Cool News
Someone’s Seen Shyamalan’s HAPPENING!
Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.
And that someone evidently reads Collider.com:
Not sure if anyone wants to read this or even if you care….but someone I know sent me a review of M. Night’s new movie The Happening.
Let’s just say he didn’t like it. At all.
steve
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I enjoyed "Lady in the Water," though, which was one of the most horribly advertised movies ever.
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WOO!
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Didn't have a "twist", it had a "click".It's just that what "clicked" was a guy's faith and that completely alienated the target demographic. Even when you read Talkbacks here, religion is bashed like nothing else, so I don't see how anyone of those Talkbackers would come out with anything other than a "nice filmmaking for a while, then a complete shit ending" conclusion.That said, Frailty was another movie that dealth with religious issues from around that time and I think it stuffed the answer in our faces moreso than Signs but because that ending was completely crazy (seriously wtf, so is that how fundamentalists see things?), I wonder what people thought of that.
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word for word actor for actor... In fact if he just released the original Godfather and slapped his name on it people would think it was crap.
That's the vibe I get. -
The Village should've been an all-time film classic if he would just have stayed away from his own form/style. It had material that evoked "The Giver" and other similarly themed works which all wound up being that kind of classic with mass appeal which they force us to read/watch in middle school.The whole monsters thing really sidetracked everything, and I think he tried to undo that with the way he resolved things, but that just made it more of a mess.If anything, he comes up with great premises for movies. He's also a great director. His writing is also amazing when he's on his game, but he hasn't been so since the first half of Signs. So it's hard to say that he should just produce films, or just direct, or whatever, because if he's clicking in all areas, he can do it all better than most any new director.The "intervention" idea sounds great. Maybe his kids will grow up and smack some sense into him.
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Whats the twist this time, Mr. M. Twilight Zone Wannabe Shamalananana. I somehow ended up with a copy of the 6th sense like 2 months before its release and I put it in to watch and turned it off after a half hour because I was bored. I never turn off a movie....wish I had stuck around for awhile I could've ruined the movie before it came out.
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What Uwe Boll is to movies.
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is like a child actor that had too much success too soon and now he's so self-absorbed that he doesn't even realize how everone else sees him, as a selfish, wildly egotistical prig. Who else who have the SciFi channel do a fake exclusive on the mysteriousness of his films and his own life? Honestly, he thinks he's Hemmingway mixed with Oliver Stone or something. It's sad.
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Proving Once again to the world, what I knew all along The man is a Hack, and all of his films Are a Big bag O' Shite!
Anyone Even remotely "shocked" at the end of the sixth sense is an idiot! Fer Crying out loud It was a film about a kid who sees dead people And Bruce Willis Gets short in the First 15 Mins.
Move on Its Shit, and not even remotely scary, scarier was the fact that People Thought M. Knight was the "new" Speilberg, Bollocks! The New Ed Wood Maybe
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That Walbergs line delivery was a bit odd but now I know it's consistantly bonkers throughout the movie and he apologises to a plastic plant I'm VERY excited to see this Comedy it sounds hilarious!!!
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too many people look at the surface, oohh it's water it's dumb. if you watch movies like that then stick to the news dumb fuck. The tension, the shots, the timing was amazing. probably the creepiest filmed movie i've ever seen. The whole scene with the pantry was incredible. Maybe because I looked beyond 'plot holes' and just tried to enjoy the movie, which had alot of shit that my nightmares as a child were made of, ie the alien figure standing outside our window.
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He's willing to hold a shot when just about any other director would cut a million fuckin' times. He has his own distinct style and when he's firing on all cylinders he really delivers.
Unfortunately, his last two films sucked. I enjoyed Signs, warts and all, but I can not forgive him for The Village and Lady in the Water. I really hope he regains his momentum with The Happening, but I won't be holding my breath. -
Like this guy's movies whole hog, or you expect something more out of him than is possible. This guy falls into the second camp. I personally liked Lady in the Water, and understood the type of flick he was trying to make, and thought it was fun, funny, and had a genuine warmth that 'Signs' had to force (with a lot of help from Joaquim Phoenix). Again, if you hated Lady in the Water, you're in the majority of filmgoers..if you liked it, you probably have kids.. I fall into the latter category. Maybe it has something to do with knowing what kid's stories sound like, or maybe just something about the way the story was framed...I liked the movie, and paid to see it in a theater.I like all this guy's stuff. This looks promising, and so, when I hear someone say 'I loved the Sixth Sense' and 'I hated Lady in the Water', I understand where they're coming from, and that tells me more about what The Happening is gonna be like than any film criticism they'd spout off.Negative reviews are the geek world's version of bread and circuses; it keeps us placated until the next big thing. Instead of viewing something on its merits, we judge it for where it falls short. It's either maturity or old age that make me look at the screen and wait for each instance of a filmmaker's craft to determine if what they made was 'good' or 'bad'.I don't put much stock in reviews anyway, unless they're wildly different from what I was expecting.Man, if you weren't expecting bad reviews on this one, you don't pay attention to how the online world works. M. Night is the online film community's favorite punching bag next to Kevin Smith. So, when I see bad reviews, it just reaffirms my faith in how fans online report on this guy's flicks. I'll probably still see this one.
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He IS a talented director, but everything he wriote except Unbreakable was at least 50% ridiculous. (And yes, that includes The Sixth Sense).
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I swear to God that if we've now come to the point where we are making movies about plants exacting revenge on us I am officially declaring that the human species has jumped the shark. In real life there was even a consortium that declared yesterday that the arbitrary killing of plants was wrong. They cant say how its wrong just that its wrong. So we cant kill animals for meat, now we cant kill plants for veggies. What the fuck is wrong with you people? If you truly feel like your presence is destroying Mother Earth, then really help her out and kill yourselves. Maybe then I wont hear any complaints when I eat my Porter House with loaded tater followed by a cigarette. M. Night you can now officially suck my nuts, you were once full of promise, but now youre just pathetic. You will never be Spielberg, how does that feel?
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he needs to team up with a writer with similar sensibilities. Unfortunately, that means he has to realize that he can't do everything, and I don't know if his ego can handle that. The man is very talented, but he just has to know his limitations. Unbreakable is probably my favorite film of his.
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This review for the Happening was done by someone that didn’t even right the linked article? This information is coming through a 3rd person? The movie might suck, but the review looks to be shit.
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"Wahlberg timidly apologizes to a houseplant only to find that it's made of rubber."Who on earth thought evil plants were a good idea. Aside from Triffids, obviously.
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you guys are mean.......................................................................................................TDK will pwn.
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May 15, 2008 7:51:42 AM CDT
M. Night Shyamalandingdong's The Happening is Happening
by karl childers
whether we like it or not.
I'll be seeing it. -
So whether this clown likes it or not is immaterial, at least to me...
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well I'm totally shocked..!!!!!
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In a summer PACKED with sequels, book adaptations, comic book adaptations, TV show adaptations etc etc - THE HAPPENING was one of the few ORIGINAL summer blockbusters out there. SHAME.
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I already knew M. Night would fail with this, didn't know she had signed up. Arrgh. Maybe after Avatar he can get serious about Unbreakable 2?
It would be a way for him to get people like us back on his side, at least. -
I'll just wait and see it myself.
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Check out the movie poster. His name is bigger on it than the freaking star of the movie. His movies have ceased to be about the characters and have become about Shamalamadingdong's enormous ego. He won't be getting another dime out of me after that turdfest The Village. I'm thankful I haven't seen Lady in the Ego Trip and I won't waste a cent on this sure to be cinematic abortion.
Wake me up when Shamalamadingding produces something to suggest he wasn't a one two trick pony (The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable). Shamalamadingdong jumped the shark when he put "the twist" into Signs (and in so doing came up with the lame idea that water was harmful to aliens ... as if a speicies that advanced wouldn't have figured that out before they tried to invade a planet where the majority of the surface is water).
I know pronounce him M. Direct-To-Video Shamalama-Two-Trick-Pony
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Do it and it will suck twice as much as this movie. You hear me WB?
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This concept is hilarious. Plants! This is the best example of this director being out to lunch. His films are his own, in stlye and tone. The concept he repeats ad nauseam is getting to the point of 100% pure adrinalame. This takes the cake. IF you like this film or others by M knight,,,fine, but tell me this concept is sooooo lame. I dare you not to.....
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nuff said
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is what i said when i saw the trailer in front of Iron Man. which was awesome, in case no one let you know.
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Just because some hack says it isn't good doesn't mean it's true. See the movie and formulate your own opinions.
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ahhh the endless circle of creativity. What came first, the egg or the chicky? Well, either way this movie is shit..
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Trying to make this movie look bad so we don't know what's coming? I am on to you ya bastard.
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As much as I hated Lady in the Water and The Village, I really enjoyed his first three films and I'm still kind of rooting for the guy. If it gets universally awful reviews I might wait for DVD though.
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I don't know why Unbreakable garners so much praise. It was just plain BORING. I thought it was supposed to be a superhero movie. Where was all the action? I was staring at my watch longer than the actual movie. Signs, on the other hand, kept me revited throughout. Unbreakable is so overrated it's ridiculous.
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... to bitch-slap him around every time he thinks of doing something stupid.
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sounds just like every other of his performances. i've not seen the Departed, but i have never seen him do anything other than his scared little Boogie Nights voice. he should stop getting cast, in my opinion.
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Somebody had to say it.
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does slow building tension = boring?Unbreakable is M Night's best film. an origin story to a superhero we don't know. absolutely brilliant.
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Nothing will prevent this being in my top five looked-forward-to movies of the year. And I guarantee it will be good. It's just that not everybody will realise that.
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It's not that that people didn't like it cause it was spiritual or whatever. No - they didn't like it cause it was retarded.
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shamalamadingdong is a hack that knows how to frame for maximum atmosphere, no more, no less.
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drink every time someone says the word "happening." You'll be nice an toasted by the end of the trailer.
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...but only to see Zooey Deschanel. Hey, at least she's a lot better as eye-candy than that ginger, Richie Cunningham's daughter chick.
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DOing a cameo in this? Okay, back to seriousness, I know the conceipt of killer trees and evil wind is kinda silly, but I dont think the idea of earth turning against us is a bad one. I think it should have been something more destructive and believable like natural disasters but I guess taht was covered by Roland and Emmerich. Also, wind can be scary...or at least it was when I was like ten and watched Demon Wind.
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M. Night hates critics. Maybe he's showing a horrible rough cut to critics because he wants them to pan it so that when he releases the real movie they'll have egg on their face?
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just gotta see it, no matter how bad or good it is. If it's really bad, I'll have fun picking it apart. If it's really good, then... well... fuckin sweet!
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I really hoped he would knock this one out of the park. I'll reserve judgement for Mori's review but I'm not holding my breath. M Night is just trying too hard and he's digging a deeper and deeper hole for himself. Just step back, take a couple years off, get your creative juices flowing again, write a bunch of stories and see what happens. A couple years off traveling and writing would probably do this guy some good. Hollywood's obviously getting to him in a bad way.
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Is the only MNight film I really enjoyed (although it felt like an extended Act I of a larger story.) Hated everything from Signs forward.
Aiming for the "Denny's crowd" and knowing magic formulas for making hit films seems to be no match for an over-active ego. It's too bad because he does seem to have talent. -
I'll jus say it...I think SIgns was his best. I know everyone loves SIxth Sense, but it just didnt do much for me. I liked the pacing and it had some genuine creeps, but there really was no plot or actual story there. Kid sees ghost...thats pretty much it. Just a movie about a kid who just sees ghost randomly. Maybe its because the twist was ruined for me going in, but it just didnt do much. Unbreakable was decent but the pacing was way off. I know some people call that building tension but you cant have tension in every fucking frame of the film. And then there was a blatant product placement of Tropicana orange juice in one scene that for some reason irked me more than the entire Nike commercial that was IROBOT. Signs felt like he got it all right. There was tention where there needed to be and good laughs, good heart with the family dynamic, and most of all...some good scares. I was nervous to look at the screen the whole time they were investigating the corn fields and you just saw the Alien leg creep into the shadows. Yeah, I know people hated the whole water crap and the atmosphere has water particles and stuff....but in a movie about evil aliens attacking Mel Gibson...I didnt even notice this plot hole until it was mentioned here.
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The very idea of this movie had a bunch of my friends cringing, because of its mixture of high-school earnestness, and its appallingly bad taste.
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I should, at this juncture, mention once again that "Unbreakable" was a steaming pile of hot orange shit with flecks of blood in it.
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IT would be fun if the planet could put up a fight, instead of whining and staying still for the last few centuries like the punching bag she is. Not a single decent virus or predator in ages. We'll just have to fight among ourselves, which is a shame. There's so much asskicking left in us after dominating this bitch of a planet.
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Kidd Chris owns you, Steve!
Kathy Romano has a stinky vag. -
You know that movie could've been fantastic. I won't go into the spoiler for those who didn't read the invisotext. But it doesn't require Batman to figure out what's going on. This is the kind of flick you have to do slowly. It's a neat idea, but it requires finesse. Shyamalan's certainly demonstrated that before, but it sounds like he doesn't have any critical sounding boards to say, "Yes", or "No, or in some cases, "Hell no." I know he was supposed to be the next Hitchcock or Serling. But he sounds like he's more and more becoming like the writers for The New Twilight Zone or Tales from the Darkside, a pale imitation of greatness rather than a true heir.
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I'll always back M. Night up. First reason - his classical film style. No retardo camera shaking and cutting every 2 seconds. Second, his films come across as genuine and heartfelt. They're not corporate sludge like most summer movies. Lady in the Water had a lot of problems but at least he's trying to do something. OK, he's probably got an ego the size of Mount Everest but still, the guy has a lot of talent. Having said all that, the dramatic close-up on Marky Mark in The Happening trailer was truly awful.
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I do it every day. What's the big deal?
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...but the movie will be the typical frustrating near-miss that every Shyamalan movie is. Trailer looked pretty good, though.
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Reminds me of the South Park episode where they were all running from Global Warming. Ha Ha Ha.
At least they did not use CGI wind.
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When my friends were waiting on line to see The Sixth Sense, someone coming out of the movie said this out loud in front of the waiting crowd. No shit.
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What? No Audrey II?
He's totally going to fuck up Avatar.
I hope I'm wrong though. -
I dunno, it still looks really good to me. Intriguing. Guess I'm on the fence with this one til I see it
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Starring Jet Li as the son of Dong.
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That sounds hilariously bad.
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Is that he's suffering from what a lot of filmmakers get. It's a curious infection, and one not easily shaken. Often times what I've witnessed among filmmakers is the inability to connect with their audience. What I blame is comfortability.There's a point that is reached when they feel like, because of past success, that their instincts as writers and directors are usually right, and, frankly, often times, they end up being wrong.Film is a curious medium because so much goes in to making a successful film. It's not an easy thing, especially when the film is the product of one man.I've enjoyed most of Shyamalan's films, with the exception of the horrible Lady in the Water, which had a resounding thud that could be heard all over the world when it released. Shyamalan seems to be a victim of his ego, and the sense of his infallibility as a writer. Now, his work is suffering, and as the years go by, it will be harder and harder for get his projects off the ground.Perhaps the most interesting part of this is that usually, directors don't suffer through this infection until much later in their careers. The fact that Night is going through this disconnection so much earlier is quite odd.
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It's a film about a boy who can see ghosts and the lead character gets shot in the first five minutes for no apparent reason. Did anyone really not see the twist a mile off?
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"It's really, really hard not to laugh at and there's even a real groaner of a gag-scene wherein Wahlberg timidly apologizes to a houseplant only to find that it's made of rubber." It may be worth seeing just for the comedy of that scene alone. Looks like old Marky Mark is really slumming these days.
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I love his movies. Dont see why people hate him so much. The movie I like the least would be Unbreakable. Maybe because I have seen it so many times or because Bruce only kicked a little ass.
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Thanks. I should've called Jet "Mutt Dong". I'll do it in the next Happening tb.
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What a shame that this guy could'nt keep it together. He's like the 2007 Mets, or The Carolina Tarheels in the Final Four, or the guy across my street who started building a garage half a year ago and couldn't finish because he didn't correctly estimate the cost. He had the potential to become a Speilberg but now he's becoming Uwe Bole. It's depressing. So here's how he can resurrect his career.
1) No More Cameos
2) Admit that you are not the greatest director and most creative story writer (humility)
3) Make the Airbender rock hard (don't try to add a twist)
4) Beg Bruce and Jackson to reprise their roles for another Unbreakable
5) Take a look at some other scripts that you haven't written
6) Let the Coen's greenlight your projects from now on! -
but the days of Unbreakable & Signs are over. Both of which I loved. The whole time I was watching it I kept thinking...he got that from that movie and he got this from that movie. It just seemed a bit too derivative. I guessed what was “happening” very quickly. There is a reason why he was called the successor to Hitch at one point. My god…when u see the movie and u will know what I mean. I was stunned how much it resembled one of his most beloved movies…not his best, but not Lady either. Oh well…
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Has anyone seen this?
"We've sensed it
We've seen the signs
Now it's happening"
Why the fuck is he referencing his other films? Pure egotism or just subliminal advertising. That line makes NO SENSE whatsoever, it's just namedropping his other films -
...and from the sound of it, it might just be a more satisfying version of the original.
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Yeah, I thought the same thing. Smells like desperation.
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Reminds me of my favorite gag from "Mom and Dad Save the Universe". On the planet of idiots, the greatest weapon is the "stupid bomb" where someone picks it up, presses the button and is disintegrated. Then the next person picks up the bomb and the process repeats until the entire army is dead.
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May 15, 2008 10:48:46 AM CDT
The plants are impervious to water and can open doors...
by studioplant69
But they are unable to master intergalactic travel...
Stupid plants! Ha! -
The Happening? really? The HAPPENING??? That title applies to every film ever made. Something happens. And unfortunately, Mr. Shayamalan believes that's all his films need to be: something happens, slap his name on it, and become bitter and petulent, and lash out, when people say anything bad about it.
I liked Shayamalan's movies: The Sixth Sense was very good, and felt really original. Unbreakable had its flaws but ultimately worked for me. I thought Signs was his best (I know I'm in the minority here): the subtle homages to the 50s, the humor when it was needed, some truly creepy scenes, an ending that felt a bit cheezy but fit the story. Then The Village fell flat on its face in an almost laughable way. Lady in the Water was a giant 'Fuck You' to anyone who ever criticized M. Night (and to anyone unfortunate enough to be in or near a theater while it played).
I've lowered my expectations because he really has become a one-trick-pony. While he may have decided not to go with his standard twost-the-ending plot devices, he keeps trying to recapture what he lost, and his flailings are becoming more and more destructive to everyone around him. -
May 15, 2008 10:58:42 AM CDT
I love how some people keep stating emphatically that he's a gre
by trazadone
I mean, how many shitty films does he have to make before you realize that he's a one hit wonder?
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"Who on earth thought evil plants were a good idea?" The makers of The Ruins, apparently. BTW, Don't ever pay to see The Ruins ever.
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...trying to kill us with his neuro-toxins.
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At the bottom of the Poster for Signs it read "It's Happening"
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Seriously.
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very positive, and the trailers looked okay, but i think this comes out the same day as another movie i'm going to see, so i was probably going to miss it anyway.
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May 15, 2008 11:29:48 AM CDT
How come no ones points out the monotonous acting?
by a mr raas al ghul
Whilei Enjoyed Sixth Sense through Signs, i still find his movies utterly boring and incomprehensible. What children and grown up walk around like the ones in his move utterly slow overly pronounced sentences. Every character delivers the same exact way as other characters...children are well behaved , good mannered, and quiet....Fuck you shamalyn..i dont buy any of his characters.
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Good point. I don't care that it was spiritual... but the idea that god kills his wife just so she can deliver the message "Swing away" or whatever... is hilarious.
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the humpening? god...that was fucking hilarious, i'm just glad everyone in the office is out to lunch cuz i couldnt hold back the laughter, actually choked me a little. but the funniest part is, i can soooo see that title being used. but instead of killer plants, it'll probably be killer sex toys. but yeah, that was funny...lol
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Then I'm truly disappointed. I thought this was going to be Shamalamadingdong's redemption after the watery mess that was Lady.
You know, what you have to remember about M. Night is that he's really only one of a handful of directors who's willing to take a chance on an idea. While most of the other studio hacks as busy pumping out sequels or sure fire comic book movies, he's out there in the wilderness crafting his own stories and doing his own thing. You gotta commend him for that.
But these are scary times for him. One more turd from him and he might be in danger of not finding a studio boss who will bankroll him.
Here's hoping he can put a good polish on The Happening before it debuts. -
..in a little burg known as Hacktown. They've been trying to unload it, Michael Bay looks like he's gonna bite.
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Just the idea that someone needed a message from the grave in order to figure out to hit an evil alien with a handy baseball bat is outrageous. How does a guy like that get through life anyway? Well, the aliens weren't too bright either. They invaded a planet that's like 80% made of something that will kill them.
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I don't think Night and Smith are hacks. THat is more for people who churn out shit and have no personal attachment to it. Those two are real "auteurs", they just happen to also be morons.
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...to see how this should've been done.Poor Night. Back to 'Stuart Little' with you...
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May 15, 2008 12:05:35 PM CDT
Didnt Harry read script and said it was brilliant?
by theycallmemrglass
It was not greenlit at the time and he was fearful that it wouldnt be greenlit. Shymalan was fucking awesome when he made Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs. He was good when he made The Village. Then he was fucking diabolical when he made Lady in the Water. I hope he finds his magic back again. Hey Night, give Bruce and Sam a call and get back together, all your careers need a lift right now with something Fucking A Cool.
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He should've been one of the great directors of the last ten years but he has become a living joke.
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what Alan Moore is to funny books
I have loved all of M. Nights movies. His movies all seem to put the viewer in the movie with the characters and I believe what he puts on the screen as I believe in what Moore puts in his books. It all feels very real. -
The moment i saw Wahlberg do that line reading in the trailer I knew I wasn't gonna go see this. Pile that ONTO the fact that M. Night has bought into his own mystique and is now a TOTAL douchebag (ever seen the guy interviewed). It sucks...I fucking loved Unbreakable...Sixth Sense was GOOD but not the end all of horror that some make it out to be...everything else this guy has done has sucked. Sucked hard. If you don''t think so, you're an idiot.
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I live to give :-)
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in the shamalamadingdong?
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first off Sixth Sense wasn't M. Nights first real film. He made Wide Awake (for 6 million) it was horrible and fucking pooped out by the studios.
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Does this mean that this is the first "GREEN" movie?
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May 15, 2008 12:32:49 PM CDT
M. Night should be genetically fused with Michael Bay...
by blackmantis
They each need some of what the other's got. M. Night knows the value of building suspense through mood and pacing, while Bay knows the value of car chases, gunfights and t & a. Or they might cancel each other out and produce a big nothing.
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it is opening the same day as THE INCREDIBLE HULK. i can image the crowd of people at the theater, standing in line to buy tickets, their eyes shifting back and forth between the two movies.... deciding to go so "Iron Man" or "Indiana Jones", or possibly "You Dont Fuck With Zohan" instead. im sure alot of people remember ANG LEE's HULK and Lady in the Water, and will not see Incredible Hulk Happenings because of it.
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http://www.theendisnear.co.uk
And I doubt that plants will be behind it. From studios or otherwise... -
Both were called something like "The re-inventors of cinema" for a movie that wasn't really all that (Sixth Sense/Pulp Fiction), both seem to be egomanic douchebags who love to hear themself talk, both just made one great movie (Unbreakable/Reservoir Dogs) and both seem to be (despite their douchebagness and their lack of good scriptwriting abilities) pretty talented directors, although that's probably just because they love to mimic the styles of their favourite directors (Hitchcock/Every single director who isn't mainstream and made at least one movie between 1960 and 1981).
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I cannot accept his opinion on anything.
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I am tired of watching completely "plot-less" and "concept-less" trailers for M. Night's films. Do they just expect people to go and watch anything because his name is on it and they cut it to creepy sounds and music? What is his next movie going to be? M. Night Shyamalan's SOMETHING. Quick, let's pay for that...
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... that my girlfriend made me watch an Antonio Banderas movie as punishment.
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Shyamalan is slowy but surely transforming himself into a slightly upper scale uwe boll..the last 4 movies have been shitfests..especially lady in the water. Sixth sense is good and even unbreakable is pretty Ok and then signs is kinda questionable..then it gets worse and worse ..He seems afraid to go all the way and make an actual monster movie for the sake of not being cheesy,yet it comes out cheesy anyway..I.e. the village, lady in the water..Im hoping the new review is just a hater and M night turns in a really good one again.
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And, yes, people can watch that without seeing the twist because that early on in Shymie's career, you didn't expect a twist coming. At least, many didn't. It was just about a messed up kid. Sure, if you thought long and hard about it, you may have figured it out. It still was all very well done.
The problem is, he's copied his own style so much, it's become a parody of itself. The "slow burn" kinda film was done well at first. That was just his style. And it made sense early on, cuz everyone was "damaged" somehow. The kid was @#$%ed up over the visions, Bruce was hurting, etc. In Unbreakable this worked too because of the sad people in a failing marriage. The problem later was that every character since those movies have spoken and acted like that no matter what their personalities should be. And then it became boring instead of "stylistic" or whatever. And I like Bryce D.H. She's no Jessica Biel but she's cute. And can't resist a redhead, either. -
career is about to go down the shitter. Now he just has to star in as many movies as possible in hopes that one or two of them are hits and people still think he is a big star.... like Nick Cage.
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Nice to see someone mention this. I have vague memories of this movie that came out early '60s from (I think) Hammer Studios. Creepy as hell. Now this is the type of movie that would benefit a remake, perhaps more faithful to the source material ala Carpenter's The Thing.
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Actually I do care.Just because AICN have been upstaged by another site doesn't make it less newsworthy!!!
AICN doesn't have a monopoly on posting early reviews!!
Wat to go COLLIDER!!!!!!!
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May 15, 2008 1:28:44 PM CDT
Signs was good up until the end where...(spoilers for signs)
by turketron
**********SPOILERS FOR SIGNS**********
They revealed that the way to beat the aliens was with water. That was dumb as shit. The scene with the alien at the birthparty creeped me out though, when I saw it in the theater.The cause of "The Happening" sounds dumb. I won't be wasting money to see this, but if it's bad enough I'll find some way to see it like I did with Wicker Man. -
Too bad.
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In every film he does, the lead is obviously coached to deliver their lines flatly, monotonously, without emoition, as MNS must think this makes his film stylistic but actuallykills the performances dead. Willis was shit in SIXTH SENSE and UNBREAKABLE. GIBSON was shit is SIGNS. HURT and WEAVER were shit in THE VILLAGE. These are good, great and awesome actors, and there's no way it's their fault that their performances were shit. MNS is getting more egotistical with every movie (after his shit cameo in SIGNS, I can't WAIT to see how bad LADY IN THE WATER is) and THE HAPPENING just looks to be as bad. It's pretty hard to make Wahlberg a bad actor - he's fucking awesome in pretty much everything he's done, from the fluff like FOUR BROTHERS and ROCK STAR to the meatier roles like THE DEPARTED. There's no way the performance sucking in this movie is his fault.
Zooey Deschanel, meanwhile, may be a major league hottie, but she's been flat and monotonous in everything she's done, so she should do just fine in this. Sounds like a Twilight Zone episode, done po-faced and art-house, with no real ending and some godawful expositionary dialogue in it. I'll check out the DVD, and fuck MNS. CELL was a better end-of-the-world story anyway, and needs to be made - it was better than this shit sounds.]
Shyamalan, the secret's out. You're a one-hit wonder and fucking incapable of being that good again. Go home and watch your Spielberg DVDs for the rest of your life. -
No, the haters are WRONG! MNS LOVES me, he LOVES me! I KNOW the ending to SIGNS made no sense, and I KNOW the ending to UNBREAKABLE was slow and nonsensical, and a bit obvious, and I KNOW THE VILLAGE was fucking batshit insane, especially where MNS actualy explains what's going on as if it's not already obvious - but THIS TIME he WON'T fuck me over, he WON'T! He LOVES us ALL!!!!
All you MNS fans need counselling. You're not seeing something that the rest of us aren't - you are in fact using that excuse to pretend that you are smarter than everyone else, when in fact you just need to justify your need to be abused by every new MNS flick that comes along. You're as bad as George Lucas Prequel Trilogy apologists, and are the enemies of true cinema. Go and do something horrible to yourselves, you fucks. -
If you pay attention to the story, it is evident that the aliens aren't harmed by water, but by pollutants IN the water. This is set up when the omen-spewing daughter won't finish drinking a glass of water because "the water is bad".
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Yeah, Marky Mark's "With whhhhoom?" line is pretty bad simply b/c hardly anyone would actually say "whom" in real life. We would say "With who?" even though its technically improper. Shymalan, redeem thyself!
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I've always disliked M. Night. I'm ashamed that he had to be the director that made Unbreakable - a movie that I enjoy and own. But now I have an "M Night" movie sitting on my shelf! Arg! All of his other movies are crap. Yes, even the Sixth Sense. The twist was fine, but to me, the twist and the structure were the only interesting things about the film.
Our theater audibly groaned when M. Night's name came up for this trailer. And they actually laughed at it, when the trailer was over. Fuck this shit. -
...are just as frustrating as the people who think there are space aliens at the end of A.I. - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. They weren't aliens, but highly advanced robots excavating NYC in the search for their origins - and they fucking SAY so! On top of that, you can see the circuitry in their bodies, and they clearly 'download' information from David and display it on their faces like TV screens. That's robot shit. Say what you want about either film, but many of the detractors who get caught up on these points are just willfully ignorant.
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than see this movie. Incidentally, DerLanghaarige, I'm with you 100%.
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...until SIGNS. By that film, his formula and style had become all too clear, to the point where it was distracting. I'm afraid that M. Night has gone the way of the Nicholas Sparks novel franchise -- one or two big hits early on tentpoling the rest of his career.
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Love PLANET OF THE GRAPES - that would ROCK!!
The series of DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS was just awesome. There's many ways of doing a story like this, and the UK TV sci-fi stuff of the 1970s did it best - THE QUATERMASS CONCLUSION, like all the Quatermass stuff was fucking terrifying - and THAT'S how it should be done. But no: this will be full of flat, monotonous line reading, long slow dolly into close up shots, fuck all in the way of an advancing narrative, and the most egotistical cameo imaginable by this over-rated shitdog.
Mark Wahlberg - you should know better than this. This movie will suck balls. -
Lady in the water was a very nice modern fairy tale. If anyone expected anything else while seing it, its his own fault.
Sixt Sense was a good movie. And Unbreakable entertaining. Also the birthday-video-alien footage from Signs are some of the scariest seconds i've ever seen in a movie (and yes that includes the 500+ horror movies i've watched).
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good thing there are boards like this so people can spew their hatred here and not on the streets.
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...someone had to say it.
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May 15, 2008 2:02:17 PM CDT
"...people one by one shooting themselves, dropping the gun and
by nadine_cross
Hilarious. I was going to make a joke about how these people must work in a call center, but then I got bored, looked at some LOLCATS and stole a box of pens instead.
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Geez, people. I'm sure the guy has been dogged with that nickname since grade school. And I don't see how that's easier to type than Shyamalan.
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May 15, 2008 2:04:58 PM CDT
CAN WE PLEASE stop calling movies blockbusters before the even c
by funnyhat
totally defeats the purpose of letting bad movies die if we keep calling them blockbusters before they even make a cent!
maybe if we stopped calling movies-coming-out-6-months-from-now blockbusters they might stop m.night from getting a new directing job before his movie flops. -
so its fitting.
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search your etc
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I don't question your taste, I question your intellectual ability. if you are able to be entertained by that horrendous movie, I don't see how you can actually be cognitively together enough to hold a conversation.Roger Ebert said it best:"Eventually the secret of Those, etc., is revealed. To call it an anticlimax would be an insult not only to climaxes but to prefixes. It's a crummy secret, about one step up the ladder of narrative originality from It Was All a Dream. It's so witless, in fact, that when we do discover the secret, we want to rewind the film so we don't know the secret anymore.
And then keep on rewinding, and rewinding, until we're back at the beginning, and can get up from our seats and walk backward out of the theater and go down the up escalator and watch the money spring from the cash register into our pockets."amen brother. after that piece of dog shit, I have had zero urge to see anything Shyamalan has done. this is no exception. even though I'm engaged to Zooey Deschanel... -
Shyamalan is teh suck. Disgruntled plants? It's like he's not even trying anymore. Three strikes and you're out man. Tarantino's cameos in his movies are genius compared to this guy's mugging. Bleh...
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May be lovely and talented but she appears to have one expression in this, that of having sat on a porcupine. Which would probably be more fun than watching this to be honest.
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Sounds about as smart as aliens who are vulnerable to water invading a planet that's 70% water. Or a farmer who doesn't grow any crops. Stick to remaking old Twilight Zone episodes you hack motherfucker.
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*Drumroll*
*Crickets* -
Well...technically there are a lot of neurotoxins produced in nature that cause total mental breakdowns before actual death. And quite a lot of Desert dwelling species that are so moisture protective that an overload of water might theoretically cause some sort of injury.
Not that I'm defending some of these ideas. I don't think they're as moronic as some do. Personally I think the main problems with Sham were just repetition and ego. He'd have gotten away with more if he hadn't kept telling us he was a genius. And people tend to respect a Spielberg for trying something outside their usual genre. Night just never broke the style up. Even hitchcock made some very different looking things, even within a style.
But, seriously, how many clipped tone speaking Indian subcontinent Vetenarians are working in quiet white farm country? Maybe a lot...but stunt casting yourself really jars the viewer out of your genius fantasy reality... -
i know rerun died a couple of years ago, but couldnt M. include anyone from the original series?
does anyone at least say "Hey Hey Hey" -
M. Night tries to come across as a master storyteller, a master of suspense, the new Hitchcock. What he is in reality is a pretentious COCK! He got extremely lucky with Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but after that, it's been downhill baby. It's the same damn dog and pony show, only with different characters and different settings. As his movie cameos get bigger and longer, his ego gets more and more inflated. Worst of all, his "surprise" ending movies have become totally predictable. Add a scare here, a loud sound there, etc. It's the same formula and the public is dumb enough to eat it up. Here's hoping that eventually, the public wises up and the studios kick him out for good so that the only movie job he can get is directing Bollywood musicals...
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So far I've liked all his films. Not in their entirety but most of each enough to say I'm a big fan. For example, in The Village, how we are made to perceive the world through the blind girls eyes (as impossible as it sounds). M. Night really pulled it off. It was awesome. There's moments like that in all his films. Even though "Lady" wasn't that great, it had it's moments and I liked it. This new flick, sounds like it might really suck. However, I'm willing to bet it's got it's own "moment" that will make it worth seeing. However, I'm not fan of anti-climactic endings. So that worries me.
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He should do a Western. It might even suit his long slow shots. Although if he could steer clear of a broken family dynamic/divorce/etc and remember that when they say the Indians are coming they really mean Native Americans...
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Because if M.Night falls far enough, he might make that Unbreakable sequel we've all been dying for.
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to coincide with the career reboot Bruce Willis will be angling for too.
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and the twist about the sky is falling can be a meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs.
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If it's not the water but the pollutants in the water that kills the aliens but 99% of the people who watch the film think it's the water, then that's bad film making.
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casting M as judi dench's character M in Quantum of Solace.
that would rock. -
May 15, 2008 4:35:26 PM CDT
RATHER THAN PAY RILEY MARTIN ROYALTIES TO USE HIS VERSION...
by burgertime
From this day forth, let's just refer to M. Night as Shaymalameglomaniac. It's more fitting with his personality, and besides, I'll let you use it for free. ;)
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That's a fair point. I always thought that annoying little girl complaining about 'contaminated' water was supposed to hint at that later, but if you're going to have a twist in a mainstream thriller maybe you should explain to your audience better.
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His LADY IN THE WATER review was hilarious because he knew it was shit but had to praise it. He will do the same thing with this crapfest. When is Eli Roth's next movie coming out?
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Just cause I'm bored...
5. Gui Gon Jinn uses Lightsaber to burn down door – Phantom Menace:
This scene were Gui Gon jams his lightsaber into the blast doors on
the Trade Federation ship, is really the first time we see a Jedi
using the saber for something other then chopping up people or robots
(sure Luke used his saber to open that hatch on the ATAT but that's not bad ass enough). It just goes to show, there is no where you can’t go
with a lightsaber at your hip.
4. Palpatine at the opera with Anakin – Revenge of the Sith:
Not a scene that you would expect to be in a top 5 bad ass moments,
but this moment is quite possibly the most evil and threatening
interaction in the whole saga. The scene where Palpatine starts to
show his true colors and proceeds to tell Anakin a story about The
Sith is completely sinister. It works so beautiful due to the awesome
acting of Ian McDiarmid. Not a missed beat.
3. Battle on Hoth – Empire Strikes Back:
Sure it really doesn’t make sense to land AT-AT’s miles away and have
them lumber towards the rebel base giving them like an hours warning –
but hey, it sure looks cool, and the battle on Hoth is a blast to
watch. I am still amazed by the stop-motion FX in this almost 30 year
old movie. Good thing those snow speeders had tow cables that you
could fire at things.
2. Darth Vader breaks his straps from the operating table and yells
“NOOOO!” – Revenge of the Sith:
Just kidding.
2. The attack on the 2nd Death Star - Return of the Jedi:
By far the best space battle in all 6 of the films. A pimped out Lando
leads the rag-tag rebels against a ballzillon Tie Fighters, giant Star
Destroyers, at the same time the main cannon from the death star is
taking pot shots at cruisers. No longer just stroll down a trench, now
the rebels have to fly inside the death star to take it out. Epic!
1. Lightsaber duel between Obi Wan and Darth Maul (after Gui Gon gets
skewered) - Phantom Menace:
This "Blink and you Miss it" fight between a young Obi and Maul makes
wading thru the first 2 hours of Phantom Menace all worth it. These
two dudes honestly look like they are trying to kill each other the
fastest way possible – There is no slow-stalking or pussy-footin
around in this fight – No cutting random steam-pipes, or using the
force to throw a coffee cup across the room. All business.
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Great director, horrible writer. Put him on a Highsmith adaptation or a Hitchcock remake or something.
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Damn You Michael Bay
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Too much Prequels. They can't outnumber the original trilogy! DOES NOT COMPUTE! :)
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Could throw him one of these TinTin assignments. Tin Tin sees dead people or something. And kills his dog with a barbecue knife when it goes insane from alien meddling.
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If you saw the movie, you heard her say it. And then the aliens are discovered to be injured by water. That math is simple. If you are an observant filmgoer, I don't know what other evidence you need in order to put two-and-two together, here. If not, it isn't bad film-making - it's you and a bunch of other people not paying attention, OR, you and a bunch of angry Internet geeks looking for something to deride the film over because you hate M. Night Shyamalan. Believe me, I think his last two movies were garbage, and the new one looks just as bad. I'm no M. Night defender. But I'm not going to act stupid amd pretend I didn't hear the girl saying "the water is bad" before the aliens are driven off by water, just because the guy's let me down in other ways. But, if it makes you feel good, keep waving your torch and pitchfork over a problem that isn't a problem if you LISTEN.
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M. Night seems like an intelligent guy who happened to get lucky with his first film. Sort of like Wolfgang Peterson with his first film "Das Boot."
Unfortunately, while I respect the fact M. Night makes standalone movies (ie. no sequels), his storytelling ability has fallen into the toilet. Seriously, I haven't found one compelling character to feel or root for in any of his post-Sixth Sense movies. I didn't bother to see "Lady in the Water," which turned out to be a solid decision. "The Happening" seems like more of the same M. Night trying too hard and falling flat on his face storytelling.
My suggestion: M. Night should direct someone else's screenplay. Instead of continuing to work as a plummeting auteur, he should give up the need to anally control every single aspect of his moviemaking and find his inspiration again.
He needs to reboot, big time.
It sucks that such a good cast of actors was wasted on "The Happening." -
You could have been the next Hitchcock after The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable but you're quickly turning into the next Michael Bay. And damn him as well.
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"The Happening" is one of the stupidest names for a movie I've ever seen.
Something happened, huh? OooooooH! Something also happened in "The Simpsons", "Aliens", and "Shrek," but they didn't call those films "The Happening." They called them "The Simpsons," "Aliens", and "Shrek." See how alluding to something specific you'll see in the film helps?
"The Happening." Man... -
I don't know about you but I already can't wait for part 2 - "What's Happenin'"Someone or something is killing Rog, Dwayne, and Rerun. After a killer Lock and Pop dance rotine by Rerun the "twist" is revealed --- DeeDee is the behind the murders!
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Hey, lay off. Kill Bill was fucking great, and so was Death Motherfucking Proof. Sorry, you don't get to just say shit to hear yourself talk unless you earn it. Yeah, Dusk Till Dawn...shitty...fucking Kill Bill was the fat swinging tits, and Death Proof, while talky, was fucking great too (in my opinion). He's an egomaniac, but fuck, he earned it. And shit, man, Clerks II was fucking funny as well as Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Kevin Smith is a funny prick, too. But the point is, that you 'net dudes LOOOOVE busting balls...Especially on guys like Smith and Tarantino.
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"I question your intellectual ability." I was going to say the same thing about anyone who holds up a Roger Ebert review as the standard for film criticism. I'm sorry, I respect the guy, but sometimes he's so off the mark it's funny. His 'Village' review was the most egregious example. My intellectual ability is just fine, thanks, and I thought the Village was very interesting, intelligent, and an excellent parable for our times. And I'm probably the only person on this site (besides Harry) who loved Lady in the Water, because I love the art of storytelling, which the film was an homage to. I love stories about storytelling. Maybe that makes me pretentious and 'meta' (the same thing that people here have criticized Neil Gaiman for being), but I can live with it, you know, with my intellectual ability and all. So I'm going to reserve judgment on this one, because the MNS haters are usually wrong. Not that Night's incapable of making a bad movie, but I haven't seen one yet, despite what anyone else here says.
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or that 99% of the people here can't pay attention to a simple plot point.
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Now, you can tell an M. Night movie just by the way it looks. I hope everyone knows what I'm talking about. The colors and compositions and whatnot.
Anyone else think his movies' visual signature looks lame? I almost want to describe it as plastic-y...I can't quite put my finger on it, but everything seems kind of LIFELESS - and this is even aside from the performances.
I hope someone knows what I mean. -
How terrible is that trailer clip of people in the Happening flying to their deaths?! It really looks awful
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I'm a little 13 year old with blue hair who wears gigantic glasses...but maybe someday Lisa will go out with me anyway...
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really like M Night's compositions. He does empty scenic tracking with a sense of haunting brilliance. I know plenty of people who hate the look of it but aesthetic is hard for everyone to agree on.
I always admired his limited use of CGI or trick shots. But he really could try some variety. -
... and at that moment the trailer came on the TV. It was like my own little Happening! Creepy!
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Maybe I read that wrong or am imagining things. That just seems weird to me. The score was recorded months ago.
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Most out here are blsting a film no one has even seen yet. Over on another post most over there are blasting the ones who didn't care for speed racer as "not having seen it". Ironic.
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The prequel.
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The Sixth Sense 80%, Unbreakable 60%, Signs 40%, The Village 20%, The Lady in the Water 0%, The Happening .20%. Damn, I was so hoping for an improvement this time to bring his score up TO..........FUCKING 0%.
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Because they are pretty decent and that's about how long before he loses
our attention. -
Was funny.
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I agree that his movies make for good trailers. I think that the thing is that, given that the trailers don't have the "twist endings" and allow people to speculate what the movie is about, trailers get the upper hand against his movies. I remember reading here a talkback where people were trying to guess the ending of The Village, most of those proposed endings would've been better than the one in the movie.
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May 15, 2008 8:07:02 PM CDT
Those laughing at the concept of 'green revenge'
by clancy van lustbader
really should check out John Wyndham's 'Day of the Triffids'. There was a British television miniseries made of this in '81 and, though low-budget, as you'd expect, it is creepy and superbly realised. Thankfully it's been rereleased and you should be able to find it on DVD easily enough. Anyone who hasn't seen it and likes dystopian visions of hubristic mankind getting its comeuppance should see this one. Weirdly enough started watching it again last night after having not watched it in ages. Also, if the beginning reminds you of anything it was the same one used by Danny Boyle in '28 Days Later' (deliberately so, I expect).
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interesting comparison. I have enjoyed most of MKnight's films, with the exception of Lady in the Water. My rankings:
1. Unbreakable – A terrific take on the comic book hero. Made the lead character real. Human. Personal. What Spielberg did with War of the Worlds. An intimate portrayal of a story typically seen in movies as a large canvas with world wide effects. See it through the lense of a family closest to the events made it more relatable. Plus, the climax between David and the man in Orange is so kickass I could watch it over and over and frequently have. I am still waiting for the sequel. Hint hint. In addition, I think MKnight has the least amount of screen time & words to speak, which is of course, merciful.
2. Signs – Despite the flaws (and they are there) I thought it was even better than what Spielberg did with wotw. I didn’t get caught up with all the ‘water’ & ‘wood’ complaints. He didn’t explain it and I didn’t think he needed to. I was captivated from beginning to end. But what he did need to explain was why he felt the need to act again. My god, hearing him utter those words “I don’t think they like water and such” or whatever he was babbling took me right out of the movie. Thank goodness for that next scene. Also…Gibson was great. So were the kids.
3. Sixth Sense – Liked it. Didn’t love it. Good story, good acting (cept’ for MKnight of course) all around and nifty mood. Great twist. But with the great twist came my biggest complaint. He cheated. Spoiler* But does anyone not know the twist? But, just in case…spoiler again….Why was Willis the only one of the, you know what that, CHANGED HIS CLOTHES? One scene he has a tie on. The next he doesn’t. One scene he has on a coat. The next scene he doesn’t. Cheating folks. None of the other, you know what, changed their clothes. Cheat. Cheat. Cheat. Didn’t think about it till later, but nonetheless…cheating!
4. The Village – I saw the ‘twist’ coming a mile away. Maybe it’s because I grew up in Boston and have been to Plymouth Plantation and Sturbridge Village over and over as a kid. Who knows. Plus the acting was wooden. No pun intended. But at least we only get a refection of MKnight and not a full blown cameo.
5. Lady in the Water – MKnight must have had a breakdown between this and the Village. What was he thinking? What an ego trip. Now he’s the hero in his own film? A film that goes out of its’ way to murder a movie critic? And the story? Huh? What story? Please. Nuff said.
So the fact that he is trying to go back to a Signs type film I will give him some slack and wait for the movie.
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This guy went from being the next James Cameron to the next Uwe Bol!
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So...I guess the Man Who Is Scared of House Plants was right.
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Glad to see some love for Day of the Triffids here. I love the Wyndham book. I thought that 28 Days Later was actually a really good indirect adaptation of Day of the Triffids. I love Shamalien talkbacks. I'd contribute by explaining why Signs is the biggest insult to intelligence ever committed on the the moviegoing populace but what can I say that hasn't already been said.
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The poltergeist tree will be back!
So plants decide to wipe us out and make things back the way they were before humans or something.
Everytime I hear someone say "plants like being talked to" or "do plants and trees feel pain when we chop them down"
I always wonder what they might do if this was true, and releasing an unknown toxin to kill us all is a cool idea.
LOL, remember the Ents from lord of the rings? -
It's in my top 5 favorite movies of all time and was scariest on the first viewing but works on other levels every time I watch it. Pure Hitchcockian moviemaking.
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...I think you all sound like me - Outwardly calling M Night a hack, but really - you actually (secretly) enjoyed all his films, and despite yourselves, can't wait to see this film so you can enjoy it... but then diss it so you're cool like everyone else.
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May 15, 2008 10:09:43 PM CDT
WHO GIVES A FUCK ABOUT LATINO REVIEW????Shyamalan is a VERY tale
by proman1984
Thesese guys are morons. This movie should be good.
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The "twist" in Happening is that...
wait for it...
NOTHING HAPPENS!!!
And Bruce Willis didn't happen the whole time, either.
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I hope they STOP givin money to this CRAP of a "director" if you can call him that and for all you that say "WELL THE 6 SENS ITS GREATTT" well it a ripof of an other movie
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Oh man, that review depresses me. I was so looking forward to this movie. Reviews suck for destroying the already naive view we hold of a film, ha but we can't resist reading them.
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(Possible Spoiler)* …is being compared to The Happening. Now, I love the movie. Always have. And Howard Keel was great as the american in the Brit production on European soil. But the Triffids were aliens (albeit alien plants), not home-grown grass, trees and flowers. And their Achilles Heel is closer to Signs. I kept thinking how MNight probably tried to combine the birds with Signs mixed with an fashionable go-green message.
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A farmer whose jaw gets bigger and bigger and BIGGER!
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I'm in shock that someone here actually agrees with me about the Village. Your description was dead on. I remember when I saw it, I thought it was an excellent allegory for the immediate post-9/11 mood of the country.
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if you enjoyed The Village, and you really didn't see the hackneyed twist coming, then more power to you. but I won't be picking you as my trivial pursuit partner. I'm sorry, buddy.and since when does quoting a review that I agree with mean that I think the reviewer is god's gift? Ebert's review of Crash is about as far from my opinion as I think anyone could have been, to the point where it almost makes me angry how much he missed the point. Kenneth Turan's review of Crash was exactly my take on it. on the other hand, Turan's review of Fight Club is one of the most retarded things I've ever read in my life, and I taught high schoolers how to write essays for 3 years...if a review gets it right, in your opinion, no reason not to cite it. it's not always so black and white.
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Regarding your minor complaint that Bruce Willis changes clothes in Sixth Sense, Wikipedia has this "All of the clothes Malcolm wears during the movie are items he wore or touched the evening before his death, which included his overcoat, his blue sweater and the different layers of his suit."
Sleep soundly, now ;] -
You better fire Ari for this one. He almost got you the Oscar like he promised for the Departed and then he gets you this.
Now that I think about it, E and Ari probably fought hard over this one. This was E's script decision, right?
Who gets the axe, Ari or E. I'll check HBO later this year to see. -
I can say with sincerity that the man made a very promising start with Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and yes, even Signs (which despite it's flaws still masterfully sets up suspense in scene after scene generating significant tension.It saddens me then to see someone with obvious directing potential and ability with a camera fail at storytelling. As other level heads here have mentioned, it would be best for him to direct someone else's screenplay for a while until he can figure out where the guy who wrote the Sixth Sense, Signs and Unbreakable went and bring him back.
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It probably went something like this.
Ari: "Are you fucking crazy Vince! We're this close to that Golden dildo and you want to do a Shyamalan movie. You're better off doing a german schizer video with Richard Simmons"
E: "Fuck you Ari. This is M's comeback piece. Did you read the fuckin script."
Ari: "Oh now it's "M"? Fuck you "E"! Tell "M" to write a script for you, about a clueless dickhead, posing as a big-time Hollywood manager, searching for his lucky charms! We'll get Verne Troyer casted to play you!" -
Aliens who have mastered intergalactic space travel invade a planet covered with a substance that eats their asses up like sulfuric acid and yet they wear no protective clothing. Ever stopped to think about how much mosture is in our air? It would have eaten their eyes and lungs out. Why wasn't the dew on the ground eating their bare feet off? Why did humans even need to discover that water killed them when that 34 inch baseball bat seemed to be pretty effective as well?
And lets not even mention such a highly evoloved species being unable to defeat a simple locked farmhouse door. LOL! I guess somewhere on the path to developing spaceships capable of light speed the concept of a simple pry bar slipped right past them. LOL! "Honey, the signs aliens are back." "No worries sugar, just lock the door and I'll get the water hose." LOL! Scaaarrry stuff there boys. -
but M. fooked another one up.....evil plants.
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but M. fooked another one up.....evil plants.
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And begging to be adapted again. The great thing about Triffids (the book) is that the alien-plants only become a menace due to ANOTHER disaster that blinds the planet- and it is completely man-made. Also, I love the idea that you can get tolerant to Triffid venom. It's just a great book, and the BBC series scared the shit out of me as a kid. Wyndham was years ahead of his time, and totally needs rediscovering- see The Kraken Wakes as well.
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Sixth Sense- crap. I remember seeing a panel/ arts program where they were talking about it, and 2 of the critics loved it. The third critic and the host fucking hated it- it isn't scary. To prove their point they demonstrated his whole technique- slowly do a close up and then whack in a minor key note and voila, SCARY. Unbreakable was OK, but no more than that, Signs was shit- "SWING AWAY", awful hokey garbage. The Villaige was worse and I refuse to watch Lady, so can't comment. I will also not be watching this.
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Damn you to hell!
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to see Wahlberg apologise to a plant. Im there opening night, drunk.
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I can't wait to see what part M. Knight will give himself this time.
oh, i found this great new blog on blogspot by this frustrated network producer. he rants about showbiz. it's called: thebitterproducer
check it! -
Are dead balls on accurate in their assessment of M Night and his films. And I know they're dead balls on accurate because I used a I used a Craftsman model 1019 Laboratory Edition Signature Series torque wrench. The kind used by Caltech high energy physicists. And NASA engineers.The aliens in Signs were so bumbling there should have been a scene on their spaceship where they slapped each other, pulled out hair, grabbed noses with pliers, had a test of wills with a clam in a bowl of chowder and found a loose wire and ripped it out of the wall only to find it was crucial to keeping their ship in the air.I was really crapping on Unbreakable recently because I thought that movie looked like hammered shit but I've added it to my movie queue so I'll give it another try, but Sings and the Village were so dreadfully bad, I couldn't even bring myself to watch Lady.This guy took a page out of Lucas' book and let his ego get the best of him and refused to listen to critical advice. I don't hate on George but he's not a filmmaker, at least not lately, that you should want to emulate.
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WOW, I find it amazing that in a early review of a movie about killer plants, not every other post has just been the word Plant. Either TB's are growing up, or we all just really hate M. Night. ehhhh i think its the later.
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As a ficus.
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Even though directors never do this because there egos get in the way. Imagine a Wes Anderson and M. Night collaberation? That could be interesting. It would be weird. I am not putting Wes on the same level at M. Night, he is more talanted but he has the same one shtick like M. Night. And his most recent movie The Darjing Limited was pretty awful. The only good scene was the begining where The Penist and Murray were racing to get to the train.
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Was by Robot Chicken. They have him doing stuff like standing over a stove, cracking an egg, a roll of quarters drops out and then turns tot he camera and says, "What a twist!"
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Remember that visa commercial he did a while back? Like I was watching it and at first I thought? Who the fuck is this? Then I realized, and I thought would the average joe know who he was?
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All I remember him doing was schlepping a credit card. And it was bad. Not even remotely funny like the Seinfeld ones.
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Is was like in a resturante and there were references to old horror films and hitchcock. talking about where he gets his inpiration from. They should've just had him going to best buy and buying the twilight zone and outer limits box sets.
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THE FEEL,THE MUSIC,THE STORY,THE CHARACTERS.I'VE LIKED ALL MNS WORK WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE VILLAGE.I DID GET THE MESSAGE HE WAS TRYING TO CONVEY WITH IT.
I GUESS IT BOILS DOWN TO MAKE YOUR OWN OPINIONS AND DECIDE WHAT YOU LIKE -
You do realize you ripped off Eli Roth with your little jokes, right? (i.e. Farmageddon)
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they killed the Aliens by spitting on them. The spit would be like a bullet hitting them. Drunk rednecks could of pissed on them. Now that would of been a movie.
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Yes he did. You might miss the performance because it's so good, but if you stay for the credits you'll see:
Plastic Plant----------M
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He's only been wasting time and money since.
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you managed to point out the main flaw of the Villagehaters argument. You seem to judge the movie's merit on whether you see the twist coming or not. The twist is NOT the point. Of course I saw the twist coming. If you pay attention to the movie, there are various hints throughout about what's really going on. Because of 6th Sense, weak critics and viewers have pegged MNS as the 'twist' director, and when they're not blown away by the ending of one of his films like they were with 6th sense, they call him a hack. Sometimes the twist is there to actually serve a thematic purpose, not just to shock audiences. I saw it coming, but I didn't care because it was a good story with a great allegorical theme that the 'twist' merely emphasized.
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Shayamalan for most frustrating director in film. I, like most, really want to like this guy. His framing, cinematography, direction of actors and dialog are wonderful but it's all for naught. His actual storytelling is awful. Sixth Sense, The Village; in both films I could see the "twist" coming from a mile away. So much so that i dismiss my first conclusions as being to obvious until the third act when I discover my original instincts where correct which makes for a very frustrating movie going experience. Unbreakable I think, is damn near perfect, other than that I could do without another obvious or ludicrous explanation for the inexplicable events that take place in his films. The Village was the ultimate burn for me. I was captivated by the setup, the wonderful sustained shots, the pacing and caliber of the actors performances and that hypnotic violin score, then; in the third act, it just slapped me in the face with two inept plot points in a row followed by the most obvious and clunky exposition scene in the last decade. Watching this guys films makes me feel like the young girl in an amateur porn film who's really enjoying the sex until the dude pulls out and shoots his load in her eye and makes her feel cheap and used. I didn't even bother to see Lady in the Water. The only thing that could get me back into the theater to sit through another one of his films would be an Unbreakable sequel. Such a talented filmmaker. It's just such a damn shame. It really is. They should never have stuck him with that "the next Spielberg" label. He was fucked from that moment on. Too bad.
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"Has M Night Shyamalan lost his goddamn mind?" the Philadelphia Weekly's Sean Burns demands to know. "That's the only logical excuse for Lady in the Water, the Philly-based writer/director/egomaniac's convulsive seizure of narcissism that's so nakedly personal - and also so unintentionally, hilariously revealing - watching the movie feels a bit like walking in on your roommate while he's masturbating... to a picture of himself."
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That is a cop out. I don't care what the POST 'explanation' is. Sure I've heard MNight himself say that. Who cares? When the major twist involves information the audience has no knowlege of based on what's on the screen IT IS A COP OUT! When did anyone in the film talk about this or show it??? WE WERE SHOWN ALL THE OTHER 'PEOPLE' NOT CHANGING. WEARING THE CLOTHES THEY DIED IN!! NOT WEARING "THE DAY THEY DIED" PERIOD. WHY DIDN'T THEY CHANGE? This was done to throw people off track. If only one of them had changed clothes, other than Willis, then the twist would have been on the screen for us to figure out or not figure out. But when it's done like this it is a Cheat, Cheat, Cheat. Those are the rules of what the film gives us. I don't need some stupid post explanation to explain a HUGE CHEAT. It's either up there on the screen or it's not. Now you sleep tight now. nighty night.
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having an obvious twist. it's another thing havinga twist that makes no fucking sense. Plus, the big "does everything happen for a reason" question isn't why did the little girl leave half empty water glasses all over the house, it was "what as the cosmic neccessity of Mel Gibson's wife dying?" which was never really answered as it had nothing to do with saving the world or his family from aliens. Village was good allegory on the power of myth to both control people and to totally fuck them up. And I theught the last act had some solid girl power moements. Phoenix was great throughout. hurt was good and Adrien Brody was suitably disturbing. Lady in the Water had Paul Giamatti and was worth watching for him alone. Sixth Sense and Unbreakable were just awesome.
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didn't cast himself turning to hamburger under the industrial mower?
http://www.joblo.com/excl-red-band-happening -
you HAVE to be kidding. if it's not necessary as a "twist", then why pop it in right at the end, why hit everyone over the head by appearing yourself in the film and explaining it? you're either very naive, or you really want to like it and are willing to just plain lie in service of Shyamalan.the movie was really weak as any type of allegory, and if you really think that the twist was "unimportant", then why on earth was it presented as it was? if the movie was allegorical, why on earth was it necessary to keep the obvious, film school, wannabe twilight zone twist til the very end, ominously presented with "look how clever" music playing? face it, he thought it would blow people's minds, and the only people who fell for it were the galactically stupid, or children. somehow, you DIDN'T fall for it, and yet somehow still enjoyed it.and again, more power to you. but this is not a matter of taste, as I said. it's a matter of intellect. you simply see bigger things in the movie than are really there because you don't want to admit to yourself that it's a pile.just admit it, you will feel a lot better.
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