Shutter Island, Crazy Heart and The Hurt Locker

I'm not going to spend a ton of time on these, but I wanted to throw up something on them each as I recently saw them in theaters.
First up is Shutter Island. If you like gritty films that contain disturbing images I recommend this one although as time goes by I'm not sure how great it was and some of the images were enough to ruin the movie for me. The film itself is Scorsese attempting to make a Hitchcock style and does so admirably with an incredible score. The island itself quickly becomes one of the films most dynamic characters and the psychological battle between Leo and Gandhi is terrific. The films twist might be predictable to some, but I think the message behind it is awesome. I just wish the film could have avoided a few of the images related to small children. I suppose it's only natural, but sense I became a parent I can't handle watching anything that involves harming of children.
Crazy Heart I went into with a cynical attitude and walked out thankful that I gave it a chance. The reason to see the film is Jeff Bridges and he does not disappoint. The music is surprisingly good considering the genre is country. The supporting performance's are also great. In truth, I could say a lot more about this film but sense my enjoyment of it was added by low expectations I will just leave in the must see category and not go into too much more.
And we come to The Hurt Locker. I have often said that I will never see The English Patient because I could never be convinced that it's better than Fargo. Like wise I have never seen Shakespeare in Love because I could never believe it was better than The Truman Show. So when The Hurt Locker beat Inglourious this year not only for best picture but also for best screenplay I immediately became skeptical in regards to whether or not I could truly give this film a shot. When I realized though that I could still see it in theaters, I decided to give it a chance.
The film itself is a solid piece of work. It avoids tackling the Iraq war from any political standpoint and instead focuses on the issue of war as a drug. At the films center is a team of three soldiers whose responsibility is to disarm bombs in combat zones. Following the death of their team leader the team gets a new leader who is brash and seemingly fearless. There is tension between the men, but the goal remains the same every time out. The film focuses on war as a reality instead of a curse. There is no evil or good, just incidents that are filled with tension that is on a par with any other great war film. The cinematography is fantastic and the acting is great. The film did not deserve to win for best screen play, but it is a worthy best picture winner and truly captures the essence of war as a drug.