Just got back from Shutter Island, and while it's not top shelf Scorsese, (I spent an awful lot of time looking at the directorial flourishes rather than getting absorbed by the narrative), it's moody, intriguingly convoluted, and I thought Leo DiCaprio did a fine job in it.

I don't think it will have much repeat value for me, though. It's a two and a half hour journey that doesn't end up being terribly credible. And I'm not sure everything adds up, or is even meant to. But, eerie fun.

random observation - Within the first few seconds of the film, I recognized Gyorgi Ligeti's composition "Lontano," which was also featured heavily in The Shining. Also, a very early shot of a car driving along a road shot from above at a very wide angle felt to me like a deliberate tribute to that same film.

:D

I couldn't agree more about how annoying the DVD viewing experience can be. (Disney is the worst in this regard.)

On the other hand, the handful of pirated things I may have accidentally encountered have been of such crappy quality, it certainly didn't matter that I was able to play them right away. Camcordered in a movie theater equals unwatchable for me - I can wait.

On quite another hand, rentals through iTunes store or free from netflix are unhindered by all that crap, look terrific projected on my wall, and cost very little to nothing. That's pretty much my favorite means of movie-watching these days.

I love watching the previews - it makes Maddie nuts.

On occasion, a disc will have previews that are interesting to watch at the time of release, but if you take the DVD for a spin a few years later, those tired old trailers make the entire disc seem dated and disposable, with their "Now In Theaters" tags and their non-skippable promos for other movies "Now In Stores Everywhere." (Again, worst offender, definitely Disney.)

Then there is the whole matter of menu screen spoilers. (Okay, let's start up Planet of the Apes. Hey, what's that statue doing there?!)

It would be nice if the dvd/blu-ray were intelligent enough to have some sort of 'seal' that were broken after the first viewing. That way, subsequent viewings would not force us to view things we don't want to.

'Shutter Island'. I loved it. I tried to pay close attention to everything. I've never read the book. Only had seen the previews for ever and had been dying to see it.

I think it was long at times, but, I would like to see it again to see things from the perspective of knowing how it ended.

Purchasing movies. I don't know why but today I bought 'Night at the Museum 2'. I enjoyed the first one and it was only $12.99 for a blu-ray/dvd/digital copy combo. I really like these type of movie combos because when we travel {oh, please let us travel again some day, damn economy!!!} we carry a portable dvd player. Sucks if every movie is blu-ray.

Someone today said to me they didn't like the editing of 'Shutter Island'. He had to rush off before he could explain. What do you think? I mean, how do we know? ha ha We didn't see all of the takes? What did he mean???

My feeling about the ending of Shutter Island



Also, it occurred to me that if I had read the novel



So, ultimately, the plot didn't work for me, and it might be my own fault, but I still enjoyed the atmosphere and the usual formidable Scorsese filmmaking. I was never bored.

After the movie, my husband and I felt trippy. We didn't say anything right away to one another. Went to the bathroom, talked with some friends, walked out to the car, started to drive away. Then in our discussion he was saying {and his face looked worried} that he was looking at himself in the mirror at the bathroom and he felt...he felt...and I did a 'booga booga' in his face 'Weird???' I said. LOL No we aren't crazy. :evil:

The movie was a fun ride. I love Leo. :0)

Oh yes, even if some parts seemed slow to me {maybe it is me that is slow...hmmmm} it was always interesting. I didn't want to miss a thing!!

Glad, too, I didn't read the book. May want to now, but not sure.

Those books, like I see at Target, they have pictures from the movie on the cover. Are they real novels or just the movie in a book? I don't care for that. I want the real thing. What the movie was modeled after. Is it a different story?

I've seen them a lot, like, the movie he did with Kate Winslet? But, I don't want to read the movie again. I want the real story!!

Though the trade paperback has a movie photo on its cover, it's a real novel written by Dennis Lehane a few years ago. (He was also listed as associate producer on the movie, so I figure it has his blessing to some extent.)

I confess that I skimmed the last chapters a bit, and



so it looks like the book probably has the same denouement as the movie.