

Submissions for ideas will be accepted from Jan 19th - Feb 3rd

Please submit more then one idea.

e-mail us at feedback@leonardodicaprio.com TODAY!!!!!
###

IMDB:
1/22/01
Party's Over For Leo And Gisele

A-list actor Leonardo DiCaprio and girlfriend Gisele Bundchen were shocked to be turned away from a recent showbiz party. Leo and his luscious model girlfriend were staying at London's plush Berkeley Hotel when they were refused entry to the book launch bash for novelist Wendy Holden in the bar downstairs. Wendy says, "Leo came down just before the party kicked off flanked by security guards and said he'd like to have a drink in the Blue Bar with friends. Unfortunately, he was told it was a private party."
###

LA Times:
1/22/01
Something Familiar This Way Comes

In a potentially turbulent year, the studios are betting on what they hope will be Sure Things--even more remakes, sequels and epics than usual. While several studios are still finalizing their holiday 2001 slots, Martin Scorsese's big-budget "Gangs of New York" seems almost certain to muscle its way into the year-end Oscar derby. This time, his mobsters are Irish and portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Full story
###

The Sun:
1/19/01
DiCaprio staying at £2,500-a-night suite

LEONARDO DiCAPRIO and his model girlfriend Gisele are staying in a £2,500-a-night suite in a London hotel - sparking rumours they plan to do a Madonna and get married in Britain.
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Telegraph:
1/19/01
Marriage made in heaven

BRYONY LAVERY has been beavering away on the fringe for the past 25 years, often working with women's and gay theatre companies as well as writing plays for children. If there is any justice, though, A Wedding Story should see her moving into the mainstream and scoring a big popular hit. This is a funny, sad, deeply felt play about love, commitment, families and old age, written with a light, wry touch that is also capable of great emotional truth...

...Yet the play contrives to be seductively humorous even as the shadows fall on this likeable family. Sally's brother, Robin, is studying film in California, and comes up with a hilarious scenario for a dystopian movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Diana Rigg, Maggie Smith and "plucky little Thora Hurd", in which the young lock themselves away in high-tech city fortresses while outside in the wild country the old and incapable roam like geriatric Robin Hoods.

Full story
###

St. Petersburg Times:
1/19/01
2001: done, redone

Hollywood couldn't think of anything new to do, so the movie roster for the coming year is mostly filled with remakes, sequels and history lessons...

...To be fair, the 2001 lineup includes some promising projects: a biography of Muhammad Ali starring Will Smith, and the latest from directors Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and Oliver Stone. Martin Scorsese revisits the mean streets in Gangs of New York, an Irish mob drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Full story
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LA Times:
1/18/01
Paparazzo's Lessons How Stars Are Born

In television, every new show or format now needs a celebrity name attached; even the president had to be interviewed by Leonardo DiCaprio for ABC's Earth Day special. Esoteric or even vaguely unfamiliar material is jettisoned in favor of the presence of a supposedly famous face, however minor or only vaguely familiar it might be. My friends working in the print media have also found their editors to be increasingly rabid in their demands for celebrity subject matter, however trivial, and however inconsequential the personality.

Full story
###

Philly.com:
1/18/01
Mr. and Mrs. Leo?

Heartthrob to many, husband to one, apparently. Britain's Sunday Mirror reports former "Growing Pains" cast member, Leonardo DiCaprio will call his squeeze, Brazilian superdupermodel Gisele Bundchen wifey sometime soon. Look out for a summer wedding, the paper reports. That tidbit is supported by word that the two brought their families together over the holidays in Malibu, Calif., where the King of the World has a bachelor pad, according to the New York Daily News. No word yet on if the pair will honeymoon on a cruise.
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New York Magazine:
1/17/01 Leo DiCaprio's Members-Only Club

If you haven't seen that naughty photo of Leonardo DiCaprio with pals David Blaine and Tobey Maguire, you're about the only one left. For more than a month now, an explicit shot of the trio has been making the rounds through cyberspace, arriving in e-mails from here to Los Angeles. The spicy pic shows DiCaprio and the gang lounging in a Tokyo hotel room with Blaine and Maguire wearing open kimonos -- leaving their respective manhoods hanging free and easy. Of course, close inspection of the shot reveals it's been ingeniously doctored. One inspector is Blaine's publicist, Jill Fritzo, who tells us, "I enlarged it a couple of times, and it's clearly a fake. I told David, 'If I get that naked picture of you one more time, I'm going to jump out a window.' " It turns out that a perfectly innocent photo was snapped by a friend around the time Titanic was released and that Blaine gave it to a fan outside their hotel room. Years later, it has clearly ended up in the hands of a twisted prankster. For Blaine's part, his only dismay comes from seeing that Maguire's instrument is depicted as significantly more substantial than his own. "I guess whoever did it must like Tobey a lot more than me," he says.
###

NY Daily News:
1/17/01
Trouble Setting a Date

Leonardo DiCaprio's jailed best friend and former money manager, Dana Giacchetto, scammed many of his famous clients. Now comes a claim that he hoodwinked New York magazine as well. Roger Friedman of foxnews.com, who has been running a five-part story on Giacchetto, scheduled to be sentenced for fraud in Federal Court today, claims that Giacchetto has been doling out some double-talk. New York published an interview this week with Giacchetto's fiancee, Allegra Brasco, who made a big deal out of saying that her boyfriend proposed to her in prison in August. "Giacchetto likes to use his engagement to Brasco whenever he needs dramatic effect," says Friedman. "In April, when he was thought to be fleeing the country, Dana told U.S. Attorney David Lewis that he and Brasco were planning to elope in Rome. Well, which one is it?" Giacchetto's attorney, Ronald Fischetti, told me yesterday that his client did ask Brasco to marry him last spring, "but he never intended to elope to Rome. He bought airline tickets, but for a future date. There was never a question that they were going to elope."
###

NY Daily News:
1/17/01
The Gang's All Here

More fuel for rumors that Leo DiCaprio and Gisele Bundchen are headed for wedlock. They brought their families together for the holidays in Malibu, where the actor has a house. DiCaprio, who has returned to Rome to finish filming "Gangs of New York," had better not waste too much time proposing. Bundchen tells London's Mirror: "The last time I went home I went dancing, and guys were jumping over to grab my butt, screaming 'Gisele, marry me!' I had to leave." She's planning on hiring a bodyguard for her next trip.
###

Official DiCaprio Web Site:
1/17/01
Gangs Resumes Shooting

After kicking back for Christmas and the New Year, "Gangs of New York," is set to resume shooting as of January 8th, 2001. Scheduled through the end of March, "Gangs," is surprisingly on schedule, overcoming the tranquil temptations of the Italian Siesta with inspired accuracy. As for Leo, after a two week hiatus in Los Angeles spent with family and friends, it's back to work in Rome.
###

IMDB:
1/16/01
Dicaprio Fumes Over Fake Poster

Leonardo DiCaprio fumed at the owner of a memorabilia store in New York after finding a fake signed poster of himself on sale. The disguised actor told the owner the supposedly authentic poster was a fake and when the indignant merchant asked him how he'd know, DiCaprio revealed who he was and explained he hadn't signed the poster. The shopkeeper promptly took the offending poster down.
###

Entertaindom:
1/15/01
KNOT SO FAST:

Leonardo DiCaprio is getting married, according to Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper. The "Titanic" hunk is alleged to have proposed to his supermodel girlfriend Gisele Bundchen, with the pair due to set a date for their big day next summer. A close friend tells the paper's diary page, "Leo's madly in love with Gisele. He has really fallen for her and now wants to show it by making the ultimate commitment. He wants a summer wedding, but they have not decided where they will marry or exactly when."
###

E! Online ~ Ted Casablanca:
1/15/01
Dear Ted:

Reply to a letter about a blind item that was posted in Teds column see below.

Dear Ted: The naked guy in the hotel room you wrote about a month ago...is he married to a girl who has really good hair and a lot of "Friends"? I just have to know! Shell Dallas

Dear Shell: No, but he is chums with an awful lot of tricky misfits.

----- Original Post -----

There's a not-bad-looking actor (who makes really not-bad moolah) who likes to smoke. Stayed at the too-chic Mondrian on the Strip recently.

And when the hotel employee the movie man asked to bring up a carton of cigs entered his suite, stripped was the star (with another nekkid guy, mind you).

"Wanna join in?" asked the mega-monied maker-outer.

The hotel hottie declined, but that didn't stop the man with the smokin' buns from calling down to his post to make the same request a few more times.

Oh, hell, with half the world chasing after this guy, can't he take no once or twice?

Funny, don't think that word is in the boy's vocabulary (obviously).
###

FOX411:
1/15/01
From Prada to Prison

Giacchetto, who awaits sentencing Wednesday in federal prison in Brooklyn for stealing $20 million from celebrities, friends, family and civilian clients Gone are his Cassandra Group investment firm, his cockatoo, his huge Soho loft, famous friends like Leonardo DiCaprio and Courteney Cox and his pricey art collection. What's left are a lot of angry, bitter people, some of whom have lost life savings and who wonder how they could have been taken in by a nerd with whom they trusted their futures.

Full story
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Peoplenews.com:
1/15/01
Leo meets the parents

Gisele flies out family to meet her ‘intended’ Gisele Bundchen, 20, and Leonardo DiCaprio, 26, introduced their families over the festive period, fuelling rumours that the pair may soon marry. Gisele flew her parents and five sisters over from their native Brazil, so that they could join Leo’s family at the couple’s Malibu beachfront home. The two families shared a dinner on New Year’s Eve, before heading to a nearby private beach to work off the calories with a game of volleyball. ‘Leo was very gentlemanly,’ says an eyewitness. ‘He gave Gisele a gentle kiss and they playfully chased each other, but they weren’t walking around hand-in-hand all the time. He was clearly trying his best to impress her parents.’ The pair have been dating for over a year, spending so much time together that Leo was reportedly rebuked by Martin Scorcese on the Rome set of his latest film, Gangs of New York, for allowing his work to suffer whenever she paid him a visit. They were first tipped to be engaged last October, when Leo spent a six-figure sum on a diamond ring for the model, but Gisele was swift to deny that it was any more than a gift. However, close friends began talking about a summer wedding last week, and this time Gisele seems to be staying quiet.
###

Sacbee:
1/15/01
Kate Winslet shines at wax museum

California Getaway: Kate Winslet shines among wax museum's dull characters Once past the museum's ticket desk, visitors descend stairs to the first, and one of the best, displays. The famous outstretched-arms-at-the-bow scene from "Titanic" is re-created. Leonardo DiCaprio's wax figure is good, but Kate Winslet's is superb. The subtle touch that caught my eye is the upper gums visible in her smile, which was so infectious in that 1997 blockbuster that it alone could have launched a thousand ships.

Full story
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NY Post:
1/12/01
TOBEY: UNREAL

IT'S hard to shock PAGE SIX, but the photo that arrived via e-mail of Leonardo DiCaprio, David Blaine and Tobey Maguire did the trick. The doctored image shows the trio sitting around a coffee table. The three are wearing bathrobes, but Maguire, soon to star in "Spiderman," is fully, and impressively, exposed. Show biz types on both coasts are wondering if the picture is real. Maguire's rep assures us it's fake.

This is the photo they are referring to which can be found on the 'Beautiful Boy' site.

NY Daily News:
1/12/01
Charity Is High On Steven's 'List'

Steven Spielberg may be operating on one kidney, but his heart is in the right place. The Academy Award-winning director was in New York Wednesday to attend a benefit for the Shoah Foundation, the extensive library of videotaped oral histories taken from Holocaust survivors. Spielberg started collecting the interviews in 1994 after directing "Schindler's List."

Full story
______
Side note: Leo worked with Steve Spielberg on a CD-ROM for the Shoah Foundation he narrated with Winona Ryder

More on the CD-ROM here
###

Salt Lake Tribune:
1/12/01
A Few Fresh Moves in a Familiar Routine

"Save the Last Dance" is a casserole of movie leftovers -- a little bit of "Flashdance," a little bit of "Say Anything," a little bit of "Boyzthe Hood" -- slightly overheated but easily digestible. Sara Johnson, played by Julia Stiles, is a small-town high-school ballerina auditioning for the Juilliard School when her mom is killed in a car crash...

...Stiles, an enormous talent (see "10 Things I Hate About You" or her supporting part in the just-released "State and Main") and a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio's twin sister, carries the movie with charm and intelligence.

Full story
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Entertaindom:
1/11/01
Who's sexiest?

Gorgeous English actress Elizabeth Hurley has been voted the Sexiest Woman In The World 2001 by the English edition of GQ magazine. The 35-year-old Hurley topped a poll of 200 hotties that saw her beating off rivals such as -- DICAPRIO'S CURRENT GAL PAL -- model Gisele (No. 2), singer-actress Jennifer Lopez (No. 3), skinny supermodel Kate Moss (No. 4) and "Charlie's Angels" star Cameron Diaz at Number 5.

Full story
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MSNBC:
1/11/01
For Kidman, another daring dud?

“Moulin Rouge” It’s directed by Baz Luhrmann, who also made “Romeo and Juliet,” with Clare Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio. FULL STORY: Is Nicole Kidman going to have another artistic clunker on her resume? The actress is starring in “Moulin Rouge,” a sexually provocative film about the famed dance hall frequented by artist Toulouse Lautrec. Twentieth Century Fox is planning to release “Moulin Rouge” in June, but a Hollywood insider close to the project says the film is testing badly with audiences, which has studio Fox nervous. “IT’S A VERY daring film, and very peculiar, and audiences are not responding that well to it, especially younger audiences,” says the source. “This is a big budget film, around $100 million, but they’re thinking of bringing it out as an art house release.” One of the problems, says the source, is that it’s a musical set at the turn of the 20th century, but with modern music. For example, as part of the soundtrack, Beck does a cover of David Bowie’s 1974 song “Diamond Dogs.” Lyrics from “The Sound of Music” are also incorporated into the film. John Leguizamo stars as Toulouse Lautrec and Kidman stars as Satine, the most sought-after courtesan in the Moulin Rouge, and Ewan McGregor stars as a man who becomes obsessed with her. It’s directed by Baz Luhrmann, who also made “Romeo and Juliet,” with Clare Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio. The source compares the situation to “Eyes Wide Shut,” a daring film that didn’t click with audiences; although Kidman’s performance was praised, the flick itself was lambasted. The source points out that another high-profile film oddity wouldn’t be great for Kidman’s career. What’s more, there have been rumors that Kidman clashed with Luhrmann and that she was, as one source put it, “quite a handful” on the set. Kidman’s spokeswoman dismisses the talk, saying that the two “are the best of friends.” A Fox spokeswoman insists that the “Moulin Rouge” is testing well.
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Washington Post:
1/11/01 Year-End Box Office Fireworks

Year-End Box Office Fireworks Save Battered Hollywood Maybe it was millennium fever, but in 2000 the industry as a whole wasn't quite as healthy as the previous year: tepid summer box office, looming strikes, exhibitors going bankrupt, a hostile federal government -- Hollywood weathered all such challenges in 2000. 20TH CENTURY FOX High points included "X-Men," made with a low negative cost and no gross points; the Martin Lawrence comedy "Big Momma's House"; and Tom Hanks starrer "Cast Away," a big Christmas drama that opened with $40 million over the four-day holiday frame. But, as with other studios, the pictures Fox hoped would be the biggest weren't: The Leonardo DiCaprio starrer "The Beach" failed to ignite domestically, though it brought in healthy numbers overseas; facing as high as a $100 million loss with animated flop "Titan A.E.," 20th Century Fox co-chairman Tom Rothman said a lesson learned over the past year is that you need to "balance risk and cost." The new lineup contains a series of safer bets, with the Tim Burton-helmed remake of "Planet of the Apes" and "Doctor Dolittle 2."

Full story
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TNT's Roughcut:
1/10/01
READER OF THE DAY:

Philly Dan writes: "Using Jesse Jackson as a quote-whore for Chocolat shouldn't be too jarring for anyone familiar with Hollywood advertising tactics. Please remember that these are the same rocket scientists that came up with the brilliant strategy of headlining movie trailers with 'Academy Award Winner' and (my personal favorite) 'Academy Award NOMINEE', when an actor's name is introduced. It is not necessary for me to remind you that 90% of the flicks whose ads bore this staple, sank faster than you can say Leonardo DiCaprio -- Ahem! --I mean Titanic.

Source
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Salon:
1/10/01
The virginity hoax

A federal study reveals the terrible failures inherent in teen vows to chastity. The virginity pledge movement, brainchild of the Southern Baptist Church and favorite fad of teen mags ("Virginity is hot," said Young and Modern magazine in an issue featuring the 100 secrets of Leonardo DiCaprio ), has been a resounding success, according to the study's chief researchers. This in an introduction that opens with a line from the Madonna song "Like a Virgin." Pledgers, announces the study, postpone first-time sexual intercourse for an average of 18 months longer than non-pledgers.

Full story
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LDC.com: 1/9/01
Free Chat 24/7

Ever want to checkout the Chat on the Official DiCaprio site and did not have a user name and password??

Well for a limited time the folks at LDC.com is making the chat room open to all.

LeonardoDiCaprio.com now offers Free Chat 24/7 as a New Years gift to all our guests, Happy 2001!

Click here to enter chat
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Peoplenews.com:
1/9/01
Leo and Gisele tipped to marry

According to close friends, Leonardo DiCaprio has proposed to his girlfriend, Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, and the pair are planning to marry this summer. ‘Leo’s madly in love with Gisele,’ says the friend. ‘He has really fallen for her, and wants to show it by making the ultimate commitment. Leo wants a summer wedding.’ The golden couple have been dating for almost a year, and share a beachfront home in Malibu. In recent months, despite on-off rumours linking her to her previous boyfriend, billionaire Joao-Paulo Diniz, Gisele has made frequent trips to Rome, to visit Leo on the set of his latest film, Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York. The pair were thought to have previously got engaged in October, when the actor forked out a six-figure sum on a diamond ring for his girlfriend, but Gisele was quick to deny the rumours. Now, however, it seems that she has had a change of heart. ‘Their romance is pretty tempestuous,’ admits the source, ‘but he is certain this is the one.’

Source
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Variety:
1/9/01
''Perfume''smells like money to film biz

In one of the largest book rights auctions in years, the 1981 German novel ``Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'' has bids as high as $6 million on the table, with a sale near to Bernd Eichinger's Constantin Film for an advance of about $5 million against a final payout of $10 million. It's exactly the kind of out-of-left-field sale needed to energize the sluggish book-to-movies marketplace. A-list filmmakers have wanted to turn Patrick Suskind's story of an 18th-century serial killer perfume maker into a big-screen feature for two decades, but Suskind (who once wanted Stanley Kubrick to do it) hasn't been willing to make a deal until now. Constantin has been battling for the title against formidable competition. One bidder has been the ``Gangs of New York'' producing group of Initial Entertainment Group, Artists Management Group and Miramax, who want it for a vehicle for Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Full story
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IMDB:
1/9/01
Leo Pulls A Hat Trick

Heart-throb actor Leonardo DiCaprio hid his famous good looks under a floppy hat as he tried to slip through London's Heathrow airport Sunday. Leo sported a wispy beard, the ubiquitous hat and huge dark glasses as he arrived at the airport after flying into London from Los Angeles. DiCaprio, 26, was whisked across the airport without a moment for his fans, and shunted on board a connecting flight to Rome. One onlooker said, "You couldn't tell whether it was Leonardo DiCaprio or Leonardo Da Vinci under all that lot."
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Hollywood Reporter:
1/8/01
Gandolfini storms Lurie's 'Castle'

James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos") will receive just more than $5 million to star opposite Robert Redford and Mark Ruffalo in DreamWorks' psychological drama "The Castle" for director Rod Lurie and producer Robert Lawrence. The project is slated to begin shooting March 19 in Nashville. The announcement had been expected as the actor had been in talks to star in the $50 million- to $60 million-budgeted project for some time (HR 1/2). Gandolfini became available for "Castle" when another DreamWorks feature, "Catch Me If You Can," in which he was to star with Leonardo DiCaprio, was temporarily shelved because DiCaprio became unavailable for the March start date; DiCaprio's current project, Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York," is running over schedule. Written by David Scarpa with a rewrite by Graham Yost, "Castle" centers on a court-martialed three-star general who is sent to a military prison and unites the prison population to create an army dedicated to taking down a corrupt warden (Gandolfini). Gandolfini is repped by Writers & Artists Agency and Sanders Management's Nancy Sanders and Mark Armstrong. The actor won a dramatic actor Emmy last year for his role on the HBO series "The Sopranos." He next will be seen opposite Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts in "The Mexican."
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Thaistudents.com:
1/5/01
Gangs of New York

'Gangs of New York' is based on the book of the same name by Herbert Asbury. It is set in 19th century New York and chronicles the city's original gangsters, the Irish and Italian immigrants who began organizing street gangs to fight for control of the city's streets. The movie centers around two gangs, the Dead Rabbits and the Native Americans.

For all the lastest on 'Gangs of New York' checkout this site.

Gangs of New York site

The GONY Project is brought to you by ThaiStudents.com and Sriwittayapaknam School in Thailand.
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Variety:
1/4/01
Heading back to Rome

Leonardo DiCaprio, who spent Christmas and New Year's in L.A., returns to Rome next week to resume Martin Scorsese's epic ``Gangs of New York.''
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E! Online:
1/3/01
Who Rated--and Who Deflated

Who Rated--and Who Deflated: The Results Are In! The final tallies are in for E! Online's Replay 2000 year-end poll. Some 175,000 people weighed in on the year's most notable and notorious stars, movies, series, awards shows and more

9. Biggest Disappointment

32% Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 25% The Beach 19% Little Nicky 13% Unbreakable 12% Me, Myself & Irene

Full story
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Checkout this Leonardo DiCaprio comic/biography page done by STEVE McGARRY

Comic book Link

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The Sun:
1/3/01
Best-selling singles of 2000

HERE are the best-selling UK singles of last year. Bob The Builder entered the race at the last minute to perform a demolition job on the opposition. But the real winners would seem to be Craig David, Eminem and S Club 7 - who all have two entries each in the Top 20. Here is the full rundown.

1 Can We Fix It – Bob The Builder 2 Pure Shores – All Saints

Pure Shores was featured on the 'The Beach' soundtrack.

Full listing
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Hollywood Reporter:
1/3/01
Ruffalo locked in for 'Castle'

Mark Ruffalo ("You Can Count on Me") has signed to play a lead role with Robert Redford in DreamWorks' psychological drama "The Castle" for director Rod Lurie and producer Robert Lawrence. The project is slated to begin shooting March 19 in Nashville...

...Gandolfini became available for "Castle" when another DreamWorks feature, "Catch Me If You Can," which he was to star in with Leonardo DiCaprio, was temporarily shelved because DiCaprio became unavailable for March start date when his current project, Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York," began running over schedule.

Full story
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E! Online:
2/3/01
30 most anticipated movies of 2001

Our Countdown of the Year's 30 Most Anticipated Movies, Shows, Albums and More

30 -Gangs of New York: Picture this: Leonardo DiCaprio and his posse roam the streets of New York, beating up rival gang members. No, it's not a headline plucked from the tabloids but the storyline for the next Martin Scorsese movie--a film Marty has been waiting 20 years to make. Pretty boy Leo plays a 19th-century tough in the vein of other Scorsese protagonists. Will it be as big as Titanic? Let's hope not. But it'll certainly be better than The Beach.
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1/2/01
2001 DiCaprio Predictions

Welcome to the year 2001, or as I like to call it

~ The year of Leo ~

As with the start of any new year its time for a few predictions so with the help of my Magic 8 ball and a little creative guessing this is what I foresee in the coming year. Now let’s not forget that these are only predictions and I’m just having a little fun.

LEO LAND: No, it’s not the newest amusement park to pop-up in the already saturated entertainment market. Look for Leonardo to purchase a large amount of land in the South West. My guess would be Montana were he can get away from the overcrowded hills of Hollywood and take time to relax with loved ones.

THE GIFT OF GAB: With the disappointing release of ‘The Beach’ in the U.S. look for Leonardo to make appearances on all the major talk shows before the release of his next film ‘The Gangs of New York’

KA-CHING: Leonardo strikes it big at the box office. Look for record breaking opening day box office receipts when Martin Scorsese and his ‘Gangs of New York’ beat up the competition. Also with the huge success of the movie, look for Leonardo to make a cameo on the ultra hip HBO series ‘The Sopranos’

SING, SING A SONG: To raise awareness for the Environment and animal rights look for Leonardo to team up with P.E.T.A. the charity event will release a CD on which Leonardo and friends will sing a cover of a 60s classic with an updated hip hop beat

DING DONG: Could it be? Yes, the rumors that circulated throughout last year will become reality, but who will his Bride be? When the veil is lifted don’t expect to see Leonardo’s longtime gal pal Gisele smiling back. It will be a small, short, and quite ceremony.

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN: The great American Western is making a come back and look for Leonardo to be at the head of the pack when they hand out the starring role. Also look for Leonardo to co-star with Academy Award winner Tom Hanks

AND THE WINNER IS: Yes at long last the Academy honors Leonardo for his starring role as Amsterdam Vallon in ‘The Gangs of New York’
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LA Times:
1/2/01
Some Things in New Year Seem to Be Crystal Clear

It's time to dust off my crystal ball and see what the new year has in store for athletes, coaches and teams in the region. The images are becoming clear: Pitcher-quarterback Adam Geery of Kennedy will generate so many headlines from sports successes that he'll force cousin Leonardo DiCaprio to ask for an autograph.

Full story
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MSNBC:
1/2/01
Second Annual Scoop Awards!!

COMPETITION FOR The Scoopies 2000 was stiff. The year was so chockablock with breathtakingly inane events and bizarrely misbehaving celebs that our panel of esteemed judges nearly swooned as they reviewed the headlines that captured the public’s attention. We became a nation of prize-money voyeurs, watching to see which greedy rat eater would out-maneuver the rest — and I’m not talking about the Florida recount. We watched contestants who wanted to be millionaires. We watched women who wanted to marry a millionaire. We watched Catherine Zeta-Jones marry a millionaire. There were lots of tabloidy romances this year. Guy made an honest woman out of Madonna. Russell made a dishonest woman out of Meg. The politicos misbehaved more than the celebs. Florida was embarrassed by stylus interruptus and the fate of the nation hung on hanging chads. But the votes are in for the Second Annual Scoop Awards and there will be no recounts. So without further ado, the winners please.

The Ted Koppel Is Quaking in His Boots Award: Leonardo DiCaprio, who outraged journalists when he interviewed Bill Clinton for ABC News.

Full story