Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro)

pixelburp · 17-09-2021 6:28am #1

Del Toro's latest after Shape of Water's success, with a first trailer that is keeping its details close to its chest.

https://youtu.be/QPYkZHPwC8E

JP Liz V1 · 22-09-2021 2:19am

An impressive ensemble cast

pixelburp · 19-11-2021 3:07pm

A new trailer has popped up

https://youtu.be/Q81Yf46Oj3s

JP Liz V1 · 10-01-2022 9:40pm

Looks to be out here this month

gmisk · 19-01-2022 10:57am

Trailer looks excellent, going to head and see it Saturday

gmisk · 22-01-2022 5:03pm

Saw this today in a quiet screening in the lighthouse. Overall very enjoyable, it looks fantastic as you would expect. Top notch cast as well, some badly underused like Toni Collette, I am honestly not sure I get Rooney Maras performance in this she is just kind of blank. Cate Blanchett has a lot of fun with her role.

Story kind of went where you expected and overly long.

7/10

p to the e · 24-01-2022 3:40pm

I enjoyed this . It's a decent throwback to movies of a bygone era. Cate Blanchet oozes the sex appeal of a Lauren Bacall and the sets and dialogue are wonderfully gleamed. But Bradley Cooper is no Bogart.

I think he was horribly miscast in this. He doesn't have the charm or presence that the character needs and he's supposed to be a depression era drifter and up he rocks with his baby soft skin and pearly whites. I think someone younger could have fit the mould. DiCaprio was originally tipped for the role but had to pull out, which is a shame.

As said above I think Toni Collette should have been given more to do but maybe her character in the original book isn't that involved. I'm not aware of the material. The run time is a little overlong and could have done with removing some of the first half and getting straight into the main story. Nearly every scene Ron Perlman is in could have been chopped but I understand if Del Toro was afraid of him.

Arghus · 20-02-2022 3:58am

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would.

Maybe, Cooper was a bit too old to be believed as a youngster as the character was supposed to be in the first act, but I thought that was a minor quibble really. And overall, as the movie progressed, I thought he handled it all with aplomb - the arrogance, the fear, the scheming etc - I thought he was pretty great in it if I'm being honest.

Cate Blanchett was terrific as well and I thought Richard Jenkins particularly stood out, very much playing against type: I just loved the sense of menace his character brought to things.

The set design and cinematography was outstanding.

Didn't really mind the length, I enjoyed it all the way through and at its best it was riveting.

Entertaining, meaty, lavishly done, well acted, visually spectacular and psychologically complex. A solid thumbs up from me.

Sugarlumps · 22-03-2022 4:49pm

This film was awesome.

El Duda · 25-03-2022 4:40pm

Nightmare Alley – 7.5/10 (Disney+)

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Finally found a screening of this many weeks after release. Imagine my joy when I found out it was coming to Disney+ in a few days’ time.

The cinematography, especially during the opening ‘carnival freak show’ first act, is stunning. It was worth seeing it on the big screen for that alone. I really hope it wins the Oscar.

Willem Dafoe is becoming one of my favourite actors of all time. There’s not a single role that he doesn’t give it 100% and he is often the best thing about the films he stars in (Spider-man: NWH, The Lighthouse, The Florida Project). He doesn't have a huge role here but he's brilliant, as usual.

The plot isn’t quite twisty or complex enough to be considered a proper noir. It’s more of an atmospheric piece and certainly has that Del Toro twinkle to it. There are rumours the DiCaprio was going to star in it but pulled out due to scheduling issues. Bradley Cooper is decent but he’s not on Leo’s level, I’m pretty sure he would have elevated the whole thing.

I remember seeing a review on here that gave it a 3/10 cos the reviewer ‘figured out the twist’ straight away. Firstly, never in a million years is this a 3/10 film. You’re insane. Secondly, the plot doesn’t hinge on the twist at all so it’s a weird thing to get upset about. It’s more of a poetic bookend than a twist. “It’s like poetry, it rhymes” etc…

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flasher0030 · 26-03-2022 1:45am

Watched an hour and a half of this tonight. Couldn't take any more. Maybe it was just my mood. But God, it's so slow. Will watch the rest tomorrow, seeing as I've made over half the investment already. Hope it gets a bit better.

Fysh · 26-03-2022 9:33am

I watched this last night on Disney+, and regretted not sticking it on my projector as it's a beautiful looking film. The set design and cinematography is really lush, as we expect from Del Toro.

The film itself I found over-long and a bit meandering, although there were food performances throughout. I agree with the poster above that Cooper probably wasn't the right choice for his role - he does a good job of selling the part where everything is going well and he's starting to buy into his own hype, but he doesn't really sell the hunger at the start or the manic desperation when things start to get out of control (not helped by some fairly weak efforts with make-up and costume towards the end). When I compare his performance with e.g. Robert Pattinson in Good Time or Adam Sandler in Uncut Gema, Cooper just doesn't sell the manic energy or the drive to change the course of events by sheer force of will.

As it stands the film could probably lose 30 minutes or so of runtime, not least around the bookend bits. If you only want the plot it could be a 90 minute film.

Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro)

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