Lady in the Water
Bryce Dallas Howard, Paul Giamatti, Jeffrey Wright, Sarita Choudhury, M. Night Shyamalan
Volume 11, No. 53, October 05, 2006

4 Star

FOR most film reviewers, Lady in the Water was like a giant belly flop in an icy pool.

M. Night Shymalan is known for his films with unusual creatures like Signs and The Village. You know his films are not straight up and down, everyday type of scenarios. That’s why it’s odd that the biggest criticism of this movie is that the made up creatures – narfs, tartutic and scrunts – aren’t realistic. Of course not, they’re made up. If you can get past made-up creatures, this movie is a good fairy tale for grown-ups.

Maintenance man Cleveland Heep (Giamatti) is dragged unconcious from his apartment block pool by a nearly nude woman, Story. There’s something unusual about her and Cleveland discovers she’s a narf from the Blue World. Narfs are people from the sea who grew apart from the people of the earth when the earth people wanted too much. Narfs return to the land when earth people need to be awakened.

It’s Cleveland’s special task to find the person Story is there to awaken. All he knows is that the person is a writer. With the help of a young Korean girl in the apartment block, Cleveland starts his quest to assemble all those needed by Story, so she returns to the Blue World before she’s killed by a scrunt.

It’s no easy job and the mystery of the narf myth must be unravelled before people in the apartment block can be selected for their qualities.

It may be bit idealistic, but Lady in the Water shows how people who lead separate lives but live in the same block can be connected in a crisis. It also shows that a man who only builds up one side of his body isn’t neccessarily a creepy nut, but can make a valuable contribution.

If you like M. Night Shymalan’s inventiveness, this film is for you.

– Lt Simone Heyer

The Devil Wears Prada
Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Adrian Grenier, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker
Volume 11, No. 53, October 05, 2006

3 Star

IT’S all about fashion baby, Gucci, Prada, Louis Vouitton – but don’t sell your soul to the devil.

Runway magazine is America’s top fashion mag and has a job vacancy that millions of women would kill for. Unfortunately, one of the only women who hadn’t really heard of the magazine or its applauded editor Miranda Priestly (Streep), lands a job as the editor’s personal assistant.

Andrea Sachs (Hathaway) is a journalism graduate who is serious about writing, but sees Runway as a foot in the door to a real magazine like The New Yorker. She has to bend over backwards to learn how to be the best personal assistant to the finicky Miranda and makes a deal with the devil when she bows to peer pressure and starts wearing couture.

This is a mildly amusing film, and has a more serious undertone – your dream job might alienate you from your friends and family.

The Devil Wears Prada is a good light-weight movie, based on the book, and is worth watching.

– Lt Simone Heyer