Leonardo Dicaprio

What's surprising about Leonardo DiCaprio is that in person, he isn't all that different from Arnie, whom he plays in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape."That is surprising because Arnie is mentally retarded -- and Mr. DiCaprio most certainly is not.He's a smart, successful 19-year-old with an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.Mr. DiCaprio is also restless and fidgety. His eyes roam, his fingers pester his face, his arms and upper body go all gangly. He seems to be somewhere else -- or to want to be.But on this evening several weeks before the Oscar nominations, he is trapped in an office on the Paramount lot.Inside the nearby Paramount theater are insiders -- friends of the producers, friends of friends of the producers, Paramount queen Sherry Lansing -- all attending a celebration screening of "Gilbert Grape."

It's Europe Day! (Yeah, we didn't know that either.) Welcome to your trends report for Friday, May 10. You're not alone if you were in the dark about the EU's annual holiday: Apparently, very few Europeans know that it exists. Nonetheless, between that, soccer championships and some market-related news articles, Europe managed to get some major attention on Twitter this morning. Also getting heavy traffic -- mostly on Google search -- was the NBA. This weekend's matchups include Heat-Bulls and Warriors-Spurs.

Clint Eastwood's latest film, "J. Edgar," due out Nov. 9, is a biopic on FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). Here's what the film's trailer revealed. 1. Leonardo DiCaprio loves him some accents: He's done Boston ("The Departed") and whatever he was trying to do in "Blood Diamond," but DiCaprio's Hoover-speak is a little vague here. Is it N.Y.? Generic East Coast? Simply gravelly? We're a little confused (for the record: Hoover was born in D.C.)

The trailer for "The Great Gatsby," Baz Luhrmann's new adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, shows promise. (It certainly couldn't be as bad as the 1974 adaptation, which was flat and passion-less, despite a cast that include Robert Redford, Mia Farrow and Bruce Dern.) The new version, scheduled for a Christmas release, stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan as the lovers separated by a vast gulf of wealth (not to mention marriage vows). The party scenes featured in the trailer bear a close resemblance to the scenes in Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge," and that's a good sign, because it contrasts sharply with the lifelessness of the earlier version.

"The United States invariably does the right thing after having exhausted every other alternative." A variation on that Winston Churchill quote triggers the only laugh to be had in The 11th Hour. As the narrator of this sprawling documentary about climate change, Leonardo DiCaprio makes the Al Gore of An Inconvenient Truth seem like JFK and Jon Stewart rolled into one. Almost always viewed with darkish sad rags on his body (mourning clothes for Mother Earth?) and an urgent earnestness freezing his face, DiCaprio makes self-abnegation heavy-handed.

From: ABC News President David Westin To: Ted Koppel, Sam Donaldson, Peter Jennings Subject: Leonardo DiCaprio's interview with President Clinton for ABC News' Earth Day Special, airing April 22. Gentlemen: I understand you are all concerned about our decision to air excerpts of Mr. DiCaprio's interview at the White House with President Clinton. I need to "set the record straight" regarding our commitment to news and to the public. Mr. DiCaprio is not only the celebrity chairman of this year's Earth Day (previous distinguished recipients include Barry "Greg Brady" Williams)

The trailer for "The Great Gatsby," Baz Luhrmann's new adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, shows promise. (It certainly couldn't be as bad as the 1974 adaptation, which was flat and passion-less, despite a cast that include Robert Redford, Mia Farrow and Bruce Dern.) The new version, scheduled for a Christmas release, stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan as the lovers separated by a vast gulf of wealth (not to mention marriage vows). The party scenes featured in the trailer bear a close resemblance to the scenes in Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge," and that's a good sign, because it contrasts sharply with the lifelessness of the earlier version.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association loves its California wines, loves Howard Hughes, and is pretty keen on the guy who played Ray Charles, if the 62nd Golden Globe nominations announced yesterday are any indication. Sideways, Alexander Payne's offbeat comic romance set in California's wine country, led the field with seven nominations. The Aviator, the Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio epic on the life of Howard Hughes, scored six. But any way you look at it, Jamie Foxx was on the association's mind.

"Marvin's Room" sparkles with promise as it begins, $l especially when you see its diamond-studded cast: Meryl Streep. Diane Keaton. Leonardo DiCaprio. Hume Cronyn. Gwen Verdon. Robert De Niro!But Jerry Zaks' film loses its luster as it draws to its close. Like cut glass, it's ultimately fake and a little dull.Keaton and Streep play estranged sisters. Keaton is Bessie, the good girl who agreed to take care of her dad, Marvin (Cronyn), when he had a stroke. She ended up spending 20 years as his nurse and her aunt's (Verdon)

Some jottings from a critic's notebook regarding "The Beach": "It's `Lord of the Flies' meets `The Love Boat!' " ... "It's `Lord of the Flies' meets `The Farm!' " ... "It's `Lord of the Flies' meets a Phish concert!" "The Beach" is all of that and not much more, but filmgoers who crave escapist adventure in exotic climes can do worse. Adapted from Alex Garland's popular first novel by ultra-hip director Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting," "Shallow Grave"), "The Beach" is already famous for starring a post-"Titanic" Leonardo DiCaprio.

Clint Eastwood's latest film, "J. Edgar," due out Nov. 9, is a biopic on FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). Here's what the film's trailer revealed. 1. Leonardo DiCaprio loves him some accents: He's done Boston ("The Departed") and whatever he was trying to do in "Blood Diamond," but DiCaprio's Hoover-speak is a little vague here. Is it N.Y.? Generic East Coast? Simply gravelly? We're a little confused (for the record: Hoover was born in D.C.)

Don't vote. People will try to guilt you into it, but stay strong and resist. I'm talking to all of you who don't feel strongly about either presidential candidate, not just those 80 undecided idiots seated at last week's town hall-style debate. Those people just crave attention and are way too proud of skimming enough Google News headlines to formulate a question. Give each a hug and a Debate Attendee diploma, and I bet they'll pick a candidate real fast. Voting is not an act of charity.

"It's magic time," Jack Lemmon proclaimed right before he stepped into a take for one of his movies. As a movie critic, I say it to myself before the lights go down. It's a way of exorcising anything that might get in the way of enjoying the picture. In a media age that's taken the art of handicapping from sports to politics and fine-art auctions, it's impossible to walk into a movie without knowing whether it has "buzz." So why leave the buildup to studio flaks? Here's what some of the peaks and valleys look like when you have nothing to go on but the titles and the talent involved.

"The United States invariably does the right thing after having exhausted every other alternative." A variation on that Winston Churchill quote triggers the only laugh to be had in The 11th Hour. As the narrator of this sprawling documentary about climate change, Leonardo DiCaprio makes the Al Gore of An Inconvenient Truth seem like JFK and Jon Stewart rolled into one. Almost always viewed with darkish sad rags on his body (mourning clothes for Mother Earth?) and an urgent earnestness freezing his face, DiCaprio makes self-abnegation heavy-handed.

Capsules by Michael Sragow and Chris Kaltenbach unless noted. Full reviews at baltimoresun.com/movies. Blood Diamond, -- an adventure film that spotlights the practice of using the trade in precious stones to fund violence in certain African countries, has the unenviable job of serving two masters. It has to be exciting, but not so much that its message is lost. It has to be moralistic without being preachy. It's only in what amounts to the film's epilogue that things fall out of whack.

Howard Hughes, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2004 Scorsese film The Aviator, built the Spruce Goose. Glenn L. Martin, played by no one that we know of in any Scorsese film that we know of, built the Martin Mars. The Martin Mars was one of the largest seaplanes ever built, and, unlike Hughes' Goose, it actually flew more than once and saved lives. It was neither as big nor as infamous as the Goose, but it was far more important, successful and durable. In fact, two Martin Mars planes were in operation this summer - more than 60 years after they were built in Middle River - putting out forest fires in British Columbia, and how do you like that?

I FINALLY FINISHED the script for the sequel to the movie "Titanic." I am calling it -- and let the legal record show that I thought of this first -- "Titanic II: The Sequel."I am darned proud of this script. I have been working on it, without sleeping or eating, except for two grilled-cheese sandwiches, for the better part of the last 35 minutes. I realize that sounds like a lot of work, but bear in mind that writer/director James Cameron spent nearly twice that long on the script for the original movie, which was titled "Titanic I, the Original Movie."