Guillermo del Toro's THE SHAPE OF WATER (2017)

Some movies are for looking at, and I'd

Say this is one, for ev'ry gorgeous frame

Would look great on my wall. All that aside, 

This fairy tale for grown-ups plays a game

Of fantasy-nostalgia that's both real --

All analog and black and white and chrome

(Or rather, green and red and, of course, teal) --

And un-, as ol' Abe Sapiens is alone

No longer. Richard and Octavia got

Plain robbed, though, at the Oscars, but for me

That proves they were the best, as much as not.

I do not know I'll ever want to see

This one again, though. There is nothing wrong

Here though: but Pan's and Devil's play my song.

Chris Butler's MISSING LINK (2019)

I do not love the character design, 

Especially the faces; they all look

Like they're in need of Kleenex, or less wine. 

At least the animators sort of took

Their physics lessons, and the backgrounds are

Magnificent and detailed. So why make 

The figures so damned ugly? It's bizarre. 

Then there's the shrewish lady lead. I'd stake

A modest sum the writing staff were male,

But really don't care near enough to check. 

Some neat ideas, though, like a haughty, pale

And racist vale of cryptids, and, on deck

A cryptic hunting Saqsquatch. Really, I

Just wished they'd made more effort on this try. 

Ava Duvernay's A WRINKLE IN TIME (2018)

Inclusive casting makes me smile and smile,
And when it's done this well, I've boundless joy,
Enough to let it slide once in a while
When things I love get cut (like that good boy,
That Fortinbras, and both the twins). Storm Reid,
And young McCabe quite stole my dusty heart.
Their roles called for maturity, indeed,
And gravitas, which each brought to the part
Abundantly. And everything looked great --
The Murrys' home, the stars' duds -- but it seems

All thought went to the visuals. Is the fate

Of novels that are treasures, books our dreams

Wish real, to all get butchered? Nothing much

Of what I love came to the screen, as such.

Katarzyna Gondek's DEER BOY (2017)

Were this a comic book, there'd be no need
For speech balloons; this is sequential art
In motion, as a boy born with the seed
(Well, nubs) for antlers grows up. We see part
Of toddlerhood, young chilhood, then some scenes
As Deer Boy grows to Deer Man, with his pop,
A hunter, sawing off his glories (means
Of pure denial), forcing him to stop
His deering ways. Then deer boy learns to shoot!
Real deer are phantoms, or just shown as meat.
Meanwhile, it's Deer Boy's mother, tired and mute
Who stole the show for me. She goes from sweet
And proud to haggard, then is centered when
Her darling boy begins his life again!

Victor Erice's THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (Spain, 1973)

This could become a fav'rite. No effects
Or special sets were needed, just a child
Immersed in her imaginary texts,
In Frankenstein, in spirit stories, wild
Yet simple. Warm and golden Spanish light
And perfect little actors, and, yes, bees
And mushrooms, it's from these things in the night
As spun out by her sister, Ana sees
Her own world's monsters, in the only sense
That she can make of them. Her world is small
And something new has entered it, intense
And scary? Maybe. But you must recall
The little girl with daisies made a friend
In that film. All is balanced in the end.