Saw The Shape of Water this evening at a Picturehouse preview screening. Strange film. Reminiscent of Amelie/MicMacs in the way it is shot - saturated with colour in an almost comic book way. Comic book type villain too, and the heroine brings the character Amelie to mind. Enjoyed it, but not sure why it's up for so many oscars - thought Three Billboards was a far more enjoyable spectacle. 6.5/10.
Revised upwards on reflection to 7.5. I've had a hard week and there was a rustly bastard behind me.
Interesting indeed @Weegie Addick. I hadn't seen that. I like Jeunets films and the magical quality that he gives them. Nobody ever seems to have heard of micmacs but I think it's a lovely little film with a good measure of humour. Amelie is almost ridiculously sentimental but the narration makes it for me.
I'm wondering this morning whether 6.5 was a bit mean, I might revise upwards when I've considered it more, but I've preferred del Toros other films (Devils Backbone is in my top 5) in Spanish.
Somewhat related but what's your etiquette on finding someone sat in your seat at the cinema?
Went to Darkest Hour at the weekend, cinema was 80% full and we had bought aisle seats only to find two people sat in them (adverts had just started). I told them they were in the wrong seats and they looked at me as if I was speaking an alien language. After a few moments of them absolutely not budging we just went and sat a few seats along from them (probably in their seats). I mean fair enough you make a mistake and sit in the wrong place but surely it's rude to not even acknowledge the person who has paid for your seat.
Should have got staff to intervene, one thing sitting in the wrong seat if your not bothered where you sit, but too specifically choose your seat and pre book would have wound me up and had to do something about it.
If the cinema's going to have designated seating, they need to employ ushers to sort out this kind of thing.
Interesting indeed @Weegie Addick. I hadn't seen that. I like Jeunets films and the magical quality that he gives them. Nobody ever seems to have heard of micmacs but I think it's a lovely little film with a good measure of humour. Amelie is almost ridiculously sentimental but the narration makes it for me.
I'm wondering this morning whether 6.5 was a bit mean, I might revise upwards when I've considered it more, but I've preferred del Toros other films (Devils Backbone is in my top 5) in Spanish.
We saw Micmacs as the opening film of the Glasgow Festival a few years ago and loved it. Jeunet himself was there and we even managed a brief chat with him in the bar, though I embarassed myself by mentioning the striking colours in Amelie to which he witheringly replied, "You just remember the poster....." Think he was getting his own back after my husband suggested he should make sure he went out for a Glasgow curry.
Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth is one of my all time top films.
A really intense, engaging and beautifully crafted film, with a bravura performance by Daniel Day-Lewis. Set amidst the glamour of 1950s London couture, this one really is right up his street. If 'Phantom Thread' is, as he has announced, going to be his last ever film, he's certainly going out on a high note. I also really enjoyed the performances of the young co-lead, Vicky Krieps, and Lesley Manville - 8/10
Recently saw this - beautifully shot and very intense portrayal of relationships in the fashion world in the 1950s. Gets across the formality of the times and the film is not afraid to allow silence between the characters.
I found Daniel Day Lewis a little hammy at times but Vicky Krieps and Lesley Manville are very good.
Given the pace of the film I think it may struggle to appeal to a wide audience. 7/10
Okay, the plus side. The almost complete absence of a plot of any sort allows your mind to rove, or enjoy the flavour of the Maltesers you bought before going in. You can go to the gents any number of times and never ask if you missed anything. Sadly my mrs greeted my intention of playing games on my mobile with squawks of protest, so the film isn't 100% liberating. And Dakota Johnson looks good topless. That's it! The film is frustratingly plotless, and felt more like a vehicle to sell it's moronic sound track. It' easy to link it to the two previous films as there was nothing to remember there either. The audience (90% female) actually laughed at some of the weak jokes, and applauded at the end, so I assume there were some SE7 Valiants there. But this is absolutly as bad as it's reviews suggest. Thank fuck it's the last one.
Okay, the plus side. The almost complete absence of a plot of any sort allows your mind to rove, or enjoy the flavour of the Maltesers you bought before going in. You can go to the gents any number of times and never ask if you missed anything. Sadly my mrs greeted my intention of playing games on my mobile with squawks of protest, so the film isn't 100% liberating. And Dakota Johnson looks good topless. That's it! The film is frustratingly plotless, and felt more like a vehicle to sell it's moronic sound track. It' easy to link it to the two previous films as there was nothing to remember there either. The audience (90% female) actually laughed at some of the weak jokes, and applauded at the end, so I assume there were some SE7 Valiants there. But this is absolutly as bad as it's reviews suggest. Thank fuck it's the last one.
A husband and wife, whose divorce is pending, are consumed by a mutual loathing. Each has found a new partner and neither wish to have the perceived burden of their 12 year own son living with them as they embark upon their new lives. Overhearing this during a heated argument, the boy runs away and the rest of film follows the search for him, attempts led principally by a volunteer group rather than the bureaucratic local police force.
I found no redeeming features in either parent and this was, for the most part, two hours of unremitting misery. To compound matters, I thought the symbolism and metaphors which were deployed were clunky and about as subtle as a brick (eg. the woman running on a treadmill in a Russia tracksuit and going nowhere).
I am a big fan of this director, Andrey Zvyagintsev, but this film is several (and I do mean several) levels below his previous excellent films, ‘Leviathan’ and ‘The Return’. Very disappointing - 5/10
I saw a comedy sketch by Eddie Izzard where he compared British Cinema at the time with it's American counterpart. This is very much of the type he described (a Room with a View with a staircase at the back and a lake). there are lots of words you could use to describe it. Worthy. Dry. Understated. But mostly Boring. It's all very tight lipped and British, and to be honest not much happens. Having slated 50 shades last week, I had high hopes of this, but I have to be honest, it is note everyone's cup of tea, or mine. It is achingly slow, and it doesn't actually have a great deal more plot than 50 shades. I generally like odd, off beat movies, but this doesn't really come into that category. It's well acted (i saw it in Spanish so Daniel Day Lewis was flawlessly translated) and nicely shot, but I kept finding myself losing track as there was so little to actually grasp. Steely silences may be an interesting idea, as may be noisily eaten toast, but you can only keep my attention with that for so long. I genuinely can't see why this is quite so highly regarded - it has that 'look' of an important file, but The King's Speech' for example, had a lot more style and substance. I'm sort of glad I saw it, but I wouldn't want to see it again, and I certainly wouldn't want to see in win the Oscar for best film. I'd hope something entertaining might win that.
My mum dragged my dad, and me to the cinema on Sunday to watch this, and I'm still not sure what I think about it frankly. The writing was good and developed Streep's character quite well from being a reserved female in a mans world into a woman empowering herself and taking charge of a difficult situation and telling the men how its going to be. It felt quite atmospheric of the times and got the importance of the event across well to the audience, but it never really gripped me (or my dad I don't think, though he daren't say so in front of my mum), I was never particularly attached to any of the characters, and the beginning felt a bit slow.
Maybe i'm not a fair judge as I was tired (and hanging) from an all day sesh the day before and I wasn't too bothered about seeing the film, but it definitely didn't blow me out of the water.
My mum dragged my dad, and me to the cinema on Sunday to watch this, and I'm still not sure what I think about it frankly. The writing was good and developed Streep's character quite well from being a reserved female in a mans world into a woman empowering herself and taking charge of a difficult situation and telling the men how its going to be. It felt quite atmospheric of the times and got the importance of the event across well to the audience, but it never really gripped me (or my dad I don't think, though he daren't say so in front of my mum), I was never particularly attached to any of the characters, and the beginning felt a bit slow.
Maybe i'm not a fair judge as I was tired (and hanging) from an all day sesh the day before and I wasn't too bothered about seeing the film, but it definitely didn't blow me out of the water.
Just took my daughter to see Coco. She enjoyed it but I absolutely loved it.
The originality of the film, the stunning visuals and attention to detail.
Wouldn’t only say it was only one of the best animated films I’ve seen for a while but also one of the best films full stop.
Ditto. Took my grand-daughter today. She enjoyed it as well but I thought it was fantastic. Great story. Cried twice. Brilliant animation and I really enjoyed the music. Very sympathetic to Mexican culture. 8/10 from my grand-daughter. 10 out of 10 from me.
Not a new film but watched Detroit at the weekend. Very good. Tense though. 8/10.
Took my six year old to see Coco yesterday. She was a bit scared (that's just her though) but I thought it was beautiful. Not so many Disney jokes and comic relief, and very sentimental at the end... Enough to get this silly old dad crying like a fool anyway. Really enjoyable with lots of twists and turns.
The shape of water. Well, didn’t know anything about it other than Sally Hawkins was in it and it’s tipped for Oscars. Enjoyed it. Don’t really watch fantasies and it’s an interesting subject but really good by Hawkins and supporting actor Jenkins who plays her friend. Would be interested in any opinions of anyone else who sees it?
The shape of water. Well, didn’t know anything about it other than Sally Hawkins was in it and it’s tipped for Oscars. Enjoyed it. Don’t really watch fantasies and it’s an interesting subject but really good by Hawkins and supporting actor Jenkins who plays her friend. Would be interested in any opinions of anyone else who sees it?
Saw it last night - not a great fan of fantasy films but thought I'd give it a go. Found it a little disappointing and the storyline very flimsy. It was beautifully shot but for me not very engaging. 5/10
The shape of water. Well, didn’t know anything about it other than Sally Hawkins was in it and it’s tipped for Oscars. Enjoyed it. Don’t really watch fantasies and it’s an interesting subject but really good by Hawkins and supporting actor Jenkins who plays her friend. Would be interested in any opinions of anyone else who sees it?
Saw it last night - not a great fan of fantasy films but thought I'd give it a go. Found it a little disappointing and the storyline very flimsy. It was beautifully shot but for me not very engaging. 5/10
I don’t get the hype over Sally Hawkins. Her performances in the Paddington films is nauseating. So amateur imo. But she’s tipped for an Oscar for this.
The shape of water. Well, didn’t know anything about it other than Sally Hawkins was in it and it’s tipped for Oscars. Enjoyed it. Don’t really watch fantasies and it’s an interesting subject but really good by Hawkins and supporting actor Jenkins who plays her friend. Would be interested in any opinions of anyone else who sees it?
Saw it last night - not a great fan of fantasy films but thought I'd give it a go. Found it a little disappointing and the storyline very flimsy. It was beautifully shot but for me not very engaging. 5/10
I don’t get the hype over Sally Hawkins. Her performances in the Paddington films is nauseating. So amateur imo. But she’s tipped for an Oscar for this.
I don't understand the hype over this film - kept thinking I must be missing something.
Sally Hawkins does seem to be an actress who divides opinion.
The shape of water. Well, didn’t know anything about it other than Sally Hawkins was in it and it’s tipped for Oscars. Enjoyed it. Don’t really watch fantasies and it’s an interesting subject but really good by Hawkins and supporting actor Jenkins who plays her friend. Would be interested in any opinions of anyone else who sees it?
Saw it last night - not a great fan of fantasy films but thought I'd give it a go. Found it a little disappointing and the storyline very flimsy. It was beautifully shot but for me not very engaging. 5/10
I dont think my experience last night was helped by the noisy cinema. Went to picturehouse as normal, but I can't believe so many people needed the loo and missed so many bits of it. found it rather distracting as well as people being late.
I do keep thinking about it though and i think i enjoyed it more than i thought. i didn't realise he wrote the part with her in mind for the part. I think she's very interesting. the start was a bit Amelie like.
The shape of water. Well, didn’t know anything about it other than Sally Hawkins was in it and it’s tipped for Oscars. Enjoyed it. Don’t really watch fantasies and it’s an interesting subject but really good by Hawkins and supporting actor Jenkins who plays her friend. Would be interested in any opinions of anyone else who sees it?
Saw it last night - not a great fan of fantasy films but thought I'd give it a go. Found it a little disappointing and the storyline very flimsy. It was beautifully shot but for me not very engaging. 5/10
I dont think my experience last night was helped by the noisy cinema. Went to picturehouse as normal, but I can't believe so many people needed the loo and missed so many bits of it. found it rather distracting as well as people being late.
I do keep thinking about it though and i think i enjoyed it more than i thought. i didn't realise he wrote the part with her in mind for the part. I think she's very interesting. the start was a bit Amelie like.
Agree with lots of this. I upped my mark afterwards because it did stay with me for a while. And very true about the resemblance to Amelie in a number of ways.
Comments
Strange film. Reminiscent of Amelie/MicMacs in the way it is shot - saturated with colour in an almost comic book way. Comic book type villain too, and the heroine brings the character Amelie to mind.
Enjoyed it, but not sure why it's up for so many oscars - thought Three Billboards was a far more enjoyable spectacle.
6.5/10.
Revised upwards on reflection to 7.5. I've had a hard week and there was a rustly bastard behind me.
He's dead now.
Aha. Interesting...entertainment.ie/cinema/news/French-director-Jean-Pierre-Jeunet-says-Guillermo-del-Toro-plagiarised-him-in-The-Shape-Of-Water/401988.htm
I like Jeunets films and the magical quality that he gives them. Nobody ever seems to have heard of micmacs but I think it's a lovely little film with a good measure of humour. Amelie is almost ridiculously sentimental but the narration makes it for me.
I'm wondering this morning whether 6.5 was a bit mean, I might revise upwards when I've considered it more, but I've preferred del Toros other films (Devils Backbone is in my top 5) in Spanish.
You should have sat in their laps.
Perfectly done. It doesn't pass the six laughs test so it's not a comedy but that's OK because it's a fun film and very sweet without being maudlin.
Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth is one of my all time top films.
I found Daniel Day Lewis a little hammy at times but Vicky Krieps and Lesley Manville are very good.
Given the pace of the film I think it may struggle to appeal to a wide audience. 7/10
Okay, the plus side. The almost complete absence of a plot of any sort allows your mind to rove, or enjoy the flavour of the Maltesers you bought before going in. You can go to the gents any number of times and never ask if you missed anything. Sadly my mrs greeted my intention of playing games on my mobile with squawks of protest, so the film isn't 100% liberating. And Dakota Johnson looks good topless.
That's it! The film is frustratingly plotless, and felt more like a vehicle to sell it's moronic sound track. It' easy to link it to the two previous films as there was nothing to remember there either. The audience (90% female) actually laughed at some of the weak jokes, and applauded at the end, so I assume there were some SE7 Valiants there. But this is absolutly as bad as it's reviews suggest. Thank fuck it's the last one.
0/10
A husband and wife, whose divorce is pending, are consumed by a mutual loathing. Each has found a new partner and neither wish to have the perceived burden of their 12 year own son living with them as they embark upon their new lives. Overhearing this during a heated argument, the boy runs away and the rest of film follows the search for him, attempts led principally by a volunteer group rather than the bureaucratic local police force.
I found no redeeming features in either parent and this was, for the most part, two hours of unremitting misery. To compound matters, I thought the symbolism and metaphors which were deployed were clunky and about as subtle as a brick (eg. the woman running on a treadmill in a Russia tracksuit and going nowhere).
I am a big fan of this director, Andrey Zvyagintsev, but this film is several (and I do mean several) levels below his previous excellent films, ‘Leviathan’ and ‘The Return’. Very disappointing - 5/10
I saw a comedy sketch by Eddie Izzard where he compared British Cinema at the time with it's American counterpart. This is very much of the type he described (a Room with a View with a staircase at the back and a lake). there are lots of words you could use to describe it. Worthy. Dry. Understated. But mostly Boring. It's all very tight lipped and British, and to be honest not much happens. Having slated 50 shades last week, I had high hopes of this, but I have to be honest, it is note everyone's cup of tea, or mine. It is achingly slow, and it doesn't actually have a great deal more plot than 50 shades. I generally like odd, off beat movies, but this doesn't really come into that category. It's well acted (i saw it in Spanish so Daniel Day Lewis was flawlessly translated) and nicely shot, but I kept finding myself losing track as there was so little to actually grasp. Steely silences may be an interesting idea, as may be noisily eaten toast, but you can only keep my attention with that for so long. I genuinely can't see why this is quite so highly regarded - it has that 'look' of an important file, but The King's Speech' for example, had a lot more style and substance. I'm sort of glad I saw it, but I wouldn't want to see it again, and I certainly wouldn't want to see in win the Oscar for best film. I'd hope something entertaining might win that.
4/10
My mum dragged my dad, and me to the cinema on Sunday to watch this, and I'm still not sure what I think about it frankly. The writing was good and developed Streep's character quite well from being a reserved female in a mans world into a woman empowering herself and taking charge of a difficult situation and telling the men how its going to be. It felt quite atmospheric of the times and got the importance of the event across well to the audience, but it never really gripped me (or my dad I don't think, though he daren't say so in front of my mum), I was never particularly attached to any of the characters, and the beginning felt a bit slow.
Maybe i'm not a fair judge as I was tired (and hanging) from an all day sesh the day before and I wasn't too bothered about seeing the film, but it definitely didn't blow me out of the water.
7/10
The originality of the film, the stunning visuals and attention to detail.
Wouldn’t only say it was only one of the best animated films I’ve seen for a while but also one of the best films full stop.
Not a new film but watched Detroit at the weekend. Very good. Tense though. 8/10.
Well, didn’t know anything about it other than Sally Hawkins was in it and it’s tipped for Oscars. Enjoyed it. Don’t really watch fantasies and it’s an interesting subject but really good by Hawkins and supporting actor Jenkins who plays her friend. Would be interested in any opinions of anyone else who sees it?
But she’s tipped for an Oscar for this.
Sally Hawkins does seem to be an actress who divides opinion.
I do keep thinking about it though and i think i enjoyed it more than i thought. i didn't realise he wrote the part with her in mind for the part. I think she's very interesting. the start was a bit Amelie like.