Martin Scorsese directs Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams and Emily Mortimer in an adaptation from Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island novel.

The Plot

DiCaprio takes on the role of U.S Marshall Teddy Daniels along with his partner Chuck. The two of them are sent to Shutter Islands Ashecliffe Hospital to investigate the disappearance of one of the patients played by Emily Mortimer.
After a somewhat rocky start the two of them then begin to unearth what seems like a twisted plot to experiment on the patients of the institute.
Teddy actually pushes to be placed on the Shutter Island case for his own reasons and it soon becomes apparent that these secrets and plots go a lot deeper than initially thought with Teddy finding himself drawn deeper into the Shutter Island world.

Shutter Island

The Thoughts

Shutter Island is most definitely watchable with DiCaprio and Kingsley delivering charming performances, but I feel Scorsese tries far too hard to keep us in suspense throughout the whole 138 minutes which tended to drag past the hour and a half mark.

Shutter Island aims to get inside the head with somewhat disturbing scenes that had a profoundly frightening effect on me afterwards upon which I found myself asking how humans could be so cruel? So don’t see this if you don’t like seeing nasty images.
This isn’t your average run-of-the-mill predictable thriller. Sure there are some expected scenes and the smartest of us will probably be able to figure out what’s going on before they spell it out for us all, but overall it’s a clever story.

All the secrets and twists become clear by the end of the film, with the ending open to different interpretations which may lead to some confusion, still a worthwhile trip if you don’t mind leaving feeling almost unsatisfied if you need a definite ending to your films. This is a film you can only see once to get the full impact, think along the lines of A Beautiful Mind. but it’s a film that made an impression on me but not entirely memorable or a film I would want to see again anytime soon.

The Film Buzz Rating: 6/10

UK Release Date: 12th March 2010

Director: Martin Scorsese

Writer’s: Dennis Lehane (novel), Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay)

Links: IMDB, Official Site

Shutter Island

Someone is missing.

From Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese, Shutter Island is a story set in 1954 of two U.S. Marshals Teddy Daniels (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) who are summoned to a remote and barren island to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a murderess from the island’s fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane.

Gaining 8.2/10 on IMDB and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow and Michelle Williams – this is not a film you want to miss out on seeing.

See it if you liked: Gothika (2003), The Island (2005)

Certificate: 15

Genre: Drama/Thriller/Mystery

Release Date: 12 March 2010

Green Zone

Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller is done following orders.

Matt Damon teams up with director Paul Greengrass once again (since famed The Bourne Ultimatum and The Bourne Supremacy) for the electrifying thriller Green Zone. Set after the fall of Saddamn Hussein, Damon stars as Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller – a rogue U.S. Army officer who must hunt through covert and faulty intelligence for hidden Weapons of Mass Destruction on foreign soil before war escalates in an unstable region.

Dubbed to be an energetic, chaotic and action-packed thriller – best hang onto the edge of your seats.

Also starring Yigal Naor, Nicoye Banks, Jerry Della Salla and Sean Huze.

See it if you liked: The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), The Hurt Locker (2008)

Certificate: 15

Genre: Drama/Thriller/War

Release Date: 12 March 2010

Here’s the breakdown of films to look out for this year:

January

Kicking off the year with a gruesome start: Daybreakers sets a plague loose transforming the human race into vampires (preview here) whilst romantic comedy It’s Complicated about a very complicated love triangle starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin (preview here).

The Road, a hotly tipped Oscar contender, is a post-apocalyptic thriller about a nameless man and his son trying to survive by any means possible – starring Viggo Mortensen out 8 January 2010. Also contending for Oscars is Up in the Air - a drama starring George Clooney originally due for release in 2009 but will now be hitting UK cinemas on 15 January 2010 (preview here).

Another two contending prize winners are Peter Jackson‘s supernatural thriller The Lovely Bones and Precious - a drama about a pregnant teenager given a second chance to change her life around, both out 29 January 2010, whilst gritty action/thriller Edge of Darkness – an adaptation of a TV series following a detective investigating the murder of his daughter, starring Mel Gibson (preview here).

February

Originally slated for release in 2009 but had been delayed til 2010 are Shutter Island – a horror/thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio and The Wolfman (preview here) will finally hit cinemas mid February 2010.

March

Children’s classic Alice in Wonderland gets a superb remaking by director Tim Burton – quirky, crazy and fantastical – plunge into a land of mysteries, wonder and danger with Alice and let your senses be rattled in 3D come 5 March 2010.

Another remaking gracing the big screen is a new version of 1981′s Clash of the Titans with Avatar star Sam Worthington as Perseus, out 26 March 2010 (preview here).

April

Hotly anticipated and guaranteed to be a bunch of laughs – Kick-Ass, a comic book-inspired action comedy starring Nicolas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (preview here).

May

Come 14 May 2010, get ready for the epic remake of Robin Hood - legendary archer hero in the army fighting against invaders starring Russell Crowe, whilst another hero in the form of Iron Man 2 will see Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson face the formidable new foe played by Mickey Rourke (preview here).
Also, the best-selling Disney game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time transforms into an action adventure film starring Jake Gyllenhaal (preview here).

June

As if they couldn’t release any more remakes, 1980′s favourite Footloose will be getting a re-imagining come 18 June 2010, and rom-com When In Rome, which reaches our screens in June, is about a young girl (played by Kristen Bell) who is unlucky in love but whilst visiting Rome gets more whirlwind romances than she bargained for.

July

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – the third instalment of the Twilight franchise is sure to have the box-office booming when it arrives 9 July 2010, whilst a reimagining of The Karate Kid from the 1980′s comes in the form of The Karate Kid (2010) – an action drama starring Jackie Chan and Will Smith’s son Jaden Smith as a young kid who moves to China and is made to adapt and embrace kung fu taught to him by a master.

August

Christopher Nolan (director of Dark Knight) is being very secretive about the science fiction thriller Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio – out August. In the meantime, check out the trailer:

In contrast, The Expendables plot should be fairly easy to guess – an action adventure starring Sylvester Stallone and a host of action stars from past and present including Jet Li, Mickey Rourke and the late Brittany Murphy.

September

September is looking a bit dry in terms of well known remakes, sequels etc, but here’s a refreshing look at some new titles such as The Other Guys – an action comedy starring Will Ferrell and a horror/thriller Priest about a priest who disobeys church law and goes after vampires who kidnapped his niece – interesting indeed.

October

An adorable animation for all the family to “aww” and “ooooh” at is Despicable Me about a trio of orphan girls and a plan to steal the moon!

November

Finishing off our year is the penultimate Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 with Part 2 scheduled for 2011, preview here.

December

Children and adults alike will be waiting with bated breath for the third Narnia film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which will be hitting the big screen around Christmas alongside Tron Legacy - the hugely anticipated sequel to 1982 Tron film. Tron Legacy is a science fiction with exceptional visual effects looking to end our year off quite nicely in Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D (preview here).

3D storm

As you’ve probably caught on, this year is all about 3D – if it isn’t 3D, it isn’t worth watching – something along those lines. Get a load of this: there will be a third Toy Story, fourth Shrek (Shrek Forever After) and a seventh Saw released this year all using a splash of 3D magic.

And look out, the third Step Up movie, called Step Up 3D is the first dance film to be shot in 3D and features tons of amazing dancers and dance crews, out August 2010.

If that’s not enough hip-popping action in 3D for you, StreetDance 3D is out May 2010, surely fans of talent shows will be interested to check this film out as it was filmed in London featuring dance troupes Diversity and Flawless who came first and second in the talent show Britain’s Got Talent. Not only that, StreetDance 3D is making history twice as it is the first UK independent feature film about street dancing and also the first ever UK feature film to be shot entirely in 3D. Are you proud Britons?

Sequels galore:

Another continuing trend – sequels of successful prequels, with directors and producers looking to remind us of their cash cow predecessors. We have the Meet The Fockers Sequel (yep that’s the actual title – how convenient), Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (god, what the hell were they thinking?) and Sex and the City 2 - join Carrie Bradshaw as she hits the city once again with her dangerously fashionable girl pals, rocking the city with glamour and sex appeal.

Foreign Films

Foreign films that are set to impress us in 2010 include hard-hitting French prison drama A Prophet (out 22 January 2010) and dark Swedish mystery The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (out 12 March 2010).

Films contending for awards

Tis the season of film awards! Just in time for the awards season are a whole array of hotly tipped films all releasing this month including Up in the Air, Precious, The Road, Invictus (preview here) and The Lovely Bones amongst others.

Phew, if that’s not going to satisfy your film hungry tastebuds then I don’t know what will!

What will you be looking out for this year?