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Movie Review: J. Edgar

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J. Edgar Hoover hated communists, Blacks, and Jews and simply loathed Lithuanian-born Jewish anarchist Emma Goldman, whom he had deported to Russia in 1919, although she was a U.S. citizen. But the two were curiously conjoined; both by American history and their polar-opposite politics; Goldman’s anarchism was inspired by the Chicago Haymarket Riots of 1886, while the future FBI chief’s understandably hysterical fear of domestic communism stemmed from the Cleveland, Ohio May Day Riots which happened shortly before he threw her out. Hoover, then head of the U.S. Department of Justice General Intelligence Division, said of Goldman and her lover, Alexander Berkman, that they were, “Beyond doubt, two of the most dangerous anarchists in this country and return to the community will result in undue harm." The riots and Goldman’s deportation are among early scenes in J. Edgar , the compelling, sometimes unbearably intimate and occasionally sympathetic portrait of Hoove

Leonardo DiCaprio in Clint Eastwood's excruciating J. Edgar

If you've ever wanted to watch Dirty Harry murder Jack Dawson, J. Edgar is your movie. In this agonizing biopic of the late FBI despot, closet case and aggressive compiler of the nation's secrets, director Clint Eastwood smothers Leonardo DiCaprio under makeup and padding right before your eyes. And he's got an accessory: Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who allows the movie's version of J. Edgar Hoover to exhale endless self-justifying speeches without taking in new air. As J. Edgar marches from the 1920s all the way up to Nixon, changing its look only marginally along the way, Black's screenplay confines its subjects within that hoariest of biopic structures, the speculative flashback. But not speculative enough: Shown as younger men, DiCaprio and Armie Hammer (

Leonardo DiCaprio in Clint Eastwood's excruciating J. Edgar

  If you've ever wanted to watch Dirty Harry murder Jack Dawson, J. Edgar is your movie. In this agonizing biopic of the late FBI despot, closet case and aggressive compiler of the nation's secrets, director Clint Eastwood smothers Leonardo DiCaprio under makeup and padding right before your eyes. And he's got an accessory: Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who allows the movie's version of J. Edgar Hoover to exhale endless self-justifying speeches without taking in new air. As J. Edgar marches from the 1920s all the way up to Nixon, changing its look only marginally along the way, Black's screenplay confines its subjects within that hoariest of biopic structures, the speculative flashback. But not speculative enough: Shown as younger men, DiCaprio and Armie Hamm

'Shutter Island' movie review: Scorsese’s dark mystery allows DiCaprio to shine

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Andrew Cooper Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo, left) and Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio, right) are two detectives sent from the mainland to investigate a mysterious disappearance on an island prison for the criminally insane in the thriller “Shutter Island.” U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels is trying to crack a case and it’s a nightmare. Literally. It’s not just that the puzzle is something out of a detective story — a mental patient leaving a locked room and escaping an inescapable island — it’s that it’s giving him bad dreams. Very bad dreams. But Teddy has his own dark history. And the secrets he’s trying to uncover now only keep drawing him back to the painful memories that keep reaching out from his past. “Shutter Island” is the locale, and the movie — and it’s a surprising effort from Martin Scorsese, on every level.

“Shutter Island” Review

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  What do we know about U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio)? Let’s start with what he knows about himself. Teddy’s a working-class Boston boy. He served in the second World War, and was present for the liberation of Dachau. Later, he had a wife (Michelle Williams), but she died. These things haunt him. Also, he doesn’t like water, which might be an issue in a film called “Shutter Island.” Now, in 1954, Teddy has a deferential new partner named Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), who seems strangely uneasy with a pistol and calls him “boss”

Pucker Island: Leonardo DiCaprio’s Most Intense Scrunchy Faces

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  Leonardo DiCaprio will be seen wearing many different faces when the decades-spanning biopic J. Edgar opens wide this Friday. But there’s one face we knew was coming long before Clint Eastwood ever said “action.” As Slate movie critic Dana Stevens pointed out in her review of Shutter Island, DiCaprio has taken more serious roles in recent years, and this new seriousness has been accompanied by the frequent appearance of his signature pucker face. She describes the countenance thusly: “All his features migrate to the middle of his face and just sort of crouch there.” Seeing DiCaprio scrunch so determinedly, no viewer could question the difficulty of the role, or the actor’s efforts to fulfill its demands. DiCaprio hasn’t always gone around wearing this grumpy expression. If you watch him as Luke Brower in Growing Pains (1991-1992) or as the Kid in The Quick and the Dead (1995), you’ll find more boyish charm than glowering determination

J. EDGAR Movie Review: THE G-MAN WHO COULDN’T CATCH AN AUDIENCE

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For nearly 50 years J. Edgar Hoover was one of the most powerful men in the history of America. He founded the FBI and introduced modern forensic science as we know it today. His accomplishments included: using fingerprints in solving cases, creating a fingerprint database, developed handwriting analysis as a crime fighting tool, training personal in new methods of police work and compiled the first national database of crime statistics. Hoover’s attack against the American Communist party reduced its membership by over 90%. He established a counter intelligence unit during WWII that effectively dismantled German and Japanese sabotage efforts in America. His criminal investigations led to the arrest of many famous criminals such as Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd . Later on he also worked against subversive groups such as the Black Panthers . Judi Dench and Leonardo DiCaprio Inasmuch as Hoover was the great anti-crime archetype, he was also an ar

Leonardo DiCaprio and Michelle Williams in Shutter Island

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Did Martin Scorsese's latest have you wishing for his mighty back catalogue? Or did you enjoy his old-fashioned potboiler for its own sake? And has Leonardo DiCaprio finally grown up?   Look out! Twist coming … Leonardo DiCaprio and Michelle Williams in Shutter Island One gets the impression that Martin Scorsese suffers somewhat from the exalted standing of his own back catalogue when it comes to critical notices. Had it been filmed by a newcomer, rather than the familiar, bushy-browed cineaste who shot Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and The Departed, Shutter Island might just have received top notch reviews all round. As it is, this skilfully concocted psychological thriller noir appears to be well received, yet some reviewers seem inclined to peck at its awkward eccentricities.

THE DEPARTED Review – Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson d: Martin Scorsese

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THE DEPARTED (2006) Direction: Martin Scorsese Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Vera Farmiga, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Anthony Anderson, Kevin Corrigan, James Badge Dale Screenplay: William Monahan; from Alan Mak and Felix Chong's screenplay for the 2002 film Infernal Affairs   Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio , The Departed Best Picture Academy Award winner The Departed boasts a respectable pedigree: the cop thriller was directed by Martin Scorsese; edited by Thelma Schoonmaker; shot by Michael Ballhaus; accompanied by Howard Shore's music; adapted by William Monahan from the 2002 Hong Kong hit Infernal Affairs; and it stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and 2005 Los Angeles Film Critics Best Actress winner Vera Farmiga. That The Departed turned out to be a (generally) efficient entry in the cop flick genre should come as no surprise to anyone. What I found (somewh

Pandora is Wonderful Gift for Ladies

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Please Accept The Tiffany of My Love

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