Shutter Island

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Written by Laeta Kalogridis, Steven Knight, Dennis Lehane

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley

Synopsis: U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) and his partner U.S. Marshal Chuck Aule (Ruffalo) travel to an island prison to investigate a prisoner who has escaped and is presumed to be hiding on the island.

Shutter Island- She said

There isn’t much I can say about Shutter Island. That’s mainly because I don’t want to spoiler the movie, so this review is going to be really difficult. All the praise and problems I had with the movie will cause me to go into spoiler territory. However, the movie will lose its magic and awesomeness if I do that. So, alas, I am at a crossroads. I will say that the previews for Shutter Island are kind of misleading. Yes, it is a thriller, but the previews paint it more as a horror movie, and it’s more suspenseful if anything.

Everyone in this movie is in fine form. Obviously DiCaprio, Ruffalo, Kingsley are all amazing, but I was more intrigued with all the other mental patients on the island. All of these actors were so engrossed in their roles that it added to the eerie ambiance of the mystery. You never knew if these patients were telling the truth when they were talking to DiCaprio’s character or if their “mental state” was getting the way and they were lying. This adds so much depth to the mystery…who’s telling the truth and what should I believe and am I crazy?? The mood in the movie is so tense you’re expecting some new twist around every corner. Everyone on the island brings a sense of dysfunction and uncertainty, even the doctors and orderlies. They subtle nuances about them that make you wonder what their motives are.


I also loved the fact that everything in this movie is connected. Everything comes full circle by the end. The movie is so well made that it never had to have flashbacks of “clues” because you remembered all the clues. There were some parts during the midpoint of the movie that dragged. I wasn’t sure where the story was going or why some things were happening. Also, there were some very convenient thematic devices throughout the movie that, when looking back once the mystery is solved, seemed almost too convenient. For the most part though, you can overlook those things. Overall the story is effective in keeping you interested and engaged. Some may even solve the case before the ending. If you do, I’m impressed.


This movie has the remnants of Cuckoo’s Nest, with a splash of Memento, vision of The Departed, and the suspense of The Sixth Sense. Scorsese is a master storyteller, and he doesn’t disappoint. There are more problems that I really want to talk about, but I don’t want to spoiler the movie. Everything depends on not be spoiled. That’s the way the movie works. I wish this movie would have been released when it was scheduled back in October. I believe it would have been a contender for a Best Picture nomination (now with the 10 nominees). Lots of discussions will happen when people walk out of this movie, and you’ll question what you saw and what you believe…and that’s always fantastic.

Shutter Island- He said

Once again we have two great names of cinema together, Scorsese and DiCaprio. Last time they made the fantastic The Departed, a movie that just didn’t give two craps about conventional plot lines or the safety of the characters you get to know. In this new movie, they manage to keep you on your toes as to what exactly is going on the whole time and it succeeds in a very unique way without feeling like an M. Night Shamalayan movie. This movie, more important than others, relies on you knowing as little as possible. Even the trailer is cut in a way that the scenes are taken out of context and thus are rendered harmless.


Given this I’m thinking this will be a short review. I will say that all of the actors are in fine form. Leo plays Teddy Daniels, who seems to be the ancestor of his paranoid undercover cop Billy Costigan. Gandhi (please tell me you get the reference) plays a fascinatingly ambiguous doctor, and along with horribly underrated Mark Ruffalo as Chuck Alule they complete a great set of characters. We start out the story as U.S. Marshall Daniels and his new partner, Alule, going to a mental institution trying to figure out the mystery of a missing patient. From the very beginning, you see that things are obviously not what they seem, given that this is an island in a movie, it can’t be normal much like Isla Sonar and Skull Island. And that’s all you need to know to get you going through this trip. The biggest thing that this movie has going on for it is its atmosphere. Scorcese has to be given credit here, his expertly placed shots make you feel so dreadfully through the facility that Teddy’s paranoia feels your own.

The movie does have its problems though. One big glaring one is the almost Saw-type of convenience and coincidence that happens in order for the ending to make sense. There are some times when the movie drags its feet a lot, especially towards the middle of the film. I think this stems from the fact than they spend so much time setting up the creepy vibe of the island that they forget to move the plot along. Given the nature of the movie there are some inconsistencies that can be explained with a stretch of the imagination. This can help you make more sense of the movie if you found it a bit off. But this is left up to the individual, seeing as how my counterpart Jonesy and I got into an unusually heated discussion with radically different points of views.


In the end this movie will benefit from repeated viewings. Given that the Oscars became so saturated with so many movies it was possibly a good thing that it was pushed back; echoes of Silence of the Lambs have been said over at certain movie websites. Not sure if it will win many awards, but it is an elegant form of thriller that you will not find very often. Shutter Island will leave you pretty disturbed after everything becomes revealed, and will make you question what you think about the power of the mind.

Crazy Heart

Directed and Written by Scott Cooper

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell

Synopsis: An outdated country music musician is forced to reassess his dysfunctional life while on the road trying to regain his fame and trying to make love work.

Crazy Heart- She said

I can’t imagine the life of a washed up musician. Someone who had the world at their feet for years, then in the blink of an eye, everything is gone. Maybe they wasted away their money, lost their edge, got into drugs, alcohol and sex, or maybe all of the above. Whatever the reason, they lose their star power and are reduced to a has been that use to have a famous song at one point. Sure, they still have some loyal fans, but they’re forced to play at local bars or bowling alleys where the locals come out because there’s nothing to do. I wonder how many musicians nowadays will have this life in the future?


In Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges’s character, Bad Blake, is this musician. He loves music. I mean really, really loves music. But he’s broke. He lives from gig to gig, hotel to hotel, making enough to buy the next bottle of booze. He had talent at one point. He still has loyal fans in these local towns that love his songs. The local backup bands are more than honored to play with him for the shows. Bad Blake is at the bottom of the barrel. He’s a washed up and expired and drinking himself to death. The closest relationship he has is with his agent over the phone. He does find company in the towns he plays in, but he always sneaks out in the morning.

Then he meets Maggie Gyllenhaal’s, Jean. She’s a struggling reporter for a local paper wanting to break into music biz as a writer. Through their encounter, Blake becomes intrigued with her, and she with him. I never really understood their relationship. She seems stable, for the most part, and we find out later about her past. Maybe this is the girl that always got away for Blake, and now it’s a second chance thing for him. For Jean, she sees Blake as this music persona bad-boy that she shouldn’t want, but she does. He’s her weakness. Everything about him is wrong, but maybe he’ll be the exception. They’re both broken people looking for stability and a better future, and they believe they may have found it in each other. Their relationship blooms but there are problems. To keep this spoiler free, I’ll stop here.

The biggest lesson that Blake refuses to learn is when to quit. He acts like he is 20 years younger than what he is. His lifestyle has become too much for his body to keep up. He has the chance to slow down when his old protégée, Colin Ferrall, offers him a chance to be a songwriter again. Blake refuses because Blake wouldn’t be singing the songs, Ferrall’s character would. Blake, like most of us, doesn’t want to admit his career is over. He’ll never headline a big arena again; he will have to settle to being the opener. The world has moved on, and he didn’t follow.

Now, obviously, the stand out performance is Jeff Bridges. He is fantastic as Bad Blake and will no doubt win the Oscar. Now, I enjoyed the movie, but there were problems with it. The ending is a little too idyllic for my taste and parts of the story were slow. This story also felt like The Wrestler but with the background of country music instead of wrestling. But like The Wrestler, this isn’t a movie about plot, it’s about the characters. Without a strong lead, the movie will fail. Thankfully, Bridges carries the movie, and it’s worth a watch just to see him.

Crazy Heart- He said

I love me some music, and I love me some films, but if you combine the two, I might just be in visual and aural heaven. That’s not to say I dig musicals; I’m talking more about movies that show musicians doing their thing and documenting it. Some of my favorite movies contain this combination such as Spinal Tap, Walk the Line, Walk Hard, Once, even that atrocious Song and Lyrics song is barely passable thanks to the songwriting aspect. Show me a musicians story and I will probably dig it more than the average film except for Ray. Given this bias, take my thoughts on Crazy Heart with this in mind.

The story itself is nothing new; a washed up former legend, this case the ever-cool Bad Blake, played expertly by Jeff “The Dude” Bridges, trying to regain his place in the music world. You see him driving around shirtless with his pants barely on and constantly drunk. And yet everywhere he goes, fugly old chicks are sleeping with him, people buy him whiskey, and they put up with his ridiculous antics. Things change for him when he meets Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal) a reporter who makes a strong connection with him. The other storyline is his relationship with Tommy Sweet (Collin Farrell) and Tommy’s bigger fame. This part of the movie feels more real to me than anything else. Any time you teach someone anything, in some way, you want them to be better than you. But the way the relationship is depicted here, you get that Bad Blake is jealous and being immature about it, but in a way you feel for him. I would’ve really liked the movie to have been more about Bad Blake and Tommy, rather than Jean and Blake.


The fact is that the enjoyment I derived from this movie was more from the aspect of songwriting and playing concerts and all the other music related things in the movie. The movie is definitely worth watching, but it does feel a bit cliché in its story arc. As a side note, I do long to live in a world where children are used as plot devices, it’s kind of degrading for children! The soundtrack and Jeff Bridges are the things that carry this movie. I am not a fan of country whatsoever, but darn tootin’ I was tapping my foot ever so politely in the theater while the movie was going on. Once again, it is important to note that Jeff Bridges does a fantastic job here, in a very subtle but moving role. The balance he strikes between an asshole and a walking tragedy is astounding. So basically, go see this movie if you want to see The Dude show off his considerable acting skills. Oh and buy the soundtrack it’s great

Battlestar Galactica- She said

Thoughts on Battlestar Galactica-Beware this will be a spoilerific discussion.
The following two essays will be talking about Battlestar Galacticas entire run but in order to do so properly we have to talk about spoilers, so unless you don’t care about spoilers or have seen the show, please proceed with caution. Last thing we want to do is to ruin this amazing show for people.




I am not one to start a TV series after it has ended. If I happen to catch it in syndication and it seems interesting, I’ll watch a few episodes. I like to be with a series from the very beginning. However, Battlestar Galactica changed my perception. Battlestar was one of those series that flew under the radar for a long time. I think it had a stigma because it was on the Syfy channel. For some reason, people stay away from that channel so as to not be considered “nerdy”. Whatever. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. The only aspect that makes this series Sci-Fi is the fact it’s in space and machines that look like humans. There’s not even a green-four-eyed-slimy-egghead looking alien during the whole series.

I’m getting sidetracked now…I had heard many wonderful things about this series from many, many sources. So, I gave it a shot, and I’m glad I did. This is one of the best series I’ve ever watched. Yes, it has its problems. There’s a lull in the first part of season 3 (but that seems to happen with a lot of shows). But despite all that, the show has more heart and truth to it than I’ve seen in a long time. The characters on the show are so dynamic and developed and flawed. You love them, hate them, agree and disagree with all of them at some point in the series. I found myself switching favorites through each season. Throughout their journeys, even if I didn’t agree with the decision a certain character made, I understood their motivations and reasoning behind it (however flawed those decisions were at times). They’re, oh my god, human! Just like these characters, we all make mistakes in our lives, but more often than not, most people are inherently good. Yes, there’s the occasional bad apple who succumbs and lets power/greed/money/status take hold of them, but that happens throughout every culture and society.

I’m going to brag on my favorite, Helo. Helo started as a side story during the miniseries, but soon became a real player once he returned to the Battlestar at the end of season one. Helo falls in love with a cylon but still fulfills his duty as an officer aboard Galactica. What I loved most about Helo is he always, always stood up for what was right, even when no one (literally) believed him. I wish I could say that I had the strength and moral character to do that, but it takes some balls to be that sure of something.

Okay that was my fan girl gush for this article.

One of the most interesting aspects of the series was the blending of religion and politics. Now, we live in a society with the freedom of religion. People are free to worship whatever. It’s also safe to say that all of our Presidents have been Christian in some form or fashion. However, no President has ever used religion as the basis of their presidency. After the genocide of the human race, Laura Roslin is thrust into the role as President. She has one mission: to find a home, namely Earth. Earth is mentioned in their scriptures as the home of one of the 12 tribes of their ancestors. In Roslin’s mind, Earth is salvation and peace that will end the conflict. She uses her position as President to push her religious beliefs and agenda on the survivors. And they let her! Now, if this were to happen in America tomorrow, there would be an uproar from many, many people…namely the blue half of the country. But in the series, the survivors have nothing. They’re at the end of their rope. Everything they knew and loved was gone within minutes. When someone has been through that traumatic of a situation, they will cling to something that seems strong. In many cases, faith. Even if they weren’t religious at home, faith, in some form or fashion, has always been a constant in their society. I would be safe to bet that if something of that magnitude happened in the present day, the people would turn to church. When 9/11 happened, I remember vividly how busy my church was that weekend. We want an answer; we need an answer. Fortunately, religion can provide those answers. Now, whether or not those answers are interpreted correctly is another discussion. It works, and Roslin and crew use it. Now, it may seem that I am bashing this tactic, but trust me, I’m not. A society needs common ground and a purpose to survive. They need a reason to live. When everything is taken from you, what stops you from taking your life?

When the survival of the human race is in your hands, how can one person even begin to make decisions? As the military leader of the fleet, William Adama has to make these impossible decisions. Now, most of the time, the choices seem obvious. Yes, we need to go down on this planet to find food. Yes, we need to fix this ship so we can have tilium for fuel. When it starts getting fuzzy is when these choices become personal. There are many points in the season when choices have to be made by Adama that either puts the fleet at risk or someone he loves at risk. Do we go back for Starbuck, his adoptive daughter? Do we go after Athena and Helo’s daughter because she’s the first cylon-human? That’s where Adama’s flaws come out. He tends to put the fleet at risk when it will effect him personally. Even though this is reckless, this makes Adama one of the most complex characters in the series. He has to lead, protect, and ensure the survival of the human race; that pressure is unimaginable. I wouldn’t want that kind of leadership or power. However, Adama takes the charge head on. He cares, I mean really cares about finding home and starting a new life for everyone. Yes, he makes reckless decisions for personal reasons, but it’s because he has a heart. If he didn’t make those decisions, he would be an icy, cold leader. He’s the best man for the job. I believe the reason this race survives is because of Adama’s compassion.

This show has so many layers; people will be talking about this series for a long time. The arc of the characters are so well drawn, almost everyone has a nice payoff by the end of the series. Also, another aspect I loved about Battlestar is all the main characters that we’re introduced to within the first season are there at the end. There are only a few people introduced in later seasons that have any relevance. Many shows introduce characters later as afterthoughts for the series, and honestly, it’s kinda annoying. I love seeing a character from the beginning of a series and watching them grow and change. I hope people will give this series a chance. Yes, it’s a science fiction show, but you actually forget that. It’s a show about survival, tough decisions, love, hate, politics, religion, forgiveness, and redemption…it just happens to be set in space.