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So, yes, if you're wondering, I did love Shutter Island. Scorsese's latest has managed to do very well at the box office, doing a bit better than I might have expected, what with some people recoiling from the presumed twist ending. I say presumed because, well, the movie's not about the twist. Frankly, there isn't really meant to be a twist. When you watch Shutter Island (and you should, as Scorsese's style and panache have aged like fine wines), think of it as a character study, a you-are-there look at one man's weak grasp at his sanity. The cinematography, the production design, the music; all here is as fresh as some of Scorsese's work from the 1970s and 1980s. Some people may not have been hot on The Departed, but there's nothing but love in Shutter Island; it's a dark film from a remarkably talented man whose work proves that it's possible to love film and make film at the same time.


Christopher Nolan

Anyone who reads the A-List knows how much I love Christopher Nolan's work. Unlike Scorsese, he's not made a bad movie; however, he's had a lot less time to do any bad filmmaking, and it's hard to imagine a future film of his that isn't at least well-made and exciting to watch. Nolan started out with a small film called Following, but his first big step into the world of Hollywood was with his 2000 film Memento, which is arguably one of the great films about an unreliable narrator (a quality shared with - spoiler alert - Shutter Island), and one of the best mainstream debuts. Nolan followed up with Insomnia, but his reboot of the Batman franchise is what's made him one of the most popular and important filmmakers to watch. Of course, it helps that the second new Batman film is The Dark Knight, one of the biggest and best blockbusters.

His latest comes out in July, is called Inception, and if I could talk about it every day, I probably would (You're warned.). The cast is impressive, and what little has been revealed about the plot is also intriguing; without giving too much of what is known away, it involves people stealing dreams. The trailer also features a city block somehow flipping into itself while being invisibly dragged towards the sky, so it's likely going to screw with our heads. I'm there already. Nolan's also tied to the newest reboot of the Superman franchise, though only as a producer, and is apparently officially working on the script to the third new Batman film. I can't promise that I'd immediately line up for a new Superman movie, but a follow-up to The Dark Knight? If Nolan can do half of what he did before, who would avoid this man's legendary, grand work?

Paul Thomas Anderson

Avid readers of the A-List know that I consider the 2007 epic drama There Will Be Blood to be the best film of the first decade of the 21st century. So it's no surprise that I would include the film's writer and director, Paul Thomas Anderson, on this list. Anderson's previous films are also fascinating to watch. With the exception of his debut film, which is called Hard Eight or Sydney (depending on which version you watch or who you ask), all of his films are among the most ambitious and challenging American films of the past 20 years. Even Punch-Drunk Love, the smallest of his major films, is a weirdly romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler and Emily Watson, and features a subplot involving frozen-dinner prizes. One thing that you can say about Anderson's work is that, no matter what he does, it will be worth watching and different from his other work.

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