Froeman's Take

Shutter Island: My Head Hurts...

Teddy Daniels - Andrew Laeddis, Dolores Chanalk - Rachel Solando.  Figure it out for yourself. With all of the twists and turns this movie throws at you I could give you nearly every piece of spoiler information I could and you would still be left wondering what exactly happened.

As the movie progressed I made my best attempts at keeping what seems to be the true story line in my head.  Although this is quite a difficult task when those facts that the rest of the story lies upon are swept from beneath your feet.  Do not get me wrong, Scorsese had directed yet another beautiful film and though it plays with your heart and deeper than that, your mind it is, in my opinion a wonderful thriller.

As our main character, "Teddy" realizes that he was brought toShutter Island by more than his own personal accord, he begins to question the quality of care the United States' government has entrusted the institution with and he makes a plan to "blow the roof off the place" once he returns to the mainland...if only that was an option.  Though once again, I can give you as many spoilers a you may or may not desire, but it will never prevent you from being utterly shocked upon the movie's conclusion.  As I walked out of the theatre, I gained an internal sentiment that everything was a lie.  I felt as if my life could by manipulated into oblivion right then and there at the snap one's fingers.

Do not let the trailers decieve you! This is by no means a horror movie!  I cannot remember getting a sense of terror while viewing this film, though I can conclude that this movie is one of the best thrillers I have ever seen, as it is packed with suspense and mind games throught it's entirety.

Without a doubt, this movie was worth the price of the ticket and I will most likely buy it once it is released onto DVD.  You may even be able to convince me to see it again while it is still in theatres.  I'm also interested to see if any "alternate theories" are released with a different take on the true story line behind the movie.  I can also safely say that I was in no way dissapointed by this movie.  If I had to rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, I believe it would deserve the honest judgement of an 8.  But don't just take my for it! Go and let it destroy your own state of mind and ruin any presence of rational thought!

Avatar: Beautiful

  There is one word that came to mind immediatly following my viewing of Avatar to describe the movie: beautiful.  This 2 hour 42 minute movie delves into each one of your emotions a the same time.  It grips hold of you and never lets go until a highly satisfying close.  My initial thoughts going into the theatre was that it would just be another average movie and justified the price of the ticket by the fact that I was getting some quality time with my friends.  I was blown away.

Written and directed by  James Cameron, this movie has been in production for more than 15 years.  Those, including myself who have seen the movie will tell you that Cameron made a wise decision in waiting for technology to glorify the effects of this movie.  I saw the film twice; once on sunday night in regular format, and again the next night in 3D.  I will tell you that the 3D did not do much for me. I don't know if it was becuase that was my second viewing and I was looking for something more or if the 3D really is not that impresive.  Nevertheless, Avatar gave me a "Disney World" "magic" feeling.  The world the Na'vi live on is entranced with beautiful lights and spiritual surroundings to which you will develop a deep emotional attachment.  Another factor that set this movie apart from the many others I have seen was character development.  The exposition of each character through the eyes of crippled marine turned Avatar; Jake Sulley was brilliantly choreographed as you fell in love with the Na'vi race and ways. 

It becomes a viewer's love story on many levels.  You do not only fall in love with the main characters; Jake and Neytiri, but also with the planet of Pandora and the ways of its people.  Within the plot was a classic conflict of commercial imperialism vs. preservation of naive culture.  The Na'vi were a highly peaceful people with intentions only to preserve their way of life...as well as their lives themselves.  I was deeply angered when the bulldoazers were rolled in by the humans to destroy the domain of the Na'vi and collect the unobtainium, so valuable on planet earth.  I was left with no notion that it was only a movie.  I was attached completley.