Okay, so I don't necessarily think M Night Shyamalan's "bedtime story" Lady in the Water is anything great, but I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as some people are saying, and doesn't even touch Unbreakable for pure boredom - as Ebert says, a movie can be bad and still enjoyable, but when it's boring then there's a problem. Sure, Lady is incredibly ridiculous and silly and doesn't make a lick of sense and those wolves looked stupid (omg, the MONKEYS!!!), and the whole storyline about Shyamalan's character's book becoming a legendary text in 30 years and that he is ahead of his time was ludicrous and sort of pathetic, but... I dunno. I didn't hate it. I got caught up about half way through when they were trying to solve the big mystery. I just like that sort of stuff. But, meh, I've seen far worse this year. C+
4 comments:
Glenn, I'm with ya. I watched it a few weeks back and it's not great, but I didn't hate it and wasn't really ever bored by it. I'm not going to agree with you on the Unbreakable dissing, I LOVE Unbreakable, and I probably do think it's Shyamalan's weakest film, but even that said he still knows how to frame a shot and shoot an environment elegantly, which sometimes can be enough, and I thought Bryce Dallas Howard was interesting to watch and lots of interesting supporting players... I did kinda want to see Shyamalan get eaten by those godawful monkeys though.
Same grade for me too! I think the entire thing so ridiculous and narcissistic that you can't help but admire it. It's a very revealing look into the head of the director himself and how he regards his own work (delusions of grandeur.)
I don't like Unbreakable much either, and my favourite work of his is probably Signs. I have issues with the whole faith stuff, but I remember being wowed on my first theatrical viewing - the building of suspense was masterful.
Lady in the Water isn't bad at all. Some people just forget how we were when children.
I gave it a 7/10.
Ja, "but I didn't hate it and wasn't really ever bored by it." YES! I wasn't bored once. It was sort of like The Black Dahlia in that in wasn't great, but there was always enough going on to keep me entertained. And, yeah, Shyamalan can direct a scene brilliantly, it's stringing them together that is his undoing sometimes.
Ali, indeed. Signs is my absolute favourite of his. So good.
Bruno, you obviously liked it a bit more than me, but I know what you mean.
Post a Comment