Review: "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

More porgs, please!

Those adorable porgs - the pint-sized sea birds who inhabit the planet on which an exiled Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) resides in Star Wars: The Last Jedi - sure are irresistible and there's a lot to like in filmmaker Rian Johnson's contribution to the franchise, even if it rarely reaches the heights of the legendary first three films.

While, in many respects, this is a bolder, more ambitious effort than the series' last entry, J.J. Abrams' fine but workmanlike The Force Awakens, it is also structurally haphazard, often bouncing among its subplots in frantic manner that renders the proceedings somewhat uninvolving.

The Last Jedi opens on the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher, in her final film appearance), evacuating their base upon the arrival of a First Order fleet. Leia's son, the painfully conflicted Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), has the opportunity to blow the Resistance ship to bits but hesitates, deep down harboring feelings for his mother. Nonetheless, the First Order pursues them via a tracking device, which Resistance fighters Poe (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) are determined to disable.

Meanwhile, Rey (Daisy Ridley), alongside Chewbecca and R2-D2, has interrupted Luke's isolated existence, determined to recruit him back to the Resistance. Luke initially resists, viewing the Jedi as plagued with failure, but eventually relents, willing to educate Rey in the ways of the force. Matters get messy, however, when Rey and Kylo begin telepathically communicating and Kylo, who had been trained by Luke, paints his former master in a not-so-flattering light.

With Hamill in career-best form and Ridley a sterling screen presence, their scenes are among The Last Jedi's best and most absorbing - and just wait 'til a franchise favorite shows up for marvelous surprise cameo alongside Luke. It's the rest of the picture that's rather erratic.

The cast isn't to blame. Fisher (who has more to do here than in The Force Awakens), Driver, Boyega and Isaac are all terrific, as is Kelly Marie Tran as Rose, a mechanic along for the fight. (Laura Dern, sadly, doesn't have much meat to chew on.) The thing is, for every sequence that crackles, like Finn and Rose's journey to an elaborate casino city, there are one or two that either don't quite pay off or just fall completely flat. Also, at more than two and a half hours, the proceedings left me awfully restless...with about half an hour still go.

As admittedly not the most ardent of Star Wars fans - oddly enough, my favorite in the series is Return of the Jedi...and that's mostly because I'm that one person who loves Ewoks - I'm hardly dumbfounded that The Last Jedi didn't leave me head over heels. Still, I can recognize that vitality and movie magic in the original trilogy of Star Wars pictures and it's pleasure that's only intermittently present in this film and The Force Awakens.

That said...I'm totally down for some more porgs.

B

Review: "Darkest Hour"

It was hardly hyperbole when, in the late 1980s, film critic Roger Ebert labeled Gary Oldman "the best young British actor around." Oldman may not have graced the Hollywood A-list at this time but he was nonetheless killing it with dazzling turns in the likes of Sid and Nancy, Prick Up Your Ears and Rosencranz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Oldman would, over the years to come, instill vitality in safer fare like Air Force One, The Contender and Hannibal, plus Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, which perhaps introduced a whole new generation of film buffs to the veteran actor.

Rarely, however, has Oldman been handed a role with this much meat to chew on. His turn as newly appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, a performance talked up for months as a shoo-in for the Best Actor Oscar, is a legit tour de force, a master class in acting that is equal parts convincing and entertaining. It's just too bad the picture around him isn't operating at that same sky-high level.

Directed by Joe Wright, a master of the workmanlike British drama, Darkest Hour follows Churchill during the early days of World War II. Nazi forces are steamrolling across Western Europe and the threat of invasion to Great Britain is imminent. Where his predecessor Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup) was known for his appeasement foreign policy, Churchill fiercely opposes Hitler and loathes the idea, still advocated by the Chamberlain wing, of negotiating with him. Ultimately, despite his political opponents' best efforts to influence him, Churchill rallies the nation behind the war effort and the rest is history.

Darkest Hour often has the feel of a one-man show. This is in part due to the riveting, larger-than-life nature of Oldman's performance, a turn that graces the screen in nearly every frame. It is also, however, the result of screenwriter Anthony McCarten's decision not to much flesh out a single other figure in the picture. We learn virtually nothing about wife Clementine (Kristin Scott Thomas) or King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn) and while Pickup is quite terrific as Chamberlain, he too is mostly treated like a mannequin.

This isn't to put the film down too much. Beyond Oldman, there's a lot to like on the technical end, with a marvelous Dario Marianelli score and lush cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel. A handful of scenes, perhaps most notably Churchill's bolting from his car to join his fellow citizens for a trip on the subway, are also very nicely staged by Wright.

Ultimately, though, Oldman upstages everything and everyone around him in Darkest Hour. He chews scenery, sure, but also instills in Churchill a palpable sense of vulnerability. Oldman also disappears into the role in a way I don't think past actors like John Lithgow (The Crown) and Richard Burton (The Gathering Storm) quite pulled off.

Darkest Hour may be a stuffy endeavor in many regards but Oldman more than delivers the goods.

B+

2017 Oscar Nomination Predictions (December)

Time for another update, awards fans!

It has been a dizzying month since my November predictions, with game-changing Golden Globe and SAG nominations, plus a plethora of critics awards announcing their favorites of the year. Some wannabe-contenders, like Detroit, Last Flag Flying and Wonder Wheel, fell flat on their faces, while the likes of Call Me By Your Name, Get Out and Lady Bird have reaped much of the precursors love thus far.

Little, however, is truly set in stone when it comes to this year's Oscar nominations - so much can happen between now and January 5 (when AMPAS nominating opens to members), let alone Oscar nominations morning on January 23.

With that said, check out below my latest Oscar predictions, for the month of December. In parentheses you will find how many slots a contender has moved up or down since my November rankings. In a number of cases, I have eliminated a film or performer entirely. I will do one more, final set of predictions in January.

Have fun reading and, as always, feel free to comment with your own thoughts too!

Best Picture

1. Lady Bird (+9)
2. The Shape of Water (-)
3. Dunkirk (-2)
4. The Post (-)
5. Get Out (+7)
6. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (-3)
7. Call Me By Your Name (-1)
8. The Florida Project (+3)
9. Mudbound (-1)
   ---
10. Phantom Thread (-3)
11. Coco (NEW)
12. The Big Sick (+3)
13. The Disaster Artist (-)
14. Darkest Hour (-9)
15. I, Tonya (-6)

DROPPED
Victoria & Abdul (-2)

Best Director

1. Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water (-)
2. Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird (+9)
3. Jordan Peele, Get Out (NEW)
4. Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk (-2)
5. Steven Spielberg, The Post (-2)
   ---
6. Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name (+2)
7. Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (-3)
8. Sean Baker, The Florida Project (NEW)
9. Ridley Scott, All the Money in the World (NEW)
10. Dee Rees, Mudbound (-3)

DROPPED
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread (-6)
Joe Wright, Darkest Hour (-5)
Craig Gillespie, I, Tonya (-2)

Best Lead Actor

1. Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour (-)
2. Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name (+1)
3. Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread (-1)
4. James Franco, The Disaster Artist (+2)
5. Tom Hanks, The Post (-)
   ---
6. Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out (NEW)
7. Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq. (+3)
8. Hugh Jackman, The Greatest Showman (NEW)
9. Steve Carell, Battle of the Sexes (NEW)
10. Jake Gyllenhaal, Stronger (-6)

DROPPED
Andrew Garfield, Breathe (-3)
Steve Carell, Last Flag Flying (-2)

Best Lead Actress

1. Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird (+5)
2. Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (-1)
3. Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water (-1)
4. Meryl Streep, The Post (-1)
5. Margot Robbie, I, Tonya (-1)
   ---
6. Judi Dench, Victoria & Abdul (-1)
7. Jessica Chastain, Molly's Game (-1)
8. Emma Stone, Battle of the Sexes (+2)
9. Michelle Williams, All the Money in the World (NEW)
10. Annette Bening, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (-2)

DROPPED
Daniela Vega, A Fantastic Woman (-2)

Best Supporting Actor

1. Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project (-)
2. Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (-)
3. Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water (+7)
4. Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (-)
5. Michael Shannon, The Shape of Water (-)
   ---
6. Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name (-3)
7. Armie Hammer, Call Me By Your Name (-1)
8. Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World (NEW)
9. Patrick Stewart, Logan (NEW)
10. Steve Carell, Battle of the Sexes (NEW)

DROPPED
Bryan Cranston, Last Flag Flying (-4)
Jason Mitchell, Mudbound (-3)
Ben Mendelsohn, Darkest Hour (-2)

Best Supporting Actress

1. Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird (+1)
2. Allison Janney, I, Tonya (-1)
3. Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water (+1)
4. Holly Hunter, The Big Sick (+3)
5. Mary J. Blige, Mudbound (NEW)
   ---
6. Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip (+2)
7. Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread (-1)
8. Hong Chau, Downsizing (+1)
9. Melissa Leo, Novitiate (-6)
10. Kristin Scott Thomas, Darkest Hour (-5)

DROPPED
Tatiana Maslany, Stronger (-1)

Best Original Screenplay

1. Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird (+5)
2. Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (-1)
3. Jordan Peele, Get Out (+5)
4. Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water (-1)
5. Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, The Post (-1)
   ---
6. Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread (-1)
7. Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch, The Florida Project (-)
8. Steven Rogers, I, Tonya (+2)
9. Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick (-)
10. Anthony McCarten, Darkest Hour (-8)

Best Adapted Screenplay

1. James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name (-)
2. Dee Rees and Virgil Williams, Mudbound (-)
3. Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, The Disaster Artist (-)
4. Stephen Chbosky, Steve Conrad, R.J. Palacio and Jack Thorne, Wonder (NEW)
5. Shrabani Basu and Lee Hall, Victoria & Abdul (-)
   ---
6. Aaron Sorkin, Molly's Game (+1)
7. Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (NEW)
8. David Scarpa, All the Money in the World (NEW)
9. Jason Fuchs, Allan Heinberg, William Moulton Marston and Zack Snyder, Wonder Woman (+1)
10. Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, Blade Runner 2049 (NEW)

DROPPED
Angelina Jolie and Loung Ung, First They Killed My Father (-7)
Richard Linklater and Darryl Ponicsan, Last Flag Flying (-5)
Sofia Coppola, The Beguiled (-3)
John Pollono, Stronger (-2)

Best Animated Feature

1. Coco (-)
2. Loving Vincent (-)
3. The Breadwinner (-)
4. The Girl Without Hands (-)
5. Despicable Me 3 (+2)
   ---
6. Cars 3 (-1)
7. Ferdinand (+1)
8. The Boss Baby (NEW)
9. The Lego Batman Movie (-3)
10. The Big, Bad Fox and Other Tales (-)

DROPPED
Mary and the Witch's Flower (-2)

Best Documentary Feature

1. Faces, Places (-)
2. City of Ghosts (-)
3. Last Man in Aleppo (NEW)
4. Cries from Syria (+2)
5. Jane (NEW)
   ---
6. L.A. 92 (+1)
7. Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (+3)
8. Ex Libris (-5)
9. Icarus (NEW)
10. Unrest (NEW)

DROPPED
Hell on Earth (-7)
Risk (-5)
Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (-3)
The Life and Death of Marsha P. Johnson (-2)

Best Foreign Language Film

1. A Fantastic Woman (Chile) (+1)
2. In the Fade (Germany) (+4)
3. Foxtrot (Israel) (+7)
4. On Body and Soul (Hungary) (NEW)
5. Loveless (Russia) (NEW)
   ---
6. The Square (Sweden) (+2)
7. Felicite (Senegal) (NEW)
8. The Wound (South Africa) (NEW)
9. The Insult (Lebanon) (NEW)

DROPPED
First They Killed My Father (Cambodia) (-10)
A Letter to the President (Afghanistan) (-8)
Her Love Boils Bathwater (Japan) (-7)
A Taxi Driver (South Korea) (-6)
BPM (Beats Per Minute) (France) (-4)
Summer 1993 (Spain) (-2)

Best Cinematography

1. Hoyte Van Hoytema, Dunkirk (-)
2. Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water (+1)
3. Janusz Kaminski, The Post (+3)
4. Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049 (-2)
5. Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Call Me By Your Name (+2)
   ---
6. Rachel Morrison, Mudbound (+3)
7. Sean Baker, The Florida Project (NEW)
8. Ben Davis, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (NEW)
9. Bruno Delbonnel, Darkest Hour (-5)
10. Edward Lachman, Wonderstruck (-)

DROPPED
Vittorio Storaro, Wonder Wheel (-3)

Best Costume Design

1. Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread (-)
2. Luis Sequeira, The Shape of Water (NEW)
3. Ann Roth, The Post (+6)
4. Jacqueline Durran, Beauty and the Beast (-)
5. Lindy Hemming, Wonder Woman (+3)
   ---
6. Ellen Miojnick, The Greatest Showman (-3)
7. Alexandra Byrne and Timothy Everest, Murder on the Orient Express (-)
8. Michael T. Boyle, Mudbound (NEW)
9. Sandy Powell, Wonderstruck (-3)
10. Stacey Battat, The Beguiled (-)

DROPPED
Jacqueline Durran, Darkest Hour (-9)
Consolata Boyle, Victoria & Abdul (-6)

Best Film Editing

1. Lee Smith, Dunkirk (-)
2. Michael Kahn, The Post (+2)
3. Sidney Wolinsky, The Shape of Water (-1)
4. Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya (+4)
5. Mako Kamitsuna, Mudbound (NEW)
   ---
6. Bob Ducsay, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (-)
7. Nick Houy, Lady Bird (NEW)
8. Joe Walker, Blade Runner 2049 (+1)
9. Walter Fasano, Call Me By Your Name (+1)
10. Jon Gregory, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (-7)

DROPPED
Valerio Bonelli, Darkest Hour (-6)
William Hoy and Stan Salfas, War for the Planet of the Apes (-4)

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

1. Anita Burger, David Malinkowski and Lucy Sibbick, Darkest Hour (-)
2. Paula Fleet, Mike Hill, Shane Mahan and Jordan Samuel, The Shape of Water (-)
3. Mary Everett, Bill Myer and Teresa Vest, I, Tonya (+2)
   ---
4. J.D. Bowers, Megan Harkness, Alisa MacMillan and Robert A. Pandini, Wonder (NEW)
5. Sunday English, Gary English, Nicki Ledermann, Angela Levin,Gary Martori, Jerry Popolis, Rania Ribalow, Pamela S. Westmore and Nakoya Yancey, The Greatest Showman (-2)
6. Paul Engelen and Jon Henry Gordon, Phantom Thread (+2)
7. Flora Moody and Allison Sing, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (-3)
8. Gloria Pasqua Casny and Joel Harlow, Logan (NEW)
9. Alexis Continente, Carol Hemming, Dana Kalder, Jutta Russell, Chiara Ugolini and Wakana Yoshihara, Murder on the Orient Express (-3)
10. Jenny Shircore, Beauty and the Beast (-1)

DROPPED
Donald Mowat and Kerry Warn, Blade Runner 2049 (-4)
Sarah Craig, Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram, Debra Manou, Emily O'Quinn and Sean Sansom, It (-1)

Best Original Score

1. Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water (-)
2. Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk (+2)
3. Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread (+4)
4. Michael Giacchino, Coco (+4)
5. Carter Burwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (+1)
   ---
6. John Williams, The Post (NEW)
7. John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (-4)
8. Thomas Newman, Victoria & Abdul (-3)
9. John Debney, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, The Greatest Showman (-)
10. Dario Marianelli, Darkest Hour (-8)

DROPPED
Hans Zimmer, Blade Runner 2049 (-1)

Best Original Song (my first stab at this!)

1. "Remember Me," Coco
2. "This Is Me," The Greatest Showman
3. "Mighty River," Mudbound
4. "Prayers for This World," Cries from Syria
5. "Evermore," Beauty and the Beast
   ---
6. "The Mystery of Love," Call Me By Your Name
7. "Come Alive," The Greatest Showman
8. "Stand Up for Something," Marshall
9. "There's Something Special," Despicable Me 3
10. "Truth to Power," An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power

Best Production Design

1. Paul D. Austerberry, The Shape of Water (+1)
2. Nathan Crowley, Dunkirk (-1)
3. Dennis Gassner, Blade Runner 2049 (-)
4. Veronique Melery and Mark Tidesley, Phantom Thread (+2)
5. David J. Bomba, Mudbound (+2)
   ---
6. Nathan Crowley, The Greatest Showman (-)
7. Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer, Beauty and the Beast (+3)
8. Rick Heinrichs, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (+1)
9. Aline Bonetto, Wonder Woman (-1)
10. Sarah Greenwood, Darkest Hour (-6)

Best Sound Editing

1. Richard King, Dunkirk (-)
2. Matthew Wood, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (-)
3. Nathan Robitaille, The Shape of Water (-)
4. Julian Slater, Baby Driver (-)
5. Will Files, War for the Planet of the Apes (-)
   ---
6. Justin Doyle, Coco (+2)
7. Theo Green and Mark A. Mangini, Blade Runner 2049 (-1)
8. James Mather, Wonder Woman (+1)
9. Paul Carter and Becki Ponting, The Greatest Showman (-2)
10. Richard Hymns, The Post (-)

Best Sound Mixing

1. Gregg Landaker, Gary Rizzo and Mark Weingarten, Dunkirk (-)
2. David Parker and Michael Semanchick, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (-)
3. Christian T. Cooke, Filip Hosek and Brad Zoern, The Shape of Water (-)
4. Christopher Boyes and Michael Semanchick, Coco (+1)
5. Tim Cavagin and Julian Slater, Baby Driver (+5)
   ---
6. Bill Bair, Will Files, Tom Lalley, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson, War for the Planet of the Apes (-2)
7. Ron Barlett, Doug Hemphill and Mac Ruth, Blade Runner 2049 (-1)
8. Paul Munro, Wonder Woman (+1)
9. Tod A. Maitland, Jason Stasium and Dan White, The Greatest Showman (-1)
10. Gary Rydstrom,The Post (-3)

Best Visual Effects

1. Richard Bain, Ben Morris and Michael Mulholland, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (-)
2. Richard Clegg, Paul Lambert, Victor Muller and John Nelson, Blade Runner 2049 (-)
3. Dennis Berardi and Kristen Bligh, The Shape of Water (+1)
4. Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley and Tim McGovern, Dunkirk (+2)
5. Ryan Cook, Dan Lemmon, Joe Letteri and Erik Winquist, War for the Planet of the Apes (-2)
   ---
6. Vincent Cirelli, Jake Morrison, Brendan Seals, Alexis Wajsbrot and Chad Wiebe,Thor: Ragnarok (-1)
7. Frazer Churchill, Viktor Muller, Jessica Norman and Bill Westenhofer, Wonder Woman (-)
8. Berj Bannayan, Martyn Culpitt and Chas Jarrett, Logan (NEW)
9. Kyle McCulloch, David Piombino, Kelly Port and Glen Pratt, Beauty and the Beast (-1)
10. Francois Dumoulin, Martin Hill, Marc Jouveneau and Joe Letteri, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (NEW)

DROPPED
Dan Bethell, Theodore Bialek, Vincent Cirelli, Lou Pecora and Doug Spilatro, Spider-Man: Homecoming (-2)
Matthew Crnich, Ray McMaster, Kevin Andrew Smith, Doug Spilatro and Christopher Townsend, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (-1)

2017 SAG Awards Nominations

Congratulations to this year's SAG Award nominees!

Best Ensemble

The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird
Mudbound
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Male Actor

Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
James Franco, The Disaster Artist
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Best Female Actor

Judi Dench, Victoria & Abdul
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Best Supporting Male Actor

Steve Carell, Battle of the Sexes
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Supporting Female Actor

Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Hong Chau, Downsizing
Holly Hunter, The Big Sick
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Best Stunt Ensemble

Baby Driver
Dunkirk
Logan
War for the Planet of the Apes
Wonder Woman

Review: "The Shape of Water"

At last, a film that simultaneously satisfies my appetites for both 1940s movie musicals and 1950s creature features!

Guillermo del Toro's genre-bending The Shape of Water is both one of the year's finest films and the best and most accessible picture in his filmography - more satisfying, I would argue, that his much-celebrated Pan's Labyrinth. It's a poignant, exciting and fanciful picture that sports one hell of an ensemble cast and, no surprise, also happens to look absolutely gorgeous.

The film opens on Elisa (Sally Hawkins, spellbinding as ever), a mute, timorous woman who in Cold War-era Baltimore works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high-security government research center. Her life isn't much to write home about, that is until an encounter with a mysterious amphibious creature (Doug Jones) who has been brought to the laboratory for a classified experiment by the barbarous, abusive Colonel Strickland (Michael Shannon).

Elisa spends time with the creature, bringing him food and playing records from home, and slowly but surely, a bond blossoms between these two lonely souls. As Strickland becomes more unhinged in the senseless pain he inflicts upon the creature, Elisa mulls a plan to get her new companion out of the lab (and boy does del Toro do a rousing job orchestrating that sequence). Elisa has support from friend and neighbor Giles (Richard Jenkins); scientist Dr. Hoffstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg); and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) but it won't be easy protecting the creature from the exceedingly deranged Strickland.

The Shape of Water offers a little something for everyone.

Like all del Toro pictures, this is a visually remarkable production, with sublime cinematography by Dan Laustsen and production design by Paul D. Austerberry. Vintage horror fans will no doubt devour the film's affection for Universal's 1950s Creature trilogy and movie musical fans - you'll be in heaven during del Toro's tribute to those pictures, set (in gorgeous black and white) to the Oscar-winning Alice Faye tune "You'll Never Know." The action is exhilarating, the romance is sweet and heart-rending and the film isn't without a sense of humor.

Hawkins, in perhaps her most affecting performance to date, never strikes a false note as Elisa and she's matched by Jenkins, Spencer and Stuhlbarg, stellar as always in their respective supporting turns - it's especially welcome to see Jenkins with such a rich role on the big screen, and I sure hope he earns an Oscar nomination. Shannon perhaps offers the fewest surprises among the cast but still instills plenty of vigor into his role, which rings more like a mad scientist than any of the actual scientists in the picture.

The Shape of Water is a phenomenal effort, sure to resonate on at least some level with even moviegoers not terribly fond of del Toro's past productions.

A+