It’s our second week of Leo Month!
We’re looking at the start of Leo’s career with our favorite movies from the ’90s!
Jordan – What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993):
Okay admittedly, I hadn’t seen this movie before this week. And I had no idea what it was about until I had started it. But this definitely has to be one of Leo’s best films, not just during this decade. He plays a mentally challenged boy who is coming up on his 18th birthday. He always says what he wants and does what he wants, but you really can’t not love him. Johnny Depp (the true lead of the film) plays his protective older brother, Gilbert Grape. It’s such a sweet and sad movie about a weird family in a weird town. Leo definitely steals the film though. You forget that he’s the superstar from Titanic and The Departed. You just fall in love with this simple boy who wants nothing more than to climb the town’s water tower. I think this has become one of my favorite movies. (And it’s Johnny Depp in a non-Tim Burton role. That’s always a good thing.)
Kurtis – Romeo + Juliet (1996):
This was a quick decision for me, Romeo + Juliet is easily my favorite 90s Leo movie. Yes, Titanic is iconic and a pretty great movie in itself but director Baz Lurhmann’s reimagining of this Shakespeare classic is too good to ignore. The cinematography and set design turns the all-too-familiar love story turned tragedy of Romeo and Juliet into a post-modern masterpiece juxtaposed starkly against the original Shakespearean dialogue written in the 1590s. The story follows Romeo and Juliet navigating the feud between their two families that seems bound to keep them apart. The Montagues and Capulets are bitter enemies whose hatred and fighting shows no sign of ever being resolved which is bad news when these two meet and fall in love. They have to hide their love from the world because they know that their parents will not allow them to be together. They can’t stand the idea of having to live apart and the pressure their feuding families lead the two young lovers to take drastic measures. Both DiCaprio and Claire Danes capture the youthful innocence and rebellion of Romeo and Juliet perfectly, maintaining Shakespeare’s original vision for the heart of the characters and their message to the viewer. Everything about Lurhmann’s Romeo + Juliet is picture perfect, an innovative approach to a classic story that respects the source material enough as to not step outside its established essence.
This was a quick decision for me, Romeo + Juliet is easily my favorite 90s Leo movie. Yes, Titanic is iconic and a pretty great movie in itself but director Baz Lurhmann’s reimagining of this Shakespeare classic is too good to ignore. The cinematography and set design turns the all-too-familiar love story turned tragedy of Romeo and Juliet into a post-modern masterpiece juxtaposed starkly against the original Shakespearean dialogue written in the 1590s. The story follows Romeo and Juliet navigating the feud between their two families that seems bound to keep them apart. The Montagues and Capulets are bitter enemies whose hatred and fighting shows no sign of ever being resolved which is bad news when these two meet and fall in love. They have to hide their love from the world because they know that their parents will not allow them to be together. They can’t stand the idea of having to live apart and the pressure their feuding families lead the two young lovers to take drastic measures. Both DiCaprio and Claire Danes capture the youthful innocence and rebellion of Romeo and Juliet perfectly, maintaining Shakespeare’s original vision for the heart of the characters and their message to the viewer. Everything about Lurhmann’s Romeo + Juliet is picture perfect, an innovative approach to a classic story that respects the source material enough as to not step outside its established essence.
Morgan – Titanic (1997):
So it’s probably pretty stereotypical, but I don’t even care. My favorite Leo movie from the 90s is Titanic. This movie is just such a classic. It’s one of the first movies that comes to mind when you think of great love stories. Everything about it is great. Kate Winslet is perfect; the innocent, seemingly unattainable aristocrat. Leo, of course, as the sweet and charming troublemaker, a little rough around the edges. Even the bad guy is perfectly played. It’s a little disappointing when you watch him escape the boat by sneaking onto a lifeboat with the women and children, but you feel a little better knowing that he still didn’t end up with Rose. And Rose taking Jack’s last name is just the icing on the cake. I think it was a real turning point in Leo’s career; something you could look at and say “That’s where it all started.” Also, it won eleven Oscars, so there’s that.
Friday Night Blogs 