A Billion Dollars

Went to see The Aviator yesterday and I actually liked it. Leonardo is probably one of the most underrated actors and made his mistake by becoming famous in a movie like Titanic where the love story outshone the actual disaster, and wound up primarily appealing to teens. If you doubt me, watch What's Eating Gilbert Grape? or Catch Me if You Can. What I think hurts this movie is that Martin Scorsese often tries to insert his director's "schtick" or "footprint," which I don't think translates from something like Goodfellas to The Aviator (and why I think Gangs dudded). There are just some wierd scenes that caused me to wonder if the projection reel suddenly changed to a different flick. The Ava Gardner/Kate Beckinsale character was pointless, but I did like see Cate Blanchett do the timeless Katharine Hepburn (I just read a bio on her). Anyway, I think the movie's worth watching, though a tad too long. I'd give it a B.

What I liked a lot, though, was Hughes' ability to envision the potential capabilities with the airplanes and even sketch them out, esp. since he had no education or formal training in that field. He concepted and brought to life planes that could do a non-stop from LA to NYC as well as a built a military transport plane for troops and equipment. He would also gamble his fortune on these ideas b/c he so fervently believed in them and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. I admire that.

But, it also got me thinking about what I would like to invent, regardless of money or practicality. I would love to have a car where I could just ram into any body who pisses me off on the road, but not cause bodily harm or insurance issues. I just want them to know that I think they're a dumbass.

Does anyone else have an idea?