Nightmare Alley (2021)

[Greg]

I've been wanting to see this for awhile. Very glad it came to HBO. I thought it might come back to our local in it's new Black & White incarnation but after seeing it in color, that might be a disservice.

When I told the Queen we were watching Guillermo Del Torro's latest offering, she asked if it was a monster film. I glibly said the only monsters are people. Turned out to prescient because pretty much every person in this film is a monster starting with Bradley Cooper. It is a story in two parts. In the first part Bradley, playing Stanton, joins the carnival where he learns the ins and outs of the Carny game. Having learned to be a mentalist, he takes the con to the big city. Eventually it all goes wrong.

Nightmare Alley is throwback in many ways. Very concerned with story and characters surrounded by GDT's lush visuals. Every scene is oversaturated. It's got a great supporting cast led by Cate Blanchett. Willem Dafoe brings him into the carnival. David Straithern and Toni Collette teach him to the mentalism game. Rooney Mara plays Stanton's love interest and Ron Perlman is there because he is always there.

Not a lot of fireworks in the story, it's very deliberate. But I did find myself awake at 3am thinking about it.

No sword fights.

[Greg]

Also, I hope you like seeing people smoke. So much smoking. Smoking in movies is starting to freak me out. It's great for the actors. It gives them bits of business. It's great for the cinematographer because the smoke adds a lot of atmosphere. But everyone on Nightmare Alley must have cancer at this point.

[Drunk Monk]

Midnight Diner has a ton of smoking. It's an all-nighter thing.

[thatguy]

That was pretty good. The visuals felt like a companion to Shape of Water.  The Art Deco sets were beautiful, but if I lived with that in real life, it would be so over the top, too much... The facial lighting affectation was also a little over the top, but a call back to that 40's style so we can give that a pass. 

Bradley is not my fave. He tends to scowl in everything. Defoe was good. Cate was stunning. Nice to see Mary Steenburgen again. I figured out the twists a little before they were revealed, especially the end, but still enjoyed the ride. 

Recommended. 

--tv

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PS: I watched on Hulu and I have the low-end, ad supported subscription, so I thought the showing would be broken up by annoying ad breaks, but it wasn't. Just a few at the front, before the picture started. Yay!