The film itself is quite something. Not at all what I'd expected. DiCaprio is masterful--and profoundly disturbing--as mentally ill airplane genius Howard Hughes. Cate Blanchett is eerily accurate (if somewhat irritating) in the role of Katharine Hepburn. My favorites were dreamy Matt Ross as Glenn "Odie" Odekirk and the beautiful Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner. Alec Baldwin chomps through the scenery as rival airline head Juan Trippe, and Alan Alda (usually a favorite of mine) takes an odd turn as corrupt senator Ralph Owen Brewster.
The special effects in The Aviator are amazing, particularly the early flight sequences. Some of the cinematography effects are peculiar, but the entire movie is somehow 'thrilling' to watch. It is definitely worth seeing.
And no review of this film can be complete without sharing at least some favorite lines. To wit:
...
Sir Galahad: "Is there someone else up there we could talk to?"
French Soldier: "No, now go away before I taunt you a second time."
...
King Arthur: "Look, you stupid Bastard. You've got no arms left."
Black Knight: "Yes I have."
King Arthur: "*Look*!"
Black Knight: "It's just a flesh wound."
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French Soldier: "You don't frighten us, English pig dogs. Go and boil your bottoms, you sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called 'Arthur King,' you and all your silly English K-nig-hts."
...
Dennis: "Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. ... Oh, but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you. ... Oh but if I went 'round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away."
...
Tim: "Follow. But. Follow only if ye be men of valour, for the entrance to this cave is guarded by a creature so foul, so cruel that no man yet has fought with it and lived. Bones of full fifty men lie strewn about its lair. So, brave knights, if you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further, for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth."
King Arthur: "What an eccentric performance."
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French Soldier: "I'm French. Why do you think I have this outrageous accent, you silly king?"
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Peasant 1: "If she weighed the same as a duck...she's made of wood."
Sir Bedevere: "And therefore..."
Peasant 2: "...A witch! Burn her!"
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Tim: "I *warned* you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you *knew*, didn't you? Oh, it's just a harmless little *bunny*, isn't it?"
Totally worth it. [There is, however, one...version...that I've yet to try. I may report the details.]
One more thing. If anyone can figure out how I can buy one of these plates (featured in Architectural Digest, September 2005, on the table of contents page [p. 12 or so?]), I would be ever so grateful. The only information that I have about it is the name of the designer, Giovanna Amoruso-Manzari.
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