Gossip and News
These tidbits brought to you by Infobeat
and The Vibe: Sleaze
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(3-11-98) "As rumors swirl that
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO will snub the Oscars as they snubbed him for the Best
Actor Award, Oscar officials are hoping that they can lure the young heartthrob
to the ceremonies by having him present one of the awards. Leo's legion
of young fans protested when the fresh-faced actor was not nominated for
his lead role in the blockbuster movie TITANIC. Judges at the Beverly Hills
headquarters have been flooded with nearly a thousand letters and e-mails,
from as far afield as Poland, from fans questioning their decision to leave
Leo out in the cold. An Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences staff
member said, "There is talk that Leo might not even come to the event despite
being up with the rest of the cast for best picture. The Academy now realize
what a draw this young man really is." And even Titanic director JAMES
CAMERON was surprised by Di Caprio's lack of a nomination. He said,
"You don't expect anything in this game but I do feel Leo does deserve
to be up there." Oh, whatever. Just because he is heartthrob of the month
doesn't mean that he acted better than all of the industry veterans nominated
(excluding MATT DAMON of course). I think everyone would agree that his
Oscar-nominated performance in WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE was far better,
and duly recognized for its excellence." (Note: I have
to say i agree with the Diva here. So he's a heartthrob, so what?
His acting was pretty good, but not amazing. Kate deserves her nomination
much more.)
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(3-10-98) "Dedicated mom SUSAN
SARANDON admits that she went a bit too far in her bid to meet LEONARDO
DiCAPRIO. The THELMA AND LOUISE star was so desperate for her daughter
EVA MARIA to meet the pin-up that she invited herself to the New York premiere
of his new flick THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK. And it didn't take long for
the Oscar winner to pull a few strings and organize a face to face meeting
with the heart-throb. She admits, "I humiliated myself, I threw myself
at him to get my daughter and seven of her school friends in. I did everything
I could to get past security and the screaming girls. But it was worth
it, she was so happy." She adds, "He couldn't have been sweeter. He was
so patient and was so forgiving of the fact that I was so pushy." DiCaprio
even took the trouble to ask the overawed youngster about an eye injury
she was sporting. "He talked to all the girls they asked him questions.
He was totally adorable and even asked my daughter how she'd gotten a black
eye. She told him how a friend had hit her with a door.""
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(3-2-98) "TITANIC is sailing towards
its final destination to become the biggest film ever at the American
box-office. JAMES CAMERON's blockbuster epic about the maiden voyage of
the doomed liner is still at number one in the American box-office chart,
with weekend takings of $19.7 million. And although this is the first weekend
that Titanic has made less than $20 million, its total takings in America
have now risen to more than $427 million. It now has to make little more
than $34 million to overtake STAR WARS as the highest-grossing film in
American box-office history. Meanwhile officials at 20TH CENTURY FOX and
PARAMOUNT, the two studios which teamed up to distribute the blockbuster,
reveal that the doomed cruise liner is also on course to smash the $1 billion
barrier at the worldwide box office this week. After an 11th weekend berthed
at the top of the American charts, Paramount, who have distributed the
movie in America, and Fox, who promoted it all over the rest of the world,
say Titanic is unstoppable. A spokesman for Twentieth Century Fox explains,
"We expect either tomorrow or Wednesday will be the mystical date when
the $1 billion mark is surpassed. It still has to be released in new territories,
like China, so we are expecting impressive results.""
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(2-24-98) "Although it seems like TITANIC
star LEONARDO DICAPRIO can do no wrong right now, his new movie is apparently
really, really awful. English critics who saw preview screenings of the
movie last weekend laughed THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK out of the cinema,
branding it an unintentional comedy. DiCaprio's decision to play French
King LOUIS XIV with a cool Californian accent apparently had the audiences
in hysterics. Other cast members including GERARD DEPARDIEU, JEREMY IRONS,
GABRIEL BYRNE and JOHN MALKOVICH - who play the FOUR MUSKETEERS - were
also ridiculed. The critics were laughing instead of crying when Byrne's
character died and there were plenty o' giggles goin' on during DiCaprio's
nonbelievable love scenes. And let's just give a special mention to the
truly abominably awful hairweave he is sporting. Ugh. One critic
said, 'It was so bad it was good. I haven't had a laugh like that in ages.'"
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(1-29-98) "Leo must not really be sure
of himself, either. Seems he befriended a woman in a video store, but lost
her phone number. He then called the store's manager to ask if any women
there had given him their number. By the time Leonardo got back to the
store, the manager had a bagful of phone numbers for him. (National Enquirer)"
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(1-28-98) "Kate Winslet is losing friends
fast - because she has seen heartthrob du jour LEONARDO DiCAPRIO naked
and can't remember what he looks like. The pair became like brother and
sister while working together on blockbuster movie TITANIC and she admits
she never thought to measure Leo up when they leapt into jacuzzis together
to warm up after hours spent in the water. She says, "I didn't even give
it a second thought. When I got home and my friends said, 'I wonder what
he looks like with nothing on,' and I explained I didn't really take that
much notice, they were horrified." Meanwhile, my LA buddies have spotted
Leo out on several occasions recently and seem to be of the opinion that
his face is getting a bit pudgy, kind of obscuring his looks and that he
really, really, REALLY seems to enjoy the company of all those good looking
young men he hangs out with constantly. Maybe he should start dating Keanu
Reeves and spare the teen girls of this world hours of wasted time obsessing…"
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(1-26-98) Heart-throb LEONARDO DiCAPRIO
has upgraded his house in a shady neighborhood to a $3.2 million mansion
thanks to his huge TITANIC pay package. The $4.8 million pay check for
the lead role in the smash hit movie has bought DiCaprio a six bathroom
house in the exclusive Stone Canyon area, complete with chandeliers, marble
Jacuzzi, gym and 8 ft cinema screen. His Los Angeles neighbors include
Hollywood legend LIZ TAYLOR and ex- president RONALD REAGAN, a bit of a
change from the people he used to rub shoulders in the area dubbed SYRINGE
ALLEY, where he lived when he was younger. The dark cul-de-sac was described
by a policeman as "the sort of area where they'll shoot you for your watch
to buy drugs."
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(1-12-98) "JAMES CAMERON's mighty TITANIC
is proving itself unsinkable at the North American box-office. Figures
for ticket sales over the weekend show the film isn't going to go the same
way as its ill-fated subject. Titanic grossed an astonishing $29.2 million
to remain at number one in the box-office stakes for the fourth week in
a row. That sum is even higher than the amount the film grossed in its
first weekend. Titanic, starring LEONARDO DiCAPRIO and KATE WINSLET,
cost $200 million to make and was, according to Hollywood cynics, doomed
to sink at the box-office. But since its release four weeks ago it has
more than covered its costs. Only two other films have passed the $200
million box-office sales mark more quickly- INDEPENDENCE DAY did it in
21 days and JURASSIC PARK in 23 days. And the good news for Titanic doesn't
end there- it's tipped to sweep the board at next weekend's GOLDEN
GLOBE AWARDS after picking up nominations in eight categories."
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(1-8-98) "Leo made a bit of a faux pas
when he was introduced to Academy Award-winner Shelley Winters. Praising
DiCaprio's work in "Titanic," Shelley told the young actor she got
her award in 1959 and it was now his turn. He responded by saying, "I didn't
know Oscars had been around that long." (National Enquirer)"
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(1-8-98) "SO, WHAT WERE YOU DOING ON
NEW YEAR'S?? Well, if you were Hollywood hottie LEONARDO DiCAPRIO
you were surrounded by four young women and an opium pipe. Rumor
has it that the budding hearthrob dined on New Year's Eve at South Beach,
Miami's TANTRA RESTAURANT with not one but four pretty women at his table.
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(12-29-97) "Leo enjoyed his holidays
by frolicking in the water both onscreen and off. While his hit movie TITANIC
was sinking the competition at the box office, Leo was scuba diving in
the Caribbean. Reports from Titanic's sets were legendary about how difficult
it was to get the actor to get in the freezing water for his scenes, but
I guess he doesn't mind so much when it is for recreational purposes. Before
the holidays he said, "I want to take time to scuba dive. It is very different
being under water, it is so peaceful and great to escape." After enjoying
his sun-soaked holiday in the Caribbean the rising star then jetted back
to Los Feliz, Los Angeles to spend some time with his parental units. Even
"the biggest movie star in the world" can't escape the holiday parental
quality time requirement. Ha ha."
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(12-16-97) "Leo is feeling washed out
after enduring the busiest year of his life. The 23-year-old has literally
taken Hollywood by storm in the last twelve months and is now set to duck
out of the limelight for a while to recharge his batteries. The ROMEO AND
JULIET actor admits, "I'm exhausted. I want to do some traveling after
I get a lot of rest. I'm going to take some classes, I don't know what
in. I'm going to exercise and take care of business." However DiCaprio
isn't going to stay out of the media spotlight for too long - he's enjoying
his superstar privileges too much. He adds, "What is cool is going to different
countries and getting everything paid for. Getting your friends to come
with you. It's not bad at all.""
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(12-15-97) "Leo was left pining for
his leading lady at Sunday night's Los Angeles premiere of TITANIC. The
Hollywood hunk was hoping to hook up with British actress KATE WINSLET,
who missed out on the London premiere last earlier this month because of
illness. This time an untimely death in her family kept her away from the
star-studded event at MANN'S CHINESE THEATRE in Hollywood. DiCaprio
admitted, "I miss her so much, I wish she could have been here. I love
that girl, she's the best." But the 23-year-old was still in good
company with SYLVESTER STALLONE, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, DUSTIN HOFFMAN
and CELINE DION all in attendance. However it was the ROMEO AND JULIET
star who stole the limelight - a phenomenon he's having trouble getting
used to. He said, "I'm still trying to deal with it all. For the most part
it's been so surreal all this stuff, I don't feel like I'm really here.""
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(12-11-97) DANNY DEVITO has jumped in
to save the day by agreeing to direct a new film starring Leo. The TWINS
star is taking the helm of THE CROWDED ROOM after several stars including
BRAD PITT and SEAN PENN dropped out. The movie is the true story of BILLY
MILLIGAN, a man who developed 24 personalities. DeVito is no stranger to
directing, his film MATILDA made $100 million at the box office, and he
also produced flicks such as PULP FICTION and GET SHORTY.
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(12-08-97) "The money the film company
set aside for this would have gone to other films anyway. It's not as if
it would have been sent towards hunger relief in Africa." - TITANIC star
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO makes an ass of himself while attempting to justify the
film's ridiculously bloated $200 million budget.
These tidbits brought to you by Infobeat
and The Vibe: Sleaze
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This page last updated: 3-14-98
