This movie has style dripping off the screen. I was so intoxicated by either the film noir / art deco or the old-school carnival freak show aesthetic, I didn't even notice it being 2.5 hours.

@brendanlittle2498

2 жыл бұрын

100% agreed.

@janehollett1584

2 жыл бұрын

"style dripping off the screen" I love your description ❤️

@65g4

Жыл бұрын

@@janehollett1584 me too i finally got around to seeing it today. Got it on bluray absolutely loved it. Really interesting story, great costume design and production design. I wish i had seen it in the theatre.

The climactic scene where everything comes to a head was the most beautiful, shocking, horrific, brilliant piece of cinema I have seen for a long, long time. I sat there stunned after it, and even leaving the cinema, ten minutes later. You knew it was coming, but that didn't soften the impact! A masterful film, 10/10 from me.

@larkinsmithtube

2 жыл бұрын

I'm shocked you were so shocked by that ending. It felt the most obvious ending possible and was pretty much telegraphed in the first 20 minutes. Having committed over 2 hours to such a dull premise I was hoping for a more interesting (and less cheesy) conclusion.

Back to studio makes me think things start going back to normal. Thanks KermodeandMayo!

@dimitrigerman8376

2 жыл бұрын

Here here!

@hugh-jasole

2 жыл бұрын

They been back to normal for a long time now friend. Turn off the news!

I really loved this film. Cate Blanchett's charisma is off the charts. Impossible to take your eyes off her in this picture.

@65g4

Жыл бұрын

I love your old fashioned and still call it a picture

As you'd expect, it looked great. There was nothing wrong with it, all the performances were good, but I was a bit disappointed overall. Not GDT's best work for me.

@bencarlson4300

2 жыл бұрын

I felt it should’ve focused way more on the Richard Jenkins segment and cut down on… everything else? It’s too long overall, but that element of the film was too short.

@ssssssstssssssss

2 жыл бұрын

The problem was the script. In terms of direction, it was absolutely great. But this film needed more development of the characters and their relationships otherwise the twist doesn’t quite land.

@ebransc09

2 жыл бұрын

Biggest flaw: it makes no sense for the lead character to trust his money with someone else Second biggest flaw: It becomes obvious about 1/4 in where we are going and it takes so very long to get there

Because of how it was advertised, I was expecting something more fantastical to eventually become apparent but it never came and that was a bit of a disappointment. What I DID get was a lavishly filmed slow burn of a movie with a an end that felt inevitable from the beginning but that was still gripping as we got to the climax. Did feel long for me though

@attentionbajoranworkers4408

2 жыл бұрын

I was extremely thrown off by the trailer! it gave me the impression the film was going to be about the geek. then i watched the 1947 adaptation and realized it was a very misleading trailer.

@ssssssstssssssss

2 жыл бұрын

Attention The film was about the geek though.

@attentionbajoranworkers4408

2 жыл бұрын

@@ssssssstssssssss it was about the main character becoming a geek. the trailers i saw gave me the impression the geek character seen early in the film was going to be featured more prominently

This is the most underrated film of 2021. It won’t win any Oscars at all. I thought it was perfect.

I think the supporting cast deserves a mention. I could watch Blanchett and Cooper square off for days, but this also has the highest concentration of “oh wow, it’s so-and-so!” supporting roles I’ve seen in ages. It’s not an ensemble piece yet every role is still filled with a superb actors bringing their best.

@andrews527

8 ай бұрын

Missed the boat by not casting Tom Waits as one of the carnival males.

"Nightmare Alley" was a superb film-noir for the 21st Century. Bradley Cooper gave his best performance as grifter Stanton Carlisle. The original 1947 film was incredibly bleak and failed critically and commercially at the time. Ty Power rated it as his best performance. He never did anything as challenging again. The new version has done justice to the original. Fabulous stuff for people who like decent plot-driven films.

I saw this movie last night with a couple of friends. This movie blew us all away, incredible. Every single scene progresses the story, every actor is on their absolute A-game, and the cinematography and sets are stunning. Every character is well formed and acted, 2D characters are absent from this film. I would say the story is Shakespearean in it's general ark, whilst never being predictable. If you only see one film this year make it this one.

I think this might be the best movie I saw last year

I absolutely loved this movie. My first trip back to a cinema, and one of my favorites of the year.

I loved this movie. I went in unsure because the reactions were lukewarm but this movie rules. Great noir movie. I think the original is great but this might be even better because of the ending. GDT crushed this one. Delicious visuals as well. Oh and a great ending.

I watched this at the cinema tonight. I thought the film was good overall but the 1st hour at the carnival was the best part. This was the world of Del Toro to a T. I felt after the "2 years later" bit that things dragged and I lost a bit of interest but it picked up towards the end. Overall, not Del Toro's best work IMO but I'd give it a 7.5/10

@alexbentley4087

2 жыл бұрын

Echoes my feelings somewhat! Although there are fantastic scenes later in the film, such as the polygraph scene, and the climax. But yes, it's not a Del Toro classic for me. I might be kinder and push it to an 8/10.

@franesustic988

2 жыл бұрын

Spot on 7.5, not his best work, but still really good.

The thread that runs through so much of Guillermo's filmography is this relationship between man and beast, and it runs through this film too. Unfortunately though I felt that the human side of this film felt very undeveloped, be it in the characters or the lack of conflict for much of the first half of the film - these feel like problems with the screenplay. Visually the film is a treat, it looks incredibly well researched and authentic, the set designs are incredible, and the 'ramping up' at its steepest gradient towards the end is very powerful cinema - its just a shame the rest of the film feels a little underdeveloped.

@knownpleasures

2 жыл бұрын

In other words it was rubbish

@danielcastillo4537

2 жыл бұрын

I agree.

@blackcirclepolkadot2618

2 жыл бұрын

It’s wasn’t. It was unafraid to address real human nature. Can’t be all fuzzy hugs all the time. It just isn’t. It was dark, a bit bleak but genuine. It wasn’t emotionally wrenching like Requiem for a Dream.

@danielcastillo4537

2 жыл бұрын

@@blackcirclepolkadot2618 You have to use this film as a point of reference to his other films. The Shape of Water and this one shows signs that he is slowing down. The thing was it was boring and way too long. What was revealed could've been cut at least by an hour. It was a movie with a "moral to the story" type of ending that was not worth the investment of my time. Sad to say but this is no where near the realm of Pan's Labyrinth or Cronos.

This is one of Guillermo’s very best! In my opinion, better than the original in many, many ways.

If Tom Waits made a film - it would be like this one

Funny you should say he has the resources to make any movie when in fact he was denied the chance to do HP Lovecraft's 'At The Mountains Of Madness' which according to Del Toro was a hundred million dollar film. I think we would have been blown away by the intended visuals of it.

As someone who got a chance to see the first adaptation recently and enjoyed it very well, I do like Del Toro was able to get to do a little more with this in an era that isn't quite as confining on what and where a story can go. And I also really like just how much he was really enjoy how much he was really enjoying the carnival setting with it's wild visuals and characters and I also like giving Bradley's character the single eye on his mask to give it a more creepy vibe too. Film really sticks to me the more I think about it, and I love that feeling.

This is interesting for me because on one hand there’s so much to love about the movie but I also found it really dragged in the middle. I actually started to feel bored. And it felt a little too polished. Was looking forward to some really pretty noir mixed with some macabre GDT stuff but it felt very tame. There were hints of that here and there but never quite delivered for me.

@watchwatchlalala

2 жыл бұрын

@@WaddedBliss Guillermo Del Toro

@bobpercy

2 жыл бұрын

Yes I agree, it was far too long and lacked pace, having no moments of humour or light relief that might have helped with the overall impact of the tragedy. It just kept building to the inevitable feeing that some thing terrible is going to happening when it did it was almost completly predictable.

@craigtechno

2 жыл бұрын

I agree good points made

@blackcirclepolkadot2618

2 жыл бұрын

Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes there is no humor or relief to be had. That was also a point. A child thinks the world is all good. Admirable thought. But just not true. Yeah, we watched a real downfall how they happen.

@SamuelMcIntosh

2 жыл бұрын

Going back and watching it a second time -- although still sort of slow, there's soooo much to be learned about great direction in it. The blocking and camera movement are masterful.

There are many fairly timid movies that get called 'haunting' nowadays, but this (which I believe Guillermo said was a film for people who say films like this don't get made any more) really is haunting. The last scene is obviously unnerving, but the garden bench one is one of the most riveting cinematic set pieces in ages. The acting and directing in that scene alone deserves an Oscar.

Really, really liked this film when I saw it last month. I might try to see the black & white version playing now, but it seems a shame to lose the gorgeous colors!

@ellemiller7237

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, from all the black and white stills I've seen, it clearly doesn't look like it was shot for black and white and so the frames look overcrowded and muddy

@Dawid-wc8sb

2 жыл бұрын

I never understood why people prefer b&w, colour is such an important aspect. Makes more sense for some movies but generally colour is better imo

@ellemiller7237

2 жыл бұрын

@@Dawid-wc8sb it looks great for some movies, but generally you have to light the movie quite differently as well as use different colors to really make the high contrast look work. What bugs me are these movies that are made in color and then have a black and white release because B&W is more """artistic""". This, the mist, mad max(which was especially stupid), and Logan all did this, and none of them looked better at all

@Dawid-wc8sb

2 жыл бұрын

@@ellemiller7237 you know any good b&w movies to watch while tripping? It has to be really well made though cos I get way too critical when high, like newer stuff specifically made for b&w. I've already seen that coen brothers movie but would rather see something that can wow me with its cinematography

@ellemiller7237

2 жыл бұрын

@@Dawid-wc8sb a field in england?

I feel so vindicated by this review! I freaking LOVED this movie, and it seems like people decided to shrug it off before even seeing it, and the few that did have all just said, “it’s too long, it’s too slow, blah blah blah”. obviously people can have their opinions but I walked out of this totally baffled. seven years from now some hip KZread filmbro is gonna get a million views for a video about how great this movie is and how unfair it is that everyone ignored it

Seen it 3 times including the black and white version - his best film. An epic. He is morphing into Spielberg.

@NoahLebeau72

2 жыл бұрын

Lay off the drugs

Been waiting for this alllllll week. Maybe the best movie, along with The House, I've seen of the new year so far

Finally going to seeing it tomorrow! Love Guillermo!

I love this film. I hope Mr. Del Toro makes more film noir features in the future. He is a wonderful filmmaker and person.

WOW - one of the best films i have seen in years - ignore the shockingly bad trailer and poor marketing - look the reviews - they dont lie..a great story, great acting, look sublime - MUST SEE FILM.

@bwoahviously

2 жыл бұрын

I'm glad I forgot what was featured in the trailer before seeing it. Watched it again after and there's so much revealed, I know they have to sell the movie, but they shouldn't have shown anything from the garden bench scene on, but they did. Brilliant film though

It’s pretty sad that this bombed horrifically in the US. It’s already gonna be streaming on Hulu and HBO in a couple of weeks.

@gleewhoseline198

2 жыл бұрын

They released it in the same week as Spider Man, its more dumb than sad

Hmm I seen it last night and it felt like 3 different films moulded in to one. I thought it was a good 30 40 minutes too long! I did enjoy the ending but also seen it coming if I'm being honest, great cast it looked expensive but hmm 6.5/10 for me.

It's really great! Don't fail this movie UK, like we Americans did

We love you Guillermo!! Now give us the dratted Pinocchio trailer already!!

This movie was great until the ending, and then it was excellent. I haven't seen a film wrap everything up and put a picture perfect bow on top and bring everything back home so well since Blade Runner. Bradley Cooper should get a Oscar nom just for the final three minutes of this film.

Sounds like the film got the research right to take its mind reading act from the Complete Home Entertainer! Simon would no doubt enjoy Black Rainbow. As a huge Del Toro and Film Noir fan I can't wait to see this.

I loved this movie so much. Visually stunning and superbly acted.

Del Toro never disappoints. NA is a fantastic film and I've seen it 6 times, will be watching it again soon.

@felyxmillicent6538

2 жыл бұрын

@@WaddedBliss Take a guess.

@ryanbutterworth1845

2 жыл бұрын

Just saw it today might need another watch but what’s the motive for Cate Blanchett character betrayal, must have missed something

@blackcirclepolkadot2618

2 жыл бұрын

@@ryanbutterworth1845 It’s petty but she was getting back at him for what he did to her in the club. He “humiliated her” in her words. And symbolically she was ‘evil.’ Lilith was in her name. Stan was no angel by any means. Given an opportunity for redemption. He was being tempted by ‘sin’ or ‘evil’ however you want to perceive it. And he ultimately succumbed. He thought he was very slick how he “had to slap her down” for the performance sake. But he had no idea what he was really facing. Unfortunately we did not see good triumph evil. (and I know I late to the party ha, have a good one)

@ryanbutterworth1845

2 жыл бұрын

@@blackcirclepolkadot2618 thank you, been thinking about this film a lot actually especially that ending scene and your explanation/theory only heightens it.

i wasn't sure what the think. the ending stopped me in my tracks. what i do know is that I keep thinking about the film after days have passed, which is a sign of a great film. will need to rewatch, hopefully in the black and white version.

As soon as i saw the geek, i new the ending - too obvious - still a good film though. its a remake of an old film of the same name, which i have seen.

So well done..many technical excellence..very dark story..

Simon Mayo, the complete home enterrtainer 🙌

The ending was brilliant

i like guillermo del toro well enough but his movies are way too polished to really strike me as dark, dark in some respects but with no grit i suppose

@mikejohnston8275

2 жыл бұрын

I think this really sums up why I couldn't take his movies seriously

Tod Browning's Freaks was a loose adaptation of an incredibly early (1923!) noir short story by Tod Robbins called "Spurs," so it's fitting that this noir-horror gives a nod to those two connected antecedents.

I love the original film version, and I love del Toro's films, so I'm sure this will be marvelous.

Guillermo Del Toro doesn’t easily miss. This another slam dunk of a movie that embellishes and recontextualises the themes of the original novel, whilst full to the brim of Del Toro’s meticulous attention to detail, imagery, production and performance. It’s not on the level of Pan’s Labyrinth and Shape of Water but it’s very, *very* close.

Someday people will put it in most underrated movies lists.

set design and actors were fantastic ....didnt see the ending coming , highly recommended

I think Richard Jenkins deserves supporting actor awards talk but I haven’t seen any.

Spain Rodriguez did a graphic-novel version of this story. A labor of love.

I called the ending before the first fifteen minutes of the movie passed and I was still floored by the ending.

Loved it!

Interesting review, some of which I agree. But the film was painfully long, and most unforgivable of all...almost obvious. Unsurprisingly, the performances, costumes, and sets were outstanding. In the end, I would have preferred to watch Double Indemnity or Body Heat, again.

I didn't expect that: perhaps my favorite del Toro movie

I have that book you mentioned.

This was a masterful film . I was gripped the whole time

Sounds like Angel Heart……

Just watched it, great film.

I love del Toro, It looks fantastic but Nightmare Alley just felt hollow to me. I might be missing something and will give it another go at some stage. The main issue I had with the movie is that all the characters felt 2 dimensional and it felt like two different films. I did however enjoy the Geek through line to the story, it almost would have worked better as a short focussing on that.

Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett are great in this wonderful film!

Loved it. And I've been quite up-and-down on Del Toro in the past. This was not only a great thrill-ride but as the film progresses it makes very disturbing observations about the way spirituality/religion is unnaturally mutated by money and capital in American society.

Sounds great

I had a terrible theater experience with this one cause a number of people thought this was equalivent to Spider-man which they couldn't get tickets to cause it was sold out. And unfortunately I think that experience negatively impacted my first experience with this movie and I came away pretty underwhelmed and a little more. I think cause I was never able to fully sink into the world, I didn't engage with the movie the way I wanted to. Once it's available at home, I'm definitely gonna watch it again and hope that more respectful atmosphere will make all the difference.

@TxxT33

2 жыл бұрын

They're getting more and more insufferable with every Marvel release. If you look closely in the theater you can see their brain cells run out of their ears.

@directorngc7182

2 жыл бұрын

Had a very similar experience recently but while watching “Drive My Car” in the theater. The film only has 1-2 actual comedic lines but the crowd was looking for any moment to laugh (including serious emotional and tragic scenes) because they’ve been conditioned by Marvel movies for endless lame quips and a lack of appreciation for gravity and weight and real stakes.

Finally watched it last night. Great stuff. Totall up my (nightmare) alley being a period piece about carnies and grifters.

The final act was great and I wanted to see the next chapter of his miserable life. Having said that, I felt the lead up to the ending was ho-hum.

Del Toro has breathed life into a deservedly under-rated and little-known suspense novel. (The plot, when you consider it, is rather feeble.) Compared to the 1947 film, del Toro’s is is much edgier, disturbing and violent version. Both Cate Blanchett and Bradley Cooper are superb. So are the atmosphere and general design. The film is too long, tho - it could have been compressed by omitting some of Part One (the carnival scene), which does drag on.

Great film

l remember watching the original with Tyrone Power.

I suppose NMA is the best movie for 2 years. Right? Cate B is absolutely mezmerising. She should always be on screen.

I found the array of big names distracting. I think it would’ve been a more effective film with a few more unknowns/character actors.

Beautiful, absorbing film with a very poorly paced second act. I really felt that second hour but then was fully absorbed again in the last 30 mins. The film weirdly reminded me of There Will Be Blood. Dan Lausten’s cinematography deserves every award available.

Funny that critics are raving about this film. It looks very nice and has a pretty good performance by Cooper, but ultimately it's too Hollywood and too nice (not to mention a bit boring). It's like the last few seasons of Black Mirror, toying with darkness but never really going there.

It was basically a two an a half hour episode of "Twilight Zone" made by a director way over qualified for the source material. This one and "The Shape of Water" feels like he's moving away from his signature style I know and love.

@darkoale3299

2 жыл бұрын

Nothing about this film is anything like The Twilight Zone. Nothing. What are you on about?

@danielcastillo4537

2 жыл бұрын

@@darkoale3299 Uh, homeboy comes up from a rags to riches story. He becomes greedy in the end he becomes a geek. We see how they obtain geeks. Pretty Rod Sterling in my book!

@loiracitr

2 жыл бұрын

I also couldn't see much of the Del Toro I love in this movie. That's sad

Brilliant movie.

this is a great ,great movie. The best of film noir.

the art is always good with Deltoro movies but the third act was so hammy and I saw the ending coming a mile away. Surprised to see the positive reviews. Pans labyrinth is amazing but I'm not too crazy about his others. Shape of water is waaay overrated.

Ohhh... I coulda sworn you said 'Nightmare Abbey'...

Why didn't you mention Tyrone power?

I thought it was excellent and looked superb, the carnival and deco styling was top notch. As Mark Kermaode says it is bleak, but not in a depressing way. The 'twist' (not really a twist) was pretty obvious very early on, although doesn't really matter. I found it a bit odd that some people chuckled as if they've just worked it out when a Defoe line was repeated near the end.

I think it is okay

I don't care for GDT at all, his films look good for sure, but not much substance otherwise. This one is at least better than Shape of Water...

Wasn't sure of it narratively

It’s fabulous stunning magical happy thrilling dark tragic sad ..all at the same time ..

I really wanted to like this more but it all felt a bit lifeless to me, despite looking beautiful and being well acted. Every time I felt myself growing a little intrigued, five minutes later I was kinda bored again.

The nightmare becomes reality...

Spoliers. I loved the style of the movie but the end was kind of obvious as it is front and a centre a lot early in the movie, it didn't spoil the movie but it did take away from my enjoyment.

I had to stop the review after 2 minutes. Mark is spoiling the whole goddamn movie.

Great for Netflix/streaming- Not so great for a cinema release IMO

I'm sorry but I was totally bored by this movie. I love the director and style of this movie but I felt it was under played. I sat there in the cinema waiting and waiting and wait for the film to kick in which it did but near the end of the movie. Really disappointed.

@NoahLebeau72

2 жыл бұрын

I agree. Hated it. Overrated dodo.

Too bad I can only see this on TV

This channel itself deserves an oscar!

Wanted to like this a lot but I just didn’t like Bradley Cooper’s character downfall story or think it was original. I didn’t think the twist at the end was clever either and made me dislike this movie even more.

i found it boring. beautifully shot.

Bradley Cooper and Booze is a bad combination

The Shape Of Water is overrated. Nightmare Alley is underrated.

A beautiful but extremely boring movie. The end was completely predictable and the guy at the end didn't even put the drugs in the drink. Dafoe's character did that long explanation about how to make a geek and the guy didn't follow the setup. Someone could say that Stanton didn't need the drug in the drink, but the other guy didn't know that. I'm not buying the whole "huge moment in the film where Stanton kills the two guys" either. His wife was savvy enough and had been doing to con enough to keep the guy from touching her. Again, beautiful but boring and predictable movie.

I found it really boring and derivative, and some of the editing choices were a complete eye roll. It was too long, cooper, Mara and Blanchett were great but the script wasn’t exciting and the world building we’ve seen it all before. The Shape Of Water was a feat but this was just film by numbers

Slooooooow. Loooooong.

I'm sure it's a great film...but I wonder why he has this habit of not casting any POC in any (leading...or even ANY) roles? Happy to stand corrected if I'm wrong...

@NoahLebeau72

2 жыл бұрын

Blade 2, Pacific Rim and Mimic. His films are more diverse than most big time directors. Try actually watching his films. Do more research and less time looking for trouble on the internet.

The movie was too long it started really strong but by the end was really predictable and really boring this was very disappointing one😒👎

I don't know how one can talk glowingly about Guillermo after seeing The Shape of Water...

@emmanuelsalazar9424

2 жыл бұрын

That’s a critics job. You know, one is capable of judging a film based on its own merits, and not ones back catalogue? SMH…

@jessica5497

2 жыл бұрын

What? Lol see a film for what it is... Each work has its essence and merits