A Few Words About A few words about...™ Lady in the Water -- in HD (1 Viewer)

[Andrew Bunk]

I loved Signs as well.

I saw LitWin the theater and was unimpressed at the time. I didn't hate it, but I expected more. I find myself want ing to see it again now, so I did get the HD with my releases this week. Hopefully I'll enjoy it more a second time, as I have with Night's other films.

 

[m.cellophane]

hmm. I quite enjoyed this movie. I accepted it's premise as a child's fairy tale.

I ordered it on HD today. I've been waiting for this one!

 

[Ryan Petrich]

Ah, I see. I thought he was referring to Pearl Harbor.

 

[Dave>h]

HI,

I finally got around to watching this on the weekend and have to say it was much better than the maligning it has taken. You'd think this was Freddy got fingered or something equally bad but it isn't. And the HD DVD qulaity is excellent, so is the soundtrack and while the movie is not brilliant, I certainly didn't hate it and I liked the idea of a fairy tale unfolding in front of all these people and them calmly buying into it. It was like the tenants were paralleling the films audience. An interesting film journey.

I have liked all of M Might's work so I can be considered biased in my opinion.

Like all M Night movies, you are expected to take a ride and if you don't accept the premise or some aspect of the illusion, you won't enjoy the ride.

Anyway, hopefully more people will give this film a chance, I think it is worth the 2 hours spent.

Dave

 

[Dave Mack]

interesting.
I might put it in the ol' queue.

 

[TonyD]

i agree that it wasnt as bad as has been said.

so far i havent cared for the village and his first film.
liked all the rest including lady in the water.

 

[John Garcia]

I liked it, but I entirely agree it is a rental not a buy. Basically not a movie I will ever find myself needing to revisit.

 

[TwoKings]

I have it in my que and will check it out.

I loved his first 3 movies, but after the Village I think M. Night needs to accept that he needs help when writing scripts.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

I was quite taken with this film when I saw it in the theaters and from what I have found in places other than HTF, this film has mostly been misunderstood. But then again, I love the look of Night's films; find Paul Giamatti to be an exemplary soul to watch on screen and the music by James Newton Howard was worth the ticket price all by itself.

 

[Carlo_M]

Count me in as another who enjoyed LitW. But then again, I've liked/loved all of his works.

Odd thing is, as time passes, those I thought I liked most I tend not to watch, while others have grown on me. I can't remember the last time I watched The Sixth Sense, but I regular urges to watch LitW and Unbreakable. When The Village and Signs are on TV, I can't turn the channel (kinda like Shawshank).

So I don't know what that means. I think I stopped trying to read into what MNS is saying and just watching the wonderful imagery and accepting the premise of what he puts onscreen. Yes it often requires a lot of suspension of disbelief, but I'm down for that. I can understand where this (and other MNS) film might not do it for most people, but for some reason, I really like the mood, atmosphere and visuals that are distinct MNS traits. LitW was no exception for me.

 

[Dave>h]

HI,

Well, I am really glad to hear that I am not alone in my enjoyment of this film.

I can see why it got panned by the critics, as he takes a blatant and direct shot at them in this film but personally I felt it was somewhat justified. And nice to see him get his just deserts! Actually, given the poor box office for this film, I guess both M and the critic did!

I agree that the imagery and music were excellent, and it was quite a scary tense film occassionally. Will be watching this one again.

Dave

 

[Jason Seaver]

Does that necessarily follow? If he doesn't have credited co-writers on any movie aside from Stuart Little (which he didn't direct), why does he suddenly need help after one or two misfires?

 

[John Garcia]

I just think that it is because his ego seems to be creeping in with this film, at least that is the way I felt. I liked the Village, but mostly for the cinematography and acting, not the story. I felt LiW and Village were both a little thin - entertaining, but not quite 100% solid, compared to Unbreakable and Sixth Sense, which were both a bit more "complete" feeling. I hated Signs.

 

[Wayne W]

I really enjoyed LiW (which I rented the HD DVD version from Blockbuster online - I'll buy it someday). I've liked all his films. If I had to put them in order of favorite to least favorite:

1. Unbreakable
2. Signs
3. Lady in the Water
4. Sixth Sense
5. The Village

 

[TonyD]

you forgot two movies

Wide Awake (1998)
Praying with Anger (1992)

 

[James D S]

Then check out Lady in the Water, as it doesn't have a "twist ending." At least, nothing on the order of The Sixth Sense and the like.

I think what hurt this movie movie most is the reputation of the director. If you go in expecting a modern day fairy tale, you might enjoy the time. It has its flaws, to be sure, but it also has a lot to be entertained with. If you go in expecting to be "tricked" you're probably going to be let down.

 

[jonathan_govols]

I really enjoyed LitW and I immediately bought it on Blu Ray. While I love M. Night's twists, it was nice to see him do a completely different film from his previous works. I think this will hold up upon repeat viewings (just like the rest of his movies for me) and was instantly one of my favorites. For me:

1. The Village
2. Unbreakable
3. Lady In The Water
4. Signs
5. The Sixth Sense

And for those that said they guessed the twists in The Village early in the film, why were you looking for the twists anyways? Night's films are not detective stories and that's not how the viewer should approach them. When I saw The Village, I just focused on what was currently going on and I was FLOORED when the two big twists happened. If I had tried to guess what was coming, I guarantee I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much.

 

[Vincent_P]

I saw one (out of USC as I recall) when I was a judge at a film festival in North Carolina a couple years ago that had to have cost a couple million dollars at least. It had extensive CGI (including a fully rendered CG character with dialogue, a CG insect monster, and CG "sets" that the main character was interacting in), was shot in 35mm, scored by a full orchestra...

Technically impressive I suppose, but all it told me about the student filmmaker in question was that he had a very rich family. The short film itself left me cold.

Vincent