Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Starring:  Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton
Action/Adventure (2010)

Soon after invading a nearby city Dasdan (Gyllenhaal) is accused of murdering his father.  Forced to run, princess Tamina (Arterton) follows along as she discovers that Dasdan holds a dagger that holds incredible powers.  This dagger was taken during the invasion of her city and it's up to her to keep it out of the wrong hands or else risk destruction of the world as they know it.  Dasdan must now not only prove his innocence but keep the sands of time that give the dagger it's unique powers safe from the greedy man who covets it.

• Gyllenhaal obviously does not appear to be Persian by any stretch of the imagination but it's a movie so you just gotta roll with it.
• Arterton is every bit as beautiful as her character Tamina is supposed to be.  Excellent casting there. 
• There is plenty of action and adventure and a few laughs as well.  There were no slow moments and the story moved along nicely.

4 Stars

Shutter Island

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams
Director: Martin Scorsese
Suspense/Thriller, Rated R (2010)

Two US Marshall's travel to Shutter Island in stormy weather to investigate the disappearance of one of it's criminally insane patients. Upon arrival the pair find that the facility harbors many secrets and appears to be making every attempt to lie and thwart their investigation. As he digs deeper into the investigation Teddy (DiCaprio) is troubled by haunting memories of his late wife and his stint as a soldier in World War II freeing Nazi concentration camps. His question. What is really going on at Shutter Island? Is it a truly compassionate care facility for the worst of the worst mentally ill or is it a breeding ground for evil experiments.
The opening images of the stormy island, chained prisoners, and dark buildings really set the tone for the movie.

• I started to get just a little annoyed at all of the bizarre flashbacks of his wife and his war days that didn't seem to make too much sense. I kept wondering what the point was.
• The movie definitely got better as it went along. The last 45 minutes or so got more interesting as the plot began to unfold and the connection between the two sets of flashbacks is revealed.
• DiCaprio is an amazing actor. You could feel his pain and confusion coming through the screen.
• It wasn't as freaky as I was hoping and expecting but it was a good suspense filled movie and I liked it.
• This movie does have a twist. Even when the twist was revealed for some reason I still didn't believe it.

5 STARS