Has a director fallen from NEXT SPIELBERG to irrelevant faster than M. Night?

[The Fake Shemp]

In a span of like two movies, he went from the toast of Tinseltown to an outcast.  Remarkable.

[Phoenix Dark]

What brought M Night to the forefront of your thoughts tonight?

I was a huge M Night fan a few years ago. Like, big time. I like the Sixth Sense, and imo Unbreakable is byond awesome. Then Signs came along and I was like "oh well, even good directors release a dud..."

The Village was my most anticipated movie ever. I read every bit of info that came out, taped that shitty Sci Fi "documentary", etc. Then I saw it...that was perhaps the first time I ever watched a movie and thought holy shit, this movie is horribly written. The dialogue is atrocious, as is the "twist." It's sad because despite all the FAIL, the movie still has this interesting atmosphere and plot that are interesting.

That first LADY IN THE WATER POOL teaser was actually pretty good imo; there's a creepy music transition in it which builds suspense. But I was smart enough to ignore the movie until it came out on DVD. HORRIBLE

Now he's doing a movie with Marky Mark right? I bet the teaser will get me interested, but there's no way I'm going to see it.




Also...I heard he's a total asshole to industry people/critics which is why he gets so much shit. Is that true?

[CajoleJuice]

The Village was my most anticipated movie ever.

Christ, that may be one of the saddest things I've ever read.

[Mandark]

http://www.fametracker.com/blue_moons/misc_shyamalan.php


Wasn't there a book on the making of The Village?  IIRC the author was pretty high on Shyamalan, but the actual content revealed him as a egotistical jerk.

[The Fake Shemp]

 

I love CajoleJuice.

I was watching Unbreakable, which I contend is his only, truly great film.  The Sixth Sense is good, but Stir of Echoes is better and even has the superior James Newton Howard score.  But Unbreakable - man! - is such a technically well done film.  It's well written.  And Samuel L. Jackson owns his role.  Such a great flick.

I don't think you can qualify Signs as a dud.  I really liked it in theaters - it has obvious plot holes and can be picked apart pretty easily.  But for an experience, it's a lot of fun and features the best James Newton Howard score from M. Night's films.  Plus, it was his biggest commercial success since The Sixth Sense (maybe bigger?).  Signs was arguably at the height of his commercial success.

But then he released two awful movies in a row with virtually no redeeming values and audience are more afraid of his name than intrigued.

Also, how can you have looked forward to The Village?  The ending was spoiled months before it was released and smart folks thankfully avoided having to pay money to see such a hokey climax.

[Phoenix Dark]

I saw the LADY IN THE WATER POOL teaser in a theater - don't remember what movie I was seeing. But once the screen displayed the words "a bedtime story from the mind of M NIGHT" the entire audience gave this collective sigh of disgust. I've never seen such a negative response to a trailer in a theater

The Village ending wasn't spoiled for me. I was able to avoid them without taking a prolonged exile from the internet

[The Fake Shemp]

Yeah, his name is synonymous with ego and tired twist endings nowadays.  Any marquee power his name once had with audience has since dried up.  Even directors that rose to fame pretty quickly and had their ego run out of control eventually learn their lesson to some degree.  The dude is just not humble and his skills as a writer have deteriorated with each, succesive film he churns out.

I wonder if The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable had ghost writers, to be quite honest, after witnessing the trainwrecks that were The Village and Lady in the Water.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

The Village at least had some knockout cinematography, a ridiculously stacked cast, good music, and I dunno, sincerity.
Lady in the Water was sooo bad.  So very, very bad.  I didn't just hate it, I was insulted by it.

[Ichirou]

Everything I've read about Shyamalan indicates that his ego is fucking huge.  The people around him told him that Lady in the Water was an awful script, but he just had to go ahead and follow his VISION.

IMO, the reason his star has fallen so fast is that it was never all that high to begin with - aside from The Sixth Sense and Signs, none of his films have been major commercial successes (Unbreakable made money, but was a financial disappointment for the studio, which expected another Sixth Sense-type box office bonanza).  He just marketed himself really, really well.

As for the twist ending thing, that's both what brought him fame and what's proven to be his undoing - he's known as a one-note director.  I bet The Happening (his latest) will have some sort of distinguished mentally-challenged twist ending too.

[etiolate]

They love him for twist endings, they hate him for twist endings. I liked Signs and Sixth Sense. Unbreakable was when I knew he was doomed, because he did the twist ending at the expense of the characters and story. The plot bails out before climax like a feminist on her first time.

[Eric P]

i loved sixth sense, liked unbreakable, hated signs.  didn't see the villiage nor lady in the water and will most likely pass on whatever he does in the future.

edit: i will second willco's assertion that stir of echos is superior.  i like it because of it's blue collar sensibilities.  rarely are lower middle class haunted.  it's always rich folks.

apparantly, stir of echos two is also worth watching even if it's just a totally different movie that artisan retitled for name recognition

[Mupepe]

M. Night's movies are good to me in the same way Kelly Clarkson is good.  Put it in while I'm drunk and let me turn off any critiquing synapses in my brain and we're good.

Catch me in a mood where I want to pick and analyze something, I'll vomit before I get through the first 10 minutes of The Village, Signs or Lady in the Water (the rest are actually decent films).

[Shins]

Sixth Sense was great the first time, and I still pop in Unbreakable from time to time. I saw half of Signs, and didn't care for it. Haven't bothered with the rest.

Though my recent growth in appreciation for Paul Giamatti may change that.

[sky]

I haven't seen anything from him past Signs.
I think he's great at creating tension on screen... shots are put together in a compelling way. But the actual content/writing is a bit hit-or-miss.

It'd be interesting to see what he could do outside of the "twist ending" thriller genre.

[lordmaji]

Sam...

[Eric P]

It'd be interesting to see what he could do outside of the "twist ending" thriller genre.

or with someone else writing for him

[Mupepe]

It'd be interesting to see what he could do outside of the "twist ending" thriller genre.

or with someone else writing for him

This is what I'm more interested in.  He has some good ideas and half executes them well.  But his writing is god awful

[Eel O'Brian]

I liked Signs up until the stupid ending, and I somewhat liked The Village because it reminded me of one of those really shitty made-for-TV suspense/horror movies from my youth in the 70s.

[Eric P]

I liked Signs up until the stupid ending, and I somewhat liked The Village because it reminded me of one of those really shitty made-for-TV suspense/horror movies from my youth in the 70s.

those were genrally god awful

but sometimes you get some gems like The Night Stalker

[Eel O'Brian]

they often starred Karen Black

[Eric P]

i had to hit the imdb to see who that was and i found this gem in her resume

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0796207/

Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula

[youtube=425,350]4AlPA5usMJE[/youtube]

may be nsfw  i'm not chancing it with a title like that

[AdmiralViscen]

Already taken down

[Phoenix Dark]

And he's doing the Avatar movie right? lolz

On the positive side, at least it'll be something different for him. On the negative side, it's fucking Avatar

[Van Cruncheon]

from stuart little to avatar, the parabola of m night's career is arched indeed

[Phoenix Dark]

My brothers love the show, and so does GAF ha. It's not as mentally offensive as Naruto but it's still...eh. I just don't like anime though, so I'm a biased source

[Gay Boy]

from stuart little to avatar, the parabola of m night's career is arched indeed

m night shalalamamaman did stuart little...?

[bud]

he wrote it.

i'd say his best movies are unbreakable and the sixth sense, with the former being my personal favorite.

[Eric P]

i'm confused

the cameron avatar or the fauxnime nick show

[Mr. Gundam]

I own the really old Unbreakable 2 disk set. I'm talking back when DVDs were $40. Cool film, Sam Jackson can do no wrong.

I have that, too. I'll be upgrading to the Blu-ray release in April, though. 

Unbreakable is a great movie, it's the only Shyamalan film I enjoy

[The Fake Shemp]

Unbreakable was when I knew he was doomed, because he did the twist ending at the expense of the characters and story.

I never understand this complaint.  The ending isn't exactly a twist whatsoever and follows its comic book origins to the tee.  I love it.

[Eel O'Brian]

I have the Unbreakable 2-Disc special, too.  It's one of the few DVD sets I am keeping when I upgrade to the Blu Ray version.  I just like the packaging, and the Alex Ross postcard.  I'm also keeping Fight Club, Se7en, Tombstone, Memento, and a few others specifically for the packaging.

I wish Blu Rays would come in nice packaging for certain movies.  The Bonnie and Clyde set is a nice start, but I'd like to see more along those lines.

[bud]

that fight club s.e. has the best packaging ever and i'm pissed i don't have the sexy s.e. of se7en--mine's a regular case with 2 discs inside.  :'(

[Eel O'Brian]

I loaned a friend the se7en SE, and it came back all dinged up - it actually made it look even cooler, haha

I love the fake FBI warning on the Fight Club SE, it makes me laugh every time

[FancyFeast]

Avatar cartoon is good.

[Bloodwake]

I even liked Signs, but no denying that The Village and especially Lady in the Water were shit. I mean, at least the Village was shot well.

I literally FELL ASLEEP during Lady In The Water, and that's with the DTS surround around my head.

Still, he will end up getting my money for his next film, mainly because I still have hope.

[Mupepe]

I think the guy has talent.  His talent is just not writing movies though.

[Bloodwake]

I think the guy has talent.  His talent is just not writing movies though.

I dunno, he made a few good ones.

It's not unusual to see directors have slumps either.

[Phoenix Dark]

He's like George Lucas - he's got amazing vision in his head, but just can't put it on paper. He should get other people to write his scripts

[The Fake Shemp]

It's one thing to have a slump, it's another to deteriorate as a director altogether with each consecutive release.

I concur with Mupepe in that he has talent, but is a mediocre writer.  Spielberg's greatest asset is his humility - he knows how to tell a good story, but even he won't say he's a good writer.  He usually is involved in the writing process and sometimes writes a draft himself, but unlike some of his peers, he knows when he needs to hand it off.  M. Night needs to do the same.

[Mr. Gundam]

I even liked Signs, but no denying that The Village and especially Lady in the Water were shit. I mean, at least the Village was shot well.

I never saw Lady in the Water (nor did I see The Village), how was the cinematography in it? You'd think it would be fantastic with Christopher Doyle behind the lens.

[Bloodwake]

I even liked Signs, but no denying that The Village and especially Lady in the Water were shit. I mean, at least the Village was shot well.

I never saw Lady in the Water (nor did I see The Village), how was the cinematography in it? You'd think it would be fantastic with Christopher Doyle behind the lens.

The Village was probably the best shot bad movie I've ever seen. Seriously.

That's why I can't totally hate it. It was really, really well done, but the problems were mainly with the screenplay.

I would describe the Village overall as a "meh" rather than a TRANSFORMERS VAN HELSING EPIC DISASTER OF SHIT

[The Fake Shemp]

Transformers > Van Helsing

[Eric P]

i loved van helsing because it put all the old classic universal monster DVDs back into print with the Legacy Editions, which were awesome upgrades in some instances over the previous single disc editions (most notably Frankenstein)

[Eel O'Brian]

I have all those univeral monsters special editions, and i bought the collector's set with the busts

that's some good shit right there

spanish dracula > lugosi dracula

[The Fake Shemp]

Universal monsters are the best.  Back when Frankenstein was a badass who chucked little girls into lakes.

[bud]

van helzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing

[ferrarimanf355]

It'd be interesting to see what he could do outside of the "twist ending" thriller genre.

or with someone else writing for him

This is what I'm more interested in.  He has some good ideas and half executes them well.  But his writing is god awful

Isn't he doing a live-action movie based on Avatar: The Last Airbender?

[Eric P]

I have all those univeral monsters special editions, and i bought the collector's set with the busts

that's some good shit right there

spanish dracula > lugosi dracula

they're good shit

check out the books The Monster Show, Screams of Reason and Hollywood Gothic by David J. Skal, who did the documentaries on the discs.

He's a heck of a writer.  The Monster Show book (now out of print, but worth going to a library for) is well worth your time

[Tauntaun]

Transformers > Van Helsing

Hugh Jackman though dude, come on!

[Bloodwake]

Transformers > Van Helsing

I'll give you that one. NOTHING can be worse than Van Helsing.

[Tauntaun]

See my post though. 

[abrader]

I have only seen lady in the water - but fucks that was enough

This guys gets no play in my movie machine!

[INTUNEevolution]

The Village!
Signs!
etc!

[bud]

in the village there was a lady in the water who supposedly had a sixth sense and there were signs that she was unbreakable

...

 :kylielaff

[Eel O'Brian]

I have all those univeral monsters special editions, and i bought the collector's set with the busts

that's some good shit right there

spanish dracula > lugosi dracula

they're good shit

check out the books The Monster Show, Screams of Reason and Hollywood Gothic by David J. Skal, who did the documentaries on the discs.

He's a heck of a writer.  The Monster Show book (now out of print, but worth going to a library for) is well worth your time

I'll be sure to check those out.

I used to have a decent collection of "horror movie history" books, but I gave the whole lot to a friend years ago when my interests turned to comics history.  Wish I'd kept them.

Monster Show is available in TPB:

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Show-Cultural-History-Afterword/dp/0571199968

[Rman]

Didn't Lady in the Water bomb commercially as well.

[Eric P]

Monster Show is available in TPB:

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Show-Cultural-History-Afterword/dp/0571199968

hotness

thanks