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The screening day of Lady in the Water was a feast day for film critics. With a portfolio of films that include The 6th Sense and The Village, director M. Night Shyamalan is expected yet again to break any expectations or assumptions on his latest project.

CTC solicited mixed reviews on Lady in the Water. It was both boring and interesting. I’d think the movie projected the director’s personal philosophy more than his previous films. It can be argued that Lady in the Water is indeed unique and original. For some reviewers, it might have been too original that it was M. Night’s self-indulgence. Or him giving the finger to mainstream movie directors.

A lot of reviewers were disappointed that it wasn’t a scary movie at all. IMO, if they really are fans of Shyamalan’s works, they shouldn’t have expected a thriller ride. For one, if you review the trailer, there’s no indication that this was a horror flick. It was a fantasy movie at most. That's M. Night's MO, expect a twist - from trailer to end credits.

Reviewers like me must have expected a 180 turnaround twist at the end. Don't expect anything. There wasn’t much twists and turns. It is literally a bed-time story turned into a movie. There’s one thing all reviewers agree though, no one liked the fact that M. Night played a non-cameo role in Lady in the Water. Usually, he just shows up for like 30 seconds and he’s gone. For this one, it’s a major role.

I’d give a lot of credit to the casting work done for this movie. All the many characters were memorable and developed enough to figure towards the movie’s end. That was brilliant work on character development.

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If Lady in the Water was based on a story M. Night heard during his bedtime, he must have really weird-thinking parents.

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The RX Morning Rush’s Hot Ten today was interesting: What was the kindest thing you did for a complete stranger?
Here are some of the sent-in anecdotes that inspired me:

One guy while dining on a restaurant with his girlfriend was approached by a little boy asking for a few changes. They asked the boy to sit down with them and bought food for him and they had dinner together.

While on the mall, a lady was approached by 2 very young kids looking lost and asked her “San’ po makakabili ng aklat?” and showed a list of apparently school books they needed. She was actually touched by their use of the word “aklat”.

Another lady was on a boutique when she noticed a rather chubby girl trying on a dress. That girl really looked like she wanted to buy the dress but was thinking twice perhaps because of her figure. The lady approached her told her straight not to worry about anything and that the dress looked good on her. The girl bought the dress after that.

A man crashed his speeding motorcycle on a concrete island on the street. The man flew and hit another concrete wall face first. Everyone just stared as the driver struggled to move. Then another guy immediately stopped his car and helped the driver get to his car so they could go to the nearest hospital. There were lots of people just a few feet away of the motorcycle driver and they just stood there and did nothing.

An older guy just finished doing transactions on an ATM. When the younger guy next in line proceeded to make his transactions, but before he did anything he was surprised to see a bunch of 1 thousand peso bills come out of the machine. The man before him apparently forgot to take the cash. The guy took the cash and ran after the older man and gave it to him. The older man thanked the guy so much because as it turned out, the money was for his wife’s operation on the nearby hospital.

Here’s my story (well, not directly mine), one of the graphic designers on my team is a brilliant artist and he slaves himself working on his designs. One day, a consultant approached him and said “Thanks, that was a great design and I closed the deal!” Shortly after that, I noticed the designer getting teary eyed and said that that was the first time someone had thanked him for his work.

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Apparently it’s gay season. Two weeks ago, N’Sync member and actor Lance Bass just announced that he’s gay and currently in a stable relationship with one of the Amazing Race winners. If you could remember there were a gay couple who won the Race. Before the reunion show however, they split up.

You could remember Lance as the lead guy in the 2001 movie On The Line with Emmanuelle Chriqui (oh my God, isn't she pretty?). No wonder the movie didn’t sell, people unconsciously felt some lesbian thing going on whenever the pair kissed.

Last week, it was announced that a month ago, Darren Hayes of the defunct duo Savage Garden was married in a civil partnership to his boyfriend of 2 years Richard Cullen. I didn’t want to bother researching who Mr. Cullen is.

Maybe that’s why the word “cannon balls” figure on a number of their songs. I always wondered about that.

Well, let’s just see who comes out next. Perhaps Cher?

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