sophie's fair

The Aviator (c) Miramax

the start of my christmas countdown --
On the first day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Standing 6-foot-1 and sporting a goatee and slicked-back hair, DiCaprio carries himself deliberately. He doesn't walk; he saunters. He speaks intensely, mulling his words while locking his eyes on you. He looks all of his 30 years, if not more. There's only a trace of the boy who starred seven years ago in the biggest box office hit of all time.
-- Scott Bowles, USA Today

o romeo, romeo wherefore art thou romeo? ...
i just had to say it, after all, leo dicaprio also played "romeo" in the 1996 version of romeo and juliet. i'm sure a lot of girls will swoon over him (including yours truly) after watching the not-yet-released-but-much-talked-about film the aviator. it is among AFI's (American Film Institute) list of 2004's top ten movies.

Both [DiCaprio and Scorsese] may find redemption this year. Industry analysts are calling the film Scorsese's best work since 1990's Goodfellas, thanks in part to the director and actor having an unusual aging effect on each other.
But where to start - or stop - such a film? Hughes was as much a force in Hollywood as he was in aviation. He broke speed records while financing some of the industry's most expensive films, including the $4 million Hell's Angels in 1930. He was commandeering TWA while courting the film industry's biggest stars, including Ava Gardner, Jean Harlow and Katharine Hepburn.
Indeed, DiCaprio became obsessed with the part in a manner that might have made Hughes proud. He spent days with a man who had obsessive-compulsive disorder so he could observe the facial tics and mannerisms. He read a half-dozen biographies and watched hours of archival footage of the brash Hughes. He even insisted that Scorsese include a song by Django Reinhardt, a jazz guitarist from the 1930s, in the movie.

has anyone seen the real howard hughes? he was a splendiferously handsome philanthropist and hell-raiser.

In 1972, Hughes was approached by the CIA to help secretly recover a Soviet nuclear submarine which had sunk near Hawaii four years before. He agreed. Thus the Hughes Glomar Explorer, a special-purpose salvage vessel, was born. Hughes's involvement provided the CIA with a plausible cover story, having to do with civilian marine research at extreme depths. In 1974 the Glomar Explorer successfully raised the Soviet vessel, which yielded two nuclear-tipped torpedoes and some cryptographic machines.
Unfortunately though, during the recovery a mechanical failure in the grapple caused half of the submarine to break off, falling to the ocean floor. This section is said to have held many of the most sought after items. But despite the official report of the lost portion, much controversy surrounds this rumor. Some conflicting reports say that the entire submarine was recovered and that the CIA released disinformation to leave the Soviets with the impression that the mission was unsuccessful.

how could you not fall for this heaven sent, exquisite man, playboy though he was...

I think Howard thought of women the same way he thought of planes. He wanted the fastest thing, the newest model. That is not how I approach dating.
-- Leonardo DiCaprio

the story is fascinating, a life too big for one movie. i read an article on virgins rallying to promote abstinence, which i totally agree with but oh my goodness, it would take total self-control (and lots of praying!) to abstain from such men as hughes and dicaprio.

You know what it is like when you eat a young, unripe mango? That's right. It is very, very bitter.
-- Sam Ruboga

it didnt take too much coaxing on howard's part for some women to fall in-love with him, why should the moviegoers be exempted?

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying :
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer ;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may go marry :
For having lost but once your prime
You may for ever tarry.
-- Robert Herrick

in select theatres december 17th, everywhere christmas day.