News

One cannot exaggerate how popular Leonardo DiCaprio was in the late 1990s. Not only was the handsome young actor acclaimed for his performances in "This Boy's Life" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?," but he was also working with interesting directors like Agnieszka Holland (on "Total Eclipse") and Sam Raimi (on "The Quick and the Dead"). He had even became a legit American heartthrob after appearing in the MTV-ready "Romeo + Juliet," a reputation that seemed to become permanent when he starred in James Cameron's 1997 film "Titanic," the then highest-grossing movie of all time.

DiCaprio was deeply beloved by teenage girls everywhere, and one couldn't walk past a magazine rack without seeing Leo's mug. He was the subject of unauthorized video profiles, news stories, and salacious teen magazine spreads. DiCaprio knew about his reputation as a sex symbol and brazenly took advantage; in a 1998 profile in New York Magazine...

Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio were among the bunch of actors who got their breakthrough in the 90s with many acclaimed performances. DiCaprio starred in some of his most seminal work in the decade with films like What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, This Boy’s Life, and Romeo + Juliet. He also delivered the biggest commercial hit of his career with 1997’s Titanic.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire in The Great Gatsby | Warner Bros

At the same time, Maguire was slowly improving his mettle as an actor in that era with films like Pleasantville, Ride with the Devil, and The Cider House Rules. The two actors frequently met during auditions and developed a close bond that remains to this day. Despite their differing lifestyles, the two stars share a common vision regarding how they approach their careers.

Tobey Maguire And Leonardo DiCaprio Are Bonded By Their Competitiveness And Like-Mindedness

The Great Gatsby...

Calls are growing for the 1994 film to be freed from YouTube hell – but is it there because evil Hollywood execs tried to kill it, or is it just a really bad film?

Why exactly are we so fascinated with bad movies? Perhaps it is simple schadenfreude, the delicious mental backwards engineering required to work out just exactly how somebody somewhere decided that the John Travolta-led, Scientology-infused Battlefield Earth, or Ed Wood’s frightful Glen or Glenda were anything approaching a good idea. It cannot be that we actually want to watch these things, for where is the thrill in experiencing completely inept film-making unless it really is about taking pleasure in other people’s creative failure?

The situation becomes even more preposterous when we consider those movies that have always been so terrible that nobody should ever be able to witness them on the big or small screen. Jerry Lewis...

Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire are truly friendship goals. The two celebrities have consistently busted the myth that long-lasting friendships between A-list stars in Hollywood cannot stand the test of time. Despite being constantly in competition with each other for roles, DiCaprio and Maguire have forged an endearing bond that began when both stars were 12 years old.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire in The Great Gatsby

The Departed actor and the Spider-Man star who began their career at a very young age in Hollywood, first met at an audition and continued to bump into each other regularly while trying for the same roles. DiCaprio once recalled their introduction to each other and reminisced about the funny situation when the Pleasantville actor’s mother warned her son to be wary of him.

Suggested“We call him Unlucky Leo”: Edward Norton May Finally Know Why Leonardo DiCaprio Has Only 1 Oscar to...

These days it’s somewhat difficult to fathom there was a time when Leonardo DiCaprio was not recognized as one of the finest actors of his generation. Born with preternaturally good looks, talent, and an obvious degree of taste, DiCaprio has grown onscreen from precocious child actor to heartthrob, to movie star, and finally to revered leading man. At least onscreen.

With that meteoric career-trajectory beginning at the remarkably early age of 18 in the movie This Boy’s Life, DiCaprio has had the rare opportunity to carefully curate and shape his career from virtually the beginning, and in the process has left behind a body of work that is increasingly choosey—and well chosen. But which are the best performances, and which are the ones that didn’t work out? Read on to find out.

*Editor’s Note: We are focusing only on DiCaprio’s feature film performances where the actor...

Leo & Tobey are showing off their bling.

On Wednesday, the longtime friends were spotted arriving Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris sporting matching necklaces proving their Bff bona fides.

Read More: Leonardo DiCaprio Enjoys Yacht Day With 22-Year-Old Model Meghan Roche In Ibiza

Tobey Maguire – Photo: Backgrid

The necklaces in question each featured a pendant with a howling wolf, and they also both complemented their looks with LA Dodgers baseball caps.

Leonardo DiCaprio – Photo: Backgrid

Read More: Leonardo DiCaprio And Gigi Hadid Spotted At Same London Restaurant While He Was Dining With His Parents

DiCaprio and Maguire have been spotted travelling together for the last month, previously being seen in Italy in May, where they were later joined by DiCaprio’s family.

The actors have been friends for decades, and were famously members of what was known as the “P***y Posse” in the ’90s, along with other young actors at the time like Lukas Haas,...

Writer / Director / Actor Halina Reijn discusses some of her favorite movies with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Rrr (2022)

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

Gothic (1986)

Warlock (1989)

Annie (1982)

Midsommar (2019) – Dennis Cozzalio’s 2019 year-end movie roundup

Bambi (1942) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

Annie (2014)

A Woman Under The Influence (1974)

Husbands (1970) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Opening Night (1977)

The Piano Teacher (2001) – Charlie Largent’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Black Book (2006)

Elle (2016) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review, Dennis Cozzalio’s 2016 year-end movie roundup

The Fourth Man (1983)

Basic Instinct (1992) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary

Showgirls (1995)

Indecent Proposal (1993)

Fatal Attraction (1987) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

9 ½ Weeks (1986)

Fifty Shades Of Grey (2015)

365 Days (2020)

A History Of Violence (2005)

Last Tango In Paris (1972) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Chinatown (1974) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary

Marathon Man (1976)

The Abyss (1989)

Apocalypse Now (1979) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?...

The actor and film-maker follows up a Netflix deal to produce nature documentaries with a potential foray into Hunger Games-style young adult sci-fi

Hollywood A-lister and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio has bought the big-screen rights to a green-themed young adult novel called The Sandcastle Empire, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Related: Controversial 'lost' Leonardo DiCaprio film Don's Plum removed from web

Continue reading...

Nathaniel, Nick, Katey, and Joe vape with Leonardo DiCaprio at the SAG Awards. Also we share the Sundance titles we're most curious about...

39 minutes

00:01 Sundance Winners: Swiss Army Man, Netflix and Amazon

09:30 Birth of a Nation and other black films that could take the pressure off of it as the #OscarsSoWhite corrective

13:52 Most anticipated titles

16:30 SAG: Boosts for Spotlight, Alicia Vikander

22:20 Don's Plum vs. Flora Plum

25:15 Brie & Leonardo & final SAG thoughts

Related Reading For Context:

• Best Ensemble Choices -From Nathaniel

• Best Ensemble Choices -From Joe

• Nick's SAG Blogging - a first for him

• Leo's Vaping - via E!

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes soon.

In 1995, two up-and-coming actors named Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire ponied up some cash for their friend R.D. Robb to make a movie. The film, Don's Plum, starred DiCaprio, Maguire, and the gang of associates that would later be dubbed "the Pussy Posse," as a bunch of obnoxious young Angelenos hanging out at a diner. Nothing much happens in the film, which is almost entirely improvised, and it would have been quickly consigned to oblivion had DiCaprio not, shortly thereafter, become the most famous young man in the world. Exactly what happened next is a matter of dispute: DiCaprio and Maguire said they only agreed to take part in the film — which, they add, was originally supposed to be a short — on the understanding that it would never be released in the U.S. (Robb, who was cast out of the Posse after he began meeting with distributors, disputes this.

The Hollywood archives are packed with movies that, for myriad reasons, have somehow slipped between the cracks, never to be heard from again.

No film sums up that unfortunate group more than 1994's The Fantastic Four, a property now getting rebooted for a second time with a lavish budget and inescapable marketing campaign. We look back at seven movies the industry (and the filmmakers behind them) wants to sweep under the carpet.

1. The Fantastic Four

Bernd Eichinger snapped up the film rights to Marvel's first family in the '80s for a pittance, and with the clock ticking down on his ownership he teamed up with B-movie specialist Roger Corman to produce a $1 million picture in less than a month. With a cast of unknowns and music video director Oley Sassone at the helm, The Fantastic Four ended up getting buried by Marvel in a bid for brand protection.

Avi Arad,...

If you're a Hollywood star, your childhood friends usually have a limited number of roles available to play. They can be a loyal sidekick, your crew's comical mascot, or maybe the personal assistant who will eventually take you down in a bloodless celebrity coup. But for a lucky few stars, the people they grew up with became celebrities themselves, with their own fans, their own love interests and their own trending topics. It must be a welcome surprise. After all, it's lonely at the top, but it's a little less lonely when your childhood friends are there, too. In honor...

If you're a Hollywood star, your childhood friends usually have a limited number of roles available to play. They can be a loyal sidekick, your crew's comical mascot, or maybe the personal assistant who will eventually take you down in a bloodless celebrity coup. But for a lucky few stars, the people they grew up with became celebrities themselves, with their own fans, their own love interests and their own trending topics. It must be a welcome surprise. After all, it's lonely at the top, but it's a little less lonely when your childhood friends are there, too. In honor...

Welcome to "Where on the Shelf Is..." In this column, I look at great TV shows and movies that have never been on DVD and/or Blu-ray. For your pleasure and out of all of our frustrations, this column examines the Where, When and, of course, Why?! of these non-releases. Up this week is...Don's Plum What Is It?: Shot in 1995 and 1996, Don's Plum is a grainy black and white venture made between close friends on the cheap. It was directed by R.D. Robb (Aka Schwartz from A...

TBS is in the midst of its annual 24-hour marathon of "A Christmas Story," the 1983 movie about a young boy's (Peter Billingsley) quest for a Bb gun that has become as much a part of the season as "It's a Wonderful Life."

But did you know that Jack Nicholson was considered for the role of Ralphie's father? So says TBS, which says Nicholson was offered the role and he was interested. The movie's producers became concerned about what they might have to pay Nicholson, however, and went with Darren McGavin instead.

Here are some other little- to well-known facts about "A Christmas Story."

- Author Jean Shepherd, who narrates the movie and whose book "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" is the basis for the film, also has a cameo. He's the annoyed man in the department store who tells Ralphie and Randy the line to see Santa starts back there.

Michael Cera in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Photo: Universal Pictures The drumbeats are already starting to stir. Over on film industry snarkfest Deadline Hollywood commenters are calling out Michael Cera after the failure last weekend of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Gotta love Hollywood. The folks in this town are worse than the political hacks in Washington, DC when it comes to overreacting and misinterpreting a single event or weekend.

Scott Pilgrim's poor performance comes at sensitive time in the career of Michael Cera. It was only three years ago the 19-year-old wunderkind was flying high after back-to-back mega-hits Superbad and Juno. That was after a four-year run on the cult fave TV show Arrested Development as George-Michael Bluth.

I personally thought there were a lot of reasons for the failure of Scott Pilgrim. Bad marketing by Universal that sold the film as a "hipster" film. Bad timing going...

Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire are being sued for $38 million, after allegedly trying to block a short film they made in 1995. According to reports, the pair filed a lawsuit in August in a bid to stop independent film Don's Plum from being released. They claim they agreed to make the short film to help out some friends, who would get screen credit when the picture was shown at film festivals. But court documents claim movie-makers John Schindler and RD Robb attempted to capitalize on DiCaprio and Maguire's success by releasing the film. All three parties reportedly reached an agreement, whereby the film was only played in Europe - but Schindler has now filed a suit of his own, alleging the two actors warned distributors they would never work with them again, if they released Don's Plum.

Hollywood actors Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio have joined forces in the courtroom to block a 1995 movie they made from hitting American cinema screens. The childhood pals have filed a joint lawsuit against John Schindler, a man who in court documents identifies himself as "a director and line producer" on the set of Don's Plum, an independent film which the stars shot in 1995, which Schindler now wants to make public. In court documents, Maguire and DiCaprio claim they agreed to make the picture as a short film in order to have fun with a group of friends. They were also hoping to help their friends' careers by giving them a chance to get screen credit when it was shown at film festivals. The film remained under the radar until Titanic shot DiCaprio to superstardom. Sources tell American TV show Celebrity Justice that Don's Plum director RD Robb wanted to capitalize on DiCaprio's success and worked with a producer to try and release it as a full-length film. But DiCaprio and Maguire fought that, arguing that was never the deal. A confidential agreement was reached, allowing the film to only play in Europe. But now the two superstars are fighting Schindler over the same issue, alleging he wants to violate the agreement and exploit the film for his own purposes.

Titanic (1997) star Leonardo DiCaprio'S steamy movie Don's Plum (1998) is set for release - despite his efforts to prevent it. The star was successful in banning the film in America and Canada, but earlier this year Dancer in the Dark (2000) director Lars von Trier's Zentropa studio snapped up the rights for the rest of the world. Since then, the story of a young man exploring all kinds of sexuality and human emotion has been re-edited in Denmark. A spokeswoman for the Copenhagen-based studio says, "We are adding the finishing touches to the movie right now and expect it to be complete around August 1 even though there's no opening date set yet." Zentropa is poised to release the sexy flick in cinemas across the world and not straight onto video as some had thought.

Leonardo DiCaprio and his best pal Tobey Maguire are seeking $1. 25 million in damages from Don's Plum (1998) producers after the film's bosses issued them a compliment. The pair asked a Los Angeles court yesterday morning to award them money following a tribute published to the talented young actors in Hollywood's DAILY VARIETY. The row erupted after the unnamed executive producer wrote, "Thanks to Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire for their amicable spirits, gentlemanly behavior and wisdom beyond their years." The Executive Producer claims he was exercising his right to Freedom of Speech was paying Maguire and DiCaprio a compliment. But the Titanic (1997) and Cider House Rules, The (1999) heart-throbs say the piece violated a 1998 confidential settlement agreement. Despite repeated calls to DiCaprio and Maguire's lawyers there is still no word on the outcome of the trial. This isn't the first time the stars have come up against the bosses of the black and white film - they initially sued in 1998 to stop the movie being released, arguing that they never actually agreed to appear in the full length feature film. The film cannot legally be shown in the United States but is expected to debut at the Cannes Film Festival next month.