Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water (Post-release)

[JoeG]

Holy.....! It won Best Picture and Guillermo won Best Director!

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

Film won Best Picture of the Year...

Personally, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri was that for me, but this film was the second runner up.

GDT deserved the Best Director win, though.

 

[sztriki]

I really enjoyed this, although I found I enjoyed it almost clinically, as an aesthetic experience. Like many fairy tale style stories, it struck me as emotionally distant. My inner film nerd was soaking in the details, the craftsmanship, the technical and artistic perfection of the whole thing--my head was completely engaged. But I'm not sure del Toro grabbed my heart.

Having said that, I'm a huge Creature From The Black Lagoon fan, so this was pretty yummy viewing.

Same here, beautifully made film, but it lacked something to really captivate me. I think they rescued the creature too early in the movie and could have expanded a bit more on him being captive and bonding with Elisa.I got how the creature grew affectionate for her but she had no real reason to be attracted to him other than being a pretty frog that doesn't talk. Maybe a couple small scenes could have helped form a better emotional connection. The tone was a bit on and off too, sometimes it was super-whimsy like Amelie (happens to be one of my favourite movies) sometimes really violent, it didn't blend as well as it did with Faun's Labyrinth.
On the whole however I really like when I can see the director and the DP hard at work when I watch a movie. Richard Jenkins was fantastic, I honestly thought he'd win (not like I give a toss about the Oscars TBH). My conclusion is that even if it's not gonna be a favourite or I don't consider it really great I'm grateful for it and champion it because it's

1. came from someone's artistic vision and had his heart and mind in it instead of a boardroom after looking at
2. a quality product that's crafted with care as opposed to coming from a conveyor belt
3. not a massive studio blockbuster on a ridiculous budget and it shows on the final product
4. not a sequel, reboot, remake, franchise and it probably won't be part of one

 

[Funky]

I just watched it. Really pretty movie. Otherwise, I felt the movie was quite bad.
Please keep in mind, this is just MY opinion. I won't bag on anyone that feels otherwise.
The story had far too many WTF moments. At some points it was just downright silly. Don't get me started on the number of unanswered questions it posed. It doesn't help that I don't go for these purely "artistic" pieces. This week I also watched The Billboards outside Ebbing, Misouri and Ladybird. All three Oscar winners and all sucked though Water was at least pretty. This just proves once again that in order to win a statue you have to make a boring, artistic movie that nobody understands. Of course film snobs will disagree with me. They will just say that my simple, little brain just can't comprehend the complexities of these very "deep" films.

 

[twitte0king]

check out my paper mask build of the asset "charlie" from the movie!
it was a lot of fun to make and wear it! it glows in the dark too!!

see more of the project on my instructable:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Paper-Gillman-Mask-the-Shape-of-Water/

 

[Axlotl]

I dug the heck out of this movie.

 

[J EM]

I think it slipped completely past me, but can any of you tell me the meaning (if any) of the pie eating scene on the couch, specifically why there are so many in the refrigerator? I think I understand why the man likes pie, but since she didn't like them, what's his reason for keeping them even though he goes to buy more?

 

[Tan Djarka]

I think it slipped completely past me, but can any of you tell me the meaning (if any) of the pie eating scene on the couch, specifically why there are so many in the refrigerator? I think I understand why the man likes pie, but since she didn't like them, what's his reason for keeping them even though he goes to buy more?

On it's own, there is no reason for keeping all the pies. It was just a contrivance to indicate he'd been to the pie shop many times, even though he didn't really like the pies. He was there for the clerk, who ultimately didn't return his interest in the end.

 

[J EM]

On it's own, there is no reason for keeping all the pies. It was just a contrivance to indicate he'd been to the pie shop many times, even though he didn't really like the pies. He was there for the clerk, who ultimately didn't return his interest in the end.

Yeah, I understood that. I was just wondering why he kept the them.

 

[GirlyGothicGeek]

I, overall, enjoyed the film. I know American Sign Language so that added to the enjoyment for me.

There was too much unnecessary nudity/sex scenes. I probably felt this stronger because I saw the film twice - once with two male friends, and once with my parents. Which made for some discomfort. Regardless, there still was a lot that took away from the film more than it added to it.

 

[Betamin]

Did they have the bad guy say "Get your slimy fins off me, you damned dirty fish?"

I have this on DVD at home from Netflix to watch this weekend, so I'll see if I like it or not.

 

[Bones_68]

I liked this movie a lot. There was really only one moment that pulled me out of the story and broke the spell. If your main goal is to keep a low profile so that nobody suspects you're harbouring a sea-beast in your apartment, filling the bathroom from floor to ceiling with water is probably a bad idea. In an old, rickety apartment built over a movie theater, where did she think all that water was going to end up?

Great performances all around including Michael Shannon's usual solid job as a seething, self-righteous psychopath.

And like all of Guillermo's movies, it's beautifully designed and shot. Worth seeing for the production design alone.

 

[kristen jones]

absolutely loved it.

But then I do have a special affinity for Guillermo's films in general.

 

[Lemna]

"Yeah, I understood that. I was just wondering why he kept the them."

His apartment looked like he kept everything. I would guess he was just a sentimental/romantic type person.

L~

 

[gedmac66]

Finally got to see this ..., GDT doesn’t disappoint doing fantastical whimsy just beautifully !