Leonardo DiCaprio in “Shutter Island”
On the big screen
“Shutter Island”
Throughout his lengthy and prolific career, acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorcese has been the kind of director that other directors admire and emulate. Whether he’s deconstructing the movie musical (“New York, New York”), setting the standard for the concert film (“The Last Waltz”), redefining the biopic (“Raging Bull,” “The Aviator”), commenting on modern culture (“Taxi Driver,” “The King of Comedy”) or the mob (“Casino,” “Good Fellas”) or exploring period pieces (“The Age of Innocence,” “Gangs of New York”), Scorcese’s vision is uniquely his own.
For years, New York was his primary focus, but 2006’s “The Departed” took him north to Boston and it’s to Boston that he returns with “Shutter Island.”
Working once again with Leonardo DiCaprio, Scorcese appears to be taking this opportunity to also pay homage to directors whose work he admires, including Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Powell, along with a touch of David Lynch.
“Shutter Island” is set in 1954 on an island off the coast of Massachusetts, where a psychiatric hospital houses some of the most dangerous criminals within three separate wards. Summoned there on the pretense of tracking down a female prisoner who simply disappeared from her cell, Teddy (DiCaprio), a U.S. marshal, is joined by Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), another marshal from the west coast. Once on the island, the marshals surrender their weapons. As a storm with hurricane force winds rages outside, they become acquainted with the facility, the staff and the men who run the place, including doctors Cawley (Ben Kingsley) and Naehring (Max Von Sydow).
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‘An Education’
A charming and somewhat sentimental ‘Education’
Directed by Lone Scherfig, with a screenplay by Nick Hornby based on Lynn Barber’s memoir, the Oscar-nominated “An Education” is a fitting title for this story of teenager and straight A student Jenny’s (Carey Mulligan, a best actress Oscar nominee) awakening at the hands of older man David (Peter Sarsgaard).
Jenny, who lives with her parents Jack (Alfred Molina) and Majorie (Cara Seymour) in the London suburb Twickenham in the early 1960s, is prepping for her Oxford interview. While waiting for the bus in the rain with her cello, she is offered a ride home by David, and she reluctantly accepts. They hit it off, and suddenly the attentions of Graham (Matthew Beard), a boy her own age who regularly comes to dinner at her house, is meaningless to Jenny.
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Director Stephan Elliott holds Fizz as he arrives for the BFI London Film Festival screening of “Easy Virtue” in London. – Photo: AP/ Matt Dunham
Beyond ‘Priscilla’: An interview with filmmaker Stephan Elliott
Stephan Elliott is a storyteller. On screen or over the phone, Elliott has a way of telling a story and making it fascinating.
Having just mounted “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” the stage musical version of his Oscar-winning 1994 movie “The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert,” Elliott’s latest film “Easy Virtue” is making its DVD and BluRay debut this month.
Based on an early Noel Coward play, the film tells the story of the arrival of American widow and race car driver Larita (Jessica Biel) into the terribly proper lives of a stuffy British family following her marriage to favored son John (Ben Barnes).
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Susan Sarandon stars in “The Lovely Bones,” now in theaters.
On the big screen
“The Lovely Bones” (Paramount/DreamWorks)
Before he became the Oscar-winning director of the box office blockbuster “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Peter Jackson made an exceptional little film called “Heavenly Creatures,” starring future Oscar winner Kate Winslet. If anything, it proved that he could create an intimate cinematic experience as effortlessly as he was able to craft special-effects fantasies.
Unfortunately, with his film adaptation of Alice Sebold’s highly regarded novel “The Lovely Bones,” it’s clear that Jackson has lost some perspective.
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Gabourey Sidibe stars as Claireece “Precious” Jones in “Precious.”
‘Precious’ nominated for NAACP award
The heart-wrenching story of an illiterate and abused teen in New York’s Harlem who finds hope in a classroom of misfits tops nominees for the 41st civil rights group NAACP’s annual Image Awards.
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” added to its awards-season momentum with a leading eight nominations, earning nods for director Lee Daniels, star Gabourey Sidibe and supporting actors Mariah Carey, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton and Lenny Kravitz. “Precious” was also nominated for outstanding motion picture and outstanding independent film.
The NAACP Image Awards honor diversity in the arts and will be presented Feb. 26.
Other movies nominated include “Invictus,” “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,’’ “The Blind Side” and “The Princess and the Frog.” “Princess” star Anika Noni Rose, and “Invictus”’ star Morgan Freeman also were nominated for their performances.
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