Review: Shutter Island

The fourth episode of “Martin Scorsese and Leonardo Dicaprio” has turned out to be just about as thrilling and thoughtful as the previous three installments. With Shutter Island, Scorsese has created a psychological thriller that keeps you guessing throughout. This is not the crazy horror of Cape Fear that Paramount marketed to us, but instead, it is a thinking movie that really messes with your mind. The movie gets going right away as the boat arrives at Shutter Island, and the pounding score (a mixture of already-existing songs selected by The Band’s Robbie Robertson) let’s you know that the creepiness begins now.

DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo are US Marshals, Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule, respectively, who have been assigned to a hospital for the criminally insane where a murderer has escaped from her locked room without a trace. Right away, Dicaprio realizes that things are not as they seem, and the doctors, nurses, and orderlies are not as helpful as one would expect of hospital employees looking to catch an escaped murderer. We learn that Teddy’s wife, played by Michelle Williams, was murdered two years earlier, and she haunts his nightmares and daydreams throughout his stay at Shutter Island. These images all help put together the mystery that the audience attempts to solve with Teddy Daniels. The rest of this stellar supporting cast is rounded out by Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, and Jackie Earle Haley.

As with any psychological thriller, the movie takes a little time to settle in, but Scorsese is a master at genre, and he knows how to keep the audience thinking. He takes about an hour showing you many of the pieces of the puzzle, and then very slowly and meticulously begins laying the pieces in place. Sure there is a great twist at the end, but the joy comes from watching everything unfold as new characters emerge to confuse the stories of both Teddy and Dr. Cawley (Kingsley). People will tell you that they knew how it would end, but they’re just pompous liars. No one really knew how it would end, although it may have been one of their several guesses. Everything about this movie is meant to disorient you, from the way it is shot to the many unexplained details that Teddy uncovers as he searches for the meaning of the disappearance of Rachel.

The script is wonderfully adapted by Laeta Kalogridis from Denis Lehane’s novel of the same name. This is now the third movie adaptation of Lehane’s novels (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone), and is equally unsettling as the others. Without giving away the ending, I will tell you that it makes for great ethical questions afterward, as did Lehane’s two other adaptations. Scorsese has accomplished a difficult task in creating a deep, thoughtful movie based on complex novel, something that only a steady hand can do at the helm. Production values are as high as expected from a modern Scorsese project, as veteran cinematographer Robert Richardson (Aviator, Inglorious Basterds) and Scorsese regular editor Thelma Schoonmaker team up again for this thrill ride.

I strongly recommend Shutter Island, and I can’t wait to see it again.

Trifecta

HELLO EVERYONE

Hello, everyone. I hope your navigation of the internet machine has brought you to something that you will enjoy reading and perhaps give you something to act upon. I will be writing about the movie business as it pertains to the everyman. My reviews will be on wide release movies only unless something else is particularly intriguing. There is nothing more annoying than getting reviews from snobby out-of-touch film critics who claim to have good taste even though (or perhaps because) no one agrees with them.

I will also keep you up to date on what’s going on in the movie business, and perhaps the TV business, and how that affects us as viewers. Since most people aren’t in the entertainment industry, they don’t want to know the inside story unless it makes a difference in how they view content, or what content they get to view.

You should know that the industry is looking to allow moviegoers a way to view newly released feature films in the comfort of their own homes either on the theatrical release date or shortly after. You should also know that the Golden Globes are kind of a joke and you shouldn’t give weight to the opinions of small-time foreign film critics, because they are just large Romanian women with mustaches.

You should not, however, have to search through the endless amount of information that does not pertain to you or your interests. I will do the sifting for you. Call it the “in touch, young, normal person’s movie blog.”

Just a few quick FYI’s on entertainment to get us started:

1. Avatar will become the highest grossing film of all-time.

2. Yes it’s that good, so if you haven’t seen it yet it’s time to fix that mistake, advisedly in IMAX 3D. That is, unless you’re in China where the movie has been banned. (I thought they weren’t Commies anymore).

3. The Chipmunks “Squeakquel” has already earned about $200 million in the US alone. This should make us all: A. disappointed in our fellow man (if you didn’t see it), or B. ashamed (if you did see it).

4. District 9, Inglorious Basterds, and The Hangover are now all on DVD. You should have already seen all of them.

5. Sony has scrapped Spiderman 4 and is looking to reboot the franchise with an all new cast and director.

6. Yes this is a stupid idea, even if Spiderman 3 sucked.

7. If you’ve actually read this far, you care, and should, therefore, have a Netflix account, because Netflix is the best way to discover movies pertaining to your personal taste.

8. Everyone involved with Sherlock Holmes has sent a personal letter to Robert Downey, Jr. thanking him for carrying them on his back.

9. OK, that last one isn’t true, but it should be.

10. Christopher Nolan (writer/director of The Dark Knight) has finally signed on for the sequel and to oversee the next Superman movie for Warner Bros. Hooray for the geek in all of us!

11. I will not be checking RottenTomatoes.com and then use it to help form my opinion. Probably.

Ticket sales are the highest they have been since 2004, so let’s all thank James Cameron and the recession. More people are seeing movies, and there is some good stuff out there to see even if the holiday movie season put you to sleep. So hopefully you’re ready to get to watching and reading, because there are some shake-ups going on, and although the entertainment news sites are trying to bore you, some of these stories actually do matter.

DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD

Today I want to let you all know about the premier entertainment blog that is Deadline Hollywood. Written by entertainment journalist Nikki Finke, this blog is used by all professionals in the entertainment industry because she breaks news before the source is able to. Often times organizations will plan to announce something to the press, but Nikki Finke hears the news from one of her many sources all over and immediately posts the news on her site. She posts several times a day on whatever she finds interesting and important. During the talks for the blockbuster Endeavor / William Morris Agency merger, her site was the place to go to stay up to speed on what was going on. She knew which board members voted for the merger and which ones did not, and that information was never officially released.

On Monday, January 25th, she posted that companies Sony and Apparition are in talks to acquire, Splice, which recently debuted at Sundance. She knows all the details of the pending deal, including that “Apparition will post a minimum guarantee around $2.5 million while an independent source supply a $20 million P&A fund in a deal being wrapped up by CAA by tomorrow.” That same day she discussed a feud that appears to have just begun between American Idol hosts Ellen Degeneres and Simon Cowell. Apparently the first day did not go well, and Ellen was willing to share her angry feelings of moving around her schedule for her new job, only to have to wait for Simon Cowell to show up and hour and a half late; but enough about reality TV. She also broke the news that Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin would be co-hosting the Academy Awards before the Academy did and she even more recently posted that the Academy was looking for a third host, one she expects to be of a different demographic, be it in age, race, or gender.

This blog is perfect for what I write about. She breaks all the news as soon as she can, and often offers her own opinion and cynicism in her posts. Finke is a professional who recognizes the blogging forum as a way for her to create a news site with a few punches. She provides detailed posts about business deals and often simply posts the press release if the news has already been announced. She doesn’t have to wait to hear if something is absolutely true before posting it, which is something newspapers have to do. People are moving toward writers who give them some opinion in the matters they are reporting. Sometimes newspapers, news websites, and news programming have to be so politically correct that they cannot really tell the consumer what the news could mean for them. However, Finke does have many friends in the entertainment industry and, therefore, cannot just say whatever she wants. But there are still many people whose feelings do not get the politically correct treatment.

Finke’s blog is a direct reflection of the entertainment industry. It is a daily reminder that there are no secrets. Professionals often go to her blog before reading Variety, because she is honest and up to date. Unfortunately, I cannot be as up to date as she is, since my sources are internet sites, not industry insiders. But my goal is to learn about the news from several sources and break down what the news could mean as far as how it directly affects consumers. She writes for the professional, while I can write for the moviegoers. I fully intend on getting some of my news for her site as I continue to blog, and I have been reading her posts regularly for a few years now. And since I don’t really need to worry about the repercussions of my statements the way she does, I get to say whatever I want. Which leads me to my next point … I’m excited for Mel Gibson’s comeback!

By the way, for those of you who did not hear, Avatar has officially passed Titanic for both domestic and worldwide gross. It currently stands higher than $2.2 billion; and the haters have scattered.

Happy navigating!

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES

I have recently discovered Caroline Ames movie blog called "Let's Go to the Movies." Her blog is not too different from mine, in that she is interested both in the business of movies, and in reviewing the new movies that she sees. I always enjoy learning about a person’s personal movie tastes, if it is not too overbearing. There are a few too many people saying “this movie is good” rather than saying that they liked it. Granted, some movies are just undeniably bad, and need to be dutifully ridiculed.

What I like about her blog is that it is all about discussing her tastes. When discussing the ten Best Picture nominees for this year’s Oscar’s, she says, “From my first look at the nominations the only surprise for [me] is seeing District 9 in the Best Picture category. Everything else is pretty much what was expected.” While I am happy and not that surprised to see it there, I respect her opinion because it was certainly not a guaranteed nomination. I’m actually surprised by the nomination for A Serious Man since I had heard no Oscar buzz about it and the movie made very little money, even by the Coen brothers’ meager standards. However I do like there movies and can’t wait to see this one when it comes out on DVD. But I digress…

Back to Caroline’s blog. Her posts are pretty small, because she only wants to put brief updates rather than writing whole stories or even divulging too much of her opinions. She even has a second blog, about which she says that she “decided that [posting often] would be a good idea recently so I can put my random thoughts down and not take up any space on this blog . . . well apart from this post haha.” I admire her ability to lightly touch upon her thoughts and then ask what others think. This is especially evident in her post about the posters for the Academy Awards when she says “I can really see my love for Alec Baldwin growing even more. Are you looking forward to Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin hosting this years event?” Another way you can really get to know what she is into are all her movie quotes and top 10 lists. It is funny that she mentioned having a blog where she can post random thoughts, because this blog is full of them. The tabs at the top of her blog allow you to navigate directly to what you want to see without having to scroll through the posts. Very nice.

I’ll be honest with you. While reading this blog, I knew before reading her name that it was written by a woman. Her posts were completely inoffensive and fair, in a way that most men cannot be while discussing their opinions. (You can call this sexist if you want, but I like to call it stereotyping. And it was inoffensive, wasn’t it?) I know I cannot be nearly as even with my opinions as she is. It is worth mentioning that I just spoke about Nikki Finke’s blog last week and about how she’s not afraid to through in a few insults here and there, but there are always exceptions. Finke’s blog is much more to the point, because that is what industry professionals are looking for. Caroline does not claim to be an expert on what she discusses, so she stays level. I admire that, but I won’t write like that. Not when I’m talking about my movies.

In related news, Zombieland came out on DVD today and I highly recommend it. It is a very funny and bluntly violent movie. I laughed throughout and if you’re prepared for a little gore for the sake of comedy, you should too. Woody Harrelson works the badass humor in a way that would make Quentin Tarantino proud.

Let's Go to the Movies

I have recently discovered Caroline Ames movie blog called "Let's Go to the Movies." Her blog is not too different from mine, in that she is interested both in the business of movies, and in reviewing the new movies that she sees. I always enjoy learning about a person’s personal movie tastes, if it is not too overbearing. There are a few too many people saying “this movie is good” rather than saying that they liked it. Granted, some movies are just undeniably bad, and need to be dutifully ridiculed.

What I like about her blog is that it is all about discussing her tastes. When discussing the ten Best Picture nominees for this year’s Oscar’s, she says, “From my first look at the nominations the only surprise for [me] is seeing District 9 in the Best Picture category. Everything else is pretty much what was expected.” While I am happy and not the surprised to see it there, I respect her opinion because it was certainly not a guaranteed nomination. I’m actually surprised by the nomination for “A Serious Man” since I had heard no Oscar buzz about it and the movie made very little money, even by the Coen brothers’ standards. However I do like there movies and can’t wait to see this one when it comes out on DVD. But I digress…

Back to Caroline’s blog. Her posts are pretty small, because she only wants to put brief updates rather than writing whole stories or even divulging too much of her opinions. She even has a second blog, about which she says that she “decided that [posting often] would be a good idea recently so I can put my random thoughts down and not take up any space on this blog . . . well apart from this post haha.” I admire her ability to lightly touch upon her thoughts and then asking what others think. Especially in her post about the posters for the Academy Awards when she says “I can really see my love for Alec Baldwin growing even more. Are you looking forward to Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin hosting this years event?” Another way you can really get to know what she is into are all her movie quotes and top 10 lists. The tabs at the top of her blog allow you to navigate directly to what you want to see without having to scroll through the posts. Very nice.

I’ll be honest with you. While reading this blog, I knew before reading her name that it was written by a woman. Her posts were completely inoffensive and fair, in a way that most men cannot be while discussing their opinions. I know I cannot be nearly as even with my opinions as she is. It is worth mentioning that I just spoke about Nikki Finke’s blog last week and upon how she’s not afraid to through in a few insults here and there, but there are always exceptions. Finke’s blog is much more to the point, because that is what industry professionals are looking for. Caroline does not claim to be an expert on what she discusses, so she stays level. I admire that, but I won’t write like that. Not when I’m talking about my movies.


In related news, Zombieland came out on DVD today and I highly recommend it. It is a very funny and bluntly violent movie. I laughed throughout and if you’re prepared for a little gore for the sake of comedy, you should too. Woody Harrelson works the badass humor in a way that would make Quentin Tarantino proud.

Hollywood's Deadline: Sooner Than Expected

Today I want to let you all know about the premier entertainment blog that is Deadline Hollywood (www.deadline.com/hollywood). This blog, written by entertainment journalist Nikki Finke, is used by all professionals in the entertainment industry because she breaks news before the source is able to. Often times organizations will plan to announce something to the press, but Nikki Finke hears the news from one of her many sources all over and she posts it on her site. She posts several times a day on whatever she finds interesting and important. During the talks for the blockbuster Endeavor / William Morris Agency merger, her site was the place to go to stay up to speed on what was going on. She knew which board members voted for the merger and which ones did not, and that information was never officially released.

On Monday, January 25th, she posted that companies Sony and Apparition are in talks to acquire, Splice, which recently debuted at Sundance. She knows all the details of the pending deal, including that “Apparition will post a minimum guarantee around $2.5 million while an independent source supply a $20 million P&A fund in a deal being wrapped up by CAA by tomorrow.” That same day she discussed a feud that appears to have just begun between American Idol hosts Ellen Degeneres and Simon Cowell. Apparently the first day did not go well, and Ellen was willing to share her angry feelings of moving around her schedule for her new job, only to have to wait for Simon Cowell to show up and hour and a half late; but enough about reality TV. She also broke the news that Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin would be co-hosting the Academy Awards before the Academy did and she even more recently posted that the Academy was looking for a third host, one she expects to be of a different demographic, be it in age, race, or gender.

This blog is perfect for what I write about. She breaks all the news as soon as she can, and often offers her own opinion and cynicism in her posts. Finke is a professional who recognizes the blogging forum as a way for her to create a news site with a few punches. She provides detailed posts about business deals and often simply posts the press release if the news has already been announced. She doesn’t have to wait to hear if something is absolutely true before posting it, which is something newspapers have to do. People are moving toward writers who give them some opinion in the matters they are reporting. Sometimes newspapers, news websites, and news programming have to be so politically correct that they cannot really tell the consumer what the news could mean for them. However, Finke does have many friends in the entertainment industry and, therefore, cannot just say whatever she wants. But there are still many people whose feelings do not get the politically correct treatment.

Finke’s blog is a direct reflection of the entertainment industry. It is a daily reminder that there are no secrets in the entertainment industry. Professionals often go to her blog before reading Variety, because she is honest and up to date. Unfortunately, I cannot be as up to date as she is, since my sources are internet sites, not industry insiders. But my goal is to learn about the news from several sources and break down what the news could mean as far as how it directly affects consumers. She writes for the professional, while I can write for the moviegoers. I fully intend on getting my news for her site as I continue to blog, and I have been reading her posts regularly for a few years now. And since I don’t really need to worry about the repercussions of my statements the way she does, I get to say whatever I want. Which leads me to my next point … I’m excited for Mel Gibson’s comeback!

By the way, for those of you who did not hear, Avatar officially past Titanic yesterday to become the highest grossing movie worldwide and I expect it to past Titanic’s domestic total around Saturday.

Happy navigating! Below are a few links to some of Finke’s blogs that I mentioned.

Splice

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/apparition-and-sony-about-to-buy-splice-but-newmarket-is-still-in-it/

AI Feud

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/tv-tug-of-war-its-ellen-vs-simon-and-simon-fuller-vs-simon-cowell-and-american-idol-vs-x-factor-as-tommy-mottola-is-first-choice-to-judge-both-shows/

Academy Awards Hosts

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/academy-wants-steve-martin-alex-baldwin-to-tag-team-as-oscar-hosts/

Hello World

Hello, everyone. I hope your navigation of the internet machine has brought you to something that you will enjoy reading and perhaps give you something to think about on your own time and maybe even act upon. I will be writing about the movie business as it pertains to the everyman. My reviews will be on wide release movies only unless something else is particularly intriguing. There is nothing more annoying to me than getting reviews from snobby out-of-touch film critics who claim to have good taste even though (or perhaps because, those snobs) no one agrees with them.

I will also keep you up to date on what’s going on in the movie business, and perhaps the TV business, and how that affects us as viewers. Since most people aren’t in the entertainment industry, they don’t want to know the inside story unless it makes a difference in how they view content, or what content they get to view.

You should know that the industry is looking to allow moviegoers a way to view newly released feature films in the comfort of their own homes either on the theatrical release date or shortly after. You should also know that the Golden Globes are kind of a joke and you should not give weight to the opinions of small-time foreign film critics, because they are just large Romanian women with mustaches.

You should not, however, have to search through information that does not pertain to you or your interests. I will do the sifting for you. Call it the “in touch, young, normal person’s movie blog.”

Just a few quick FYI’s:

1. Avatar will become the highest grossing film of all-time.

2. Yes it’s that good, so if you haven’t seen it yet it’s time to fix that mistake, advisedly in 3D. That is, unless you’re in China where the movie has been banned. (I thought they weren;t Commies anymore).

3. The Chipmunks “Squeakquel” has already earned about $200 million in the US alone. This should make us all: A. sad (if you didn’t see it), or B. ashamed (if you did see it).

4. District 9, Inglorious Basterds, and The Hangover are now all on DVD. You should have already seen all of them.

5. Sony has scrapped Spiderman 4 and is looking to reboot the franchise with an all new cast and director.

6. Yes this is a stupid idea, even if Spiderman 3 sucked.

7. If you’ve actually read this far, you care, and should, therefore, have a Netflix account.

8. Everyone involved with Sherlock Holmes has sent a personal letter to Robert Downey, Jr. thanking him for carrying them on his back.

9. OK, that last one isn’t true, but it should be.

10. I will not be checking RottenTomatoes.com and then use it to help form my opinion. Probably.

Ticket sales are up the highest they have been since 2004, so let’s all thank James Cameron and the recession. More people are seeing movies, and there is some good stuff out there to see even if the holiday movie season put you to sleep. So hopefully you’re ready to to get to watching and reading, because there are some shake-ups going on, and although the news sites are trying to bore you, some of these stories actually do matter.