grrgoyl

Some movie reviews, since my connection is down and I can't work anyway (which is the grownup equivalent of a snow day!)

I finally got to see Lady in the Water, but first some words on M. Night Shyamalan. I pity Night, I really do. His first movie hit a home run out of the ballpark, and it's all been downhill ever since. Now everything he does is expected to have a big wow twist at the end and, in my opinion at least, he hasn't been up to the challenge. His movies are enjoyable to watch, but all of them have a serious flaw in continuity or logic that ruins them for me.

Exhibit A: Signs. I've mentioned in the past how it makes no sense for the aliens to try to conquer Earth when their only weakness is water. Hello, 70%? One could argue that the real point of the movie is the nature of faith. I could then argue against couching this lesson in a nonsensical alien horror movie.

Exhibit B: The Village. Oh, where do I start? Fortunately I can save some time and just link you on over to my original review and all the ways I thought this movie stunk.

Exhibit C: Unbreakable. Saw it. Don't remember a single frame. Might have been masterful and well-crafted, but what good does that do you when the movie is completely forgettable? (Not that my piss-poor memory should be any indication)

Exhibit D: The Sixth Sense. Yes, even his opus has one tiny continuity problem that completely ruined the rest of it for me. And now I can ruin it for you. There's a scene that opens on Bruce sitting in Toni Colette's living room face-to-face with her. Neither of them are speaking of course because she can't see him. He doesn't think that's a little odd? And for that matter, how did he get in the house in the first place? I didn't even notice it until the third or fourth viewing, but once I did the movie was completely ruined for me.

So I didn't rent Lady in the Water expecting great things. I just had curiosity. ( ::cutting in case someone else does too:: )

When it was over I honestly didn't know what I thought about it. I emailed Ryan the next day, who amusingly had the exact same impression. I will say that in the spectrum of Night's movies, this one when taken at face value as nothing more than a bedtime story probably holds up the best logistically and continuity-wise. Towards that end I found a very cheap used copy online and plan to watch it again. {Final score pending}


Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan: VERY quick review. Hilarious. Believe whatever quotes they stick on the case to sell it. I totally fell for the disc, which looks like a cheap bootleg copy. However, I've seen enough of a morbidly obese, hairy, naked man wrestling and rolling around on the floor to last me the rest of my life.

~*~

A natural extension of my Snarry obsession would be the world of action figures. However, before now I haven't indulged for obvious reasons. This was what I had to choose from:



But good news! NECA finally noticed that there might be a market for it, and will be putting out these bad boys very soon:



I think the temperature on my work desk is going up a few degrees.