Guillermo del Toro: Creative God

[NeverWanderer (Joey Cruz)]

This guy is pure inspiration, integrity, and charisma. I have never seen a movie of his that I thought was perfect, but neither have I ever seen one that didn't interest, entertain, and fascinate me. His failures are as interesting as his successes because they all come from a pure, sincere, passionate place.

This man is one of my creative heroes.

Here are 11 reasons why:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/IsvIltBDGEM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/IsvIltBDGEM&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Kt_z-2-gNck&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Kt_z-2-gNck&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/4F2XlvAphN8&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/4F2XlvAphN8&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/HUXXJFCQlO8&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/HUXXJFCQlO8&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/AkvhG10mOos&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/AkvhG10mOos&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/_gUFEjle9gw&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/_gUFEjle9gw&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/S2tQGfmUnFI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/S2tQGfmUnFI&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/-uxyW1vCJTM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/-uxyW1vCJTM&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/tun2sRfuZ1U&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/tun2sRfuZ1U&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/eKsRh4OT8vk&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/eKsRh4OT8vk&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/yNSCIeauiCM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/yNSCIeauiCM&rel=1</a>

(I'm deeply bummed that I didn't know about this event when it happened, but I WILL meet this man.)

[Jordan]

Is that where he said this?

“Video games are the comic books of our time (yet) it’s a medium that gains no respect from the intelligentsia.  They say ‘oh, video games.’  And most people who complain about video games have never fucking played them.”
   -Guillermo Del Toro

Because that quote has been popping up on some video game sites I frequent.

[NeverWanderer (Joey Cruz)]

Yep! But he goes into way more detail than just that sound bite. It's the last video on the list.

[lugaru]

Guillermo is an idol, and not just because he is part of the "Mexican Mafia" of awesome directors. I too LOVE all his movies and I've got a couple of obscure suggestions for people on this forum:

Chronos: pretty much his earliest work, a low budget vampire movie that is more about family, love, aging and facing death than it is about garlic and coffins. Seriosly he works in some awesome alchemical angle into the vampire mythos dropping all the usual stuff and his visual style is there... rich colors, beautiful props and great character moments.

The Strain: this is a great vampire themed biological horror novel written with Chuck Hogan, but I'm not endorsing the novel. Go to audible or wherever and get the audio book... the whole thing is read by Ron Pearlman and it is a blast to listen to, especially in his voice. I know what you are thinking, but if you can listen to 2 hour podcasts you can eventually make it through a whole audio book, and now that we live in the MP3 age I consider Audio Books to be the future (rather than that e-reader crap). Between the great actors they hire and the fact that you can listen while working out or walking about it is just more of a value.

[Jordan]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll put them on my Netflix.

[NeverWanderer (Joey Cruz)]

Chronos is an amazing movie, and it's proof that del Toro really does go his own way. Same goes for The Devil's Backbone. I can't think of anyone else who would go, "I'm gonna make a VAMPIRE movie... but make it about a grandfather's love for his granddaughter and really only keep the vampirism peripheral." or "I'm gonna make a GHOST movie... but make it about the Spanish Revolution and the ghost is peripheral."

Also, if you're the type to listen to director's commentaries, del Toro's are some of the best. Every bit as funny, charming, knowledgeable and honest as he is in those videos, but focussed around the context of the movie he's talking about.

I just finished reading The Strain. It was decent, but I had some story/writing issues with it. Still, it was exactly what I was looking for when I picked it up: large scale monster invasion story.

[lugaru]

Devils Backbone and Pans Laberynth are kind of like Walking Dead. The genre elements are creepy, dangerous... but the other people are absolutely terrifying. Devils Backbone in particular has a car wreck quality with all these dysfunctional characters that you cant help but pay close attention to, they glue you to the screen.

I also love the fact that Guillermo has NO genre shame. His video game quote is indicative but he took stuff like Blade 2, Mimic, Hellboy 2 and his other "paycheck" movies and infused them with a strong creative vision and visual style. Blade is a dog fight between monsters, Mimic has a Kubrik vibe and Hellboy is a rich baroque sideshow.

I put him up there with Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi, these real artists that have rooms full of things that embarras "real artists".

[The Questyen]

Cronos is getting a criterion re-release later this year with a sweet Mignola cover.



Here's the bonus features:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Guillermo del Toro and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, including optional audio with the film’s original Spanish-language voice-over introduction as well as DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition
• Two audio commentaries, one featuring del Toro and the other producers Arthur H. Gorson and Bertha Navarro and coproducer Alejandro Springall
• Geometria, an unreleased 1987 short horror film by del Toro, finished by the director in 2010, plus a new video interview with him
• Welcome to Bleak House, a video tour by del Toro of his office, featuring his collectibles and personal work
• New video interviews with del Toro, Navarro, and actor Ron Perlman
• Video interview with actor Federico Luppi
• Stills gallery
• Trailer
• New and improved English subtitle translation, approved by del Toro
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Maitland McDonagh and excerpts from del Toro’s notes for the film

[NeverWanderer (Joey Cruz)]

Devils Backbone and Pans Laberynth are kind of like Walking Dead. The genre elements are creepy, dangerous... but the other people are absolutely terrifying. Devils Backbone in particular has a car wreck quality with all these dysfunctional characters that you cant help but pay close attention to, they glue you to the screen.

I also love the fact that Guillermo has NO genre shame. His video game quote is indicative but he took stuff like Blade 2, Mimic, Hellboy 2 and his other "paycheck" movies and infused them with a strong creative vision and visual style. Blade is a dog fight between monsters, Mimic has a Kubrik vibe and Hellboy is a rich baroque sideshow.

I put him up there with Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi, these real artists that have rooms full of things that embarras "real artists".

Hell. Yes.

Cronos is getting a criterion re-release later this year with a sweet Mignola cover.



Here's the bonus features:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Guillermo del Toro and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, including optional audio with the film’s original Spanish-language voice-over introduction as well as DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition
• Two audio commentaries, one featuring del Toro and the other producers Arthur H. Gorson and Bertha Navarro and coproducer Alejandro Springall
• Geometria, an unreleased 1987 short horror film by del Toro, finished by the director in 2010, plus a new video interview with him
• Welcome to Bleak House, a video tour by del Toro of his office, featuring his collectibles and personal work
• New video interviews with del Toro, Navarro, and actor Ron Perlman
• Video interview with actor Federico Luppi
• Stills gallery
• Trailer
• New and improved English subtitle translation, approved by del Toro
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Maitland McDonagh and excerpts from del Toro’s notes for the film

Wow! That's gonna end up being my first Criterion Edition purchase (and considering how long I've been eyeing the Seven Samurai criterion, that's saying something).

[lugaru]

Ugh... I keep swearing I wont buy another criteron DVD and then they always put out another one I cant live without. Bastards... they might as well take a chunk out of my direct deposit.

Maybe they will put out Day of the Beast eventually... nothing to do with Del Toro but it is a great movie from spain that I can never get a proper subtitled version of to share with my friends (all I have is a dubbed vhs).

[NeverWanderer (Joey Cruz)]

Article about the Scott Pilgrim Q&A Del Toro hosted with Edgar Wright, Bryan Lee O'Malley, and Michael Cera (includes youtube clips!).

http://www.ifc.com/news/2010/11/edgar-wright-guillermo-del-tor.php?sms_ss=twitter&at_xt=4cd10a1045d64911,0

Too much awesome for one stage to hold.

[NeverWanderer (Joey Cruz)]

Guillermo sayin' the shit that makes him Guillermo.

http://io9.com/5825436/10-most-memorable-things-guillermo-del-toro-said-at-comic+con

[Jeppe]

Ugh... I keep swearing I wont buy another criteron DVD and then they always put out another one I cant live without. Bastards... they might as well take a chunk out of my direct deposit.

THIS! Damn Criterion Collections, they are pretty much the only DVDs I still buy, but man are they nice 

[NeverWanderer (Joey Cruz)]

Started drinking that del Toro kool-aid again on Youtube and felt like sharing...

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/cfQNdQjvX5M&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/cfQNdQjvX5M&rel=1</a>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOXXF9-WarQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Put4EvyyFYY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43xb1_GlbWs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yePRzeTK79k&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-PJebqoGWY&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylTVNHMirFQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX3beWuCBlE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y084T73ct1A&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJzEO-9ZQrs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiPDhOA8Zzs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9jcpkgkRVg&feature=related

I checked Amazon. That Bleak House book is called "Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities" and it's coming out this October. It's already on my wish list.  

[Lucien21]

I didn't think the Strain novel were any good. 

However I am curious about his latest movie he is directing. (The first since Hellboy 2)

Pacific Rim  - When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace.

Could be cheesy, could be genius.

[NeverWanderer (Joey Cruz)]

Pacific Rim  - When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace.

Could be cheesy, could be genius.

Could be both!  

My love for del Toro is such that, even when he fails, I find it fascinating and inspiring. His vision is just so pure and gleeful that even when the critical part of me is going, "This is not everything it could have been," the rest of me is just engrossed in what Guillermo is trying to show me. I enjoy it through the knowledge that he enjoyed making it.

[S. Earl]

For Devil's Backbone alone, he is gonna have his name on the list of greats.

[NeverWanderer (Joey Cruz)]

A friend pointed me towards these... A two-part podcast interview with Guillermo by the guys at Irrational Games (developers of Bioshock). Some of the things he says about the relationship and differences between film, games, and comics are absolutely brilliant.

(...and he reveals that one of his favorite comics is Jack Kirby's Kamandi!)

http://irrationalgames.com/insider/irrational-interviews-9-guillermo-del-toro-part-1/

http://irrationalgames.com/insider/irrational-interviews-9-guillermo-del-toro-part-2/

[Lucien21]

Check out the Trailer for Pacific Rim

Today we are cancelling the Apocalypse!!!

Guillermo Del Toro’s new movie is very Japanese Godzilla vs Mecha.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/pacificrim/

Also listen out for a familiar voice in gaming...Is the cake a lie?

[Jay Tomio - Part Deux]

A Jason among men.