This week, it's all about what you WON'T see.

Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island" hits the cinemas like an atom bomb Friday. Nobody's releasing anything earth-shattering against it - it's too powerful.

Is it our moral duty to see the new Scorsese film?

The great director states with justifiable pride that his films make money. I've grown uneasy about his alliance with DiCaprio, who I will never really buy into, I don't know why. I have not liked the last three non-documentary films of his: "Gangs of New York," "The Aviator," "The Departed." All with DiCaprio.

But then there's Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Jackie Earle Haley - c'mon. I say stick with him. This looks like a classic nothing-is-what-it-seems spook-house thriller . . . I'm sure he had fun with it.

Two films that look pretty good are out there: "An Education" and "Crazy Heart."

In "Crazy Heart," it seems pretty clear that this is Jeff Bridges' year, his apotheosis as a great American actor. (His dad wasn't too shabby, and his brother Beau is one of the country's most under-regarded actors.) He's had four unsuccessful Oscar bids; it's time. This is his "Tender Mercies" (Duvall's got a role here, just for luck), his "True Grit" (and in fact, he's going to play Rooster Cogburn in a remake helmed by the Coen Brothers! Gack!). Plus he's playing a drunk. You always win the Oscar when you're playing a drunk. The babe: Maggie Gyllenhaal.

"An Education": the pirate's favorite actor, Peter Sarsgaard, looks like he's in top form here with Carey Mulligan, this year's Cinderella performer. Great story (based on a true), with supporting work from Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams, Emma Thompson.

Now, here's what you missed! Did you realize that "Celine: Through the Eyes of the World" just left theaters? You missed it! You dodged that bullet. It was a documentary/concert experience! You're welcome.

And kudos to Elvis Cinemas, a local chain that serves up a wild smorgasbord of movie fare at bargain-basement prices. They will show films that are long past their release date, the misfits that are still out there trying to earn their budgets back. Elvis Cinemas give you access to pure B-grade movie pleasure.

They don't even have Friday's slate of showings posted yet, and it's almost noon on Thursday. That's cool, in a way - I can't wait to see what they'll have on tap this weekend. You know what's still playing there? "2012" and "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" These are gutsy moves no MoMA programmer would dare to make.

And did anyone hear about "Armored"? Anyone see it? It came out Dec. 6. It has Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno, Fred Ward. It's a caper flick. Could it have been that bad? Let me know.

I will always give a noir a shot - "Trespass" from 1992 is another one of those gems I saw in the theater that slipped under the collective radar.

But then again, I love "Timecop." Ron Silver, you were a genius, sir.

photo: Leonardo DiCaprio in Scorsese's "Shutter Island": YEEEAGH!

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