Biographies of world figures

Over the years, there have been hundreds of movie adaptations of William Shakespeare's works. Some have been faithful to the Bard, others were loosely-based. While there were those that were mere inspirations. Among the 8 movies on the list, Kenneth Branagh and Julia Stiles figure prominently as they starred in a total of 5 films. 3 out of the 8 films were set in American high schools. Another 3 are costumed productions. Universal themes of love, betrayal, deception, marriage, jealousy, and relationships resonate throughout his works. Of the 40 plays that he wrote, recurring themes occur. What is it about Shakespeare that we universally love? Is it the archaic language, the quotable quotes, the settings, the characters or the themes of the plays?  Whatever it is, after 400 years since his death, Shakespeare is very much alive in our consciousness. William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) This Baz Luhrmann-helmed movie helped catapult Leonardo DiCaprio's hearthrob status ...

"Making The Revenant was about man's connection to the natural world. We felt in 2015 it was the hottest year on the planet. Climate change is real, it's happening right now, it's the most urgent threat affecting our entire species, we need to work right now and stop procrastinating ." And the Oscar goes to...Leonardo DiCaprio! The long wait is over for Leonardo DiCaprio. He has won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Hugh Glass in The Revenant.  It has been a complete sweep for Leo. From the Golden Globe Awards to SAG to Critic's Choice and finally, the Oscar. Leo has been consistent in all of his acceptance speeches. He talks about the Environment, Climate Change, the Indigenous people... All of which are his advocacies.  Watch Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar speech and be inspired.

Will 2016 be the year for Leonardo DiCaprio to finally snag his first Oscar gold?  Will the Academy and its members finally recognize the acting prowess of Leo the Great? For his more than 20 years in the Film Industry, Leo deserved to have more than 5 Oscar nominations. He has brought to the screen his charisma and talent, over and over again. Let's take a look at the five Academy Award Acting Nominations that he earned over the years. Leo first came to the notice of the Academy when he starred in the 1993 movie, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, as developmentally-challenged Arnie Grape. He was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Award. He lost to The Fugitive's Tommy Lee Jones. In his second movie collaboration with Martin Scorsese, Leo portrayed eccentric billionaire, Howard Hughes in the movie The Aviator . He was able to integrate and express Hughes' varying emotional turmoil and psychological fears and made us believe that he was Howard Hughes. This role was his f...

88th Academy Awards Acting Nominees If you were nominated in one of the Acting categories  in the Academy Awards, what kind of emotions would you have? Will you be happy, excited, stressed-out, nervous, or scared? With the 88th Academy Awards just a few days away, I can only imagine how the Acting nominees are feeling right now. I wouldn't have been able to sleep or eat or even breath because of the anticipation.  There is a total of 20 nominees for the following categories, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. Eight of those actors are first-time nominees. Sunday's event will be a first for Bryan Cranston, Charlotte Rampling, Brie Larson, Alicia Vikander, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rachel McAdams, Mark Rylance, and Tom Hardy. Between all of the nominees, there has been a total of 51 nominations. Leonardo diCaprio has earned 5 Acting nominations and 1 nomination as a Producer. Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet has 7 Acting nominations...

Alfred Hitchcock in 1955 (photo courtesy of Wikipedia) Alfred Hitchcock, the master storyteller, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director 5 times but never took home the little gold man. A prolific film-maker, he made over 50 films starring the best and brightest actors of their time including Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, James Stewart, Kim Novak, Doris Day, Ray Milland, Raymond Burr, Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman, Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, just to name a few. One of his famous trademarks was to make cameos in his movies. It became so popular with movie viewers that he made sure that his appearances happened in the few minutes of the film to avoid further distractions.  Hitchcock and his famous profile What I love about Hitchcock is that he was able to translate storylines from novels and make it his own. From Psycho to Strangers on the train to Rebecca ---- his favorite source of movie materials came from books. Hitchcock was nominated for the following films,...