all over again

I hate not being a film critic, because when I see a great film after I've already posted a best-of list, I have to go back and separately state that this or that was wonderful and deserving and oh, I should have put it on my list, and all that back-peddling crap. If I were a film critic, I could see these things in advance and work around that annoyance.

However, last night I watched The Aviator, Scorsese's Howard Hughes film, and it exceeded my feeble expectations. By a lot.

First off, Leonardo DiCaprio is great. If you have never liked him before, you might just be impressed this time. And if you think he's all about being really dreamy in that Titanic kind of way, you may be in for a surprise. Scorsese doesn't mind letting his film go dark, and DiCaprio isn't a stranger to that sort of thing (this is the Leonardo DiCaprio of films like The Basketball Diaries and Total Eclipse, not Catch Me If You Can or The Beach). And the director captures that Old Hollywood style and glamour without getting too caught up in it. He also surrounds his star with a lot of terrific supporting players, most notably John C. Reilly, Cate Blanchett, Alan Alda, and Matt Ross.

Fact is, The Aviator was one of those films I figured couldn't possibly be as good as I'd heard; couldn't possibly be worthy of 11 Oscar nominations; would suffer because its director has made far superior films in the past. After last night, however, I hope it wins several of the big categories, and maybe this year Scorsese himself will get the recognition he's deserved for so long. It's that good.