Shutter Island (2010)

[MouthForWar]

[jellydonut25]

Scorsese is nothing short of a genius, the fact that he's been shunned by the academy just makes me like him MORE

It's funny to look at, but pretty much EVERY BP nominated Scorsese film has lost to an inferior film (with a couple exceptions like Taxi Driver losing to Rocky [though that's debatable], and the Departed which won)

[MouthForWar]

[jellydonut25]

[Shonokin]

[lhb412]

[mrbluehair]

[MouthForWar]

[Danno]

I REALLY love Bringing out the Dead. One of my favorite movies. =)

[Jon Leo]

[howze01]

[MouthForWar]

[MouthForWar]

Here's a great in depth interview/article with Scorsese. He seems to love making movies just as much now as he did in the sixties. I love that at 67 he continues to almost constantly try new things and test the waters in new genres. The only other guy I can think of that's continued to do that at such an old age is David Cronenberg. Word of mouth from the few that have seen Shutter Island has been very good. I'm really excited for it, even though I think I know the ending based on the poorly cut trailers (obviously showing WAY too much).

Anyway, read on...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/movie ... rcese.html

And just a fun little add on, going back to earlier when we talked about how Scorsese is a geek at heart. You'll find he loves Godzilla, John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, Roger Corman, Takashi Miike, and all kinds of other weirdness. I dug up some reviews that he's done of some sci-fi/horror movies of the past. He's one of us through and through! Enjoy!

Marty reviews Carpenter's They Live:

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/ar ... d=P5980093

And here's one for JC's The Thing:

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/ar ... d=P6300081

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's J-Horror, Cure

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/ar ... d=P5980197

Cronenberg's Crash

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/ar ... d=P5970248

Roger Corman's Bucket of Blood:

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/ar ... d=P5970104


For more of Scorsese's reviews (and there are TONS of em), go here:

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/ar ... d=P5450130

[MouthForWar]

Just saw it. Fantastic film. Although I feel a little awkward since for some reason, I'm the only one that seems to be talking in this thread, or about this movie. Come on, guys... that awful Dragon Ball movie has 6 pages of discussion... you can do better than that. Oh well, I guess I'll just sit here and talk to myself.

ANYWAY, this movie was great. The acting is great across the board, the score is fantastic (very Bernard Hermann-esque), and the movie looks incredible. The imagery is surreal, dark, and beautiful... some of the best imagery I've seen in a LONG time, in fact. Its almost impossible to talk about without giving it away. I'll just say AVOID THE TRAILERS AT ALL COSTS. I know they've been showing them constantly in theaters and on TV for the last like year, but block them from your memory... they literally show the beginning, the middle and the end of this film. And since there is a "twist" in this movie, the people who cut those trailers should be banned from editing forever.

Now, onto the "twist." Yes, you'll see it coming. You might even see it coming if you haven't watched the trailers. In fact, anyone with a working brain will probably work it out before its revealed. But that gets me to the reason WHY I put the word in quotation marks. Even though this "twist" comes in fairly late in the film and is a BIG change in the plot, I never felt the movie was relying on it the way a Shayamalan movie does. It feels like its simply an organic part of the ride. I feel like this is almost too smart for the average moviegoer. Most folks will probably misinterpreted this as a "twist" film, snarkily barking that they "saw it coming" or something. But this isn't ABOUT the twist, this is the story of one guy and the "twist" plays into why things are the way they are rather than a cop out shock device or something that the whole film cheaply balances on. In the hands of a different director, maybe it'd play that way, but Scorsese raises it way above those levels. To focus on the twist is to overlook the story, which is very carefully crafted. This movie is a character study and should be approached as one. If I have any complaints, its probably that a few scenes could have been shortened a bit, especially towards the end... but that's a pretty minor issue.

So I highly recommend this. To me, THIS is what a real horror movie is and it totally washes the bad taste of the Wolf Man away. No, there's no monsters and no supernatural weirdness. Its about the monstrosities of every day life. If this movie was made in the 40s-50s, it'd be considered a horror film, but in this post Silence of the Lambs age, any smart, realistic, or goreless horror movie is called a "psychological thriller" because "horror" has become a word that snobs are seemingly allergic to.

What this REALLY is is a throwback to the dark, shadowy films of Val Lewton or Kubrick's The Shining. One can easily have flashbacks to films like Lewton's Ghost Ship or even Hitchcock's Vertigo while watching. There's a particularly striking visual homage to Lewton's Bedlam. This is a classy, moody psychological horror/thriller. If you like movies like Bedlam, Shock Corridor, The Wicker Man, Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Machinist, or The Shining, this should be right up your alley.

Also, of all the Scorsese flicks out there, the one this probably has the most in common with in terms of style and visuals is the criminally underrated and underseen Bringing Out The Dead... so if like the Scorsese that did that film, you'll probably be all about this.

I love that Scorsese is almost 70 years old, yet he's still willing to take chances. He's constantly stepping into new genres unlike his colleagues like Brian DePalma and George Lucas. He's more like David Cronenberg, constantly challenging himself to do new things. He shows that he's a master of his craft and can tell any kind of story there is. He just finished doing the pilot to a TV show he's been producing called Boardwalk Empire , he just finished a documentary on George Harrison and his next film is The Invention Of Hugo Cabret, a chlidren's fantasy loosley based on the life of early cinema pioneer Georges Melies.

I'm givin it 4/5.

[MekaGojira3k]

I dug it. A great deal, and my rating actually mimics yours Mouth, with a 4 out of 5. I also kept thinking of The Shining as I watched the thing, and something about that really pleased me. It felt like the first time in forever that I had seen a classy horror/thriller. Although all of my friends deny that things like The Shining are even horror, because there's not enough "BLOOD AND GUTS". In short, I really enjoyed this film, and I'm surprised to have seen something so pleasing this early in the year

Spoilery discussion ahoy!
I never read the novel, so I did find the whole "I WAS CRAZY THE ENTIRE TIME" thing a bit tired. What I did enjoy is that even when Scorcese presents you with that argument, you doubt yourself? He does such a great job of concocting the world in which Teddy was the hero. That, aside from the fantastic atmosphere and direction, is one of the film's greatest strengths. Not only is Teddy convinced he never murdered his wife, but we're almost right there with him as an audience.

[jellydonut25]

[metal_bryan]

[Dr Kain]

It was an excellent movie that had an okay final 20 minutes. I felt the ending was predictable and after all of the suspense elements were done once you found out the truth, the movie seemed to not know what to do with itself. Other than that, great movie and I give it a 4/5.

[MouthForWar]

[metal_bryan]

Well I saw it tonight like I said I would and I thought it worked in pretty much every aspect. I loved the way it played out and the script/acting was superb. Another big highlight was the sound editing. It was an amazing audio experience and the movie wouldn't have been nearly as gripping without it.

I liked the ending, though I can see why some might find it a bit underwhelming.

[Dr Kain]

[metal_bryan]

[RapZiLLa54]

[MouthForWar]

[MouthForWar]