Have you seen the film “The Shape of Water”?

no

No

No!

Got it. I saw half of The Shape of Water.

And kudos to you!

@janbb

Did you walk out?

@rockfan Yes. I can’t stand sadism and the Michael Shannon character just got to me. Besides, it was all so green. It just didn’t appeal to me although I understand the awards it got.

I don’t want to see it. I’ve heard that it’s violent and sadistic. A friend, whose opinion I value highly, told me that she got up and walked out.

I can see how the graphic violence might trigger some people, but it’s not a torture porn film like Saw or Hostel where the violence is the main draw.

The movie itself isn’t sadistic, the movie character is.

I absolutely loved The Shape of Water. It was so unexpected, and interesting, and visually beautiful. I really liked the man who also lived in the apartment. Terrific performances all around, and the composer, Desplat, is one of my favorites. He also did music for Fantastic Mr. Fox, another visually pleasing, unusual movie.

@Kardamom Interesting. I didn’t find it visually pleasing which was one of the reasons I didn’t stick with it. I may give it another try at some point but probably not. I did like Richard Jenkins very much – her friend in the apartment.

I read a very funny article about the movie on Medium which was too crude to link here but was about women not really wanting to have sex with fishmen or other monsters.

@Kardamom I thought it was visually spectacular as well

Seen it and don’t believe it’s worth the Oscar Best Picture award it got. The nominees in the Best Pic category gets worse and worse with each year.

They don’t make them like they used to.

The “they don’t make them like they used to” phrase is just really cranky and kind of silly in my opinion. There are so many high quality movies out there every year that it’s hard to keep count.

Phantom Thread is quite brilliant. It’s as good, if not better than many classic films from the golden era. I also think 2015’s Room and Spotlight were excellent.

So I saw it now. I do not understand people who say that it was “too violent” or “too gory”.
As far as films go, it was pretty mild.
And off-brand Zod was not over the top either.
Did not even have an actual fish sex scene, either, so that is a negative. Plus, the fish monster murdered a cat, so fuck him.

Everyone I know (IRL) that has seen it loved it and used words like “amazing” and “incredible” which I agree with.

I had absolutely mo idea what it was about before I saw it, but my friends and relatives said it was sublime, so I figured I should go see it. I was not disappointed.

@ragingloli No it was not too violent nor too gory. What it was is a nothingburger of a film and it just puzzles me why it was even nominated for Best Picture.

because people liked the film and saw something in it that you didn’t. I thought the story and themes were really beautiful

I guess I saw a lot more in this movie that other people missed completely.

This is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. One of the themes was about relationships, and types of people/sentient beings, that others deem unacceptable. That really resonated with me. Another theme was a classic, the struggle for good over evil. Another theme was seeing things from a different perspective. And it was about love.

@Kardamom I saw all that too but none of them connected with me. The biggest let down was the main character explaining why she loves her guy. And that reason was not sufficiently expressed by the film. The movie made it seem like there’s only two kinds of men in the world. Abusers or gentle fish humanoids.

@mazingerz88 Aren’t there? :-)

And yeah, I got the themes too. It just didn’t work for me – visually or symbolically.

@janbb I just didn’t get the feeling this piece by Del Toro had anything fresh nor unique to offer. All I saw were tropes. And technically well done but there was nothing, absolutely nothing that was cinematically
special.

Del Toro is a gifted director but there’s something missing from his storytelling. I find his Devil’s Backbone ( not sure if I got the title correctly ) and probably Pan’s Labyrinth as his best works, though I’m less inclined to revisit Pan’s Labyrinth more than once.

His Crimson Peak ( again not sure about the title ) was technically impressive yet forgettable simply because it has nothing new to offer. Younger generations of filmmakers shouldn’t just keep paying homage to great classics by rehashing familiar themes in practically almost the same way.

@rockfan Maybe Phantom Thread deserves to win best picture not Water.

Saying they don’t make them like they used to isn’t silly. It’s saying best pic winners of the past are just better films and deserving of a win, which Shape isn’t.

I liked it visually, but apart from that, it felt up its own arse unjustifiably self indulgent.

But I think saying “best pic winners of the past are just better” IS silly. It’s a huge generalization.