• It’s a blend of many films and influences (del Toro is a notorious cinephile– Hawkins’ character’s apartment is even directly above a movie theater) but, clearly, a work that only del Toro could come up with. It, quite brilliantly, has his stamp all over it. There are archetypes and genre-blending but it’s never a copy or a genre film (aside from his own genre which almost all great auteurs create).
  • Influences include 50’s sci-fi (creature from the black lagoon of course), Tim Burton (sort of a modernized gothic expressionism), Wes Anderson (that décor and color pattern could almost be out of grand Budapest), films like Dick Tracy, Amelie,  from and Cocteau’s surrealist beauty and the beast (1946)
  • I like the performances (they’re all good but I do think Hawkins is the standout), the screenplay is creative but not one of the best of the year, make no mistake about it, the reason it’s one of the best films of 2017 and will go down as such is the production design. It’s a visual feast in every single scene—incredibly detailed and choreographed almost
  • Nods to silent cinema with Hawkins, fairy tales, but it’s sexualized and clearly not just a child’s film
  • The ending and relationship almost couldn’t have more in common with pan’s labyrinth. It’s tragically sad (there’s a bit of an upbeat tick here at the end) but it’s almost as if Ofelia from Pan’s (Ivana Baquero) grew up to become Hawkins and fell in love with the monster. Instead of the Spanish civil war in Pan’s we have the cold war here as a backdrop. Michael Shannon plays the Sergi Lopez “Vidal” character and even Doug Jones is back as the monster
  • Teal galore—– even the key-lime pie– visual formal beauty and rigor—we have countless picture frame artwork-worthy mise-en-scene shots and every poster, piece of furniture and clothing accessory is painstakingly picked and designed
  • Confident it isn’t a masterpiece after two viewings
  • We have formal elements in the story- the eggs, the sex, the movie/escapism/surrealism moments
  • It’s hard to accomplish but it’s so clearly the work of an expert craftsman (it cuts on a dime, and it’s impeccably detailed) and eccentrically personal
  • Richard Jenkins has been good before but at age 70, I think it’s clearly his best work to date- many of the best scenes (both poignant and comic) involve him
  • one of the handful of best original scores from the great Alexandre Desplat– an Academy
  • Award win for him
  • there’s a film in the foreground and another in the background for seasoned cinephiles- we have lighting detail, rain detail in the mise-en-scene, even something as small and minute as a salt and pepper shaker at the table isn’t white, or black, but a translucent teal color
  • i think it’s underrated by many because it cute– it is a fable– there’s not a real edge here
  • fantastic silhouette closing image- masterful
  • Must-See level film- top 5 of the year quality