Shutter Island Moved To 2010

SHOCK. That's my response. This was a film I was really looking forward to, and now it seems we'll all have to wait until February 2010 to see it.

Paramount has moved the Martin Scorsese thriller from its original October 2nd release date, which would have put the film in a prime spot for awards consideration. This is apparently the issue. Paramount already has two major Oscar contenders slated for release this year, Jason Reitman's Up in the Air and Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, and has decided to cut back expenses by pushing back Shutter Island and nixing its awards campaign all together.

I don't understand it, quite honestly. The film looked like a winner, with a cast and crew that certainly would have drawn a lot of buzz. Martin Scorsese. Leonardo DiCaprio. Patricia Clarkson. Michelle Williams. Ben Kingsley. Jackie Earle Haley. Seems strange.

I'm hoping against hope this isn't an indication that Shutter Island is not as good as it looks. Who knows, though. Paramount obviously sees more potential in other ponies this year. What a disappointment.

Double Vision

Here are a few sets of posters for upcoming films and my take on which ones are the better efforts.


I really don't see the much of a point in this second poster. The only thing I think they've improved is the view we get of the island, which seems a bit clearer without all that rain getting in the way. But I like the color palette, fonts, and expression on Leo's face much better in the first take. They create a more ominous feeling, which fits the story well. Another note: I'm not a fan of the tagline at all. "Someone is missing" can't possibly the best they could come up with, can it?

Whoever is in charge of the marketing for Precious deserves a hefty pay raise. These two posters for the acclaimed urban drama, due November 6th, are some of the best I've seen all year. I prefer the first to the second, personally, since I think it shows the state of the main character's life a little better. The second looks a little too matronly. Both get points for not relying on the all-too-common "floating heads" imagery, though.

While there's definitely something a little off about the character placement in the first poster, I can't say I think the second looks much better. As a fan of symmetry, I find it way annoying that the suitcase isn't completely in the picture on the latter. I'm glad that they included a reference to Thank You For Smoking, though, since Juno isn't necessarily everyone's brand of comedy. It's appropriate also that Clooney is standing alone in the second, since a main point in the story is his character's lack of personal connections. I give the win to the second, by a hair.

Read the Book First

A list of some of the books that will bear those "now a major motion picture" stickers later this year. This isn't all of them, by any means. Just the ones I'm particularly interested in. If you're like me, and you like to have read the book before you see the film adaptation, check out a few of these titles in the coming months.

Cheri, by Collette. June 26th.

Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34, by Bryan Burrough. July 1st.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling. July 15th.

Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane. October 2nd.

The Informant, by Kurt Eichenwald. October 9th.

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. October 16th.

Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. October 16th.

Precious, based on the novel Push, by Sapphire. November 6th.

The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold. December 11th.