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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
 Posted - 07/12/2006 : 1:49:15 PM
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M. Night Shyamalan is without a doubt one of the most talented filmmakers to come on the Hollywood scene over the past few years. Unfortunately, and I'm cutting to the chase here, since his meteoric rise with The Sixth Sense there has been a slow but discernible dropoff in the quality of his films. It would seems that M. Night has read too much of his own press, that with sudden success comes the inevitable headiness which leads some filmmakers to believe they can "do no wrong" as they embark on questionable, even ill-advised projects. (Two words: Michael Cimino.)
By the time M. Night's The Village hit theaters, it became clear that he was no longer holding himself to the same exacting standards that were once his hallmark. One could certainly make the same argument about Signs; the only distinction I would draw is that Signs did boast many effective moments showcasing M. Night's innate directorial skill. The plot had more holes than a PGA masters tournament and too many one-dimensional characters paraded across the corners of the screen. But the movie still worked, despite itself. The Village, on the other hand, was DOA. Sincere, well-acted, but a dud nonetheless.
The question arises: what do you think of the prospects for M. Night's next film, due out shortly? Do you think M. Night has indulged his One From the Heart-phase and is ready to return to his Godfather/Conversation roots? (/overbearing Coppola analogy off). Or do you predict that he will sink lower and lower until he becomes a parody of himself?
Some might argue he's gotten there already. |
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Terrahawk
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
644 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2006 : 3:23:43 PM
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The Village, while far from his best film, wasn't really the dud everyone makes it out to be.
Now, I will admit I am somewhat concerned, based on the trailers, about this upcoming film. However, I've tried to avoid learning anything about it. I think he makes a certain type of film and you tend to like it or you don't. The Sixth Sense had the big twist which collected a lot more people than his style would typically draw. Maybe the way to look at it is that he collected a lot more fans than one would expect for his type of films and now we are witnessing that fan base settle to a more understandable level.
The ROPe gives you three options, convert, submit, or die. There is a fourth, resist. |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2006 : 6:02:22 PM
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I totally agree about M. Night buying into his own press. I can't remember if it's an actual DVD feature, or something I read about and just imagine I saw, but basically it involved him sitting in a restaurant doing an interview and basically saying "I'm a genius of suspense. I can make up a twist about anybody, like that girl sitting over there for example and you'll just crap because you could never have thought of it. I can blow your mind". The Village was OK in my book, but could have been a great movie if it didn't go for the cheap twist which a friend of mine actually called correctly when the movie was announced, let alone when he saw it.
I think he needs a huge, certifiable Heaven's Gate style flop to kick him in the butt, get him off the twist ending cliche-coaster and maybe back to realizing his potential. This might be it- we'll have to see!
Coming soon-
Eraserhead: The Musical!! |
Edited by - Sardu on 07/12/2006 6:03:24 PM |
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Cannon Fodder
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
Australia
176 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2006 : 04:27:01 AM
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| I can't help but think that M. Night Shyamalandingdong is a better director than he is a writer. The scripts for his last two movies- The Village and Signs were really not the best but with both movies I felt Shyamalan's direction was pretty good- the way he would execute a suspense scene, create a sense of menace and so on. In Signs the tension of the situation was well developed and there were many very effective scenes but the story was full of holes and the script was incredibly heavy handed in hammering its message home. In The Village he really could have gotten less wooden performances out of the cast but I think that had a lot to do with the creaky script. I'd like to see him working with somebody else's script rather than have him try to outdo himself in the twisty, self important story department. |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2006 : 12:03:13 PM
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Woah- apparently he's given himself a huge part in the film- almost the second lead. This may get ugly.
Coming soon-
Eraserhead: The Musical!! |
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Triviachamp
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
254 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2006 : 12:46:58 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Sardu
I can't remember if it's an actual DVD feature, or something I read about and just imagine I saw, but basically it involved him sitting in a restaurant doing an interview and basically saying "I'm a genius of suspense. I can make up a twist about anybody, like that girl sitting over there for example and you'll just crap because you could never have thought of it. I can blow your mind".
I believe this incident is described in a book about his upcoming film Lady in the Water. |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2006 : 1:53:50 PM
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One thing separating Sixth Sense from M. Night's later work (such as The Village) is the Sixth Sense's plot twist wasn't its sole reason for being.
The heart of the movie lies with Haley Joel Osment coming to grips with his own demons and healing the rift with his mother. You could have ended the film right after that final scene between Osment and Toni Collette and the audience would have walked away satisfied. Heartwarming story, likable characters, a few good scares; that's worth the price of admission. Or M. Night could have gone one step further and tacked on a conventional Bruce Willis-makes-up-with-wifey scene and the results would also have been positive.
By contrast, The Village's entire raison-d'etre is a build-up to the final plot twist. If you cut that, what else is there?
BTW, my favorite review of M. Night's last film is here:
[url]http://www.flipsidemovies.com/village.html[/url]
Rob Vaux sums it up more eloquently than I ever could. |
Edited by - zombiewhacker on 07/13/2006 1:56:01 PM |
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twitterpate
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Canada
1026 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2006 : 3:29:15 PM
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Zombiewhacker, I think you hit the nail squarely on the head. What people loved about The Sixth Sense was not the twist ending, or at least not only that. It was a satisfying human drama that had an extra treat at the end that one didn't expect, like an extra chocolate truffle served after a delicious dinner. Now we wait for the truffle, ignoring the fact that the dinner itself is tending more towards a Big Mac.
Perhaps M. Night could surprise us all by doing a non-supernatural drama WITHOUT a twist, leaving us to walk out of the theatre gasping "You mean what we thought was going on WAS going on?" |
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Ericb
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
648 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2006 : 4:50:22 PM
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' I can't remember if it's an actual DVD feature, or something I read about and just imagine I saw, but basically it involved him sitting in a restaurant doing an interview and basically saying "I'm a genius of suspense. I can make up a twist about anybody, like that girl sitting over there for example and you'll just crap because you could never have thought of it. I can blow your mind". '
It was an American Express Commercial.
"I reserve the right to look as well as be boring." - Robert Fripp |
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UnknownSubject
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Australia
212 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2006 : 02:17:30 AM
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See, I think the twist in "The Village" isn't that much of a twist but that the message of the film would have remained the same without it. As such, it served to indicate that regardless of their trappings, those in the village suffered from the exact same malaise as the world they left.
On the other hand, I think "The Sixth Sense" was a mostly average film (with some great suspense scenes) that is enhanced greatly by the twist at the end.
However, I do think it wouldn't hurt for Shyalaman to just direct someone else's script for a change, or to do a romantic comedy as a change of pace.
Spandex Cinema
http://sc.thebeholder.org
Latest Review(s) - Heckler King takes on "Bibleman: Shattering the Prince of Pride"; I stay awake for "Tank Girl" |
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Terrahawk
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
644 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2006 : 06:13:12 AM
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US, I agree with you. "The Sixth Sense" was a hit because of the twist ending. It would not have gotten the attention and audience without it. At best, it would have been a minor hit drama. This gets back to my original contention that his popularity is really settling back to it's more natural level and he's not heading to Jabootu-land.
However, why would you curse him with a romantic comedy. :-)
The ROPe gives you three options, convert, submit, or die. There is a fourth, resist. |
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Flangepart
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
2329 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2006 : 2:49:05 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by twitterpate
Zombiewhacker, I think you hit the nail squarely on the head. What people loved about The Sixth Sense was not the twist ending, or at least not only that. It was a satisfying human drama that had an extra treat at the end that one didn't expect, like an extra chocolate truffle served after a delicious dinner. Now we wait for the truffle, ignoring the fact that the dinner itself is tending more towards a Big Mac.
Perhaps M. Night could surprise us all by doing a non-supernatural drama WITHOUT a twist, leaving us to walk out of the theatre gasping "You mean what we thought was going on WAS going on?"
Twists depend on the same internal logic of any plot and genre combination. Do it badly, and it indeed is "What!?"
Also, it makes for short entrys over at MOVIE POOPER . Com!
P.S. Current flick....werewolves Vs. the lady of the lake? Is this the plot? Now what is he up to, and what twist is he gonna do with that concept?
"Cole, stop handing Dr. Doom the Keys to the Baxter building." Brent Sienna/PvP.
"I speak 34 different languages. But gibberish is not one of them."- Danger Mouse.
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2006 : 4:26:00 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Terrahawk
... he's not heading to Jabootu-land.
Well, when Lady in the Water comes out, we'll see. :)
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BrainFromArous
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
USA
102 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2006 : 8:24:01 PM
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I rather liked Unbreakable, which nobody else has yet mentioned.
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Boards don't hit back.
(Bruce Lee) |
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John Doe
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
USA
91 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2006 : 6:13:07 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by BrainFromArous
I rather liked Unbreakable, which nobody else has yet mentioned.
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Boards don't hit back.
(Bruce Lee)
I liked it also. It is the only movie he has made that I could watch all the way through. Signs and Sixth Sense, to me, were so over laden with "atmosphere" that they became unwatchable.
my eyes!! the goggles do nothing!! |
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JazzyJ
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
USA
114 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2006 : 5:46:05 PM
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Well, it seems like the hoary call of Jabootu is indeed being sounded by "Lady". Here are some quotes from reviewers who LIKED the movie. (And, believe me, there aren't many on RottenTomatoes: [url]http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lady_in_the_water/[/url] )
"Or, maybe it's that you should try to score some of that stuff Shyamalan must be smoking."
"The critic in me wants to boo and hiss and cry in disappointment. The 5-year-old in me wants to stand up and applaud."
"And still... it’s easier to appreciate Lady in the Water than it is to embrace it emotionally"
And my personal favorite:
"I laughed, I cried, I jumped in my seat, I dreamed. It's E.T. all over again."
Sign me up!
Jazzy J
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