Posts Tagged ‘Guillermo del Toro’
Film Review – Pacific Rim: Uprising
What to say of Pacific Rim: Uprising, the big, dumb sequel to Guillermo del Toro‘s big, dumb robots vs. monsters spectacle of 2013? (I know the original has its defenders and I find his output, in general, worth a watch but ultimately discarded Rim as a feast…
READ MOREThe MacGuffin’s Top 10 Films of 2017
One of the nicest things about writing for The MacGuffin is that all the film reviewers on this site have such varied tastes. Since we do not all live around the Los Angeles and New York City areas, the films that receive awards buzz may…
READ MOREFilm Review – The Shape of Water
In their truest form, fairy tales, especially the ones that have lasted over time, have a dark undercurrent to them. They might be about something fanciful, but often there is something sinister lurking around the edges of the story in their original form. The Little…
READ MOREFilm Review – The Handmaiden
My favorite Chan-wook Park film is Stoker partly because it is inspired by Shadow of a Doubt – my best-loved Alfred Hitchcock movie. He takes the two central characters and asks what would happen if they did in fact have similar natures. He’s not remaking…
READ MOREBlu-Ray Review – Pan’s Labyrinth
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Guillermo del Toro’s Academy Award winning Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). To commemorate the occasion, the good folks over at the Criterion Collection have graciously bestowed upon us a beautiful blu ray edition of the film (Spine #838). This director-approved…
READ MORETop 15 Films of 2015 – Allen’s Picks
I know what people say: “Lists of anything are dumb. How can you take something as subjective as movies and rank them in order?” Well, that’s kind of the beauty of it: no one list is definitive. If anything, putting out one’s favorite films only reveals…
READ MOREFilm Review – Crimson Peak
Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak (2015) is a perfect example of how advertisements can misconstrue audience expectations. Trailers and posters would have us believe that this is a horror film. That is not the case. Although there is plenty of spooky atmosphere, ghouls that lurk…
READ MOREFilm Review – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Six films, about twenty hours of runtime, spread out over thirteen years. That’s a lot of commitment for Peter Jackson to give one franchise. And for his efforts, he’s delivered two trilogies taking place in the same universe, but different in terms of quality. The…
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