The Shape of Water - Movie Review

Starring Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Doug Jones, Nick Searcy and David Hewlett.
Written by Guillermo Del Toro & Vanessa Taylor.
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

★★★

This 1950's period fairy tale is of course what Guillermo Del Toro would come up with. What if the Creature from the Black Lagoon fell in love, and that love was requited?

Sally Hawkins gives Frances McDormand and Saoirse Ronan a run for their award-nomination money as Elisa, a mute cleaning lady at an important government facility. One night a sadistic Fed (Michael Shannon) brings in a strange water creature he found in the Amazon (which is freshwater but the movie claims it's saltwater). He wants to study it by torturing it and eventually dissecting it, but Elisa sees into its soul - his soul - and sees an intelligent being.

It takes place during the Cold War, so there's that red paranoia at play. When Soviets do show up, it reminded me of Hail Caesar more than anything.

Solid support comes from Octavia Spencer as Elisa's co-worker, Richard Jenkins as Elisa's closeted artist roommate, and Michael Stuhlbarg as a sympathetic scientist.

Killing Them Softly - DVD Review

Starring Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Scoot McNairy, Richard Jenkins, Ben Mendelsohn, Ray Liotta, Vincent Curatola, Sam Shepard and Max Casella.
Directed by Andrew Dominik.

★★

There's a really good mob movie buried in here.  Buried under all the talking.  This is a very talkie mob movie, where conversations go a couple minute longer than they should.  We watch, interested, but by the time a few scenes end, it's a conscious decision to re-engage with the movie.  And since the movie's only 90 minutes long, it's amazing how draggy the movie can be.

It centers on a high-stakes poker game, which two losers decide to rob.  The blame can be pinned on the runner of the game (Ray Liotta), but when hitman Cogan (Brad Pitt) comes to town, he's a little smarter about things.

Some of the best conversations happen between Pitt and Richard Jenkins. And I should mention that all the actors embody their roles well.  There are spurts of action here and there, and if the dialogue was QT-esque crackling, maybe I wouldn't have minded.  Pitt's final monologue is great.

Sidenote: This features three Sopranos alum but none of them are ever on-screen at the same time.