Trailer: THE GREEN HORNET

NEW MOON

Director: Chris Weitz
Stars: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Billy Burke, Graham Greene, Michael Sheen
Year: 2009
Rating: PG-13

This is my third year, now, for trying to make sure that I watch at least fifty new films per year - and each year, I try to make the fiftieth something unique; memorable. Last year it was Gran Torino (great film) - this year, the sequel to Twilight, which I gave a good review to back in September of 2009 (you can read the review here). For all its faults and fairly wooden dialogue, I enjoyed Twilight overall; it had an interesting story, very cool setting, a great-looking cast that did their best with the material, and a suitable ending that (of course) left everything open for a sequel.

I liked New Moon even better, on many levels - the stronger acting, the richer storyline, and even the deeper characterizations. But the woodenness remains ... and somehow, here, it's more apparent.

Kristin Stewart stars as moody high school student Bella, Robert Pattinson her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen (does anyone living, right now, NOT know these two are the stars of the film?). Though a definite threat hovered over the two at the end of the first film (one I won't, of course, reveal on a blog that promises no spoilers), that threat is nowhere to be seen in its sequel - at least, not for starters, as Edward and his vamp-family prepare to celebrate Bella's birthday at their home.

But an incident at the birthday party throws things into a bit of turmoil, prompting Edward to realize that as long as he and Bella are together the girl remains in danger. This is further exacerbated by the fact that Bella is pushing Edward to turn her into a vampire, so that they can be together always - the last thing Edward wants to do, as that would (he feels) condemn the soul of the one person he loves to hell forever. So before the fact that none of the Cullen family is aging begins to really register on the local townspeople, Edward decides that they need to leave town ... and that it would be best for Bella if the two of them broke up for good.

Needless to say, Edward's sudden decision leaves Bella heartsick and broken; she spends months in a depression, mourning Edward's departure, sure she will never be over him. Then, quite by accident, she discovers that Edward is watching out over her as best he can, for whenever danger is near a vision of him appears, warning her before disaster can happen.

This send Bella into one desperate act after another, trying to always keep Edward near - and when she needs a pair of dirt bikes rebuilt from the ground up, in pursuit of her new over-the-top hobbies, Bella turns to none other than childhood friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), the hunky Native American who, himself, has been in love with Bella for a long, long time already.

But even as Edward constantly hovers nearby (sometimes literally), like a shadow she can never let go of, Bella starts to have feelings for Jacob - the boy who was there for her, in her grief, when no one else was. But Jacob soon has his own issues to contend with, ones that override even his love for Bella ... and soon Bella not only finds herself alone again, but caught between the natural enemies of vampires and werewolves - and on the radar of not only the vengeful vampire Victoria, but also of the Volturi ... the royal court of all vampires everywhere, who see Bella's knowledge of vampires as a threat to their very existence on earth.

New Moon does have a richer story and better-developed characters than Twilight, and indeed I enjoyed it more. Taylor Lautner did a much more impressive job capturing the vulnerability of Jacob Black than I had thought he would; you really are rooting for him, even though you know Bella probably belongs with Edward, during his scenes with Kristen Stewart.

But in fact, it's the scenes with Bella and Edward that are (by far) the weakest in the film. While a lot of criticism has been leveled at Pattinson for delivering one-note performances as the sullen Edward Cullen, it's really Kristen Stewart who (at least, for me) is the weakest actor in the film. She simply has little to no emotion throughout the film, as Bella, and while at first I thought it might be a chemistry issue between her and Robert Pattinson (which has been mentioned in many other reviews of the film), the same lack of on-screen chemistry is evident (though to a lesser degree) even in her scenes with Lautner. Even a death-defying leap of faith (pun intended) in the movie lacks emotional depth ... because Stewart does, in the scene, as well. It's hard to tell if she's underplaying Bella, or just not that emotionally in the role - but either way, she and Bella both come off very flat on-screen, period.

A shame, considering Bella is the central character. But Stewart's woodenness, combined with the heavy teen-angsty melodrama and sometimes-just-plain-silly dialogue, definitely make New Moon a film geared for the young audience the books are intended for. Happily, it's also entertaining enough for adults to watch - so long as you're an adult not asking for too much from the film. So if you can sit back, check your brain at the door, and just enjoy, New Moon won't disappoint; it has plenty of action, story, nifty special effects, and shirtless young men to keep most of those who would watch it happy (if you don't scratch too deeply beyond the surface). **** - Reel Awesome

DAYBREAKERS

Directors: Michael & Peter Spierig
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Claudia Karvan, Isabel Lucas, Michael Dorman
Year: 2010
Rating: R

Just when you think you've seen every single take on a vampire story possible - along comes Daybreakers, a slick, trippy, and very bloody thriller with an intriguing premise, an exceptionally moody look and feel (think Gattaca, only about vampires), enough action and gore and splatter to satisfy the most blood-hungry of fans, even as the plot itself tickles your mind into attention.

The year is 2019, and a worldwide plague - over the last decade - has turned 95% of the world's population into vampires. Everywhere, "life" only exists now after the sun sets, and what life there is, is now in imminent peril as the world's supply of human blood has dwindled to nearly nothing. Those humans remaining - at least, those not in hiding - have been rounded up and are kept in huge farming communities, their blood harvested for the world's supply ...

But even this is not enough, and for years now scientists around the world have been trying in vain to find a blood substitute; one that will enable the vampires to survive long after the last human being has been wiped off the face of the earth. The need for such a supply has, indeed, grown even more critical, as society at large is learning that a vampire who has gone without human blood for an extended period of time begins to morph into a hideous animal gone insane - an animal who will kill anything it can in order to find sustenance. Indeed, under the real worlds of today, in 2019, there exists an underground of monsters; of rabid vampires gone out of control. A fate that's to befall everyone left on the planet, unless an alternative blood source can be found. Meanwhile, what's left is filtered into coffees and other drinks, often at only 20% in quantity, just to try and sustain the world's population as scientists work night and day to save vampirekind from extinction ... even as the human race certainly seems doomed for the same fate, already.

Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) is a hematologist for the biggest blood harvesting company in the United States. A vampire himself of course, Edward is one of the battalion of scientists conducting experiment after experiment, test after test, in the hopes of finding a blood substitute before its too late. His brother Frankie (Michale Dorman), one of the many soldiers out constantly hunting for and rounding up humans, is just one of the vampires Edward is trying to save ... even as, in his own heart, the bit of humanity that still resides in Edward feels sympathy and even pain for the dying out of the human race. Indeed, his reasons for finding a cure aren't so much rooted in trying to save what humans are left to build up a new blood supply ... but instead, finding a substitute that will enable the vampires to give up living off of human blood forever.

Such would not be the plan of Edward's boss, Charles Bromley (Sam Neill), a ruthless entrepreneur who - though once a human himself, of course - is now all about the money, as well finding a blood substitute so that real human blood becomes that much more valuable on the market. Even Bromley's own daughter Alison (Isabel Lucas), still a human and in hiding herself after running away from her father, weighs on Charles' mind as second place over business. Edward Dalton reports directly to him, and Edward Dalton - the best at what he does - is the only one Bromley sees as capable of producing that substitute and saving the world.

Which makes Edward's task that much harder when, after a traffic accident one night, he runs across a human female named Audrey (Claudia Karvan), and in turn helps her escape from the police. Soon after, Audrey - realizing Edward just might be sympathetic to the remaining humans - finds Edward again, this time bringing along her friend Elvis (Willem Dafoe) ... a grizzled, gruff-sounding revolutionary who holds the key not to a substitute for human blood - but to a potential cure for vampirism that could mean a second chance for the human race.

Wow, did I enjoy Daybreakers. With a strong premise, interesting characters, solid performances, and an intriguing story that holds the mind's attention far beyond the bloody violence meant to keep your eyes riveted - even a slightly weak ending and a final-act plot point I could see coming a mile away still did not curb my enjoyment of the film one bit. Ethan Hawke, doing his usual brooding thing in this film, makes it work perfectly here as the concerned scientist who himself is starting to change into a monster, due to his own lack of human blood - and Willem Dafoe, always captivating on-screen, commands your attention as Elvis in every scene he is in. Sam Neill plays evil brilliantly as always, and all are backed up by a supporting cast in a film that never fails to surprise, and definitely have more than a few jolts in store for viewers along the way (the overall mood of the film, plus the special effects and the way the vampires were designed to look, only help to create a very real world mostly devoid of mankind).

Daybreakers is genuinely entertaining; a vampire movie I could really sink my teeth into (yes, I went there). The gore might be a bit much for those with weaker constitutions, but if you can ride it out this is a fairly unique spin on a subject that's been done to death in recent years. One well worth seeing. **** - Reel Awesome

DORIAN GRAY

Director: Oliver Parker
Stars: Ben Barnes, Colin Firth, Ben Chaplin, Rebecca Hall, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Emilia Fox
Year: 2009
Rating: R

This latest adaptation of Oscar Wilde's famous novel, regarding a young man who never grows old thanks to a secret that lies in the portrait painted of him long ago, is a film that's very appealing to the eyes and ears - even if it does lack any real substance overall.

Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian of the Chronicles of Narnia films) stars as young British aristocrat Dorian Gray. As the film opens, its Victorian London setting suitably dark and grimy, Dorian is in the middle of committing and hiding a vicious murder, seen first stabbing an unknown victim with pure malevolence in his eyes before managing to dump the body in a river. We, the audience, have no clue as to what is going on, or who Dorian seems to be killing ... as the film then flashes back one year, to tell us Dorian's story as he first arrives in London due to inheriting a mansion and much wealth. Dorian's young, exceptionally handsome, and immediately the draw of every female in the area. Fortunately for him, he also draws the attention of a painter of some local fame, Basil Hallward (Ben Chaplin), who finds Dorian so incredibly striking, he asks the young heir if he might pose for a portrait.

Dorian, flattered, agrees; he's a nice young man, after all, making new friends. And the painting, which turns out just as incredible as Dorian is, also brings Dorian a new friend in the form of Lord Henry Wotton (Colin Firth) - a smug, self-consumed member of upper-crust English society who believes in pursuing all of life's pleasures and apologizing for nothing.

Wotton becomes an immediate influence over Dorian, who (in ways that won't be revealed via this review) in time turns into the hardened, narcissistic, pleasure-seeking and heartless creature that Wotton would still be - if only he had Gray's looks and youth. Pleasures of the flesh, of narcotics and opiates and drink, literally remake Dorian into a monster inside; a monster who still manages to retain the outer appearance, the youth and beauty, of the young man who originally arrived in London. Nothing touches Dorian, or changes him physically - not disease or drugs or drinks - even as the portrait does start to change, and the now-corrupt Dorian realizes he's only just touched on testing the limits of what he can do ... and get away with.

Wilde's novel, while intricate and full of messages on beauty and its corruption, here feels very flat on the screen. Ben Barnes, certainly handsome enough for the role and a very good actor, somehow never reached through the screen for me and truly became Dorian Gray in the film. As mentioned earlier, the film's look and feel (with credit due to the cinematography) does a pretty good job of creating both the aristocratic side of Victorian England, as well as its underbelly of poverty and crime - but even when held up to the look and feel of a film set in a similar time, like the recent The Wolfman, Dorian Gray again comes up short, even if difficult to pinpoint why.

Colin Firth is perfectly rotten as Lord Wotton, corrupt a man as ever existed and determined to turn his protege the same way ... and Ben Chaplin is wonderful in the small role of artist Basil Hallward, playing a painter whose brush strokes seem to have reached right into the supernatural for their inspiration.

But none of the main characters (with the possible exception of Wotton) are set up very well from the beginning, giving the viewer very little to work with as far as being able to feel they know or could sympathize with that character. We're told (and, in some flashbacks, briefly shown) of the sweet-natured Dorian's background as an orphan and abused child - but not in a way that makes us feel we know Dorian any better, which would have therefore made it that much more shocking when he morphs into such a bad guy in the film. The film also seems a bit obsessed with showing viewers nude or scantily-clad women, or Dorian's having sex with them, as a way of presenting Dorian's corruption in a titillating way over focusing on the dialogue or interacting with those around Dorian - who see him remaining the same youthful beauty even as they, themselves, grow old.

If this review seems muddled, I apologize - but at the same time, it reflects my own feelings about the film. Dorian Gray isn't bad, it's just ... lacking. At first I credited this to Ben Barnes, who just doesn't come across as charismatic or particularly believable in the lead role, but in the end I think the script let him down; a script that seems more focused on the sensational, controversial aspects of Dorian's story over Wilde's haunting "beauty corrupts" message, or the wit and sophistication of character and dialogue found in his writing.

Dorian Gray is a compelling enough ride for nearly two hours - but overall, in the end, a ride that is easily forgotten once it's over. It has a few heartfelt moments, but overall comes off one-dimensional and showy as the painting at the crux of the story ... or as shallow as the man, in the end, forever changed by it. **1/2 - Reel Mediocre-Reel Cool

WATERCOLORS

Director: David Oliveras
Stars: Tye Olson, Kyle Clare, Casey Kramer, Jeffrey Lee Woods, Ellie Araiza, Ian Rhodes, Greg Louganis, Karen Black
Year: 2008
Rating: N/R

When first seeing the trailer for this film, I thought it looked like a nice, typical little coming out love story about a nerdy, bookish gay high school student who falls in love for the first time with a jock. In other words, a typical-to-stereotypical, potentially cliche-riddled plot that might work on the screen ... or might fall apart in the telling.

After seeing the film - and throwing away the handful of Kleenex I needed to watch it - it's a pleasure to report that Watercolors is terrific. Effective and very realistic, it's a little indie film with a great big heart; one that pulls you in, and makes you care for its characters (especially the two wholly-impressive young lead actors, Tye Olson and Kyle Clare) on a deeper level than expected.

Olson stars as Danny Wheeler, a suburban high school gay boy, slightly on the effeminate side, who excels as an artist and is constantly picked on in school for being a "fag." He lives with his mom, Miriam (Casey Kramer, in a heartfelt performance), his father having passed away and spends much of his time drawing and painting. He has a devoted "fag hag" girlfriend at school named Andy (Ellie Araiza), and an even more devoted art teacher named Mrs. Martin (wonderfully played by Karen Black), who thinks Danny is a brilliant artist worthy of great success one day. Danny's life, in other words, is fairly normal for a gay teen not quite out of the closet, being raised by a single mom; some days good, some days not so good, and overall a bit boring.

Enter Carter Melman (Kyle Clare), a fellow student of Danny's, and ace swimmer, member of the school's championship-caliber team - who one weekend is thrust upon Danny and Miriam, when Carter's dad (Jeffrey Lee Woods), who Miriam knows from her AA meetings, has to go out of town on a job lead. Carter's a blond, longish-haired jock with an attitude, recently in trouble at school for pulling off a fairly mean-spirited prank, and the last thing Mr. Melman wants to do is leave his son unattended for a full weekend, potentially causing more trouble. Carter is dropped off during the day, to Miriam, and by the time Danny comes home from school Carter has already found a beaten-up men's underwear catalog under Danny's mattress, which an embarrassed Danny quickly snatches up and hides away. It's never questioned whether Danny is gay or not by Carter - presumably from school, Carter just assumes it even without the catalog - but from the beginning the boys get along fairly well, even with Carter's occasional teasing of Danny's homosexuality (he even half-flirts with the boy) ... and Danny's revelation to the school's best swimmer that he can't even swim, himself.

The latter is taken care of that first night at the school pool, when Danny arrives to find Carter and bring him home for dinner. Carter, alone in the darkened pool - with only the lights from the pool reflecting upward, turning everything blue - wants to give Danny a swimming lesson instead, when he learns the boy can't swim ... and when Danny says no, finally proffering that he has no swimsuit, Carter (ever the flirt) strips his off in the water, throwing it at Danny as an alternative to swimming nude. Eventually, Danny strips down to his underwear and gets in, Carter teaching him to the first basic lesson - floating - and it's so, SO obvious, written all over Danny's face, that he's starting to fall for Carter as of that night.

That first night is a long one for Danny, in fact, as he gets a kiss on the cheek from Carter in exchange for writing an important English essay on "Romeo & Juliet" for the jock. Carter even offers Danny more, sexually, if he'll write the essay, but Danny calls him an asshole ... even as the egocentric Carter yanks off his boxers and throws them in Danny's face, naked under the covers as he goes to sleep on the floor and tells Danny that he (Danny) won't be able to sleep knowing that he (Carter) lies naked inches away.

Sure enough, hours later Danny is awake, sitting up and staring at Carter for awhile before gently pulling the blanket off the nude boy, revealing his lean, smooth and muscular body. Once that's done, Danny then reaches out ... for his sketchbook, before sitting up half the night to sketch the handsome, sleeping form of his new muse - and the boy he is, indeed, falling for.

Soon after, the two begin an affair that is fun, playful, and even romantic whenever they are alone together - but, because of Carter's place in school society as a straight-laced jock, fraught with problems and even potentially dangerous whenever they're in public. To say much more would possibly ruin the film, but it needs to be stressed here that the story is not as predictable or stereotypical as the set-up might imply (you can sort of see the end coming, but it still doesn't spoil things at all) ... in HUGE part due to the astonishing performances of the two leads. Tye Olson is nothing short of perfect as Danny, never for once giving you the impression that he is acting; that he is nothing BUT the character. He brings such humanity, such heart and soul, to Danny's character, in a performance that the entire rest of the film hinges on. You will laugh with Danny, ache for Danny, and understand everything Danny does with the clarity of knowing you are watching someone in the agonies and ecstasies of first love. It's an amazing, affecting performance that should guarantee Tye Olson, if there is any justice at all, a long career ahead as an actor.

But even with all that praise, the film rests equally on the shoulders of Kyle Clare. Carter Melman, as a closeted jock, is on the surface a character that could easily have come off as one-dimensional or - indeed - a gay film/literature stereotype. But Clare, a gifted young actor deserving of "A-list" fame as well as Olson, brings real conflict and emotion to Carter, who only wants to feel important in the world ... even as he can't publicly be with the one person who makes him feel that way. It's a performance more complex than Olson's, also equally touching and effective. I would seriously, as of this film, watch ANYTHING either of these young actors appear in now; both are just so brilliant here, and the two biggest reasons the film works as well as it does on an emotional level.

Kudos still need to go to the supporting cast, however - especially Casey Kramer and Karen Black. Greg Louganis, as Carter's hard-ass swimming coach, in fact stuck the only false note for me in the film; much as I am a fan of Louganis, for some reason (at least, to me) he just always seemed "camera-conscious" whenever on-screen, throwing me out of the film's story in the few short scenes he has.

The entire film is told in flashback, opening with an adult Danny (Ian Rhodes) at his first major gallery showing as an artist, reflecting over the inspiration for the paintings and sketches hanging on the walls before him. Much as I sit here now, reflecting on Watercolors - a film I thought might be an enjoyable little coming out story, that instead came from nowhere and hit me with an emotional punch I never saw coming. Highly recommended. ****1/2 - Reel Awesome-Reel Must-See

Trailer: THE COVE

AN EDUCATION

Director: Lone Scherfig
Stars: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, Olivia Williams, Cara Seymour
Year: 2009
Rating: PG-13

Starting off with a piece of fairly surprising trivia: An Education marks the first time in his fifteen-year career that Peter Sarsgaard has received top billing in a film. Considering Sarsgaard's impressive body of work, it seems a real injustice that such an accolade was this long in coming ... but boy, does Sarsgaard earn it here, in a wonderful, totally enchanting film in which Carey Mulligan not only shines as a British teenaged girl trying to get into Oxford in the early 1960's - she also shows the makings of a fine actress, worthy of the Oscar nomination she got for this film and a true star of the future.

Here Mulligan plays Jenny, a 16-year-old suburban British girl from Twickenham who, in 1961, dreams of little more than living the bohemian lifestyle in Paris one day, where she will wear all black, smoke incessantly, and absorb nothing but French music, literature, and culture. Her short-term goal, however, is to get into Oxford by passing her A-levels - a goal set by her parents, and in particular her father, Jack (Alfred Molina, in one of his best performances), who wants his daughter to be successful and self-sufficient. Jenny is bored, bored, bored, playing her cello (after years of lessons) and smoking behind the backs of her parents and teachers, and just biding her time until she can get away to university and start the life she really wants to lead.

Until, one day during a thunderstorm, Jenny meets David (Peter Sarsgaard) - a man nearly twice her age who loves music and can't stand the thought of Jenny's cello being ruined in the rain. David gives Jenny a ride home, and the two bond instantly over a love of the arts and culture - and a short time after, when Jenny is with her girlfriends from school and runs into David again, this time the older man asks her if she'd like to attend a concert with him and his best friends, Helen and Danny, later that week. At first Jenny declines, thinking there is no way her parents would let her go, so they make a bet that if he can talk her parents into saying it's okay she will go - otherwise, he will give Jenny the tickets for her and her mother to go, instead.

The night of the concert, David proves a master charmer and indeed talks Jack into practically suggesting David take Jenny himself. At the concert, Jenny meets David's friends - the beautiful, worldly, yet somehow vacuous Helen (Rosamund Pike) and her handsome boyfriend Danny (Dominic Cooper) - and from that night on, the four start spending a lot of time together around town, as David starts to woo Jenny, even as her parents think of it more as a nice young man trying to expose their daughter to new cultural and educational influences (this was the early sixties, remember; a somewhat more innocent time than today). Jenny, in turn, starts to fall for David, who eventually suggests they make her dream come true and go to Paris, just in time for her seventeenth birthday. Even after the luster wears off of David a bit - when Jenny finds out what he and his best friend/business partner Danny really do for a living, for one - Jenny still cannot deny that her world and life have both opened up in such beautiful and glorious ways; ways she never thought possibly except in her wildest fantasies come true.

An Education is a quiet, subtle and very affecting film that is not so easy to define, yet simple in both approach and story. Carey Mulligan, at times, is deeply reminiscent of a young Audrey Hepburn as Jenny, and her performance is so real you never for once see her as an actress in the film. Sarsgaard, as a character you never quite know if you can trust fully, is perfectly cast as David, with genuine chemistry and outright charm igniting the air between the two actors on-screen. Even as the relationship between Jenny and David deepens, you grow to wonder how things will work out, or if these two even should be together. More to the point, you will be rooting for Jenny all the way, whether you agree with her choices or not.

Ultimately, the film works on several levels in terms of the title alone. And while this is something most would probably call a "small" film in terms of budget, story and characters, it still makes quite and impact, mostly due to the amazing Carey Mulligan. She is the heart of the film, and the heart you'll want to protect as she breathes heart, soul, humor, and life into Jenny. What a treat of a performance, and what a treat of a film. **** - Reel Awesome

SHUTTER ISLAND

Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams
Year: 2010
Rating: R

Though dated 8 June, I'm actually writing this review four days later - on the 12th of June, with this film still playing at the corners of my mind. I was disappointed with the last Scorsese film I saw (The Departed, reviewed here), though impressed with the performance of Leonardo DiCaprio (one of the most underrated actors working right now) in the film. Here, director and actor team up again for a haunting psychological thriller that echoes some great Hitchcockian moments - and has an ending even the most jaded viewer might not see coming (indeed, the last line of dialogue in the film, alone, may quite possibly knock you on your ass).

The setting is the islands off Boston Harbor, 1954. DiCaprio stars as Teddy Daniels, a federal U.S. Marshall taking the ferry over to Shutter Island along with his new partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), to investigate the escape/disappearance of a patient from the prison for the criminally insane housed there. From the opening scene, of a seasick Teddy hanging his sweaty head over a sink, trying to get his stomach back under control, we learn that Teddy Daniels is a flawed man, haunted by both his time in spent with the military during World War II, breaking up concentration camps ... to the death of his wife Dolores a couple years earlier. As the ferry approaches Shutter Island, a storm fast approaching on the water, Scorsese makes sure the island is shrouded in darkness and menace, the musical score playing over Daniels and Aule's view of the island creeping you out before the men even get there, portents of some really evil stuff ahead.

The marshalls are dropped off on the island, where they meet up with ultra-tight security in the form of armed police guards who seem almost too jittery and nervous for their own good, as if the slightest movement could cause their already-itchy trigger fingers to go off. Teddy and Chuck are immediately forced to give up their weapons before they can even enter the facility, and their sense of being out of control of the situation - even though they are U.S. marshalls with supposed authority over the investigation - is further heightened when the two meet Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley), who overseas the facility that houses the most dangerous, mentally unstable criminals in the country. Cawley, though professing an eagerness to help, instantly clashes with Daniels, in particular over granting the marshalls access to employees records so they can better conduct their investigation. Max von Sydow, as Dr. Naehring, does his sinister best as Cawley's superior - the man who refuses Daniels accent, even as Teddy spots the doctor's slight German accent right off, impacting him with more reminders of his haunting time at Dachau.

In fact, as we learn more of Teddy's back-story - via flashbacks, as well as with visions Teddy starts having of his dead wife (Michelle Williams), who was burned to death in their apartment building by an arsonist currently locked up on Shutter Island - viewers learn there are hidden connections to the marshall and why he's at the prison. And as Teddy starts to uncover clues to a conspiracy, as well as to what the missing/escaped patient may have learned before she disappeared, the young federal marshall realizes that perhaps he and Chuck are in more danger than they ever could have realized ... and that neither of them may ever be allowed to leave Shutter Island alive.

The film, populated with some brilliant character actors in supporting roles (John Carroll Lynch as the menacing deputy warden and Ted Levine as the warden who virtually has "Nazi" written all over him, as well as Jackie Earle Haley and Elias Koteas as Shutter Island inmates/patients), is moody, suspenseful as hell, and with more twists and turns than a roller coaster, all of which may at times leave viewers a bit confused ... though it all comes together in the end.

That's as much as can be said without giving away anything else, possibly spoiling the film. But Shutter Island, in its way, is a masterpiece of quiet suspense, where gore and chase scenes and action sequences normally found in this kind of film instead make way for the taut, psychological suspense that not only keeps you glued to the screen ... but also stays with you for a long time afterward.

The ending itself comes as a pretty good jolt to the system; I didn't see it coming, and the script really plays things out in an intelligent way that both clears up confusion and gives both a richness and strength to both the characters and story. And again, even the last line of the dialogue in the film, if you're paying attention, should have any viewer watching whispering "oh WOW" under their breath, at the very least.

I loved Shutter Island. It doesn't feel much like a Scorsese film in the usual sense of his work, but the master's touches are there - and the film is brilliantly executed, capped by a great performance by DiCaprio and cinematography that keeps you in the ominous, "something is very wrong here" mindset for the entire ride. A true psychological thriller for 2010, with its feel of 1950's post-war paranoia firmly in place. Wonderfully addictive and worth repeated viewings, this is a film that works on many levels and will stay with the mind long after the end credits roll. ****1/2 - Reel Awesome-Reel Must-See

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF

Director: Chris Columbus
Stars: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandria Daddario, Jake Abel, Pierce Brosnan, Catherine Keener, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd, Steve Coogan, Joe Pantoliano
Year: 2010
Rating: PG

Young actor Logan Lerman first made a real impression on this reviewer with 2007's Bill, in which he turned in an effective, funny and touching performance going scene-for-scene with the considerable acting chops of Aaron Eckhart. It was a great little film I hope more people see - and similarly, with Tropic Thunder in 2008, I became an instant fan of Brandon T. Jackson, who was hilarious as Alpa Chino.

So for these two reasons alone (plus a middle-of-the-road interest in Greek mythology), I was more than interested in catching Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. With no knowledge of the book(s) the film is based on, I sat down to watch the film with an open mind and eager eyes.

The film opens majestically enough, with none other but the great god Poseidon himself (Kevin McKidd) emerging from the waters off Manhattan, where he ends up meeting with Zeus (Sean Bean) to discuss the theft of Zeus' lightning bolt. Zeus is convinced the crime was committed by the half-human son of Poseidon, who of course denies his son had anything to do with the crime ... even as Zeus portends the boy has just ten days to return the bolt before total war opens up between the three brothers themselves - Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades (Steve Coogan) for control of Mount Olympus.

Cut to teenager Percy Jackson (Lerman), a semi-nerdy New York City student who suffers from both ADHD and dyslexia, just trying to get through life and school with his mom (Catherine Keener), and the smelly, beer-swilling pig (Joe Pantoliano) she's married - who treats Percy like total crap. The first ten minutes or so of the film are okay, building up a fairly normal story ... before a seemingly normal scene set in a museum blows both the plot and special effects budget wide, and the film really takes off with an immediate threat to Percy - which leads to the astonishing knowledge, for the young man, that HE is the son of Poseidon, and is now in mortal danger; as the presumed thief of Zeus' lightning bolt, everyone is out to either kill him, or get the bolt back before it can be returned to Zeus.

So with barely enough time to digest all that's going on, Percy is whisked to a training camp for young warriors - all the half-children of mortals and the various gods or goddesses of Olympus - that is protected by magic from outside enemies, as you have to be a half-blood to enter. On the way, however, Percy's mother is captured by a minion of none other than Hades, who desperately wants the bolt, and will do anything to get Percy to give it to him.

At the camp, Percy and his best friend Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) meet up with a young, beautiful female warrior - half-daughter of Athena - named Annabeth (Alexandria Daddario), who gives Percy a hard-earned lesson in fighting before the boy steps up to the plate to show some considerable skills inherited from his father. Also on board is Luke (Jake Abel), half-son of Hermes, who takes Percy under his wing as instructor and friend ... and who even helps Percy by providing him with his magic shield, when early on Percy decides to sneak out of camp and make his way to the Underworld, where he hopes to rescue his mother from Hades, simply explaining to the god that he doesn't, and never had, Zeus' lightning bolt. Grover and Annabeth accompany Percy on his quest, which includes crossing the country in the search of the three pearls they need to enter Hades - and battling the various gods, minions, and magic determined to stop their mission ... or obtain the lightning from Percy (Uma Thurman, in particular, has a great scene as Medusa that's worth catching alone).

A lot - sorry, a LOT - of criticism has come to this film because of the severe changes director Chris Columbus made to the storyline and characters. In particular, Percy is much younger in the books (twelve, I believe), and supposedly much of the books story has been edited down, with entire scenes, characters, and a lot of the background mythology missing. Not having read the books, I can still definitely see what a disappointment all of this would be to fans of the novels ...

But for me, Percy Jackson disappoints simply on the level of viewer commitment. Logan Lerman, much as I like his work, seems out of place in the lead, as if his acting skills aren't quite developed enough to handle the role. He's simply not all the believable, and at times even overacts (a problem with several of the actors in the film), sort of "hamming it up a bit with the drama. Brandon T. Jackson turns in a much more natural performance, while Alexandria Daddario is okay as Annabeth, if not a bit stiff - but even so, all are backed up by some really heavy (too heavy, at times) drama via other, more seasoned actors in the cast, as well. The ending is more than a little easy to figure out; sadly, story-wise, the film could have used much more plot and character development to make the road there more interesting.

But even with that, the film's special effects and action sequences are very cool, with some truly eye-popping visuals that still make me glad I saw the film. It's just really, REALLY cool to look at, at times, and younger kids especially should like the special effects and look of the film (even though some of the villains, and even story, might not be good for very young children). Adults watching the film with them shouldn't be bored - but you also just won't be terribly moved to care too, too much about the characters; the film is all action and all visuals, while the substance tries in vain to catch up throughout.

Worth seeing? Well, yeah - as a rental or on cable especially. Worth buying? Not really. Even with its cool, sort of kick-butt final action sequence, set on (actually, above) the rooftops of Manhattan - which isn't long enough, but pretty groovy while it's happening. **1/2 - Reel Mediocre-Reel Cool