Shutter Island, the fourth film to team Leonardo DiCaprio with legendary director Martin Scorsese, hit theaters today. This is the first of my "10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2010" to be released so, obviously, I headed out to the theater to see it. And, I must say, it earned its spot on that list. I will warn you, though, that this film may not be for everybody. It's a psychological thriller, so it will definitely twist your mind while watching.

Shutter Island follows two federal marshals as they head to a mental institution for the criminally insane on a secluded island to investigate the escape of a potentially dangerous patient. Upon arriving on the island, they're met with little cooperation by doctors, guards and other personnel, leading them to speculate that the goings-on behind the walls of the institution may be more sinister than they appear.

This movie had so many twists that it makes it difficult to write a review without giving much away. If you don't pay attention, you will most likely miss something. And, trust me, there were definitely some twists. Sure, lots of movies involve plot twists, but this one kept me trying to figure what was real and what wasn't all the way through. Scorsese did an excellent job keeping the viewer guessing and, I'll be honest, I did not see the ending coming at all.

As for the acting, the entire cast was brilliant. DiCaprio completely delivered in role of Teddy Daniels, a federal marshal who is still trying to come to terms with the death of his wife. Sir Ben Kingsley was convincing as the mysterious head psychiatrist of the hospital. Mark Ruffalo gave the best performance of his career as Teddy's partner, Chuck. And my favorite performance in the film was from Michelle Williams, who played Teddy's deceased wife during flashback/dream sequences. The rest of the supporting cast, including Jackie Earle Haley, Max von Sydow and Emily Mortimer, were equally as impressive in their limited roles as well.

The only real gripe I have with the movie is what appeared to be continuity errors. Throughout the film, there were numerous scenes that seemed to have been sloppily edited in post-production. In actuality, these "cuts" were deliberate and were intended to add to the uneasy feeling of the film. While I do agree that this technique can be effective in that manner, it was way overused in this film and oftentimes seemed unnecessary. In fact, I didn't figure out that it was intentional until about the third or forth time. It should've been more subtle but, instead, it just became a distraction. Of course, who am I to question Martin Scorsese's directing techniques?

Other than that, Shutter Island was a very good film. It kept me interested from beginning to end and provided a very unexpected ending. As far as psychological thrillers go, it was one of the best I've seen in a while. If you're a fan of such films, definitely go see this one. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

 

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The Wolfman is this weekend's entry in the "Which Movie Can We Remake Now?" contest. It's an update of the classic 1941 monster movie, The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney Jr. This time around, Benicio Del Toro is taking on the role of the title character, unfortunately with not-so-great results.

The story takes place in late 19th-century Blackmoor, England, where, after his brother has gone missing, Lawrence Talbot has been summoned to return home by his brother's fiance, Gwen, to help find him. Upon his arrival, he learns that his brother's mangled body had been found days earlier, mutilated by some sort of wild animal or beast, speculated by many to be a werewolf.

While investigating his brother's death at Gwen's request, Lawrence, himself, has a run-in with the beast, leaving him badly wounded but alive. After healing from the attack, Lawrence discovers that the beast's bite came with a few side effects. Those side effects are especially evident in the presence of a full moon. (Full moons seem to happen more often than scientifically possible in this film, by the way.)

Some things worked for this film, and others didn't. I'll start with the bad then work my way up.

The story, unfortunately, was bland at best. We were given very little reason to care about any of the characters, and the pacing was terrible. Not to mention, the big twist could be seen from a mile away. In fact, it was so obvious that I almost feel dirty even calling it a "twist".

And I was very disappointed with the performances of both Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, which is surprising considering both men are usually on top of their game. Emily Blunt did a decent enough job with the screen-time she was given, though. And Hugo Weaving's limited role made all of his scenes the most watchable.

On the upside, the movie didn't hold back in the blood and gore department. I must admit, I expected it to be a watered-down supposed-to-be-horror-turned-drama. I was pleasantly surprised by the numerous limbs and entrails that were ripped from bodies. When the Wolfman goes on a rampage, believe me, he goes on a rampage.

And I loved the fact that the Wolfman looked very similar to the original 1941 version. Many people may not agree with that assessment but, in my eyes, it was a perfect homage to the original film. And the transformation scenes were very well done. Of course, it's always cool to see a person transforming into some sort of beast right before our eyes.

All in all, the film wasn't terrible, but it was far from great. Cool special effects and makeup, excellent production design, and blood and gore can't make a film, but it can at least make a bad film watchable. And that's exactly what we have with The Wolfman.

 

 

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I was as excited about watching Super Bowl XLIV as any other non-Colts or non-Saints fan. After all, we had quite possibly the two greatest quarterbacks in the NFL going head-to-head while leading two of the most explosive offenses. If nothing else, the game was going to be fun to watch, and it was. But, let's face it, if your favorite team isn't playing, the Super Bowl does seem to lose a bit of its magic. Sure, I still love watching football but, with no emotional attachment to either the Colts or the Saints, the outcome of the game becomes a moot point for me. Now, next year when my Philadelphia Eagles are winning Super Bow XLV, that'll be a different story.

As for this year, though, I was looking forward to the commercials as much as the actual game. More specifically, being the movie geek that I am, I was anxious to see which films would be debuting new trailers. In all, there ended up being 9 different movie trailers during the Super Bowl, many of which had already been released online days earlier. There were also a few films that were expected to debut new trailers but ended up being conspicuously excluded.

So, what did we get? Well, we were treated to new trailers for Alice in Wonderland and Shutter Island, both of which were listed on "My Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2010". The Shutter Island preview seemed to just be a recut of the trailer that's been floating around for months. The Alice in Wonderland trailer, however, included some new shots and seemed even darker, if that's possible.

The new Robin Hood trailer might've been my biggest surprise simply because I haven't been looking forward to this movie at all. Admittedly, though, this trailer possibly convinced me that I've been underestimating this film all along.

The new trailer for The Wolfman remake was obviously there to give the movie one last push before it hits theaters this weekend. I already thought this film had potential to be a good one and, after seeing this new trailer, I'm now convinced of it.

Others receiving coveted Super Bowl spots were Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, Brooklyn's Finest, The Back-Up Plan and the remake of George A. Romero's The Crazies. Strangely enough, the Brooklyn's Finest trailer was already being shown on television prior to the Super Bowl.

Noticeably absent from this list are both Toy Story 3 and Iron Man 2. I would've bet money that these two were a lock for Super Bowl spots this year. Unfortunately, I would've lost that bet.

Since we're all about helping here at HobNobWilson.com, I've conveniently included every trailer that was featured during Super Bowl XLIV. Enjoy and leave us your thoughts.

 

The Last Airbender

 

Shutter Island

 

Alice in Wonderland

 

Robin Hood

 

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

 

The Back-Up Plan

 

The Wolfman

 

The Crazies

 

Brooklyn's Finest

It appears that I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time in the theater in 2010, and I couldn't be happier about it. As I looked over the list of new releases that will hit theaters this year, there seemed to be at least 3 or 4 titles every month that got filed away in the "Must See" folder in my brain ... and on my iMac. In fact, I found it quite difficult to narrow my choices down to 10 and briefly contemplated writing my "Top 20 Most Anticipated Movies" instead.

Seriously, there are that many new movies coming out this year that I simply do not want to miss. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way because, no matter what genre you're a fan of, there seems to be quite a few choices out there for everyone.

I did finally settle on the 10 movies that I most want to see this year, though. And with the exception of leaving Toy Story 3 off the list, I'm pleased with my choices. For the record, if The Rum Diary gets pushed back to a 2011 release date, the Toy Story sequel will take its place on this list. Also, keep in mind that these are the movies that I'm most looking forward to seeing this year. We can't all like the same movies. Right? That being said, my apologies ahead of time to Harry Potter, Narnia and Twilight fans. None of those sequels made my list because, quite honestly, I'm not a fan.

10. The Rum Diary (Release Date: TBD) -- The Rum Diary is an independent film based on the work of the late, great Hunter S. Thompson. It will mark the second time that Johnny Depp has had a hand in bringing Thompson's brilliance to the big screen, the first being Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, one of my personal favorites.

9. Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (Release Date: April 23, 2010) -- Oliver Stone returns to direct this sequel to his 1987 Academy Award-winning film, Wall Street. Even better, Michael Douglas is once again taking on the role of Gordon Gekko. "Greed is good." Need I say more?

8. The Expendables (Release Date: August 13, 2010) -- Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables is a throwback to those old school, testosterone-fuled action films from the 80s and early 90s, and the cast list reads as such. Along with Stallone, the film stars Jason Statham, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Arnold Schwarzenegger and even Dolph Lundgren. I don't expect much in terms of a plot, but it's a guarantee that stuff is going to get blown up. A lot.

7. Clash of the Titans (Release Date: March 26, 2010) -- As a child growing up in the 80s, I can recall watching Clash of the Titans on multiple occasions and always being intrigued by the stories from Greek mythology contained within the film. Even as a youngster, though, I could never completely look past the one thing that always bothered me about the movie: the absolutely horrible special effects. With the technological advances in filmmaking over the last 30 years, I think it's a safe bet that special effects won't be a concern at all when the remake hits theaters this year.

6. Shutter Island (Release Date: February 19, 2010) -- Martin Scorsese's newest film, Shutter Island, follows two U.S. Marshals to a hospital for the criminally insane on a secluded island where they search for a patient who has escaped, or disappeared. The movie is based on the novel of the same name and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, marking the forth time that DiCaprio has starred in a Scorsese-directed film.

5. Inception (Release Date: July 16, 2010) -- Christopher Nolan is undoubtedly best known for reinventing the Batman film franchise, but his talent as a filmmaker was obvious prior to that. Just take a look at Memento and Insomnia for proof. Seriously, it's almost as if the guy is incapable of making bad movies. Very few details are known about his upcoming film, Inception, as the plot is largely being kept a secret, but with Nolan at the helm, it's almost guaranteed to be an excellent film.

4. Alice in Wonderland (Release Date: March 5, 2010) -- The classic tale of Alice in Wonderland is the latest in a long line of Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaborations. Ten years after the events of her first adventure in Wonderland, a now 19-year-old Alice once again falls down the rabbit hole and reunites with the friends from her childhood, who happen to be engaged in a battle with the Red Queen over control of Wonderland. In true Time Burton fashion, expect this film to be much darker than any previous incarnation of Alice in Wonderland.

3. The A-Team (Release Date: June 11, 2010) -- I honestly don't think I ever missed an episode of The A-Team television series as a kid. To say I was a huge fan would be an understatement. However, when I read the news that The A-Team was being made into a full-length feature film, I was less than ecstatic. That is until I saw the trailer. This movie looks excellent, especially if you enjoy action. And it seems to have stayed true to the source material, which I was afraid would end up not being the case.

2. A Nightmare on Elm Street (Release Date: April 30, 2010) -- A Nightmare on Elm Street is the latest classic horror film to be given the remake treatment. However, unlike many of those other recent horror remakes, they might've actually got it right with this one. Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach from Watchmen) will be donning the razored glove, brown fedora and striped shirt to portray psychopathic dream-stalker Freddy Krueger, the iconic character made famous by Robert Englund. That's enough to keep me interested.

1. Iron Man 2 (Release Date: May 7, 2010) -- By far, Iron Man 2 tops the list of my most anticipated movies of the year. I absolutely loved the first Iron Man film. It was one of the truest film adaptations of a comic book character that I've seen, and it delivered HUGE numbers in theaters. I see the same box office fate for this installment and, judging from the trailer, it looks to be every bit as action-packed as the first film. With Mickey Rourke joining the cast as Whiplash and the appearance of War Machine, I really don't see how this movie could go wrong. May 7 cannot get here soon enough.