wednes | Lady in the Water

H and I watched Lady in the Water by legendary director M Night Shyamalan, who I love. He gave himself his largest role yet in this wonderfully compelling film taken from a fairy tale he wrote for his daughters.

Critics and fans hated this movie. That's mainly why we hadn't seen it until now. We just heard it was terrible and didn't bother. It has a 24% at Rotten Tomatoes as we speak. I honestly don't understand why that is.

Bryce Dallas Howard was wonderful to watch, as usual. It's a much different character than The Village, more mystical and dare I say, victimized. I don't know why Miss Howard isn't a much bigger star.
Is there a bad movie starring Paul Giamatti? If there is, this is the first I've heard of it. He is everything you want him to be here: lovable, pitiable, brave, and determined. As his character unfolds and we learn that he is rescuing Story because he was unable to come to terms with the murder of his family; we cry with him, root for him, and cheer when he finally wins.
Bob Balaban, Cindy Cheung, and Tovah Feldshuh round out a really fun cast that declare shenanegans on the terrible monsters trying to get Story before the big Eagle can take her home. Frankly, they aren't very good at it, but it's suspenseful as hell to watch everyone trying their best and coming up short.
This is a nice, family style story told in a way that is compelling to grown-ups. I was duly impressed by this movie, and I think everyone who hated it should get over the fact that it doesn't have your precious twist. People really ought to stop punishing Shyamalan because he doesn't live up to expectations set for him by total strangers. Dammit, neither would I. Honestly, I'd like to know why people disliked it so much...then I can tell them why they're wrong. ;-]
So Night, make another movie already. I promise next time I'll pay to see it.

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*closes his eyes so he can't see the spoilers*

See now I saw the trailers and what I saw there made me think it would be a decent flick, then I too heard the rumours and decided I didn't want to waste the money on it. But with your recommendation, maybe I will.

I'd be curious to know what you think.

First good thing I've heard about it. It's always dangerous to be mean to critics on film ~ better t omake Sideways and have characters that middle-aged non-acheivers like critics can love and identify with...

Have I mentioned "Unbreakable" to you?
I have a whole treatise about how it's all about ancient Aztec/Mayan religion. nooly in the way that Watchman is "about" Vedic goodness, but still...
Sam Jackson stars as Tezcatlipoca, and commits human sacrifice to bring Quetzacoutl into the world.

PS: Happy new year!

Your Unbreakable theory is an interesting one. I shall commence to noodling it.

Happy Gregorian New Year to you!!

I could support said theory for many minutes in conversation, but sadly I'm simply too busy to type said thesis... Here's the basics:

My question going in was "What's up with Sam Jackson's hair?" (smoke) Quickly followed by "what's up with all these shots in mirrors?" (Tezcatlipoca MEANS black, glass - obsidian in the old days, TVs today) then "Jaguaro?". "Why does he live in a temple?" et al.

Watchman was really the answer.
Where I (a boring white guy) had to figure out WHY Doc Manhattan was blue and what was up with the Silk Spectre's skull nerckalace, ole M there just got it immediately. Ain't culture grand?

I believe HIS treatise is that American comics are our native religion (Ironically an offspring of American Judaism...). But he'll need another movie or two until he's reaady to actually announce that.

Share and enjoy!

Nice. Thanks!

I was pretty surprised at how much I liked Lady In The Water. I usually hate the guy's movies, except Unbreakable which I think is fantastic. I know a lot of bad reviews are of people thinking it's a Horror movie when it isn't.

Plus it helps going in with low expectations.

Oh, I'm sure. I thought it was going to suck, and instead I got totally sucked in. Unbreakable is still my favorite though. I love how he shows you things so directly that you barely see them--if that makes sense.

As long as you approach it from the perspective of the "Bedtime Story" aspect it was trying to be it was really good. As a "Tries to exist in our reality" type movie like Unbreakable or Signs I thought it was a bit of a disappointment. That's not to say I didn't like it, just that I enjoy movies that DO try and peacefully co-exist in our universe. If I didn't know that M. Night told this story to his own kids I would have found his extensive acting in the film a bit of an annoyance but since its HIS Bedtime Story, who better to be the "Hero". As for Bryce Dallas Howard. MY Bedtime story is the one where she becomes my wife. ;)

LOL Yeah, it does deviate from real life as we know it. But Cindy Cheung's character makes the point that if you want to beleive, you usually can.

I'll be honest - I really couldn't get into the story that much, because after the first mentions of "narf" and "scrunt", I could not keep a straight face when the "mythology" was revealed throughout the movie.

Then again, I admit that M. Night's work really isn't in the genre that I hang out in, if you will.

I will concede that the made up names were kinda...stupid. I might have preferred that he take names from real mythology; but if he did that then it wouldn't be original. He's always getting blasted for not being original. ;-/

My hubby and I both loved it. My personal theory for why it didn't do well is that most people just didn't *get it*. I thought it was a beautiful story, superbly told.

I think you're right. People just didn't 'get it', which is a damn shame. Glad I'm not the ONLY one who loved it. ;-]

Lady in the Water

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