Finally!

Now that a bazillion Internet memes have subsided and a thousand lame jokes have died a natural death, i think it's the appropriate time to appreciate Leonardo DiCaprio's debut Oscar win. For someone who'd spent his entire life in front of the camera, that golden baldie must mean a lot to him. He was 19 when he earned his first nod back in 1993 for What's Eating Gilbert Grape (notice how the title didn't have a question mark; maybe because the film was an answer). Martin Scorsese watched this film even before the nominations were announced and noticed the young talent. They bumped into each other later and according to a story, the legendary filmmaker patted DiCaprio's back asking him to keep up the good work. They were to team up within a decade for Gangs of New York (2002) and have been teaming up again and again since. In this bargain, both of them ended up making brilliant films. Out of DiCaprio's five nominations for Best Actor, two came from Scorsese's films. Which makes you wonder whether 23 years is a really long wait. After all, Al Pacino bagged his first Oscar (and so far his last) on his seventh nomination. He hasn't been nominated in over two decades now. And that's also where my worry for DiCaprio lies. Once you've got the baby, will you continue to strive for perfection? Ennio Morricone would be excused because he's 87 and the music composer finally won his first Oscar this year after scoring 500 film credits and six nominations. DiCaprio, at 41, can't afford to be excused.