The Shape of Water - Guillermo del Toro (2017)

I have to tell you. My head is swimming. Do you know the kind of feeling you get when you've just been introduced to a book or a song or a film that was so beautiful, you actually get light-headed?

I had that experience twelve years ago when I saw Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth." When the movie was over, I froze. I was so overwhelmed that I sat right in my seat until someone came to clean the theatre.

And that's the feeling I'm experiencing right now. I just finished watching del Toro's "The Shape of Water."

The film is about a mute cleaning lady who works at a top-secret government facility in the '60's. Her world is changed forever when she comes across the U.S.'s newest specimen.

He looks like a swamp monster. He came from the Amazon. The government wants to examine him to see if holds any information they can use in the race to the moon against the Soviets.

You see the Soviets sent a dog to space and now we have to one-up them. So they found a creature with a different physical make-up than humans to see if he was fit for space travel. The government plans to either shoot him into space or vivisect the creature to see if they can't see what makes him tick. They just want any clues that can help them speed up their race to the moon.

Meanwhile, Elisa (Sally Hawkins), a mute cleaning lady, comes across the creature and doesn't see anything in him but a graceful soul, cut off from everything in the world. Dumb from birth, Elisa knows exactly how he feels.

Her friends, Zelda (Octavia Spencer) a co-cleaning lady at the base, and an older man Giles (Richard Jenkins) understand how she feels. And that says something about what kind of friends they are. If your friend came to you with a story about how she's attracted to a swamp-thing, how sympathetic would you be? Or would you dismiss her as a freak?

But Elisa's friends accept her feelings at face value and agree to help her rescue him.

They are up against Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon), the agent in charge of this project. He looms over the whole film like a dark shadow. He is a sadist and, when all is said and done, is eager to destroy the creature Elisa has fallen for.

The film evolves into an elegant fantasy/love story.

It's about how the forces of evil can take the shape of the institutions we are expected to trust and accept. And conversely, how the misfits are often the good guys.

One of the most brilliant pieces to this films is Sally Hawkins' performance. Del Toro asks her to go to places most actress have never been to and she dives into her character, her innocence, boldness and goodness seamlessly.

Watching all of this wonder through her eyes is part of what makes this film so exceptional.

So please, seek out and enjoy this intense, dark, beautiful fairy tale.

The Last Word - Mark Pellington (2017)

Harriet (Shirley McClain) is a woman who just hit her eighties and lashes out at anybody she comes into contact with. I would go so far as to say that Harriet is a tool. She starts to think back on her life and how she has alienated business partners, ex-husbands, would-be friends and her daughter.

Because of this hatred, Harriet realizes she will not have an impressive obituary when she dies. Now her primary objective is to make sure people remember her well, which is no small task considering how she has alienated so many people.

So she finds an obituary writer, Anne (Amanda Seyfried) to write her obit now, before she dies, so she has a chance to review and edit it until it suits her.


Anne's boss tells her that she needs to comply so Harriet will leave part of her fortune to the newspaper when she dies. So, to save everybody's job, she dives right into her task, even though she clearly does not like Harriet. Harriet exhibits the same abrasive personality when she meets Anne, who loathes her from the start.

Anne starts talking to the significant people in Harriet's life. Not only her estranged daughter and her ex-husband but her hairdresser, her priest, and her gynecologist etc...

As she goes from person to person, she finds that nobody has a single nice thing to say about Harriet. Not even her priest.

As expected, Harriet hates the first draft. It is a trifle and it is slim. She had cut herself off from everybody she has ever cared about.

She decides, with Anne's help, to do something worthy of an obituary full of praise.

First, she wants to mentor an 'at-risk' child. She says she wants to find her (very own hooligan.) She bonds with a little girl, Brenda, taking the kid under her wind. Brenda follows her around and Harriet calls her her 'intern.'

So now, the woeful duo is now three. Everybody brings something to the table.
This whole trek that Harriet has let Anne and Brenda tag along with is about nostalgia. She is going to take the risks that she did not take earlier in her life. Harriet decides to be something she has always wanted to be: a 'Disc-jockey.'

As we follow the past, and now present, achievements in life, we see mortality from the other side of the coin. Like Harriet, years ago made her decisions and took her risks, we also get to look through a window and catch a peek into Anne's ambitions. She does not want to write obituaries for the rest of her whole life. She has a voice and desperately needs to speak.

To put it bluntly, she wants to be a writer. God help her.

But she refuses to let anybody read her work. She will not take that risk. As Harriet points out, until Anne learns to take the risk of people not liking her work, her voice will be nothing but 'ambition neutered by self.'

As for Harriet, the last risk she needs to take in her own life is to try and reconnect with her estranged daughter. It is an awkward lunch.

"Word" contrasts both Harriet's regrets and Anne's ambition and ties them tight with a bow.

These experiences embolden Harriet, Anne and Brenda.

I can understand why people will see this film as a typical 'end of life' melodrama, but is much more than that.'


What follows is a warm picture of three women at different stages in their lives.

Shirley McClain gives an abrasive and subtle performance that I am sure will be remembered around award season.

If you have a moderately high tolerance for cheese, and do not mind a trite and pat ending, you will enjoy "The Last Word."

Personal Shopper - Olivier Assayas (2017)

Maureen (Kristen Stewart) has not done much but grieve since her twin brother, Lewis, who died of heart failure three months ago. She goes to Lewis' isolated house in hope of contacting him from 'the beyond.'

She refuses to leave Paris because she and her twin had made a pact that whichever one of them died first would send the living one some kind of sign.

Maureen refuses to leave Paris without some kind of signal from her dead twin.

Maureen is a medium, as was Lewis. Maureen has always retained a certain amount of skepticism, while her twin had always been what one would call a 'true believer.'

The big question right now is: does this agreement give Maureen hope, or just prolong her grief?

Just how long can one live in mourning?

Finally, after waiting for three months, Maureen gets two signs. Neither are tangible enough to convince her beyond doubt. Is it possible Lewis has signaled Maureen without her noticing?

Then, a third, malevolent, signal roars from out of nowhere. This is definitely not her her brother. Not only can she feel this new presence. She can see it.

It is not long before Maureen starts to get texts from an entity. It is not her brother. This spirit is angry and violent.

As the film progresses, it evolves into a kind of existential tale about technology vs. Spirituality. And there is study of the connection between grief and fear.

Pieces of "Shopper" have sparse (or no) dialogue. Assayas helps us understand Maureen even when she keeps her quiet.

Parts of "Personal Shopper" feel Bergman-esque. Some of the sequences feel as though they could have been lifted right out of "Persona" or "Cries and Whispers."

Assayas and Film Editor Marion Monnier let us slowly settle into the story without us having to worried about distracting, premature cuts. They let us see characters reacting instead of focusing on the acting.

Kristen Stewart has built up a great deal of credibility since her "Twilight" days. She has refused to be type-cast. She chooses small, intimate characters in very important films. (Clouds of Sils Maria, Welcome to the Rileys)

"Shopper" is gaining notoriety. It has done well on the Festival circuit. I was expecting a typical art-house film, but at its heart, it's a vivid and convincing ghost story.

I enjoyed it very much, but this film is not important nor is it groundbreaking. I am afraid this is not a movie you should drop everything to see.

If you want a thriller or ghost story, this is a satisfactory way to spend 105 minutes.

In a word...meh.