“There appears to be some as-yet unknown underlying system that perfectly balances these various facets in such a way that makes it impossible to take one’s eyes off him from the second he comes into frame, even when he shares the screen with other handsome heartthrobs.”

Somebody gets me!!

Catch Me If You Can Trivia

I am amazingly behind in my Leo posts, due very much in part to being very much behind on a book deadline.  So I went over to IMDB and found these interesting trivia facts about the film CATCH ME IF YOU CAN to keep you amused until I can switch gears.

I set my favorite apart from the rest.

According to the real Frank Abagnale Jr. approximately 80 percent of the movie is true.

The film shows Frank Abagnale Jr. on the FBI's Most Wanted list. In real life, however, he never made the list - it's reserved for violent criminals.

To get her to achieve the way he wanted her to sloppily kiss Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Spielberg asked Amy Adams to pretend she was starving to death and eating a cheeseburger.

In a deleted scene, Frank dresses as a security guard and stands outside a bank's night deposit box, so people will give money to him instead of putting it in the box. During filming, despite the cameras, real people came up to Leonardo DiCaprio and tried to give him their money.

The story of Frank Abagnale Jr.'s exploits had one of the longest and most difficult journeys from its first pitch to its eventual production. In 1981 it was originally announced that his story would be filmed and that Frank would be played by Dustin Hoffman.

All road and concrete surfaces are wet in every shot, even though all scenes take place in sunny weather. Many cinematographers simply prefer the look of wet roads.

The production made use of around 157 locations throughout North America.

When Frank begins recruiting decoy flight attendants; when announcing the girls picked he announces the actresses by real name.

The FBI officer who was chasing Frank, and was the main inspiration for "Carl Hanratty," was really Joe Shea. Frank Abagnale Jr. used the pseudonym "Sean O'Reilly" in his book because Joe Shea was still in the F. B. I. He has since passed away.

Until he saw the results of Leonardo DiCaprio's work, the real Frank Abagnale Jr. didn't think DiCaprio was "suave" enough to play him.

Gore Verbinski pushed production back a few months because Leonardo DiCaprio had to re-

The blackboard that Carl Hanratty is writing on toward the end of the movie contains a small note at the bottom that says, "Steven and Tom's 4th project". Steven Spielbergand Tom Hanks, had previously collaborated on Band of Brothers (2001) , Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Joe Versus the Volcano (1990).

According to costume designer Mary Zophres, there were about 130 'day-players' (bit part actors) and 3,000-4,000 background extras employed, and Leonardo DiCaprio had 100 costume changes, through the film.

Filmed in 52 days.

Steven Spielberg's original choice for the role of Frank Abagnale Jr. was Johnny Depp.

The names on the forged diploma from Harvard Medical School actually contains the signatures of the then (2002) deans of both Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

The first cut of the film was about 80% authentic, as quoted at the epilogue of Abagnale's book. Some scenes were corrected, added and change as per request of the real Frank Abagnale Jr. to ensure total authenticity.

17-year-old Frank tells Brenda he's 28 years old, which was Leonardo DiCaprio's true age when Catch Me If You Can premiered in 2002.

Mrs. Abagnale's house after she remarried was the same house used for Father of the Bride (1991) and Father of the Bride Part II (1995).

When Abagnale gets his suit tailored to resemble James Bond, he signs himself as Mr. Fleming. Ian Fleming was the original author of James Bond.

Which one did you like best?

Tea at Leo's House ... =D

When the Australians came to town, it was time to have some fun and LA at the end of summer in a van touring the Hollywood Hills is a defiantly the way to go.  We saw one of Marilyn’s houses, we saw where Billy Bob’s plays basket ball and for a brief few minutes, we were parked in front of Leonardo DiCaprio's house.

As the guard came close—and Leo really does have guards.  We were parked, waiting for the opportunity to turn around and I’m in the front seat of the van kidding about going to the front door to knock.  Now I have always enjoyed DiCarprio’s movies, but it wasn’t until I was sitting beside his fifteen foot wall with the guard on us, his finger to his ear as he spoke to higher forces, that I started to put it together.  DiCaprio was right there, in that house.  And my heart pounded just a little harder, my breath became short and it dawned on me … I’m a Leonardo DiCaprio fan and knocking on that door actually sounded pretty damn good.

The funny thing… I found out later, Keanu Reeves, who doesn't live all that far away from Leo, in this same month found a woman in his living room, sitting in a chair in the middle of the night.  He called the police and she was arrested.  A few days later he found a naked woman swimming in his pool. And at this point, I’m thinking just maybe Keanu might want to talk to Leonardo about increasing his security, because Leo has it down pat.  That guy coming toward the van was friggin' scary and he was getting close fast.

Leonardo's house is to the left behind that huge wall.  

Time to reboot.  Guess we're going with Leo.

John Cusack as Bender ...

"Nicolas Cage was considered for the role of John Bender.  Bender was the last role to be cast and it was between John Cusack and Judd Nelson.  Hughes eventually cast Cusack to play John Bender, but Hughes decided to replace Cusack with Nelson before shooting began because Cusack didn't look threatening enough for the role."

~Wikipedia, The Breakfast Club

Say Anything ...

As already stated in the first John Cusack post, Lloyd Dobler came in at Number 72 of all time greatest characters  beating out both Darth Vader at Number 84 and Captain Jack Sparrow at Number 87.

Tagline: "A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college."

This is a little bit of a problem as Lloyd's plans for the future are a little less clear.

Say's Lloyd: "I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career.  I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed or process anything sold, bought or processed or repair anything bought, or processed.  You know, as a career. I don't want to do that."

He has a nervous talking thing, as his best friend Corey points out.

Lloyd Dobler isn't a "guy".  He doesn't hang around with the "guys" at the corner market on a Saturday night bashing the women they could never get in the first place.  Lloyd's best friends are girls.  He can talk to them, understands them and that is what makes Diane Court fall in love with him.

"The world is full of guys," says Corey.  "Be a man.  Don't be a guy."

A young Cary Grant - sans accent -- could have played Lloyd   Or maybe David Niven. Some old time Hollywood personality who would bring to the stage the same qualities that the young, still getting his bearings, Cusack has brought.

Because John Cusack nailed it in this part.  A love them then loose them, only to love them again situation and he nailed it with all the finesse of a Hollywood Star.  He created a hero that, to this day, is a role model for the hopeless romantic.

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