Guillermo del Toro's THE SHAPE OF WATER proves his richest, most successful film to date

Taking you places that movies seldom manage while creating a tightly-focused universe of dark enchantment based clearly on the kind of world in which we're forever stuck, Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (shown below) has, with THE SHAPE OF WATER, graced us with his (so far) masterpiece.

Ever more so than Pan's Labyrynth, which demanded at least some knowledge of Spain's history and the Spanish Civil War to bring its several strands together, del Toro's newest work asks that you remember or maybe just have a nodding acquaintance with The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Even if you don't recall that "landmark" monster movie, you still should not have any real trouble understanding the theme, plot and raison d'être of this exceptional love story/fantasy that is filled to its brim with "outsiders" of every sort.

In the film's most striking and yet most subtle note, even the movie's premiere villain -- played to the hilt by Michael Shannon (above), the only actor we have today who could easily replace the late, great Boris Karloff -- is himself one of these outsiders, incapable of experiencing or feeling emotions like love and caring, yet unable to even understand what this lack means to his own place in the world. (The other outsiders here all very well know their lack and their place.)

Señor del Toro addresses the place and plight of our GLBT community, our people of color and our handicapped simply and gracefully via his movie's main characters. The gracious and comforting Octavia Spencer (above) plays one of the two janitorial staff with whom we bond at the government-sponsored "research" facility to which our creature, found in the Amazon, has been brought for "study."

The other worker is played by our main character, Elisa, a young woman who has had her vocal chords cut as a child and is now mute, played by the great Sally Hawkins (above). As with Rachel Brosnahan in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, I can't think of another actress who could bring all that Ms Hawkins does to this role: an inner beauty that simply glows, steely strength when required, and an openness that captivates and charms.

Another wonderful actor who possesses extraordinary subtlety and empathy, Richard Jenkins (above), plays Elisa's friend and neighbor, Giles, a gay illustrator/artist in a time in America -- the 1960s -- when the closet was still the best option. These three unite to save our creature, who is in peril of its life, and the movie's wonderful message of tolerance and love for and by not just humans but any living species is brought home as seamlessly, beautifully and cinematically as just about any in movie history.

In addition to Shannon's villainous character, we meet another scientist, played by ubiquitous and always wonderful Michael Stuhlbarg (above and also currently to be seen in Call Me By Your Name and The Post). TrustMovies would say the the film's ace-in-the-hole, performance- and character-wise would be the depiction of its creature, brought to life by actor Doug Jones (below, and oft-used by del Toro) and his incredible make-up or maybe CGI-effects, This is indeed a stunning achievement, but then all the characters and characterizations here are so good that literally no one stands out above any other.

While the plot of The Shape of Water is pretty simple -- rather typical, really -- the film is brought to fierce and gorgeous life by del Toro's wondrous imagination.

That imagination has been hugely abetted by that fine cinematographer Dan Laustsen (Crimson Peak, Brotherhood of the Wolf, and the gorgeous and engrossing Danish TV series 1864), production designer (Paul D. Austerberry), art director (Nigel Churcher) and set decorators Jeffrey A. Melvin and Shane Vieau, all of whom, save Vieau, have worked with del Toro previously.

There are only around a half dozen locations used repeatedly in the film, but all of these -- from Elisa and Giles' facing apartments (hers is shown above) to the science laboratory (two photos up) to the giant old-fashioned movie theater (below) located just below the apartments -- are brought to such amazing, beautiful, darkly noir-ish life that they will probably remain in your mind and imagination for good.

In all, The Shape of Water comes together to form something we almost never see: a kind of mainstream blockbuster, a moving work of art, and a film that manages to show us just about everything that a single motion picture can achieve.

From Fox Searchlight and running 123 minutes, the film is playing all over the country at this point. Click here to find the theater(s) nearest you.

ANTIVIRAL: A new Cronenberg appears on the scene;the apple has fallen very close by

When TrustMovies first heard abut the plot of ANTIVIRAL -- the first full-length film from Brandon Cronenberg, son of David -- set maybe a few days into the future and having to do with celebrity and the lengths that the public will go to worship and "get closer" to those they idolize, the premise sounded so ridicu-lous that my first thought was, "He'll never be able to manage that." I've now seen the film and, by god, the kid has pulled it off.

The first thing you may notice about the movie is how creepily concerned it is with the body in all its sordid glory. Sound familiar? Yes, Cronenberg fils appears to have a jones for all things corpus-like, just as did his dad in a number of his earlier movies -- from 1975's They Came From Within (or Shivers, as it was originally titled) through 1996's Crash (this one was the memorable of the two Crashes). Further, I believe, given what appears in Antiviral, that Brandon (shown at right) may actually have an even more organic and subtle sense of the body, its glories and horrors, than did his dad, whose movies were a lot of gross fun but sometimes seemed a tad more showy than was perhaps necessary. What makes this movie work so surprisingly well is how young Cronenberg has conceived of this dystopian future and then filled it with visual after visual that brings the point home quietly, firmly, horribly.

Not only has celebrity run amok here, it's running hand-in-hand with Capitalism at is worst -- a combination that, though it is never mentioned directly, appears to have cancelled out most love relationships. The world is full of celebrity-worshiping singles, and it matters not a whit whether they are men or women, gay or straight, so long as they "purchase" from their chosen celeb. (The particular "meat market" we witness here, is nothing like anything you will have seen.)

Among these celebrities is a beautiful young blond named Hannah Geist (played by Sarah Gadon -- on the poster two photos up and and in bed, just above), who, as the movie rolls on, grows sicker and sicker due to some sort of a virus -- with which our hero, Syd, being a Hannah worshiper, has managed to contaminate himself. What is this virus? Is there a cure? And who has created it and why? These questions and plenty of others get asked (some are even answered) by the end of this -- one of the least appetizing movies ever made, though still, I insist, remarkably well done.

In the supporting cast are a number of names and faces we know and love -- from Sheila McCarthy to Wendy Crewson and Malcolm McDowell. All of them are very fine, but it is the real star of the movie -- its skeevy, creepy leading man -- who makes it all so very watchable. His name is Caleb Landry Jones (shown above and below), a Texas lad whom we've seen earlier in films like No Country for Old Men (he was the boy on the bike at the end) and Andy, the nitwit kid brother in Contraband. Jones is clearly a very versatile actor, but nothing will have prepared you for the work he does here: creating out of whole cloth a character who is a riveting ball of tics and oddities that are so bizarre and yet so oddly enticing that you cannot look away. If this fellow keeps it up and is given roles commensurate with his talent, he's going to have a long and illustrious career.

This movie is not for everyone; it's far too dark and dank to be a crowd-pleaser. My companion found it well-done but too long (I agree: five to ten minutes could be judiciously cut). But it's an original and a keeper. And it is difficult to imagine any other film taking celebrity -- and what's left of humanity -- to any more profound or further depths than are found here.

Antiviral -- from IFC Films in the company' popular Midnight series, and running 108 minutes -- opens this Friday, April 12, in theaters (in New York City, it will be showing at the IFC Center) and simultaneously on VOD. To learn how to watch it at home, simply click here and follow through....

Phil Karlson's KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL now available on Hi-Def DVD

A fine example of a "B" movie from the 50s ('52 to be exact) that holds up better than most, KANSAS CITY CON-FIDENTIAL is also a good example of the smart, fast, no-nonsense work of director (and very occasional, uncredited writer) Phil Karlson (at left), who turned out over time a bevy of good noir-ish crime, western & action flicks (including the original Walking Tall), as well as comedies, musicals -- even some Charlie Chan and Bowery Boys films.

KC Confidential is one of Karlson's better movies, featuring a nice, twisty plot; an underdog hero (John Payne, above, right) for whom you can really root; a smart, curvy dame (Coleen Gray, above, center) who's cramming for the bar exam (yes, women did that way back in the early 50s!); and a good, thought-out story that contains equal doses of surprise and sense. Oh, and some crisp black-and-white cinematography, too (from George E. Diskant).

We're in the old armed-robbery genre, with some particularly nasty hoods -- Jack Elam, Lee Van Cleef and Neville Brand -- and a police officer (Preston Foster, below, right) who also happens to be the father of our soon-to-be-a-lawyer gal. That's it for plot because this one's too good to spoil.  I'll just say that practically all the stuff we see in todays' would-be neo-noirs can be found here -- in a movie made some 60 years ago. The pacing may be slower (it's actually pretty swift for its time), and the violence and bloodshed tamped down from our current level (though it was considered hard-boiled in its day).

You may want a bit darker an ending, though I found the way things work out to be pretty sweet, in both senses of the word. The new DVDs (one regular, the other Blu-Ray) in a single combo set and priced suggested retail at $15.99, hit the street this past Tuesday, February 15, from Film Chest/HD Cinema Classics and Virgil Films & Entertainment. Digitally restored in hi-def from original 35mm "film assets" in a full-screen aspect ratio of 4x3 and original sound, as well as a new 5.1 Surround Sound mix.  Overall the quality of the image and sound is good but not great.  Nothing'll take your breath away, but you won't mind viewing it, either.  The movie itself is also available via streaming from Netflix, though not in this new hi-def version.