Nights like this are why I love Top 100 Club!
Good Manners (2017)
★ ★ ★ - Good
Normally, when I wrote for Top 100 Club I don't worry about Spoilers. These posts are more aimed directly at the Host. However, I am aware others tend to at least skim what's said and they might read with a little more attention when I say this may be the best Horror film I see all month. On top of that, it's a film with a unique structure that I loved, and I wouldn't want others to go in knowing how the script chooses to reveal information. That's the Spoiler part, not what happens but how it happens. Avoiding specifics means making comparisons to other films, so let's start with your review mentioning del Toro and The Shape of Water. I agree with what you wrote, but what I was thinking is this is a werewolf version of Let the Right One In. By that I mean it unfolds in a more realistic, character-driven way that makes the later scenes of confrontation more memorable.
There are some really cool choices here by directors Marco Dutra, Juliana Rojas, like a scene told through paintings and a couple of jaw-dropping time transitions. I don't think the Musical aspect works as well, mainly because I don't like any of the songs so it's especially jarring when characters start to sing, though I like how this sneaks into the movie, you don't even realize it's happening, then you dismiss it as a strange choice and by the end it seems like an essential aspect of the storytelling.
Taxi (2015)
★ ★ ★ - Okay
I don't know why I put these two films together like some kind of Deathmatch. Maybe it's because I've never liked a Jafar Panahi film, so I planned to write something very brief and move away from it. I especially didn't like the thrown together noodling of This is Not a Film, but here I thought he cracked how to use the unfair restrictions placed on him to his advantage. It's an interesting meta-experiment, but it's also full of life and there's a joy to the world outside the taxicab window, along with Panahi's warm smile at the center.
I don't have the interest to unpack Taxi too deeply, but I'm curious how many intentional Easter Eggs are here. Most characters directly reference a Panahi film, the little girl appears dressed just like the one in The Mirror and there are two men on a motorcycle that look like the criminals in Crimson Gold.