The Band Wagon (1953)



“That’s Entertainment”

            MGM has always been known for their incredible musicals. Arthur Freed’s production team made some of the most memorable musicals ever created such as Singin in the Rain and An American in Paris. Keeping up with the successful roll of musicals in the early ‘50s, Freed’s unit produced The Band Wagon. MGM got all their top entertainers in their arsenal and created one of their most catchy and fun musicals.

            Tony Hunter (Fred Astaire) is a fading musical star. He has not made a film in three years. We first see him sitting on a train; he is hiding behind a menu as he listens to two men talking about how Tony Hunter used to be someone. Then he pipes into the conversation and he agrees. When he gets off the train in NYC he feels lonely from the fact that no one is interested in him as an actor anymore.

            Tony has traveled to NYC to star in a play that his two friends Lily and Lester Marton (Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant) have written. Tony has not been in the city for many years. Things and places have changed he hardly recognizes the place. Much has even changed on Broadway. Lily and Lester want the famed director, writer, producer, and actor Jeffery Cordova to direct the play. Tony has no idea who this guy is but he goes with the couple and meets the guy anyway. The meeting goes very well and Jeffery agrees to direct and even star in the play. He also wants to try to get the famed ballerina Gabrielle Gerard (Cyd Charisse) to be in the play as well.

            Lily and Lester bring Tony to see Gabrielle in a show. He is very pessimistic about working with the ballerina he thinks that she is too tall for him and that she will not be able to dance like him. From the moment the two dancers meet there are sparks and not good sparks. Gabrielle feels Tony thinks ballet is below him and Tony feels that Gabrielle is a snot. They argue and as they go to leave Jeffery’s apartment the board members agree to back the play and now the dancers are stuck working together.

            As rehearsals move ahead Tony is not happy. Many of his scenes and numbers have been cut. He finally has it and leaves. Gabrielle goes to talk to him. At first she apologizes but Tony sees right through that she is really not sorry for acting the way she did she is just coming to save face and ask him back to the play. She starts to cry and he feels bad. He wants to take her out so she goes with him. They go to the park and dance together. The two dancers are in perfect rhythm and step and they find they do dance well together. Tony comes back to the show and he and Gabrielle get along very well.

            When the play opens to the backers it is a flop. The backers back out leaving the company no money and all their hard work is wasted. During a small get together Tony lets Jeffery know that he can sell his paintings by some famous artists and they can rework the show and go on tour. The reworking is a big success

            Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse were fantastic together. Of all the partners Astaire danced with I think Charisse was the best one. Watching her dance with him in “Dancing in the Dark” she never looked down at her feet and she was never a step ahead or behind she was flawless. I get so jealous watching Charisse dance she was so beautiful and her legs were incredible!! Also no matter what she wore she was gorgeous. Astaire was not too bad in this film. Usually he always plays the love sick little boy but he was not here and that was great.  Nanette Fabray was fabulous. I loved seeing her energy and how out going she was.

            My favorite numbers in the film are “Dancing in the Dark”, “I Love Louisa”, “Louisiana Hayride”, and “The Hunt Ballet.” “The Hun Ballet” is a twelve minute long number but it is so cool Astaire and Charisse literally just glide through the whole thing. Charisse looks gorgeous in one of the scenes in the ballet when she wears a red glittered dress and black gloves. The sex appeal that oozes out of her in the outfit and her dancing.  Nanette Fabray sings “Louisiana Hayride” and she is adorable you can see her energy and how great of a performer she was.

This is only part of the whole number but this is the best

            The Band Wagon is such a great musical. The story is not so much a romance it is more of a guy who has been down in his career for some years and now he is coming into a world he thought he knew and it is completely different. Now he is learning to work in a new theater world with new talent.  From the moment I first saw The Band Wagon I was in love with it. Everything about this musical is fantastic, beautiful, and special.

Annie Get Your Gun (1950)



“You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun”

            The other night (and a few blogs before this) I had watched Insidious which scared the ever living hell outta me. To get my mind off of the creepiness and scariness (Go me, I am a twenty-three year old baby who hid behind my stuffed animal the whole time) I decided to watch a musical. To me there is nothing that makes me feel so much happier in life than watching a musical. I decided to watch Annie Get Your Gun which I had recorded off of TCM.  I had such a great time watching it and by the end I was like Insidious what now!

            Annie Oakley (Betty Hutton) is from the back woods of a western state. She comes into a crowed after she shoots a dead bird off of some lady’s hat. Annie has some of her brothers and sisters with her to get the dead birds for her and put them in their little cart. A man happens to see Annie and how great of a shot she is after she shoots another bird. He asks her to be in a shooting contest against the handsome Frank Butler (Howard Keel) who at the site of Annie goes to mush.

            Annie wins the shooting contest against Frank at a fair. Frank’s pride and ego are a bit crushed after getting beaten by a girl when he was supposed to be the best shooter around. Buffalo Bill (Louis Calhern) has Annie come travel with him and his act across the country. As she travels with the show Annie begins to clean herself up and wear dresses the other women are wearing and she also begins to learn how to read which is totally hysterical. Frank also begins to notice Annie now that she is looking more tame and womanly.

            Buffalo Bill has posters of Annie hung up at the shows. Frank goes into an egotistical panic mode over seeing a woman displayed instead of him. Annie is all excited to show Frank a new trick she has come up with for the show. When she does the trick Frank cannot take anymore and he leaves the show. Annie cannot stand why Frank left she does not know that his ego and pride as a man has made him jealous when all she wanted to do was please him.

            In the end, though, after some rough times love wins out for Annie and Frank.

            From the moment Betty Hutton comes on the screen as Annie Oakley I was in love with her. She was so hysterical and so adorable. I cracked up when at the beginning every time she would see Frank she would just stop and stare at him with her mouth open and her eyes all wide. Hutton’s energy was incredible she was just nonstop the whole entire time. My favorite music number she sang was “You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun” because she was so smooth with her dancing but yet she displayed so much energy. She looked like she had a great time making the film. Her voice was awesome she had a very nice singing voice. Howard Keel I could have done without I did not find him appealing in any way his voice was too much for me. I did like him singing “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better” with Betty Hutton they were both so funny in the scene. Louis Calhern as Buffalo Bill was a riot. The guy could seriously play all sorts of roles and just be awesome
            I loved Annie Get Your Gun from beginning to end. Betty Hutton was amazing and the story was so cute and innocent. The costumes were colorful and fun and the acting was perfect. Even before the film was over I put it on my (very long) list of movies to buy and I cannot wait to get it.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)



“I never wanted any of you to die for me.”

            It is very sad to think that the Harry Potter series in both book and film media are over. I came into the loving the series only two years ago when I finally had an open mind and a curiosity to read them (especially after reading the ridiculously horrible Twilight series and seeing the God awful first movie). Although I came late to the series when my friends and brothers had been reading them for years I am so happy I read the books and watched the movies when I did. I have such an appreciation for them and I understood a lot of things that I never would have had I started when I was younger.

            Today I went to the theaters to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. From beginning to end I was not disappointed. In all the darkness there were light moments like Ron and Hermione finally kissing (!!!!) as well as Harry and Ginny sharing a very nice kiss (I can be a sentimental romantic at heart when I feel like it). I even choked up a bit and had tears in my eyes in a few scenes. It was so sad to see the end of so many beloved characters. I remember reading the book and crying and it was worse with the movie because even though I knew what was going to happen it was even more upsetting to see it.

            Voldemort and his followers storming Hogwarts was incredible. The whole battle at Hogwarts was filmed and acted so utter perfection by the whole cast and all the characters past and present. I am giving this scene away because it was one of my all time favorite parts in the book and it was one of the best scenes in the whole series: Bellatrix goes after Ginny with all the Weasleys standing behind her. Mrs. Weasley gets this look of such anger on her face and she yells at Bellatrix “Not my daughter. BITCH!” Oh my God! I can still remember the first time I read that I was so excited. Thank God I was sitting alone when I saw this today because I was jumping around like an idiot!

            There are so many other fantastic scene scenes in this movie but I cannot give them away. If you have seen any of the other Potter movies you know that it does not stop for one second and that the story will always keep your eyes glued and your heart pounding.

            The cast was amazing. I do not think another series of movies will ever be as fantastically cast as Harry Potter was. Daniel Radcliff, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint were perfection together. They were given these great opportunities as actors at an age when they had no idea what they were getting themselves into and right from the beginning just fit their roles so well and really made Harry, Hermione, and Ron their own. The rest of the cast as well were cast perfectly. Besides Harry, Hermione, and Ron I think the best casted character was Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix. I gushed about her in my review for The Deathly Hallows: Part 1but I have to gush about her again here. Bonham Carter took Bellatrix to a whole new level. The character is a twisted, creepy woman in the book but she just Bellatrix and made her even more twisted and creepy. Whatever movie I watch her in she just has the ability to add something more to her characters. There was a part in this film where I was just completely awed by her. It is not some earth shattering scene with earth shattering acting she was just subtle and it was great to see her in the scene with the other actors.

            Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was such an excellent way to end the film series. It neatly ties up and sums up the whole series and the three friends’ journey. I greatly enjoyed seeing the characters’ relationships grow and seeing that they were always there for each other. If you have read the book you know the very ending and it is a wonderful ending. The movie ends the same way (but DO NOT go reading the last page of the book!! My one brother did that). I have some very fond memories of seeing The Half Blood Prince with my one of my best friends and all her friends who are Potter freaks along with my little brother at midnight. Being with them and a theater fully of Potter nerds was so much fun. It was also my little brother’s first midnight show and he had such a ball (he was eleven at the time and is now twelve as of this writing). I am so happy that he and I have that something special to look back on. He still gets excited when we talk about it. My friends all love him as well because he is not a typical little annoying kid so that was another thing that made the night nice.

            After reading all seven books and seeing all of the movies I feel like I am finally in on one of the most amazing things to have ever happened in pop culture. I feel like a cooler person in some ways for now being a fan of Harry Potter (what a nerd haha). I love the world of Harry Potter JK Rowling brilliantly created and her world all the directors, cast, and crew were able to bring to life. All the movies were so excellently made especially Half Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2.

            Do not miss out on seeing The Deathly Hallows Part 2 in theaters especially because this is the last Potter movies in theaters. The story, direction, effects, actions, and acting are all utterly amazing

Gingertennial/ Swing Time

Today July 16, 2011 marks the 100^th birthday of Ginger Rogers. Normally I would not be writing up some actor or actresses’ birthday to me it is a bit silly but I truly admire and adore Ginger Rogers so “seems a sin I’ve got to give in…”

            Ginger was born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri. She lived there with her mother Lela and grandparents until her mother moved her out to California. At the age of seventeen Ginger’s long career in show business began when she won a Charleston contest. From this point she stared in the movies and on Broadway. After success on Broadway (which she starred in a show with Fred Astaire) Hollywood came calling and she accepted. Ginger had some success with Paramount at first before she wanted to be let go. She went to RKO where she was let go, went back to Broadway, made a film, and was resigned with RKO.

            In 1933, Ginger made her first of nine films with Fred Astaire Flying Down to Rio. The pair stole the film from its two leads. RKO saw how well they fit together and put them into another film together the following year called The Gay Divorcee. The pair would make all their best pictures together in the 1930s but Ginger made plenty of films without Fred including the hysterically fabulous Vivacious Lady with James Stewart, Stage Door with Katharine Hepburn and Adolphe Menjou, and Finishing School with Frances Dee.

With Katharine Hepburn in Stage Door



With Frances Dee in Finishing School



            Ginger made her last film with Astaire in 1939 The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle. When the forties rolled around Ginger was on top. In 1940 Ginger won the Academy Award for her role of the title character in the tear jerker Kitty Foyle (and deserved it. I do not cry easily in movies and this one made me cry). The following year she again played the title character in Roxie Hart which is probably one of her greatest roles as well as most hysterical.

            Having been in the movies for so many decades Ginger was able to play all sorts of characters from the quick witted modern girl, the elegant love struck dancer, a flapper, a hard working girl, a killer (yes I said “killer”!), down to a traveling saleslady.

            My love for Ginger Rogers all started two years ago on Thanksgiving. That day TCM was having a marathon of all the Astaire and Rogers films. I was calling myself a classic film fan but at the time I had never seen of the famous dancing duo’s films. I wound up recording just Swing Time, Top Hat, and Shall We Dance since my DVR would have combusted with all ten plus all the movies and such my brothers had recorded. The first of their films I sat through was Swing Time and I am so happy that this was my first Astaire and Rogers’ film.

            So without further ado for Ginger’s 100^th birthday celebration I will review my first Ginger film I have ever watched and where my adoration for this wonderful actress began.

“Nothing’s impossible I have found for when my chin is on the ground I pick myself up dust myself off and start all over again.”

            Depending on what article or essay or review you happen to read many people consider either Top Hat or Swing Time to be the best of the musicals made by the legendary dancing duo Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Swing Time is the sixth musical Astaire and Rogers had made together and it is the pair’s best story and acting wise. When the film was released it was a success in every way: it won the Academy Award for Best Song with “The Way You Look Tonight” and played to sold out capacity at Radio City Musical Hall in NYC which has six thousand seats.

            John “Lucky” Garnett works as a dancer and singer in a chorus for a nightclub. He is set to marry a girl whose family does not approve of what he does. The other guys in the chorus do not want Lucky to marry this girl since they know how much he loves what he does and he is also the one who brings in the money. Lucky does one last show on the day he is to be married. Since the guys do not want him to go they make him late and not giving him a phone message.

            By the time Lucky gets to his wedding all the guests have gone and the supposed to be bride are furious with him. Lucky tells them he can get a real job along with $25,000 so he can come back and get married. The father really likes this idea and Lucky is off along with his friend Pop to New York to earn his money.

            Upon arriving in the city Lucky and Pop already land themselves in some trouble. They run into a girl asking her for a quarter. The girl drops her things and the two men help her out with Pop helping himself to some of her change. The girl notices her change is missing and causes a scene. A police officer comes over but he thinks Lucky is a wealthy man because he still wearing his tuxedo. The office lets the whole thing go and tells everyone to move on. Lucky comes upon a dance studio and once inside notices that the girl is a dance instructor.

            The girl’s name is Penny Carroll and she is none too happy to see Lucky but he insists that she teach him how to dance. He fakes not knowing to dance and acts really clumsy. Penny tells him at one point that she is unable to teach him anything but her boss hears and fires her. Lucky thinks quickly and breaks out in a dance making it look like Penny taught him the dance and they start to dance together.

            Penny’s boss likes the way they dance together so he calls an owner of a club that he knows and tells them about Lucky and Penny. He gets them an audition that night but Lucky does not have any dinner clothes. Lucky is a gambler so Pop brings back a very drunk man so they can play him for his dinner clothes. Unfortunately Lucky is losing and he is so late the audition is called off. Penny is furious with him and will not speak to him so he sets up a picket line outside her hotel room. He gets into the room eventually and he apologizes by singing the beautiful song “The Way You Look Tonight” and all is forgiven.

            Penny and Lucky do get the gig at the nightclub and everything is going very well. They are making money for the club and Lucky having gambled on the bandleader’s contract is now half partner. The two dancers begin to fall in love but then comes the conflict which tears them apart until the end of the film before they get back together.

            I am so very happy that Swing Time was my first Astaire and Rogers film. If I had seen any of their other films before this I would not have loved them especially Ginger as much as I do now. The plot was not too overdrawn or silly. The acting by the entire cast was fabulous and so perfect. I adore every single song and every single dance routine from the film especially “Pick Yourself Up” and “Never Gonna Dance.” Whenever I hear “Pick Yourself Up” I instantly feel so much better. “Never Gonna Dance” is such a beautiful song of longing and a final goodbye to someone loved. The dance routines to these songs are awesome I can watch them over and over again.

            In her autobiography Ginger quotes Charles Dickens when he was asked to name his favorite book he had written and he said “I love them all- but in my heart-of-hearts I have a favorite child and his name is David Copperfield.” Ginger then went on to say “Well, though I love all the films I made with Fred Astaire, I, too have a favorite child, and it is Swing Time.” She explains that George Stevens, a director whom she admired, directed the films and he knew how to properly direct and work with actresses. Her previous films with Fred had been directed by Mark Sandrich who was not nice to Ginger and always kept the camera on Fred even if she was speaking most of the time. She finally had more screen time and more dialogue and Stevens “was always delighted when [she] added something new” and she was unafraid to express herself as an actress which clearly shows. Ginger looks relaxed and as if she is enjoying herself the whole time.

            Eric Blore, Victor Moore, and Helen Broderick round out the rest of the main cast. These three character actors add so much hilarity to film and make it even more entertaining.

            Swing Time is just a funny, happy musical to watch. I remember after I had watched the film for the first time I was totally in love with Fred and Ginger. That Christmas I was the proud owner of the Astaire and Rogers musical boxset and it is one of my most prized boxsets I own.

            If you have ever seen Swing Time you know perfectly well how much I adore this film because I am sure you feel the same way. Their other films are good along with Swing Time I can forever watch Follow the Fleet I think it is so cute. If you have not seen any of the Astaire and Rogers musicals than Swing Time is definitely the one to start with.



Woman Wanted (1935)

“Say, are you the house dick, or am I?”

            No, this is not a 1930’s porn!!! Filthy mind! I just liked the quote I thought it was funny. A woman who works as a salesclerk is asking a house detective if he is supposed to be the detective or is she.

            So anyway… Woman Wanted is about a young woman named Ann Gray (Maureen O’Sullivan). She has just been convicted of killing her boyfriend when she was not the one who killed him but all the evidence is against her. Her boyfriend was mixed up with a mobster named Smiley Gordon (Louis Calhern). Smiley and his crew believe Ann knows where her boyfriend kept $250,000. Ann has no idea that her boyfriend was keeping $250,000 anywhere.

            On the way to the jail the car Ann was in is hit by a truck. Smiley has planned a car accident so they can get Ann and get the information they think she knows. Ann gets away unharmed and gets into any car she can. The car she jumps is being driven by a man named Tony Baxter (Joel McCrea). Tony had been making eyes at her at the courthouse between windows. He takes her back to his place which unfortunately has a house detective on duty in the lobby. The detective sees something familiar about Ann but he cannot figure out why.

            As Ann is washing up Tony’s fiancé Betty comes over. Now with the help of his awesome butler Peedles he has to hide Ann. Downstairs in the lobby the newspapers come with Ann’s face splashed across the front page. The detective calls the police and they come over right away. Now Tony is in a really tight spot with trying to hide Ann from the cops as well. Peedles once again saves the day by hiding Ann.

            That night Ann tells Tony her whole ordeal and why she was convicted. He believes she did not kill her boyfriend. One of Smiley’s men and someone Ann trusts calls Tony’s place looking for her. The man says that if she comes out to him he can clear her name. The call is a trick designed to get Ann alone so get her to tell them where their money is.

            Tony takes her out to the country where the man said to meet them. The plan backfires and now both fugitive and lawyer are running not just from the police but also the mob.

            Maureen O’Sullivan and Joel McCrea worked very well together and both were just excellent. I have only ever seen O’Sullivan in The Thin Man and in a few scenes of that film she overacts. I was a bit worried she would do the same here but she did not she was very good and she handled the drama nicely. I love McCrea he was the perfect amount of seriousness and the perfect amount of funny. Most of the time I could not get over how big McCrea was he was so broad he almost completely dwarfed O’Sullivan. Robert Creig as Peedles was also perfect he added some well delivered comedy to the film. The first time I had ever seen Louis Calhern in a film was in Asphalt Jungle so I was not surprised to see him play a gangster and make the character seem real and calm.

            Woman Wanted often feels like it does not know if it wants to be a flat out comedy or a flat out drama it is somewhere in the middle. Sometimes the comedy felt a bit misplaced and weird. Besides that aspect the film is really good. The story is good it is not boring at. Woman Wanted is unfortunately not available on DVD I recorded this off of TCM a few months ago (and I just finally got around to it). If the film is ever airing on TCM again give it a try.

Insidious (2011)



“I went into Dalton's room... there was something in there with him. It was standing in the corner. I asked it, "Who are you?" It said "a visitor." I then asked it, "What do you want?" It said Dalton.”

            The director for Insidious, James Wan, directed Paranormal Activity and Saw. Paranormal Activity I thought was a load of crap simply for the fact that you knew when something “scary” was going to happen music would start playing… that and the actors were completely unbelievable. Saw is a damn joke I saw it in a class I had in high school and was laughing my ass off. Insidious is a whole other story. My brother Anthony saw this in the theaters and he came home the biggest chicken I have ever seen. He shares a room with our little brother and he was not home so Anthony told my parents to get Christian home because he was not sleeping in his room alone!! I took this as a grain of salt because Anthony for years has refused to sit through the remake of Amityville Horror and that is not scary in the slightest. I still cannot even tell you why Anthony went to see this in the first place he hates horror.

            On Tuesday Anthony bought Insidious on Blu Ray and made me and another one of our brothers Joey watch it. Anthony was crapping his pants he was wrapping his arms around Joey’s legs and just freaking himself out. I tried watching the movie and I got ten minutes in and I freaked out and went upstairs. Anthony was mad at me because he thought I was so brave with movies. I was mad at myself I still cannot believe I chickened out like I did. Tonight Anthony’s girlfriend came over wanting to watch Insidious. The girl was afraid of Ghostbusters when she first watched it!!! I decided to have another go… my heart is still beating out of control.

            Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson), his wife Renai (Rose Byrne), and their three kids have just moved into a new house. Besides Renai hearing some eerie voices on the baby monitor and a door slamming things are going well, until their one son Dalton is found unconscious one morning in his bed.

            The doctor cannot explain why Dalton is comatose. Even though he had fallen and hit his head the previous night there is no reason why he should be unconscious. A few months later Dalton is still comatose but he is now at home with a nurse coming in to check on him. All the sudden strange things start happening again. Foster, Dalton’s brother hears things in this the middle of the night thinking it is Dalton who is walking around. There is a knock at the door late at night but when Josh goes to check no one is there. Upstairs in the bedroom Renai sees someone walking around outside the window then all the sudden she sees a man standing in her room. The man comes over and tries to choke Renai as she is screaming for her life. When Josh comes upstairs the man is gone.

            Another occurrence sets Renai into a panic and she wants to move out of the house. She feels the house is haunted and she does not want to stay there anymore. The family moves but not long after they move in the paranormal occurrences become more frequent and even more frightening.

            The Ending is one of the best endings I have ever seen. Totally what I was not expecting at all and I love endings like that.

            The reason why the family is being haunted is very interesting and not corny at all. The “horror” is not what is normally considered “horror” today. It is not slasher porn or bloody and disgusting. Hitchcock once said that it is not what pops out that is scary it is the buildup that makes your heart race and what creates the suspense. Nothing could be truer for Insidious. Like Psycho the music score will have your heart leaping out of your chest alone. But what is being built up can be really scary. I was disturbed by some of the things shown just because they were creepy looking, not nasty, just really creepy.

            So was I scared? You bet! I was hiding behind my stuffed animal most of the time (yes, I am twenty-three years old and still have a stuffed animal. Deal with it.). Christian “watched” the movie from underneath a blanket the whole time he was did not look out from under it once. The music and the sound effects were even freaking him out. Insidious does have a very good and very different story. Most ghost stories to me suck they just never seem to have a decent story but Insidious does and it keeps the story from going out of control and ridiculous.

            My heart is still racing and the movie has been over for a half hour now. Insidious to me is more of a suspense movie. If your heart and your eyes can take things popping out and maybe even if you like to be scared then definitely watch Insidious. As scared as I was the first time around I am glad I gave the movie a chance. Will I be watching it again anytime soon, HELL NO!!!!

            I am going to go watch a musical now I need a happy movie after this.

Lady in the Water (2006)



“Man thinks they are each alone in this world. It is not true. You are all connected. One act can one day affect all.”

            I am not a really big M. Night Shyamalan fan. Yes, I have seen the Sixth Sense and thought that was amazing, I have also seen Signs and The Happening (either you hated this movie or you liked it and I just so happened to like it). Shyamalan’s movies always have good stories they are always so different compared to everything that is out there. Lady in the Water, while not a success when it was released, is one of his best movies and one of the most original I have seen in years. Lady in the Water is based off a bedtime story Shyamalan wrote for his daughters.

            Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) is a landlord for an apartment complex. He spends his time fixing things for the tenants and talking to them. Cleveland has been hearing someone splashing around in the pool after hours. He asks some of the tenants but they have not heard anything.

            After work one night Cleveland goes home to relax and falls asleep. When he wakes up he hears the splash in the pool again. He goes out to see who could be swimming but he finds no one there even after going for a swim himself. Suddenly someone flies out of the water and grabs a necklace from a pool chair. Cleveland goes to run after the person but he slips and falls hitting his head and rolls into the pool.

            When Cleveland comes to he is lying on his bed. He looks at the end of his bed to see a young girl who he has never seen before. She has red hair, very pale skin, and she is only wearing one of his shirts. Her name is Story (Bryce Dallas Howard) and she rescued Cleveland at a great cost to her own life.

            As Cleveland gets to know Story he learns that she is from an ancient culture of people who live under the water. She cannot go back to the pool because vicious dogs that live in the grass called Scrunts will come out and kill her. The Scrunts do not like Story’s people and will do whatever it takes to not let her back in the water.

            The fairy tale of Story and her world is very fascinating and incorporates many of the people living in the apartment complex. At first we see these people just as Cleveland sees them- kind of odd and from multiple ethnicities. Each one of these people have their own ways about them and their own intelligences that near the end will help bring Story back to her world. I have to say that Shyamalan is an excellent storyteller this is totally original. I saw this with my friends and my brothers when it was released and I can clearly remember walking out of the theater and all of us just saying how great it was to have sat through a totally original story with none of the overused clichés. Shyamalan even goes so far as to throw in a character who is a movie critic and he has the character say “There is no originality left in the world… That is a sad fact I have come to deal with.” And in another part the character explains all horror movies and characters like himself.

            I have got to tell a very funny story: The Scrunts in the movie (or as they were called once by Story the “JJ Scrunts”) are kind of scary. They are these nasty looking things that just come up out of the grass. My one brother who went with me to the movies was such a chicken and he was scared of them (my brother who is 6’3”… he’s so brave). My friend was driving us back and he pulled up to a space in front of my house and in front of the spaces is a hill of grass. My friend yelled out “Oh my God there’s a JJ Scrunt!” Well my brother screamed like a girl at the top of his lungs and ran out of the car!! We were all laughing at him so hard that we practically crawled out the car holding our stomachs. To this day we never let my brother live that moment down.

            Lady in the Water is an excellent movie. Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard were fantastic; the entire cast was put together well (Shyamalan does make an appearance as a character throughout the movie). The movie is very original and very entertaining because it is original. It is movies like Lady in the Water that I still have some hope for modern Hollywood and the return of well made original movies. This is one of M. Night Shyamalan’s best works. It is not intense nor does it comes with a twist ending; it is a nice tale of one person in need who winds up helping many people around her. It brings you back to your childhood when you wanted to believe every story you ever heard and you still had innocence.