Shutter Island, whoa. Whoa it should be noted was the only word I could think of, the only word filling my head as I left the cinema after watching it.

Also, I should make you aware, I saw this on a Sunday, after work (which I had started at 7am, with a 5am wake up) and I did NOT fall asleep. That equals some riveting viewing. (Sorry, Avatar, I dozed off watching you. Twice)

I hadn’t heard too much about this film, except that it was possibly a tad drawn out. But I feel this is perfectly paced, perfectly shot, and the ending is just brilliantly conveyed; leaving the viewer casting their minds back to earlier scenes in the film; which at then may have been puzzling, but now made all the more sense.

This is a film I definitely cannot, and will not even try to give too much away because it is one that is surprising in so many ways. One of the surprises is that Martin Scorcese seems to be inspired by Hitchcock, and I thank him for it. There hasn’t been an authentically Hitchcock-ian feeling thriller in a long time. Whether it was the darkly lit, but close shots of the landscape, as well as the actors shot from not straight on, but slightly below; this film could have been made in the 1950s. Leonardo DiCaprio, and Mark Ruffalo look iconically and authentically 1950s, as they make their way to Shutter Island, a mental institution for the criminally insane.

In the same way as Alcatraz, Shutter Island is so beautifully decrepit – somehow it just makes it all the more eerie. DiCaprio and Ruffalo are there to investigate an escaped murderess, and like Alcatraz, its near impossible to survive in the conditions there, let alone escape.

Here is where I’m going to stop talking about the plot; that is all you need to know going in without some movie enthusiast spoiling it for you. What I will say is that I was enthralled from start to finish. I feel as I could just go see this again right now, as I’m writing this, remembering all the intricate main plot, and subplots present throughout the film, leaving me with as many questions as answers but not in that annoying way of not having closure.

I know its only March 2010 – but this will be on my top 10 films of the year. Brilliant directing, brilliant acting, amazingly intricate screenplay with a beautifully Hitchcock inspired art direction and score to set the mood.

One of my favourite shows on TVever has to be Ed, the goofy adventures of Mr Edward J Stevens, the lawyer who happened to have an office in a bowling alley. Oh, I could write a whole post, or five on my favourite elements of that show, but it did give me a huge love and respect for Tom Cavanagh, the lead actor. Even when he did the short lived Love Monkey (with a recurring appearance by Teddy Geiger) it just made me miss him all the more.

So anytime, there is a TV show, or movie with Tom Cavanagh, I’m there. And so is a friend of mine, she lent me this movie called Sublime, a supposed thriller about just what goes on in a hospital. Of course, there are always urban legends, and not so legends, and facts about people that go into hospital, and can pick up bacteria, and other sicknesses… hideous I know.

The plot is based on just turned 40 George Grieves, who is about to have a routine colonoscopy, and he has a birthday party on his birthday on the eve of this surgery. Via flashbacks to that evening, intercut with his recovery post surgery, you see the different ways he interacted with each of his guests, his family, and all of the scary thoughts, and discussions pre-surgery. Basically, nothing is as it seems. He wakes up, and from that point onwards… I’m lost. Is he hallucinating? Where is his wife? Why is he so groggy? Who is the black man in the bow tie.. what happened to the patient next to him? Seriously, there is no point in me trying to explain (since I can’t really haha) more, but it gets more grisly, and brutal – rather gratuitously.

There is never a real explanation of if it was ‘real’ or ‘symbolic’ and it just fails at conveying any sort of understanding, ending with no real closure, or further motive or explanation. Instead, just a big loud WHAT?! cried out loud as the credits roll..

Yes, Mark Wahlberg is wearing a mood ring.

For a movie that I was really looking forward to, this really, really disappointed me. As well as X Files: I Want To Believe, I had such high hopes, and such expectations, as I really thought M Night Shyamalan had redeemed himself, and found his auteurial voice again. But I think that perhaps his big out of the blue twist success with The Sixth Sense gave audiences expectations that each one of his films that same expectation – and therefore ruin the journey of the film itself. It turned the film’s first two acts into a chore, all expecting that big gasp from the audience type of surprise.

I believe what Shyamalan has done with the Happening is deliver a film with no surprise, no twist – and that was a big mistake. One of the big mistakes one can do with a mystery is give away too much. Arguably, when giving away much too little, it can be more frustrating. Not pointing any fingers, JJ Abrams.

But I digress. 13 minutes into the film, we find out what is causing the extremely disturbing mass of suicides, all around nature. (See, nature is bad folks). Yes, the answer is given to the audience. I spent the next five minutes trying to think, really? Is that it? Of course, it was under the guise of a scientific problem given to a junior high science class led by Marky Mark, I mean Mark Wahlberg.

Once the answer is given to a mystery..what further interest is there to keep watching? I had blind optimism you may say. If only the acting, or the plot itself gave me more hope. The two leads in the film have zero chemistry, and there is no dialogue or.. affection shown to actually provide such ‘evidence’ of them being married. The dialogue is delivered so.. woodenly (is that a word?) that I think Zooey Deschanel must have been cast purely for her big blue doe eyes, as many times, the camera relies on her looks of disbelief, or Mark Wahlberg’s concerned face – its almost daytime soap like.

I kept on watching, hoping that it would get better, and whilst the mystery was ‘explained’ in a manner of speaking; what is the larger message? Is Shyamalan actually trying to deliver an Incovenient Truthful-like message? The damage that we, humans have done to the Earth, and the plants are fighting back? Even if I have given away plot spoilers, believe me – it won’t ruin it. You will still be shocked at how bland this ‘thriller’ is.

And it ended with a mirror of the scene it began with… could he even be thinking of a sequel?