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I pay attention to this stuff and saw nothing leading me to think this would be coming to HBOMax. I channel surfed there today and was shocked and delighted to find it Don't know who's bright idea it was too open this film the same day as "Spider-Man : No Way Home," but what a mistake that was. The original is one of my all time favourites; Im a huge fan of both Del Toro and Cooper plus i was looking forward to seeing this since it went into production yet EVEN I chose to go see S:NWH. (Theres nothing like seeing an MCU film on opening night.) That being said, what a stunning movie this is. Del Toro is a true master, you just don't see this kind of directing nowadays. We're talking Kubrick...Coppola...Douglas Sirk where every frame is just absolutely gorgeous but yet never losing focus on the characters and the script. Making sure that just as much attention is paid to character development as is paid to character placement. Not an easy task. Both Ridley Scott and Terrance Malick have delivered some really beautiful motion pictures but often, it seems, at the expense of their characters...movies that look beautiful but have no heart. You just don't care about the people on screen. There are very few at the level Del Toro has achieved. Villenueve is the only contemporary i can think of who even comes close. But i digress, theres just nothing like it though, the scenes at the carnival with a brassy sheen and a slight green tint...amazing to look at. I felt like i was looking at a movie from the 1930s or 40s.

Even more then the look, Del Toro and Cooper manage to somehow make you care about the destiny of a man you shouldn't like at all. A liar, a murderer, a huckster, a small time thief who you should, in no way, care about at all. Yet they are able to bring a pathos to him that reels you in and keeps on the edge of your seat for the two and a half hour run time.

As brilliant as Del Toro and Bradley Cooper are i have to point out that they have surrounded themselves with equally accomplished peers both in front of and behind the camera: Del Toro regular Ron Perlman is here along with fascinating turns from Willem Dafoe (a small role that you want to see more of,) Cate Blanchet, David Straitham and Rooney Mara along with cinematographer Dan Laustsen and a couple of very cool cameos from Mary Steenburgen and Tim Blake Nelson. All have out done themselves here and should receive nominations.

Both Bradley Cooper and director Guilermo Del Toro continue to up their game with every release. A case for either being the top of their respective fields could easily be made and i hope the ailing box office doesn't dissuade them from working together in the future. Unfortunatly the pandemic, Spider-Man and a movie whose storyline is not exactly a "feel good holiday film" were elements which prevented this movie from finding its audience. But this is an incredible movie, one of the best, if not THE BEST of the year and i can't recommend it enough I'm tempted to change my rating to a ten and i still might. I just like to wait a day or two before i give that out.

Highly, strongly recommended.

But i didn't want to watch anything "heavy" or taxing. I didn't even want anything attention demanding. So i ended up here and ya know what? There are worse things then spending a couple of hours with Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson and Salma Hayek. These three seemed to be having a ball and i ended up having a pretty good time myself. Don't ask me what the or was, i couldn't tell you so... No spoilers. But what i can tell you is these three could probably sit in a room and read a phone book and it would be hilarious. It's a pretty good romp. And, my God...Salma Hayek can not only hold her own with these two seasoned wise asses but she is still absolutely stunning. Hollywood should wake up, though, and put her in more comedies because she is very funny.

It's a good time.

Your seat. Never boring, really builds momentum as it moves along. A few recent shows I've watched just kind of petered out towards the end of, worse, lose their focus after the first couple of episodes. Not a problem with this slow burn suspence series as I found myself more involved as the show progressed. I enjoy it when i don't know what's going to happen next... There are quite a few unexpected twists and turns along the way and they stick the landing fairly well.

The lead actor, Mamoudou Athie, really sells the show. He's excellent and i imagine we'll be seeing more and bigger things from him in the future.

Jumps the shark a little towards the end (but just a little) but, all in all, pretty good and pretty scary.