Friday, June 18, 2010

Shutter Island

Shutter Island
Based on the novel Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane, screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis, directed by Martin Scorsese.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Mark Ruffalo
Ben Kingsley

The first thing I took note of while watching Shutter Island was that it is shot beautifully, the overall cinematography is fantastic. My first thoughts on the movie were "well, if nothing else at least it's pretty", lucky for me it's more than just pretty.
Shutter Island centers around U.S. Marshal, Teddy Daniels who has been called to a mental institution to investigate the dissapearance of a patient. Or so he believes. As the film progresses you learn about Teddy's tragic past and his growing suspicions that someting sinister is happening on Shutter Island.

(I'm about to 'spoil' the ending)

Eventually you find out, through a series of bizarre yet beautiful dream sequences and various odd encounters, that Teddy Daniels is not a U.S. Marshal, he is not at Shutter Island on an investigation, he's not even Teddy Daniels. His name is Andrew Laeddis, and he is a patient. Laeddis came home one day to find that his wife (Michelle Williams) had drowned their three children in the lake, and he shot her. Unable to live with what had happened his mind fabricated a new reality. It turns out that the doctors have been experimenting with a roleplay technique to break Laeddis out of his delusion, this is their last chance to save him and if it doesn't work he will be lobotomized. The final scene of the film shows Teddy/Laeddis talking to his partner/doctor, and right before he walks into the open arms of a group of doctors and guards Teddy says "Which would be worse, to live as a monster or to die as a good man?"
For those of you who were left confused , what has just happened is this; Laeddis remembers everything, he has completely broken through his delusion, but upon deep reflection he came to the realization that maybe the delusion was better than reality. He knew he couldn't live know what his wife had done and in turn what he had done, so he would rather die, or in this case be lobotomized.
This is not open to interpretation. It is what it is.
In my opinion this ending is what makes Shutter Island so moving; Laeddis made a choice to give up life as he knew it to escape what he had done. This film makes you contemplate the actions and choices that we make and the effectiveness of mental rehabilitation.
Breath taking cinematography, an interesting story, outstanding direction and heart breaking performances from Williams and DiCaprio make this an excellent film. I was rivited from start to finish.

There is, however, one scene that I have yet to make sense of, the scene in which Teddy is interviewing the patients. At one point he is interviewing a female patien who asks for a glass of water, here is where I get confused - Ruffalo sets down a full glass of water, the patient picks up an imaginary glass (there's nothing in her hand) with her right hand, she drinks from the imaginary glass (still with her right hand), then sets down an empty glass with her left hand.
The only thing I can think of is that this is supposed to signify Laeddis' delusion and reality overlapping, but it was so strange and so fast that I really didn't know what to make of it!
5 stars.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Youth in Revolt

Youth in Revolt
Based on the novel Youth in Revolt by C.D. Payne, screenplay by Gustin Nash, directed by Miguel Arteta.
Michael Cera. Portia Doubleday. Zach Galifinakis.

Let me begin by saying that I have never been a fan of the "immature adolescent attempts to engage in sexual intercourse", I have also never been a huge fan of the "Michael Cera"; however, despite those flaws, I thoroughly enjoyed Youth in Revolt.
I think that what makes this movie different is that it is intelligent. While most teen comedies seem like they are written for pixie-stick snorting cromagnons, Youth in Revolt manages to break the mold with clever quirky jokes, obscure film and music references and dialogue sporting big words, like "unsolicited" and "arson" (just kidding). Another great thing is that the movie utilizes a mostly indie soundtrack that (unlike films like Juno) actually makes sense and sets a mood.
The only downside I can think of at the moment is that the teens speak like 48 year old british aristocrats, which was annoying for the first 5-10 minutes, but it grew on me and became comical as the movie progressed.
I have no intention of revealing any plotlines or jokes in this review, but I will tell you; go watch this movie, it's good. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed Youth in Revolt, and Francois Dillinger is quite possibly my new favorite person.
3 1/2 stars!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

L'introduction

Hello, this is my blog. I intend to watch movies and write short sweet reviews of them here. This first blog is just the introduction.
I love watching movie and talking about them, so i suppose this blog is a great idea for me, right?
A few things you should know about me:
I am 23 years old, I work in a movie store and I also wait tables. I am in college at the moment, my major field of study is art.
I generally stay away from "scary" movies because, they tend to suck. So if that's what you're looking for you've come to the wrong place.