Shutter Island

DiCaprio, Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Mark Ruffalo, Max von Sydow, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer--7 reasons to see this movie. Everyone gives a flawless performance. DiCaprio plays a federal marshall sent to investigate the goings on at a mental hospital for the criminally insane on an island off Boston. Martin Scorsese directs it with a dark undercurrent and does keep it moving along amidst great scenery. Plenty of clues are dropped along the way. And there are actually TWO twists in this movie- one is about 20 minutes from the end when you find out what is really going on. The other is in the last two minutes- where you find out that some memories are better off lost forever. That's all I can say. Great cast, great director, great setting and costuming, and a good script. The only misstep was the music- unnecessarily morose and foreboding in spots where it wasn't needed. In the first scene, the music was so heavy handed that I said a silent prayer that it would stop. It was only intermittent, but Scorsese should have seen that the music didn't call attention to itself in an otherwise wonderful film. See it.

There Will Be Blood

This film stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a oilcatter back when oillcatting was really work. No Red Adair to call when the well blows up. I digress. The plot is involved enough, yet simple enough that midway through I turned to Alex and said "I am just not sure what this movie is really about". I wasn't lost, I understood the action, I just couldn't figure out what the message was. It took until the very last scene for me to understand it. And once I did, it was intriguing and was such an intricate study of a man that we meet midway in his life- with no explanation of his past in order to understand his future. Does that make sense? We walk in on Day-Lewis as he inherits a child, and we leave him when he is done with everything. He is a man of retribution. If you must know the plot, which is from a book called "Oil" by my favorite author, Upton Sinclair (whose father was an alcoholic), go read it online. It actually might help. The scenery is grim and rough, just like the people who work in the fields and subsist on the miserably dry land. The costuming is perfect. The sets were built without a level and with an eye to authenticity. If the guy playing the twin brothers looks familiar- he was the brother in Little Miss Sunshine (that's to save you from spending 2 1/2 hours wondering how you know this guy). Every performance is perfect. It is probably as good a film as you will see this year. And I can't really explain why. In yet another film, the score is too intrusive and seems to be used as filler for action in some scenes. If there is a negative, that is the only one. No children in this one. It has several scenes that simply cannot be put in the head of a child no matter how grown up they may seem.

Cloverfield

**guest review by Hollis**

Ok. I will try and keep this as spoiler-free as possible, in case you haven't seen this yet and are planning on it. First, let me say, I liked it. However, I knew some of the background of the movie, and wasn't expecting anything other than what the movie was. If you're looking for traditional storytelling, or having everything explained to you ... well, you won't find that in the movie. Cloverfield is the story of a monster attack on Manhattan (J.J. Abrams's take on Godzilla), told from the perspective of a hand-held video camera operated by a regular person who, with a group of friends, is trying to get out of the city. And that's it. Like any event documented by a bystander, there are no explanations, no backstory (well, almost none), and what you see is what you get.

J.J. Abrams is the same guy who created Lost, so there are all the corporate conspiracy theories, and "super"-plots (a larger story that the movie is only a part of) that you would expect. In fact, Cloverfield has a huge viral marketing campaign that goes along with it - if you haven't been paying attention to it, there's a brief summary here - http://movies.ign.com/articles/845/845649p1.html
If you want answers to a lot of the movie's questions, you're going to have to dig into the external stuff. You still won't get all the answers, but the bigger picture will become a little clearer. Oh, and it's not done yet ... new info is still being added ... which has already lead to people speculating that there may be a sequel at some point. But who knows.

Ok, back to the movie itself. The use of the hand-held cam is both a plus and a minus - it definitely puts you more "into" the movie with the characters, but the shaky camera work can get annoying. I had to look down at the seats in front of me for some of the scenes because they were so shaky - so it didn't turn into a barf-a-thon. If you get motion sick easily, I would take some preventative measures. The movie is relatively short - kind of realistic to the length of a camera battery, although you'll wonder in some scenes how the camera has managed to survive so well (whatever brand of camera that is - you should definitely buy it!) The monster is really cool - not totally unique since you can see other creatures that it references - but definitely fun to watch. Some of the scenes were very 9/11-esque - especially towards the beginning - in fact, when the attack first occurs, one party-goer says "is it another terrorist attack?" I don't know if the film will get a different reaction in NYC, but I bet some people will be having flashbacks.

The acting was good - very believable. There are no recognizable faces here, which makes for a much better movie ... it was refreshing to truly believe in a character, as opposed to trying to suspend disbelief so that you aren't just watching Tom Cruise in yet another outfit. Also, I just have to say, I give some of the female actors props for running around in high heels for as long as they do. *That* made me wince as much as anything - I would have had those suckers off in the first 5 minutes.

So, bottom-line - if you liked Lost, enjoy digging up plot information for yourself, and piecing together clues (oh, and big monsters attacking NYC), then you'll enjoy this movie. In fact, do some of the background work before you go see it - it helps. If you need a plot with character development and a traditional story arc, well, maybe you should wait for the new Indiana Jones film.

No Country for Old Men

The Coen Brothers strike with a screen version of Cormac McCarthy's book- and they strike with a bloody, violent, graphic, heart thumping vengeance. A modern day (1980s) western composed of white drug runners, border Mexican drug gangs, and people who live in the rugged and conveniently lawless areas of the west Texas-Mexican border , it uses the talents of Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin to bring it grittily to life. The body count is large for such a "small" film. The title tells the story. No one expects to live a long life here and when money comes in an opportunistic form- well, what is there to lose by taking it? Ah, Bardem-a more heartless villain has never appeared in film. With the exception of the vile Natural Born Killers, there just isn't another person as cold, disconnected and methodical as the villain played by Bardem. The story has a very nuanced reference to the VietNam War and how it has produced killers like the ones portrayed by Bardem and Woody Harrelson (botoxed and smooth as a baby butt). It is hard to watch yet you will watch it- every gory, bloody, bone crushing second of it. And the end? It made perfect sense.

American Gangster

Probably the best movie we've seen so far this year. Violent, gritty, moral and amoral. A movie where, finally, there is no equivocation about good and evil. And a movie where the audience leaves feeling there is some justice in the world. The human propensity to addiction is difficult to digest- most humans have the ability to be addicted- to have their lives ruined by substance abuse. And we pity the weak. But we have no sympathy for the dealer- the supplier who cares for nothing but his money. Russell Crowe does a fantastic job here- controlled, decent, and yet his ex-wife sees his doing his job as evil as a drug dealer's because it means he ignores his child. She could not be farther from the truth, because a man as hard working and decent as this character is a role model for a child. The script is so well written that it doesn't tip you off - you sit hoping that the ending will be just. Go see it.

Gone Baby Gone

If there is a more understated actor than Casey Affleck, I'd like to see him. Bogart is the closest to it, with so little expression but a whole lot of vocal inflection and eye contact. I can't figure out what makes this guy so good, because he is so BORING to look at on screen. Yet, you sit mesmerized by something about him. Maybe waiting for him to DO something? When he finally hits someone in this film, even that seems to out of place. But back to the movie. Gone Baby Gone is a very good movie because it has to be compared with all the bad ones. Ben Affleck directs it and it has his same slow tempo. There are a few times when the viewer just has to wonder WHAT exactly the film is about- it is about the abduction of a child, or police corruption, or the death of a cop's kid, or a romance between two people who don't agree on right or wrong? There is also a strange plot diversion with a pedophile in a dilapidated house- well, that was manipulative and didn't belong in the film. It had one too many story lines. But other than that, the film has a good story- gripping and poignant, and brings up some important points about our treatment of child abusers in our country and how neighbors and neighborhoods can protect them. Also, in the end, the viewer is left to decide whether the bad guys were good and the good guy was bad or not. That alone makes the film worth seeing.

Last King of Scotland

If this doesn't scare the pants off of you then you aren't wearing any. Hands down, Forrest Whittaker does the best acting job of the year as Idi Amin. If you want to know why Africa cannot get it together and cannot keep it together, look at the politics of the continent. The wholesale intimidation by slaughter and torture seems as natural as a herd of antelope. This movie is powerful and intense and very adult. It is gruesome and cruel. And it is fascinating. I don't plan on going to Africa any time soon.