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This week, there are THREE new films out for you to choose from: Guillermo del Toro has a aqua-based ’60s tale in The Shape Of Water, Greta Gerwig writes and directs the fabulous Saoirse Ronan as the titular Lady Bird, and Owen Wilson & Ed Helms wastes everyone’s time with Father Figures.
The Shape of Water comes from the mind of director Guillermo del Toro, giving us an other-worldly fairy tale, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1963.
In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of silence and isolation. Her life is changed forver when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment.
And this is a Red Band Trailer… which usually means it’s NSFW, aka Not Safe For Work.
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Also stars: Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg, Doug Jones, Richard Jenkins, Lauren Lee Smith, John Kapelos
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Read the review!
Lady Bird centres around Christine ‘Lady Bird’ McPherson (Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn, Hanna), who gave herself the titular nickname, and has a simple premise that it follows the adventures of a young woman living in Northern California for a year.
Based on the trailer, Christine is too similar in character to her mother, so no wonder they fall out… I have experience of this 😉
Plus, Saoirse is usually a safe bet for a good film, so while it looks a bit sickly sweet and/or twee, I still wanted to check this out.
Writer/Director: Greta Gerwig
Also stars: Odeya Rush, Danielle Macdonald, Jordan Rodrigues, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Read the review!
Father Figures looks like one of those dire US R-rated (or 15-cert over here) ‘comedies’, which seems as lazy a premise as Rough Night had.
Upon learning that their mother, Helen (Glenn Close) has been lying to them for years about their allegedly deceased father, two fraternal twin brothers Kyle (Owen Wilson) and Peter (Ed Helms) hit the road in order to find him.
Potential sires include Christopher Walken, JK Simmons, Ving Rhames and Harry Shearer…
Given that this has been released in February, the dumping ground for non-awards movies, it’s clearly junk.
Director: Lawrence Sher
Screenplay: Justin Malen
Also stars: Katie Aselton, Ryan Cartwright, June Squibb
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.