Wednesday, March 09, 2022

Nightmare Alley

Sunday night at The Sea Ranch, Sharon and I watched Nightmare Alley. This is part of our continuing journey to see all of the movies that are nominated for Oscars. Nightmare Alley received four nominations, including Best Picture.

Nightmare Alley is a neo-noir psychological thriller directed by Guillermo del Toro from a screenplay by del Toro and Kim Morgan. It is based on the 1946 novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham. The film is the second feature film adaptation of Gresham's novel; the first version was released in 1947 and starred Tyrone Power.

The film stars Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, and David Strathairn. Cooper protrays a charming and ambitious carnival worker with a mysterious past who takes big risks to boost his career.

I was predisposed not to like this movie. I never thought that del Toro's Shape of Water should have won the 2018 Best Picture Oscar. I ended up enjoying the film more than I thought I would. I was pulled in by the cinematography; I was intrigued by the look and feel of the movie. Sharon fell asleep during the key sequence towards the end. I give the movie a sideways thumb. It is not going to win best picture.

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