Tag Archives: ‘The Shape of Water’

Cool movie toys for holidays: What’s new this holiday season?

December 17, 2019 Tim Lammers Leave a comment

Christmas is less than a week out and you’re in panic mode, wracking your brains over what to get family members and friends. But if you think for a minute and realize the people you love are big movie fans, then there are plenty of reel cool ideas, so to speak, right within your reach.

That’s because Christmastime is about toys, and when you combine the passion of moviegoing with the inner child of said moviegoers, there are plenty of cool movie toys that shoppers can find. There’s plenty to pick from out there, whether they’re based on classic characters with cult followings that appeal to adult collectors or those with a broader appeal appropriate for all ages.

So, as you prepare your last-minute lists, here are a few options for the movie lover in your life:

Simply put, specialty toy and collectibles company NECA is a movie lovers dream, producing action figures of characters you never thought were possible. Being a fan of horror films and fantasy, the company this year finished up their Guillermo del Toro Signature Series (more, please?), which produced 6- to 7-inch characters from the Oscar-winning filmmakers’ most acclaimed works. This year’s offerings include Amphibian Man from the director’s best picture Academy Award-winning film “The Shape of Water,” and the Faun from his Oscar-nominated film “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

On the horror film side, the company produced figures this year from the classic “Halloween” films and 40 years-in-the-making sequel (including a butt-kicking Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode figure) and more figures based on Stephen King’s “IT” and “IT: Chapter Two”; and from the Conjuring Universe, the title character from “The Nun” and most recently, the Crooked Man from “The Conjuring 2.”

Also, the company has taken the creative route and given several iconic horror characters with their Toony Terrors line with animated, stylized versions of Freddy Kruger from “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” Jason from “Friday the 13th and the 1990 and 2017 versions of Pennywise the Dancing Clown from “IT.” The second wave includes Pinhead from “Hellraiser,” Michael Myers from “Halloween,” Chucky and Tiffany from the “Child’s Play” films and Leatherface from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

On the sci-fi side, NECA has just released new versions of the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) based on their appearances in the latest film in the series, “Terminator: Dark Fate” and more aliens and Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) from “Alien: Resurrection.”

According to “Alien” movie legend, “in space, no one can hear you scream,” but that hasn’t prevented Hasbro from making big noise with its “Star Wars” line as the final film in the Skywalker saga, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” makes it hotly anticipated debut in theaters Friday.

New in the company’s Black Series line (collector-friendly 6-inch scale action figures) from the film are Rey (Daisy Ridley), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and a Sith Trooper (a red version of a Stormtrooper) and Jet Trooper; as well as figures from the hit new Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” including the title character (Pablo Pascal) and Cara Dune (Gina Carano). Sorry, kids, no Baby Yoda figures and toys are available until spring.

The company also has new versions of the film’s iconic lightsaber and motorized versions of the droid D-O, which makes its debut in “The Rise of Skywalker.” Also, on the kid-friendly side, Hasbro has its Galaxy of Adventures line, which includes droids and characters from all films in the saga presented in a stylized, animated form. And speaking of animation, you can’t browse a toy aisle for too long before finding Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff and other characters from “Frozen II.”

If dinosaurs are your thing, Mattel has you covered with its “Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic World” line, featuring characters and dinosaurs from the classic trilogy and new films. The company’s latest offering is a 6-inch figure of Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) from his appearance in the original films.

Lastly, Mego, which made a splash in the 1970s for its stylized, 8-inch doll line, continues its renaissance with new several new releases based on Universal Monsters characters, “Star Trek” movie greats and characters from Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show” on KQRS-FM, “Paul and Jordana” on WCCO Radio, “It Matters with Kelly Cordes on WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere, and reviews streaming programming on WCCO Radio’s “Paul and Jordana” as well. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC).

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Cool Movie Toys

Cool Movie Toys: Guillermo del Toro Signature Collection, ‘Dumbo,’ Hitchcock, ‘Coraline’

March 25, 2019 Tim Lammers Leave a comment

Welcome to the new edition of Cool Movie Toys, where I take a look at some of the coolest movie tie-in product to hit store shelves in the last month.

NECA embarked on one of the coolest movie toy lines in recent memory last year when the venerable collectibles company last July announced at San Diego Comic Con the Guillermo del Toro Signature Collection, which features action figures from some of the Oscar-winning writer-director’s most notable films.

The company kicked off the collection with an 8-inch, retro-style action figure of del Toro himself, which was followed up by a release of Santi from “The Devil’s Backbone” and Pale Man from “Pan’s Labyrinth.” The latest release in the Guillermo del Toro Signature Collection is a 7-inch scale figure of Ofelia from “Pan’s Labyrinth,” along with accessories including her fairy tale book, three fairies and a key.

With the Ofelia figure, fans can now start recreating scenes from the film, including the harrowing chase scene where Pale Man is in pursuit of the young protagonist.

At least one more figure is on the way from NECA from “Pan’s Labyrinth” with the Faun. With any luck, the line will the larger monument featured in the film as well. One thing’s for certain: NECA’s Guillermo del Toro Signature collection will continue this year with its Faun figure from “Pan’s Labyrinth” in late spring/early summer, as well as Amphibian Man from the Oscar-winning fantasy “The Shape of Water” in the same time frame.

Flying into theaters March 29 is visionary director Tim Burton’s hotly anticipated reimagining of the Walt Disney animated feature film classic “Dumbo.” Toy merchandise has been surprisingly sparse up until this point, but perhaps that will change when the film hits. One of the items hitting shelves is a 13-inch tall plush of Dumbo from Just Play, which has a special feature: press the baby pachyderm’s foot, and it makes a elephant noises.

That’s not the only feature you get when you push Dumbo’s foot. Since the product’s official name is “Flappin’ Ears Dumbo,” the elephant’s oversized ears flap over Dumbo’s eyes while it makes noise.

The wonderful thing about companies like NECA and Super 7 is that they have a respect for classic films — particularly horror — and they produce product to honor such films. One of the most recent releases from Super 7, which began its retro 3 3/4-inch carded action figure line with “Alien” a few years back, is of director Alfred Hitchcock. It’s essentially a reproduction of the Master of Suspense that’s previously been issued in color and black-and-white.

The new version of Hitchcock that differs from the previous releases is that it’s in color with markings on the figure and card to replicate “blood spatter.” With any luck, Super 7 will make more action figures of directors, because as NECA has shown with its del Toro and James Cameron (a 7-inch figure of the director circa the release of “Aliens”), there’s definitely a market for them.

NECA, which produced product from LAIKA’s hit classic “Coraline” 10 years ago, is bringing back some of the product from its original line as part of a new deal the toy- and collectibles-maker struck with the stop-motion animation studio.

NECA’s new “Best of” PVC set from “Coraline” consists of three mini-figures: Wybie, Coraline (with her black cat) and the Other Mother, which hopefully signals the start of more reissues.

Also new from NECA is a Coraline figure from its Head Knocker series. Perhaps more Head Knockers from “Coraline” are around the corner?

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.

Cool Movie Toys, Film, Interviews

Interview: NECA’s Randy Falk talks Guillermo del Toro action figure, more

July 17, 2018 Tim Lammers Leave a comment

The creation of action figures for movies and television series is big business in the toy and collectibles industry, but generally the assortments that emerge from any given line generally consist of the characters, creatures and vehicles associated with film or TV shows and nothing more.

But thanks to the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA), the action figure business is taking an exciting new direction.

Appealing to the fans who appreciate the talent both in front of and behind the camera, the New Jersey-based specialty collector company has found a niche by making action figures of directors behind famous films. To date, NECA has released seven-inch action figures of directors Quentin Tarantino (in a “The Hateful Eight” costume) and James Cameron (in “Aliens” attire); and now, for a limited-edition figure that will be sold the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) this week, Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro.

In a recent email interview, NECA’s director of product development, Randy Falk, revealed that the idea to immortalize “The Shape of Water” filmmaker came about when the company and del Toro worked together on creating figures and sets for two of his classic films.

“We have a great history working with Guillermo del Toro, and when he attends SDCC he always comes by the booth to check out our latest and greatest,” Falk said. “The idea to actually create a figure of del Toro himself grew out of our experience collaborating on ‘The Devil’s Backbone’ and ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ over the past two years. We’ve had success in the past creating director figures of Quentin Tarantino and, last year, Col. Cameron (James Cameron), so immortalizing Guillermo was a no-brainer. He loves toys and collectibles and is an icon to our fanbase since he is such a visionary director.”

In addition to selling the 8-inch Guillermo del Toro Signature Collection figure and other exclusives at SDCC, NECA will be revealing upcoming licenses. So, given that “The Shape of Water” won the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards earlier this year, could an Amphibian Man figure be in the works?

“Possibly — (that is) certainly something that is very high on our wish list considering how beautiful that film was and the critical acclaim that followed,” Falk said. “Perhaps we will have more news on this come SDCC.”

In a wonderful bit of symmetry, another exclusive NECA action figure of a director will be available at SDCC this week. The interesting bit is, it’s a 7-inch figure of Shane Black, the director of the upcoming sci-fi thriller “The Predator,” but of Black as his character, Hawkins, from the 1987 classic “Predator,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“I was fortunate enough to visit the set of the latest ‘Predator’ film back in the spring of 2017 and I sort of bounced the idea off of Shane and his people at that time,” Falk recalled. “We had just finished up our ‘Predator’ 30th anniversary collection and felt like it would be great to incorporate Shane into it … to be able to do his character as Hawkins would be a perfect lead-in to him taking over the franchise as a director and was just perfect synergy. Luckily, he liked the idea and wanted to do it. The timing really was perfect. With the film having a big panel and presence at SDCC and releasing in September, to have the exclusive Shane Black as Hawkins release this July couldn’t be more perfect. The toy gods were smiling down upon us for this entire project.”

While fans are getting the unique opportunity to get action figures of del Toro and Black at this year’s SDCC, Falk said NECA isn’t “actively pursuing” any other filmmakers to make into action figures at the moment. He’s completely open to the idea of creating more, however.

“We agree it is a really nice addition to get the actual creators involved and into the line where it makes sense. Everything so far has grown out of special circumstances or situations that lent themselves to the creation, and there has been a narrative or compelling reason behind it,” Falk said. “The ‘Aliens’ 30th anniversary for example, Shane being director of ‘Predator,’ the launch of the Guillermo del Toro Signature Collection we have worked so closely with him to create. All those factors helped make those possible and make them special. So, along those lines, I would love to do something with, say, Wes Craven or George Romero if we could find a way to make it special and have it make sense.”

In the meantime, Falk said, fans can look forward to plenty of surprises as the company reveals new lines at its booth at SDCC throughout the weekend.

“We definitely have some incredible surprises in store! I think there is truly something for everyone in this year’s reveals and a few jaw-droppers that no one will have seen coming,” Falk enthused. “We have some reveals involving horror, classic TV, classic ’80s films, lots of nostalgia and lots of fun. I can’t wait to be in San Diego again to debut all the great new items our team has worked so hard to create.”

Film, Movie Reviews

Oscar picks: ‘Shape’ to stay above water … barely

March 1, 2018 Tim Lammers Leave a comment

The 90^th annual Academy Awards ceremony is Sunday, and you can bet some people will be solely tuning in to see if there will be a screw-up as monumental as last year’s Best Picture envelope fiasco. That’s unlikely, but with any luck, host Jimmy Kimmel will have fun with the faux pas all night long. The show simply needs something out of the ordinary, because with the predictability of this year’s nominations, the show, barring a couple of potential upsets, is shaping up to be another 3 1/2-hour Academy borefest.

Despite the formulas pundits put into play to make their picks, predicting the winners of the Oscars doesn’t take much homework. Basically, ignore the awards handed out by the critics and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the members of which hand out the Global Globes), because journalists don’t vote on the Oscars. Instead, the trends lie with industry awards – the Producers Guild of America, the Director’s Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Awards – because some, but not all, are voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

With that, making this year’s picks quickly fell into place. Here are my predictions and some potential upsets.

Best Supporting Actor nominees: Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”; Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”; Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”; Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”; Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Will win: Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Possible upset: Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”

MORE: Hear Tim’s Oscar picks on KQRS-FM, WCCO-AM and “The BS Show with Bob Sansevere.”

Best Supporting Actress nominees: Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”; Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”; Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”; Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”; Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

Will win: Allison Janney

Possible upset: Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”

Best Actor nominees: Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”; Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”; Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”; Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”; Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

Will win: Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”

Possible upset: Not a chance. Oldman is due for what is easily the best performance of the year.

Best Actress nominees: Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”; Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”; Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”; Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”; Meryl Streep, “The Post”

Will win: Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Possible upset: Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”

Best Picture nominees:

“Call Me by Your Name”; “Darkest Hour”; “Dunkirk”; “Get Out”; “Lady Bird”; “Phantom Thread”; “The Post”; “The Shape of Water”; “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Will win: “The Shape of Water”

Possible upset: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” The recent claims that writer-director Guillermo del Toro lifting the story from the 1969 play “Let Me Hear You Whisper” (just in time for voting!) may come back to bite “The Shape of Water.” A harbinger of that will be if Christopher Nolan upsets del Toro for Best Director. Nolan winning wouldn’t be a huge shame. Nolan is way, way overdue and deserves the honor for the expert direction on “Dunkirk.”

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.

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Tag Archives: ‘The Shape of Water’

Cool movie toys for holidays: What’s new this holiday season?

Cool Movie Toys: Guillermo del Toro Signature Collection, ‘Dumbo,’ Hitchcock, ‘Coraline’

Interview: NECA’s Randy Falk talks Guillermo del Toro action figure, more

Oscar picks: ‘Shape’ to stay above water … barely

Original Interviews, Reviews & More By Tim Lammers