Academy Archives | Straight From a Movie

On Leo’s birthday today, we take a look at the top 15 movies of Leonardo DiCaprio that were Oscar baits and yet overlooked by Academy. Leonardo DiCaprio is not only an onscreen hero but a real one too. With a life spent in the servitude of environment, you can’t think of any actor who is as thoughtful as our profound superhero. With his latest documentary release Before the Flood (you can read ways to cope with the climate change here: The Damage is Done | Let’s Undo It) he gives us inspiration to act now, before things exasperate further. He inspires the world to do the right thing and that’s huge in itself.

Oscar Bash

As we patiently wait for his next project to be announced, let’s take a look at his years gone by. With so many hits on his resume, Leonardo DiCaprio’s roles have been amazingly diverse. He has done everything, played everyone, and the good news – There is more to come.

Top 15 Movies of Leonardo DiCaprio that were Oscar Bait But Didn’t Get One

Let us take a peak at top 15 movies of Leonardo DiCaprio that were undoubtedly Oscar bait materials, and were overlooked big time. If it were up to me, I would have given him an Academy for every single one of them. This list doesn’t have The Revenant movie, for the mere reason he received the elusive accolade for it.

PS: We have placed it in the chronological order of movie releases.

This Boy’s Life

Leo wasn’t nowhere around fruition, and yet this movie’s role was the best a child actor could have possibly nailed. His eyes carried the innocence of a Chihuahua and the fretful insecurity that anyone could be a victim to if they had a psychopathic Robert De Niro for stepdad. This movie made the world find his talent, hence we let it cut the ribbon of our top 15 movies of Leonardo DiCaprio list.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

If Leo could have gone any crazier, he would have ended up in an asylum. Academy failed to recognize his talent in this beauty. Well to that I say Academy’s rigged. You wouldn’t find a more convincing actor to play this kind of twisted. He was so convincing, some people thought he was messed up in the head for real!

The Basketball Diaries

Who would have done better justice to Jim Carroll than Leo himself? Okay, so we understand River Phoenix was the first choice rendering this topic debatable, but as a true Leoholic I wouldn’t have preferred any other actor in Jim’s shoes. The way he has depicted the drug aftermath is outstanding and bloody brilliant. Smitten by his acts!

Romeo + Juliet

For a second let’s imagine you are yet to come across Shakespeare and you watch this beauty of a flick woven in a contemporary world. Wouldn’t you just, I don’t know, die too? Leo’s eyes carried mad love right from the moment he set eyes on Claire Danes. The turmoil he depicts in order to get her and the aftermath of love he manifested, simply calls for a standing ovation.

Titanic

The biggest blockbuster ever to rock Hollywood. Still stands second in terms of gross earnings. Leo walks tall as the guy to have won a bazillion hearts in the process of sinking the unsinkable. That image was hard to escape from! Yet he set a benchmark for lovers in one of the finest love stories ever made. His Jack Dawson deserved an Oscar right there as well!

The Beach

One of the most underrated works of Leo. This movie deserves watching and re-watching in order to truly appreciate Leo’s acting prowess. Outstanding job by him as he tries to scale adventure. Danny Boyle‘s brilliance is oozing out in his frames and is further embellished by DiCaprio.

Gangs of New York

This flick saw him evolve as he tried to take some Daddy revenge. It was his entry into the world of bizarre as he tried to get rid of a boy’s image. Well it is one helluva thing to take vengeance, when you have Daniel Day-Lewis to slay.

The Aviator

He had almost made it with the nomination there, but unfortunately didn’t make the cut. What was the Academy thinking? Didn’t they watch him not struggle to touch the knob for hours? Didn’t they watch him play a convincing losing-it Howard Hughes? This was one of the finest works of Leo, unfortunately Academy had to be a bi***.

The Departed

Whilst Leo was busting his ass by going undercover, and crossing every line to do the unthinkable, the Academy was busy not looking at his Billy wits. The Departed was superbly made and brilliantly executed by some classic DiCaprio acting.

Revolutionary Road

One of the most highly underrated dramas, Leo touched the extremities alongside Kate Winslet in this beauty of a flick. It was a delight to watch him lose it so bad when they fought. So convincing his acts are!

Shutter Island

So twisted it gave us the chills! We all felt for poor Leo as he tried to solve a crime his head committed. He was helpless yet convinced that he was close to solving the mystery. Exceptional direction by Martin Scorsese made him resuscitate again.

Inception

Sadly no one had any clue what was going on till they were knee deep in Inception waters. The good thing Christopher Nolan had chosen Leo to do justice to Cobb. And so he did. So brilliant a flick that was further made better by his fascinating acts.

Django Unchained

His first supporting act and that too so mind-numbing. Not only did he sport a badass look in the flick but he managed to give us the chills. He was, like he said, a ‘businessman’. But his acting was so engaging he didn’t even care to stop when he accidentally injured himself in the process. This was downright Oscar bait!

The Great Gatsby

If anybody ever came closer to nailing F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Gatsby, it’s Leo. His expressions always hit the jackpot and his eyes carry the perfect grief. The music complemented him gorgeously as he waited patiently for Daisy Buchanan to call.

The Wolf of Wall Street

By far the boldest things he has ever drove. It took out every bit of acting he had in that prolonged speech. He needed the Oscar pretty bad. His eyes could tell. Exceptional stuff by him as he squirmed and crawled to make his way to his car.

That brings us to the end of the top 15 movies of Leonardo DiCaprio list. Let’s not forget he did grab it for The Revenant, which was pretty amazing. His gut-wrenching role as Hugh Glass took us back in time.

Goes without saying that he is still the most revered, respected and loved actor all across the globe. To be brutally honest, we really don’t care about what Academy had thought about him all this time. How it failed to recognize his talent and honour him for all his dramatic roles.

You will forever be a winner in our eyes, Leo! You go boy!

Insane Love for Leonardo DiCaprio

We have mad love for him. As we impatiently wait for his next colossal project to be announced, we can only pray now that he hits a consecutive high. To remember him, so we never forget, we often keep visiting those nostalgic enclaves wherein he showcased some of the best works of his life. A true hero!

We adore Leo’s resolve the most, and salute him with the aforementioned top 15 movies of Leonardo Dicaprio list. The diligence, the thoughtful mien his brows carry whenever he acts are simply divine. He literally gets under the skin of the character and you are compelled to wonder if he has always been like that. Levels he try to hit with his acts are simply majestic! We hope him the very best for his future, and wish to see many more Oscars lined up under his belt.

So, coming back to the top 15 movies of Leonardo DiCaprio list, if you haven’t seen the aforementioned movies yet and still his fan, dude! Why are you even alive?

Just watch ’em already!

Every year the Academy slips in a frowned spurn at a movie that is on everybody’s mind. This time ‘Boyhood’ became the bait. The coming-of-age tale that spread brilliantly over the span of 12 years, was a sure shot per se. But alas! the Oscars have a reputation in doing the unthinkable. ‘Birdman’ beat Linklater’s panache not only in Best Picture and Original Screenplay categories but also in Best Direction. The latter managed to hold its ground thanks to Patricia Arquette’s Supporting Actress win.

Not long ago when the Academy had pressed its Oscar sheet, the snubbing of great movies like ‘Foxcatcher’, ‘Big Eyes’, ‘The Lego Movie’ and great actors like Amy Adams, Jennifer Aniston, David Oyelowo, Helen Mirren, Bill Murray, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ralph Fiennes and Christoph Waltz, had caught a lot of moss. Putting out Selma flame was a big rebuff this year since people claimed it to be a distinction on Academy’s part, not to mention the fact that a majority of voting members in the Oscar team are white.

Apart from the biggest surprise of the night, some more were strewn all along the event. Academy chose to ignore the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ franchise once again giving precedence to ‘Big Hero 6’ in the animation department. Best Editing went to ‘Whiplash’ which again was a pie in the face for ‘Boyhood’. ‘American Sniper’ losing to ‘Whiplash’ in Sound Editing was another one. ‘Interstellar’ managed only one out of its five nominations. Surprise was Zimmer’s stunning score bowing down to Desplatic rhythm. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes overlooked in the Visual Effects department came as a big blow. However, it was a close call since Interstellar’s visuals were quite brilliant as well. It was great to see Glory glorified and Feast winning the Best Short Film Animated category. Winston just had to win 😉

Here is a short summary of what happened:

The Imitation Game (had 8 nominations, bagged 1)
Boyhood (had 6, bagged 1)
American Sniper (had 6, managed 1)
Birdman (had 9, got 4)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (had 9, got 4)
Whiplash (had 5, got 3)
Interstellar (had 5, got 1)
Foxcatcher (had 5, received none)

‘Foxcatcher’ was overlooked big time. Given the amount of work Bennett Miller had put in to create the beauty, he needed a little Academy respect and attention. Steve Carell’s transformational looks as John du Pont at least deserved a Makeup and Hairstyling accolade.

Rumours have continuously surrounded the Academy owing to its big decisions which seem pretty biased sometimes. The one that exemplifies the obvious perfectly – Incessant snubbing of Leonardo DiCaprio despite outstanding performances throughout his life. Academy even failed to recognize exceptional knacks of Wes Anderson and Richard Linklater last night. Both are yet to bag an Oscar, and that is just sad.

I picture Academy as one old crude witch, who just loves to see the world burn. If you have a favorite the Academy would snub it and shout “In your face!” in your face. Mainstream movies never even make it to the list.

Whatever the hammer says hardly bothers us though. We know for sure, nothing is really lost. The shattered are still celebrated. We still have incredible movies to watch thanks to sensational efforts put in by excellent directors, actors and the remaining crew.

If you didn’t make it, we don’t really care. Academy is just a bunch of people with their scathing point of view. If you consider all of us – people who watch you from every corner of the world, who care about every single thought you conceived to carve something beautiful, who praise your extraordinary efforts to create what we can only imagine, those who really love your work, who really encourage you do the exceptional, the real movie buffs, for us, you are still our winners! You will never lose! Let us raise one to that!