2006 Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep rescues what he thinks is a young woman from the pool he maintains. When he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the journey back to her home, he works with his tenants to protect his new friend from the creatures that are determined to keep her in our world.
This corpse has been picked over plenty, and while I'll stipulate that it's a bit undercooked and pretty silly, on a rewatch I think it's one of those things you just have to deliberately slide into, which makes sense given that it's all of a piece with SIGNS and THE VILLAGE in its depiction of an insular community or group united by belief. You can choose to read Bob Balaban's character as a snipe at all critics, or you can take it as a representation of blanket, unfeeling skepticism. Up to you. Anyway, Shyamalan may exhibit all manner of ill-advised creative hubris but that doesn't mask his exceptional capabilities as a visual filmmaker. It's hard to make an ugly movie…
Film #4 of Gustav's M.National Shyamalan-a-thon
I thought about it, but honestly could not arrive at an answer. I do not know what was going through M.Night’s mind when he came up with this idea. Even more baffling is what gave him the impression that this would work and be accepted. The concept is total bollocks. The juxtaposition of fairy tale elements along with reality simply does not work here, as all the characters are mere devices, cardboard-like, uninteresting, ill-conceived, and dreadfully executed. They come off looking utterly dim-witted as they are shown to comfortably believe in such fatuous happenings.
Part of my frustration stems from the fact that the film did not even deliver on the promise of an…
I often talk about how much I want an adaptation of Stephen King's Lisey's Story but Lady In The Water is pretty much the... exact vibe for me. Super important that almost every shot before the Lady is introduced is obstructed - there is something missing from the lives of everybody in this, the decreasing length of Shyamalan's shots slowly finding the core of what makes these people tick - but this isn't a film about people; it's about conflict (involving people). If the Water is purity/the capacity to imagine & believe/where all myth comes from then the Land - the location of our narrative - is a blight on the freedom of half-lit 'truer' perception. Just look at how this…
The first film made after Shyamalan was really, truly widely rejected, with one clear focus: a world of characters who cannot accept pure storytelling. His pain is at the center of this solar system.
There is so much about this modern day fairy tale that I loved! It even managed to squeeze a couple tears out of me! So why does it feel like a rough draft! Perhaps the editor got scissor happy and left one too many film clips on the cutting room floor!
The highlight of the film in my eyes was Paul Giamatti he worked his arse off and moved me to tears with his gut wrenching performance!
Final Word: I can't recommend a film that feels like a first draft no matter how much potential I saw in it!
Film #6 of Gustav's M. National Shyamalan-a-thon
Lady in the Water proves that M. Night Shyamalan is on drugs. This movie is flat out stupid. It seriously didn't make an ounce of sense. There was nothing interesting going on at all; it was a total bore-fest that nearly put me to sleep. There is no plot and the film's setting is an apartment complex swimming pool. This is the dumbest "fairytale" ever. I said WTF about 7 times during this movie. Lady in the Water is actually worse than The Last Airbender, believe it or not. Also why does Shyamalan put himself in all of his movies!? He is a horrendous actor. I guess his arrogance level is just through the roof.
The premise of "Lady in the Water" is unique and had potential given its cast, soundtrack and its overall aesthetics. However, in the screenwriting department it's made clear that Shyamalan was so blinded by his arrogance that he didn't realize he wrote his film riddled clearly with frustrating plot holes and laughable plot points. Plus, it clearly strokes his ego to a fault with the scenes of the film critic being killed and M. Night Shyamalan being praised by a deity as a master storyteller, or something. I don't really remember what it was specifically I just remember I groaned realizing how much of a self-indulgent tool he is. "Lady in the Water" isn't a bad idea and had a lot of potential given some of its elements, but it clearly lacked the proper screenplay and level headed direction necessary to make it anything more than the creator trying to tell his audience he's a better than he actually is.
i want to say it was almost weird enough to work in spite of its millions of problems but honestly it was nowhere close
Die Filme des M. Night Shyamalan sind für mich immer ne zwiespältige Sache gewesen - liegt einfach daran dass ich seine Art gewöhnliche Geschichten ungewöhnlich zu erzählen zwar mag, aber mit den Filmen selber trotzdem nicht viel anfangen kann und "The Sixth Sense" bis heute für einen der überbewertetsten Filme überhaupt halte. Für Fans des Mannes dürfte aber "Lady in the Water" wieder ein Fest sein - wenngleich es keine der üblichen Hammerpointen am Ende gibt ist Shyamalan in seinem Element und erzählt eigentlich eine recht geniale Geschichte über ein paar Figuren die wissen dass sie in einer klischeehaften Geschichte sind und jeder versucht seinen Part darin zu finden - diese originelle Idee setzt Shyamalan (der selber eine ziemlich egomanische…
Not very good. The acting is fine but everything else isn't. The ending is kinda dumb and the whole movie is not worth while.
Weird how M. Night Shyamalan had a nervous breakdown after The Village got bad reviews.
I really love this film sm and everyone saying it sucks I hope it still sucks when y'all in hell
I saw this, mainly because of Paul Giamatti, one of my all time favourite actors. I was not let down.
The script is both ridiculous and touching. I don’t really know what to think of it.
Shyamalan is weird.
i liked it but it was too long and a good amount of scenes didn’t have to be in it. but bryce was amazing as usual.
If you think that this movie is interesting, I don't understand you. It's pretty. And that's it. Such disappoint.
Tobias Andersen 6,394 films
Rules: Generate a number (from 1 to x) via: www.random.org
See how many number of films there are in the…
FxckItDude 1,593 films
Just a list of some pretty cool movie posters on the LB database. I haven't seen most of these movies.…
