Most people think fairy tales are for children, and maybe they are in modern times but that was never their intent. Fairy tales, the Grimm kind, were morality plays full of fear, violence, and horror. Guillermo del Toro started his career making these kinds of fairy tales with his early films like Chronos, The Devil’s Backbone, and his masterpiece: Pan’s Labyrinth (even the Hellboy films have elements of fairy tale storytelling to them). The Shape of Water is del Toro’s return to this style of storytelling after a decade, and he’s been showered with critical acclaim. However, despite being a technically perfectly made motion picture, The Shape of Water is no Pan, and lacks the storytelling magic del Toro usually brings to a film. Continue reading Movie Review: The Shape of Water (2017) *Del Toro Returns to Fairy Tales*
Tag Archives: The Shape of Water Trailer
In Theaters This Week (12/1/2017): The Shape of Water, The Disaster Artist, Wonder Wheel
Each Thursday we look at what is going to be coming out in theaters this weekend, show you the trailers for the big releases, predict the box office winner and just generally give you enough of a carrot to pull you through the rest of the work week. There are no wide releases this week, but studios will be expanding previous wide releases like Ladybird and Darkest Hour and those in larger markets will have three new limited releases to peruse this weekend. Continue reading In Theaters This Week (12/1/2017): The Shape of Water, The Disaster Artist, Wonder Wheel
The Shape of Water Trailer #2 (2017) *Del Toro’s Next Pan?*
*RED BAND TRAILER WARNING
I was wishy washy on the first trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, but most people loved it. I think the second trailer is better, though I’m not getting the kind of wonder off of either of the trailers that most people seem to be. Pan’s Labyrinth is one of my favorite films, so no one wants del Toro to return to form than me, and the film festival response to the picture has been overwhelmingly positive. So positive, in fact, that FOX has paused pre-production on del Toro’s remake of Fantastic Voyage so that the director can focus on promoting The Shape of Water for release and awards season. Read more from Coming Soon below.
After the film won the Venice Film Festival’s top prize (the Golden Lion), Fox Searchlight Pictures has released the Red Band trailer for The Shape of Water, the latest creature feature from Academy Award-nominated director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Crimson Peak). Check out the Shape of Water Red Band trailer below!
The film stars Academy Award nominee Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine, Happy-Go-Lucky), Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road, 99 Homes), Academy Award nominee Richard Jenkins (The Visitor, Olive Kitteridge), Doug Jones (Crimson Peak, Hellboy), Golden Globe nominee Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man, Steve Jobs), and Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer (The Help, Gifted).
The Shape of Water is an other-worldly fairy tale, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1963. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Hawkins) is trapped in a life of silence and isolatjion. Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment.
Del Toro directs the film and co-wrote it with Vanessa Taylor (Game of Thrones, Divergent). The film is being produced by del Toro and J. Miles Dale (The Vow, Scott Pilgrim vs the World).
The Shape of Water opens in North American theaters on December 8, 2017.
The Shape of Water Trailer #1 (2017) “Experience a Connection Beyond Words”
It’s been over a decade since Guillermo del Toro’s masterpiece, Pan’s Laybrinth, and the director hasn’t come close to showing that level of work since. Yes, Hellboy II was awesome, but del Toro’s dalliance with The Hobbit meant he never finished his trilogy. Pacific Rim was fun, but hardly the kind of stuff you’d expect from someone who wrote and directed one of the best films of this century. Crimson Peak was just…pedestrian. The Shape of Water hearkens back to the kind of horror fairy tales del Toro told with Cronos, the Devil’s Backbone, and Pan, but this first trailer kind of makes it look like “Mute Lady Falls in Love with Abe Sapien”. I’m not feeling the greatness I know del Toro has inside of him. Maybe I’m wrong. It certainly has a deep cast of great character actors. The Shape of Water opens December 8, 2017.
