February 2005 - Tribute.ca

user picks:
The Aviator *
39%
Finding Neverland
25%
Million Dollar Baby
15%
Ray
14%
Sideways*
7%
*Golden Globe winner
The Aviator
Howard Hughes was an eccentric billionaire.
He made big, expensive, flashy movies, flew big,
expensive, flashy airplanes and dated big, expensive,
flashy movie stars. Chances are Hughes would’ve
liked this movie about him: It’s big, expensive, flashy and
full of stars, from Leonardo DiCaprio as Hughes to
Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn. Directed by
perennial Oscar bridesmaid Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas),
this Golden Globe winner is a sweeping Old Hollywoodstyle
epic. Hughes pushed the limits as a pilot (he set
numerous speed records), as a filmmaker (he made films
very much like The Aviator, only without the CGI and star
power), and as a business tycoon (he battled Pan Am
for airline supremacy). It’s enough material for three
TV miniseries, yet Scorsese squeezes it all into one
Spruce Goose of a film. Scorsese and company even
manage to offer occasional peeks at the hygienically
challenged, lunatic germaphobe Hughes became later
in life, when he took to wearing tissue boxes on his feet
and storing his urine in milk bottles.
Finding Neverland
Title aside, this film has nothing to do with a certain
creepy King of Pop. Instead, it’s the story of Peter
Pan author J.M. Barrie, a whimsical Victorian era
drama sprinkled with fairy dust. Blending fantasy with
heart-tugging sentimentality, Finding Neverland stars
Johnny Depp as the playwright and author who never
grew up and the delish Kate Winslet as the widowed
mother of the actual “lost” boys who inspired Barrie’s
classic story. And while Depp and Winslet certainly
captivate, it’s the startlingly nuanced performance
of 12-year-old Freddie Highmore as the real-life
Peter who steals the show and your heart.
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