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Three distinguished Spanish mathematicians and one successful inventor receive anonymous letters requesting that they come together and solve a riddle. All respond positively to the invitation; upon reaching the meeting point by a rural lake, they follow clues to reach a curious isolated house. After an introductory dinner with the host, the four become locked in a room and are sent mathematical puzzles to solve via a mobile device.

It transpires that if they take too long to correctly provide answers, the room's walls start to close in (think Indiana Jones/Star Wars, but slower and stop-start). It swiftly becomes apparent that their lives are genuinely in danger, and that they have to cooperate to solve the real mystery - who wishes them harm?

This premise is compelling, and the first 40 minutes are rich and captivating. At the half-way point, sadly, much of the creative momentum is lost and an intelligent, highly original film becomes more akin to a run-of-the-mill mindless thriller. In the second half, the character back-stories we are presented with lack credibility and attempts at comedy are only partially successful.

It is, however, almost understandable that the film is unable to meet its ambitions by plausibly sustaining an unrelenting pace. A worthwhile viewing coloured by excitement and frustration in almost equal measure.

The less you know about Martin Scorsese's latest, the better. The film opens in bright white light, which is gradually faded to reveal Leonardo DiCaprio's character, a senior investigator from a US Government agency, suffering seasickness on a ferry crossing. He is en route to the eponymous Shutter Island, to assist with efforts to find an escapee from the island's prison-cum-hospital; a facility that is home to some of the most notorious mentally deranged criminals of 1950s America.

Immediately, we are hooked. The car journey from the ferry to the facility is filled with foreboding and intrigue, melding eerie sound textures with dark, bleak images of the unwelcoming island. Once we arrive, the curious behaviour of the accompanying police officers and the local staff, in addition to the more understandable actions of the patients/prisoners, further builds suspense, paying homage to classic Hitchcock techniques.

The most impressive achievement is that the storyline is consistently riveting for a running time in excess of two hours, seemingly without a single wasted scene, shot or line of dialogue as the plot unfolds in lavish, cinematic scale. DiCaprio's mature and compelling performance, in a character not too dissimilar to his undercover police officer in The Departed, is complemented perfectly by Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo and the wealth of heavyweight acting talents playing minor characters. A couple of minor plot contrivances aside, this is a robust and stimulating addition to Scorsese's canon; albeit one that it is unlikely to reach the same high plateau of critical acclaim as much of the director's preceding efforts.

The film is based on a novel by the increasingly impressive Dennis Lehane, whose Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone were also translated for the cinema, and who was also a writer for The Wire. The themes and settings of Shutter Island represent a diversion of sorts, but it transcends the B-movie genre in the same way as the TV/movie adaptations of his other writings were much more than just crime stories.

Lebanon is based on director Samuel Maoz's own experiences as a soldier in the 1982 Israel- Lebanon conflict. The film focuses exclusively on the experiences of the four young Israelis that are responsible for operating a tank that rolls into Lebanese territory at the start of the war.

For almost the entire duration, the characters and the audience are trapped inside the vehicle; we can see only what they can externally through the narrow tunnel vision of a gun turret periscope. With no wider political context and little character background, this viewpoint successfully creates a claustrophobic, tense atmosphere and provides originality and intrigue to what might have been overlooked as 'another war film'.

The soldiers, confined to the tank, are inexperienced, tired, hungry, thirsty, scared, homesick, dirty, feverish and unable to work competently as a team. In the opening scene, their collective callowness leads to the deaths of a fellow soldier and an innocent civilian. From here, difficulty after difficulty presents itself in the form of hostile forces, indignant superior officers, technological issues and internal disputes.

The way the characters respond, the powerful use of imagery - and the contrast between the constant mechanical noise and darkness inside the tank, and the bright environment and varied action outside - combine to shape a potent viewing experience.