Another load of Shyamalan

He's not directing this one. He's producing it. I first saw the trailer before Inception and everybody reacted the same way. As soon as his name popped up the entire theatre groaned. I find his career fascinating. He went from being hailed as the next best thing to people groaning when they hear his name.
 
He's gone from once being the most exciting talent in film to now being the laughing stock of Hollywood.

EDIT: Beat me to it Ole!
 
He's not directing this one. He's producing it. I first saw the trailer before Inception and everybody reacted the same way. As soon as his name popped up the entire theatre groaned. I find his career fascinating. He went from being hailed as the next best thing to people groaning when they hear his name.
Lady in the water did that.

Before that Unbreakable was not hailed as a success but did get some cult following.

Signs got mixed reviews. Village was panned by many but not laughed at.
 
He's gone from once being the most exciting talent in film to now being the laughing stock of Hollywood.

EDIT: Beat me to it Ole!

Funny, a Mexican journalist suggested just that to him at a presser recently and he didn't take it very well

 
Theres something about all his films, even the worst ones, that I find appealing. He's got a good eye for a shot and is good with suspense and atmosphere. There's also a very small fraction of Rod Serling's genius about him.

His biggest problem is characters and relationships, directing actors and not having an editor that tells him to cut the fecking stupid bits out of his scripts.
 
I quite like the look of that tbh, seems like Paranormal Activity but in an elevator....actualy, on second thought..
 
Is that Tom Hardy?

One of the finest actors out there at the moment IMO. If gets much time on screen this could actually be pretty decent, despite Shamalamadingdong's reverse midas touch.

Oh and I thought this comment on youtube was quite amusing;

Well, obviously, there is a, devil, in the elevator. He climbing in the vents, bitin yo people up, tryin to kill em, so y'all need to hid yo kids, hide yo wife, and hide yo husband, cuz they bitin eurbody out here.
 
Is that Tom Hardy?

One of the finest actors out there at the moment IMO. If gets much time on screen this could actually be pretty decent, despite Shamalamadingdong's reverse midas touch.

Oh and I thought this comment on youtube was quite amusing;

No its not, although he's got a few leading roles comng up. One as a MMA fighter, another as the new mad max.
 
No its not, although he's got a few leading roles comng up. One as a MMA fighter, another as the new mad max.

MMA and Mad Max.

Two of my favourite things.

excellent.jpg
 
I dont know why he's been laughed at actually. Most of his movies were quite good.
 
You seen Bronson, up its own arse and badly written but his acting is brilliant in it.

Yeah, arguably the best individual acting performance all year IMO (mind you, is the film over a year old? possibly).

He was also superb in a much worse movie, Rock-n-Rollah.

I haven't seen Inception but I hear he's the best thing in it.

I've never made any bets on actors/movies but I wonder what odds you'd get on him winning an Oscar at some point in the next decade? Easy money.
 
Theres something about all his films, even the worst ones, that I find appealing. He's got a good eye for a shot and is good with suspense and atmosphere. There's also a very small fraction of Rod Serling's genius about him.

His biggest problem is characters and relationships, directing actors and not having an editor that tells him to cut the fecking stupid bits out of his scripts.

IIRC he had a no-edit clause in his contract after 6th Sense - sort of a: "I'm that rare breed of american artiste who can also deliver the cash so you money-grubbing suits can rest easy in keeping your hands off the screenplay: no matter how obtuse it may seem, it'll work. So don't worry."

Perhaps similar to what Thomas Harris had when he wrote Hannibal.

He seems to be a filmmaker with european sensibilities trapped in a lowest-common denominator market, and then saddled with an ego that puts him in the position of "bringing high art to the uncomprehending masses."

The Happening is a very good example of this, COMPLETELY misunderstood by the critics, who then went and told the public precisely what the film wasn't about, and Shyamalan too stubborn in his elitist "if you didn't get it then the film wasn't for you" stance to bother trying to explain what he was trying to say.
 
Probably because of the other movies. The really really shit ones.

Which ones? So you really think 6th Sense, Signs, The Village and Unbreakable are shit movies? And by shit you mean Vin Diesel and J.C. van Damme shit?!
 
Yeah, arguably the best individual acting performance all year IMO (mind you, is the film over a year old? possibly).

He was also superb in a much worse movie, Rock-n-Rollah.

I haven't seen Inception but I hear he's the best thing in it.

I've never made any bets on actors/movies but I wonder what odds you'd get on him winning an Oscar at some point in the next decade? Easy money.

2 years but it didn't get a major film distributor so went to dvd pretty quick in the uk in July 2009 and small distribution worldwide in december. Harry Knowles put it in his top 10 films of the year and had this to say.
This is the first film of his to crack one of my top tens, but I have the distinct impression it won’t be his last. And if Tom Hardy doesn’t get nominated for Best Actor – there’s a crime taking place!
Yes he is the best thing in Inception and you can easily imagine him as the next bond because of it.
 
IIRC he had a no-edit clause in his contract after 6th Sense - sort of a: "I'm that rare breed of american artiste who can also deliver the cash so you money-grubbing suits can rest easy in keeping your hands off the screenplay: no matter how obtuse it may seem, it'll work. So don't worry."

Perhaps similar to what Thomas Harris had when he wrote Hannibal.

He seems to be a filmmaker with european sensibilities trapped in a lowest-common denominator market, and then saddled with an ego that puts him in the position of "bringing high art to the uncomprehending masses."

The Happening is a very good example of this, COMPLETELY misunderstood by the critics, who then went and told the public precisely what the film wasn't about, and Shyamalan too stubborn in his elitist "if you didn't get it then the film wasn't for you" stance to bother trying to explain what he was trying to say.

Maybe that's understandable from the point of view that The Happening got literally destroyed before the viewer even had the chance to ponder about it. The Village received the same criticism despite being a wonderful fairy tale type of story, with a subtle emphasis of the importance of love and a little twist in the end.

Not really getting the whole issue here.
 
Maybe that's understandable from the point of view that The Happening got literally destroyed before the viewer even had the chance to ponder about it. The Village received the same criticism despite being a wonderful fairy tale type of story, with a subtle emphasis of the importance of love and a little twist in the end.

Not really getting the whole issue here.

You still haven't mentioned his two worst movies.

The ones that made him a laughing stock.

The really really shit ones :)
 
You still haven't mentioned his two worst movies.

Lady in the Water was awful. Absolutely don't know what that was all about. The Happening was very good. Intentionally silly acting and silly dialogues with a little bit of horror and suspense. It felt like a Twilight Zone episode. Nothing wrong with that.
 
Lady in the Water was awful. Absolutely don't know what that was all about. The Happening was very good. Intentionally silly acting and silly dialogues with a little bit of horror and suspense. It felt like a Twilight Zone episode. Nothing wrong with that.

Lady in the Water was unbelievably bad. Some of the other ones were ok (I kind of liked The Village) but surely you can see why he's a bit of a laughing stock?

I haven't actually seen his worst movie yet (and never will) but apparently The Last Airbender is one of the most hilariously awful movies ever made.
 
Lady in the Water was unbelievably bad. Some of the other ones were ok (I kind of liked The Village) but surely you can see why he's a bit of a laughing stock?

I haven't actually seen his worst movie yet (and never will) but apparently The Last Airbender is one of the most hilariously awful movies ever made.

Im not saying he's the master of all arts, for some reason I always thought his movies are like some shorts stories from Stephen King or Twilight Zone episodes. That style. It's not too deep, often a bit silly, but they're always interesting. I dont know anything about Shyamalan himself, if he thinks he is the greatest or whatever, Im just commenting on the movies.

This Airbender movie escaped me completely. Will check it out.
 
I think some of his films would be held in slightly higher regards if it weren't for all the hype from the start.

Personally, I've not seen Lady in the water, but out of the others I liked Unbreakable and Sixth sense, thought the Village was unfairly panned, but Signs and the Happening were just pure crap to me.
 
Maybe that's understandable from the point of view that The Happening got literally destroyed before the viewer even had the chance to ponder about it. The Village received the same criticism despite being a wonderful fairy tale type of story, with a subtle emphasis of the importance of love and a little twist in the end.

Not really getting the whole issue here.

Yikes. We know you didn't mean to sneak that in there.
 
Unbreakable is one my favourite movies ever. Also liked The Village. If that was made by a little known director it would have been a lot better received.

He has obviously disappeared up his own arse though, but comes across well in interviews.
 
I think this film looks half decent, that said I learned my lesson about this guy and his films a long time ago
 
Signs was good until the twist....which was awful and made no sense...I actually liked the village and thought the twist was a good one which fit the story well....

Lady in the Water was poo though....I think casting yourself as a writer who's ideas will change the world is the very definition of setting yourself up for a fall
 
Did he suffer any head trauma in 2004 by any chance?

Everything he's done since the Village has been terrible.
 
I liked Signs and Unbreakable. But I don't see how anybody can defend The Happening especially when you consider he cast Marky Mark as the lead. Probably the worst actor currently getting major work.
 
Signs was good until the twist....which was awful and made no sense.

Yeah it did.
People break down into two groups. When they experience something lucky, group number one sees it as more than luck, more than coincidence. They see it as a sign, evidence, that there is someone up there, watching out for them. Group number two sees it as just pure luck. Just a happy turn of chance. I'm sure the people in group number two are looking at those fourteen lights in a very suspicious way. For them, the situation is a fifty-fifty. Could be bad, could be good. But deep down, they feel that whatever happens, they're on their own. And that fills them with fear. Yeah, there are those people. But there's a whole lot of people in group number one. When they see those fourteen lights, they're looking at a miracle. And deep down, they feel that whatever's going to happen, there will be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope. See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?
It was about that.
 
I liked Signs and Unbreakable. But I don't see how anybody can defend The Happening especially when you consider he cast Marky Mark as the lead. Probably the worst actor currently getting major work.

Did you not notice how OTT his acting and how cheezy his lines were? Marky Mark talking to the tree. The mood ring. It's a B-Movie.
 
Did you not notice how OTT his acting and how cheezy his lines were? Marky Mark talking to the tree. The mood ring. Everything was just a bit comical.

That was intentional.

The film is Shyamalan's commentary on a perceived decline of parental responsibility - and its myriad effects - in Western (centered in the USA) culture.

There's a good summary here:

IMDb :: Boards :: The Happening (2008) :: Children on the Run: What's really happ...

I had a similar reaction to the film based on the rude child's fate and also on the same seemingly random shot the above reviewer mentions regarding the skirt billowing in the wind. I'm not saying that means we're right. Just that I think it means something that more than one person has thought the same thing.

And you can understand why MNS couldn't talk about it in public. After all, he's basically saying a fair proportion of Americans are childish fools.
 
That was intentional.

The film is Shyamalan's commentary on a perceived decline of parental responsibility - and its myriad effects - in Western (centered in the USA) culture.

There's a good summary here:

IMDb :: Boards :: The Happening (2008) :: Children on the Run: What's really happ...

I had a similar reaction to the film based on the rude child's fate and also on the same seemingly random shot the above reviewer mentions regarding the skirt billowing in the wind. I'm not saying that means we're right. Just that I think it means something that more than one person has thought the same thing.

And you can understand why MNS couldn't talk about it in public. After all, he's basically saying a fair proportion of Americans are childish fools.

Yeah could be that.

Or it was just shit casting and a pretty lame film overall :D