The Shape of Water - Guillermo del Toro

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Deuce66, Jul 21, 2017.

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  1. 926am

    926am Senior Member

    Location:
    rochester, ny
    That's the only one of the nominated films I didn't see.
     
  2. Pinknik

    Pinknik Senior Member

    I liked it.
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2018
  3. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Man, that was a whole lot of rubbish! So the silly premise is that the US wants fishman because...space exploration! Of course, makes total sense. Seems to make as much sense to the Russions too, so...spies/conflict! Throw into the mix a cartoonish villain and an unfathomable sexual attraction beween the protagonist and the creature (which seriously looks no better than the dude in the rubber suit from Creature From The Black Lagoon) and you end up with a complete embarrassment.

    The cinematography looked nice enough, and I had to chuckle at the discussion of the proper name of the color of the car - Teal (in a teal & orange color graded movie!) and seeing Sally Hawkins full charms on display was an unexpected treat (and weirdly inappropriate give the fairytale type vibe they were going for).

    I cannot fathom why this drivel seems to be to so highly regarded - 3/10.
     
  4. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    What does it say about a movie where the opinions are so varied about it? This movie seems to have a polarizing effect on it's viewers. They either really like it, or really hate it!
     
  5. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    [​IMG]

    Apparently your taste does not jibe with that of the Academy. $185 million worldwide so far.
     
  6. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    So it seems. I was very disappointed by it.
     
  7. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I really liked it, but I totally concede that it's a film you have to be in the mood to see. I know Del Toro's work and I knew it would be weird and have a very way-out style. I honestly could have done without the R-rated content (and I'm not a prude at all), and I thought the movie would've been about 99% as good without it. I didn't think it was necessary. I think it was Del Toro reacting to how tame the Universal 1940s and 1950s horror films were, and was basically saying, "hey, this is a much more-intense version of the movies they were doing 50 or 60 years ago."

    BTW, I was blown away to find out that the actor inside the creature suit was the lead alien on the current CBS Star Trek series, Doug Jones. Amazing that he played both roles.
     
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  8. NightGoatToCairo

    NightGoatToCairo Forum Resident

    Location:
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    I was disappointed. This looked great from the trailer. Add that Sally Hawkins and Michael Shannon are both great, It was a must see for me. I just couldn't connect with it. I consider myself a sensitive type, full of imagination but I never once felt emotionally involved with the story line, crazy as it is. It was just an inferior King Kong rip off, IMO.
    Also, the night scenes were very atmospheric and dreamlike and created a quite beautiful world, whereas the daytime scenes just looked contemporary and from a different movie altogether. Very jarring.
    Without Hawkins and Shannon, this would have been a much lesser movie. I loved Pans Labyrinth but since seeing a few of del Toro's other movies, maybe that one was a fluke.
    3/5
     
  9. Pastafarian

    Pastafarian Forum Resident

    Visually stunning in places but what it lacked for me was the fairy tale like fantasy which informed Pan's Labyrinth and The Orphanage turning them into something much more powerful. Perhaps I'm missing something but this seems nothing more than an homage to the B Movie?
     
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  10. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    No, I don't think you're missing anything, it was very much a silly B grade movie, at best. The plot was silly, the character motivations were silly and the nudity was completely out of place for such an otherwise scooby-doo-esque movie.
     
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  11. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    Thank you. I was really confused when the wife whipped it out. It was like I had changed channels to a different movie.
     
  12. mdphunk

    mdphunk Sharing in the groove

    Location:
    Northern VA
    A fine movie for sure, but not even in the same league as any of the other Best Pic noms I've seen so far.
     
  13. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I think the movie could've lost the entire "Russian spy" subplot and been better for it. That entire side of the movie seemed unnecessary to me...
     
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  14. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I'd say it was an A-level feature of a B-movie idea. Nothing wrong with that -- it's been done before. I really thought the movie transported the audience to another place, and that the characters were very believable. And I was actually surprised by the ending: there was a point where I had no idea where it was headed, and that doesn't happen too often.

    I think there were a couple of reasons why the Russian spy was there: 1) they needed a sympathetic character on the inside who would help the creature escape; 2) I think he was another character who was essentially friendless and out of their element, basically in a world they didn't belong. You could say that for the mute lady, the gay advertising artist, and the creature as well. And I also think it provided a climax for the FBI agent to come in and kill him in order to find out what was going on.
     
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  15. I wish my wife would have whipped it out while I watched this film. At least something would have entertained me.

    I fell asleep and didn't miss a thing.
     
  16. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I still think the Russian character was unnecessary. I get all of the points you mention but feel they're superfluous in the greater scheme and the character was largely redundant... :shrug:
     
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  17. Scotian

    Scotian Amnesia Hazed

    Nice cinematography but the whole movie was style over substance. I thought it was ok (my wife despised it) but I'm baffled by the critical acclaim & multiple awards. I'm tempted to shove a towel under the bathroom door & see if I can get a swim in.
     
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  18. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Don't forget to add plenty of salt too. For some reason a creature native to the Amazon (river?) needs table salt to survive in water. But in your case, the salt will boost buoyancy. :)
     
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  19. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US

    The problem is he started working in America and went from making films to "blockbusters". I like The Devils Backbone, Pans Labyrinth (for the most part, hated the wine bottle scene so much. I don't like he goes too far with violence), and more recently "Crimson Peak" ( very beautiful movie) -- but then he tries to score blockbusters with "Pacific Rim" (beyond b-movie. Yeah, the monsters are fun, but the rest of the story is dreck) and the preposterous "Shape of Water". Oh, I also like "Mimic" and I actually met Del Toro when I was working for exec producer Michael Philips. Funny enough I left there and went to work for a manager who then took on board Robert Rodriguez -- so I jumped from one future great Mexican director to another! Rodriguez had much more of a buzz. Although I remember "Cronos" got a big write up in the LA Weekly as the hot film -- but I went to see it and thought it sucked.
     
  20. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Sometimes, a lot of style makes up for a lot. I grant you there are aspects that are a little buggy... like the bathroom completely filling up with water.
     
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  21. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    Rented this from the Redbox. It was just okay, I guess. It was nice to look at and all that but the story was kinda meh, overall. Not my Best Picture choice, that is for sure. Also, I love Octavia Spencer but I didn't feel this role was particularly meaty enough to justify a best supported actress nomination. Maybe she just gets one every year by default (and I'm okay with that because she's great).
     
  22. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    But she plugged towels under the door - that made it totally believable! :laugh:
     
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  23. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    It's interesting that, inevitably, most threads involving comic book/fantasy movies or tv shows will include some tidbit about how SOMETHING doesn't make logical, scientific sense. As if flying men, dragons, and water breathing humanoids are totally believable facts of life!;)
     
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  24. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    And inevitably someone comes along and makes that counter argument! :) I think the point is that people are aware of the genre and are perfectly willing to suspend disbelief and accept the genre trappings, but things still need to be self-consistent and logical within that framework (especially if its set in the real world), and when they aren't, it breaks the illusion.
     
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  25. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Exactly - it's all about internal consistency. Just because a universe includes people who can fly or scale walls with their hands doesn't mean literally anything goes...
     
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