The Razzies 2006 Nominees are now up. I’m glad to see that they call out “Little Man” as an out and out theft of a Looney Tunes Cartoon.

However, I have to disagree with their lambasting of “Lady in the Water,” which I just watched two nights ago. I think the unhappiness with that one is a relative thing: people don’t like it because they want and expect a truly great film from M. Night Shyamalan. Back around the time of “Signs”, a magazine heralded him as the “new Spielberg.” I fear he’s far more akin to Orson Welles, who made such a world-shaking debut that all successive films are paling in comparison. “Unbreakable” was a fine film, but it wasn’t “The Sixth Sense”. “The Village” was well-made and acted, but the script was many rewrites away from ready and the end result was a real stinker.

Watching “Lady in the Water” is hardly a bad way to spend an evening. It’s a charming bit of new mythology, telling the tale of a building superintendent who discovers a sea nymph living in the apartment building’s pool. His quest to help her on her journey leads him to do what he can to research her mythology (nobody ever seems to have access to the Internet in Shyamalan movies, so he has to get it translated from an old Asian woman in his building).
Bob Balaban steals the film; his scenes make it worth it. The movie is hardly worth razzing in comparison to the lesser schlock Hollywood turns out.

For example, Superman Returns deserves more razzing than just a worst supporting actress nom.