Yes.
After militaristic Iron Man and my avoidance of White Man's Crusade
redux Indiana Jones IV, I'm looking forward to Night's flick as a bit
relief from the other summer blockbusters.
I do not understand the pile-on obsession many critics have had with
denigrating M Night Shyamalan. I admit, I thought SIGNS had a
lackluster finale, as did The Village. But I loved Unbreakable. And,
contrary to the bandwagon opinion, I found Lady in the Water a
phenomenal fairy-tale that delivered and dissected the very essence
of storytelling. However it seems that for many critics, if its not
The Sixth Sense, its not worthy of recognition. I hope in this new
film he just follows his own mind, and doesn't bow to the pressure
to "conform"--as I know he must experience.
Sin- formerly some guy named Black Galactus...
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Tracey de Morsella" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
> Anybody plan on going to see this?
>
>
>
>
>
> June 1, 2008 -- M. Night Shyamalan's 'Sixth Sense' made him a
legend, then
> egomania spiraled his career into an even more twisted ending
>
> HERE'S something about M. Night Shyamalan that inspires his
detractors to
> wax metaphorical. In the leaked reviews leading up to "The
Happening," the
> director's been compared to an ex-girlfriend you can't stop hooking
up with
> ("because, you know, it might work this time"), an abusive spouse
("if I
> just love him enough, he'll stop hitting me") and, most colorfully,
Lucy Van
> Pelt: "She winks, nods, and says 'Come on, Chuck, just give the old
ball a
> kick. I promise I won't move it this time.' But you know she will.
She
> always does."
>
> How did we get so disenchanted with the man who gave us "The Sixth
Sense,"
> the awesomely spooky thriller that inspired Newsweek magazine to
proclaim
> him "The Next Spielberg"?
>
> Why did no one exact a mercy killing of the debacle that was "The
Lady in
> the Water," or point out - before it got made - that the "twist" at
the end
> of "The Village" was really more of a punch line?
>
> And, while we're asking, who thought it would be a good idea to let
Night
> (as he's known) introduce the online clip from his newest film -
out a week
> from Friday - by claiming it's "the scariest movie I've ever made"
and
> comparing it to "The Exorcist" and "The Godfather"?
>
> The director followed those comparisons with an anecdote about an
early
> screening audience for "The Happening," who "came out and were so
shaken,
> they just stood around holding their arms and stuff."
>
> This we can believe . . . but probably not for the abject fear the
director
> attributed to the scene. Stumbling around zombie-like is a common
reaction
> when you step out of a movie in which you can't quite believe you
were had,
> again, the same way as the last time around. And the time before
that.
>
> One industry insider, who asked to remain anonymous, attributes
viewers'
> Shyamalan sadism to the pure power of hope. "It's because they
see 'The
> Sixth Sense' as one of the great movies of recent times," he
says. "They're
> waiting for that Night to come back, and so far, he hasn't."
>
> And, unfortunately, it's looking like "The Happening" has a certain
stink on
> it that doesn't bode well for turning things around.
>
> In this case, it's the stink of biochemical terror. In the R-rated
thriller,
> Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel play a couple in the midst of a
society
> that abruptly falls apart as people mysteriously start to die
because of . .
> . something in the air.
>
> Something twisty, we're betting, and mysterious!
>
> That's what Shyamalan does, after all. The twist at the end. And,
arguably,
> you can't blame the guy for clinging to a formula that worked so
> surprisingly well to begin with.
>
> THE ONE THAT HAPPENED
>
> We're going to reference the end of "The Sixth Sense" here, so if
you're one
> of the three people who hasn't yet seen it, for god's sake, stop
reading
> now.
>
> It was the conclusion nobody saw coming (except that inevitable
annoying
> friend who claims they knew it all along, which we're not buying):
Bruce
> Willis' character was dead! The whole time!
>
> Shyamalan's reveal ranked up there with the man parts in "The
Crying Game"
> and Kevin Spacey's gimp-to-villain stroll in "The Usual Suspects"
as movie
> moments that made everyone audibly gasp - and tell all their
friends to run
> right out and see it, too. This, the studio did not see coming.
>
> "People forget, 'The Sixth Sense' was dumped in August by Disney,"
says
> David Poland of Movie City News. "At that time, August was not
exactly a
> gangbuster date - it was only afterward that people started
releasing
> pictures there. But it muscled its way into being a long-running
hit."
>
> The "I see dead people" phenomenon made Shyamalan a household name
in 1999,
> at the very start of his mainstream film career - his previous
films, 1992's
> "Praying With Anger" and 1998's "Wide Awake," were flops - and
catapulted
> him into a level of heroworship that, some say, created a
megalomaniacal
> monster.
>
> "He came on the scene like the next Steven Spielberg," says the
insider,
> referencing the aforementioned Newsweek cover. "That's pretty
amazing, for a
> kid. And that probably was the kiss of death. I think that may have
gone to
> his head, and he just believed that no matter what he wrote, it
would turn
> to gold. And then 'Unbreakable' came out [in 2000], and everyone
was waiting
> for it to be fantastic, and it opened big - but the movie
disappointed."
>
> It was the first time, but certainly not the last, that Shyamalan
was hoping
> lightning would strike twice. His next two movies, "Signs" (2002)
and "The
> Village" (2004), attempted the same ta-dah! formula, with
diminishing
> success and louder grumbling from audiences.
>
> In the case of "The Village," despite respectable performances from
Joaquin
> Phoenix, William Hurt and especially Bryce Dallas Howard as a blind
tomboy,
> the twist came off as almost insulting to audiences. As one critic
put it,
> Shyamalan was "riding a one-trick pony, and that poor pony is
nearly dead."
>
> UNCRITICIZABLE
>
> The obvious question is, why didn't someone just tell Shyamalan his
scripts
> weren't working? According to Poland, it's because the director
increasingly
> envisioned himself as an eccentric auteur, beholden to no one and
working
> outside the system - which included industry types who might be
able to poke
> holes in his plots.
>
> "He's isolated himself, basically," says Poland. "He lives in
Pennsylvania.
> He's not surrounded by yes men - he's basically on an island. In
some ways,
> that's honorable. But he did seem to get stuck in his own
mythology."
>
> He also had the numbers on his side. Despite critical pans and
audience
> boos, his first three post-"Sixth" films all made money;
even "Unbreakable"
> and "The Village" grossed around $250 million worldwide.
>
> It was 2006's "Lady in the Water" where the director really went
off the
> rails - and allowed the train wreck to be documented in Michael
Bamberger's
> book, "The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How M. Night Shyamalan Risked
His
> Career on a Fairy Tale."
>
> The awkwardly reverent chronicle of Shyamalan's quest to make "Lady
in the
> Water" ended up being a fascinating look at what happens when a
director
> comes to believe he's infallible.
>
> When faced with a group of three Disney executives who flatly tell
him his
> script about a mythical creature living in a swimming pool makes no
sense,
> the director simply shuts down.
>
> "He had known these people for years," Bamberger writes of
Shyamalan's
> reaction.
>
> "He had always liked them; he had always thought they were smart.
He knew
> they were good people. But a different type of group thinking had
taken hold
> of them. All of a sudden they looked like strangers."
>
> Disney President Nina Jacobson, in particular, attempted to help the
> director hone his vision, says the insider. "She had the courage to
say, 'I
> didn't think this was a good as you can do, let's work on it'," he
says.
> "But he's a guy that's so full of himself he felt everything on the
printed
> page was perfect.
>
> "So," he continues, "he went to Warners, and they picked it up, and
that was
> a disaster. And he did that book, which was a bigger disaster."
>
> At Warner Bros., Shyamalan was allowed to run with his vision of
Paul
> Giamatti as a building superintendent who saves a storybook
character from
> evil, hyena-like creatures ("scrunts") - and of himself as a
character who
> is living out a prophecy that he will save the world with his
brilliantly
> written words.
>
> The director was similarly hubristic about his importance in
Hollywood;
> shortly before "Lady" was released, he told Time, "I've made profit
a
> mathematic certainty. I'm the safest bet you got."
>
> With poetic tragedy, it was his least profitable film to date, not
to
> mention the worst reviewed:
>
> "So convoluted and ultimately preposterous that you're almost
embarrassed by
> the earnestness of the actors trying to carry it off," one critic
wrote.
>
> "What's supposed to be fanciful storytelling is really just audience
> punishment," another complained.
>
> "Those who see it may feel a need to act like a pool lifeguard and
blow the
> whistle on Shyamalan," wrote a third.
>
> Warners got out of the pool. As Variety reported, when Shyamalan
first
> shopped around his screenplay for "The Happening," "no studio loved
the
> draft enough to make a deal."
>
> But then something interesting happened - the director learned to
> compromise.
>
> "People who work with me know that I'm collaborative," the director
told
> Variety. "If you can give me a good idea that can help me to make a
better
> movie, then there is no ego issue in taking that advice.
Ultimately, this
> was a very positive process, and one that will ultimately help in
making
> this movie the best it can be."
>
> Eventually, Fox picked up "The Happening," in what might be
considered
> budget shopping:
>
> "One great thing about Night is that he's a very efficient
director," says
> the insider. "None of his movies cost more than $50 or $60 million.
So the
> economic formula isn't nearly as risky as some of the other things
people
> invest in. You can open a $50 million movie with s - - - ty
reviews, and it
> drops like a stone, and because it didn't cost a lot to make, at
the end of
> the day you can still make some money."
>
> SIGNS OF SENSE
>
> Will getting off his high horse allow Shyamalan to start making
quality
> movies again? We'd like to think so, but the director hasn't made
it easy.
>
> For better or worse, his trademark "twist" isn't so much a twist as
a fact
> that seems to become obvious midway through.
>
> The "scary" clip introduced by Shyamalan online consists mostly of
Wahlberg,
> Deschanel and John Leguizamo wringing their hands aboard a train.
At one
> point, Leguizamo screams, "Text me! Text me!" at his wife on the
cellphone.
>
> Also, a Defamer report circulated that when Fox execs saw the film
back in
> January, they pulled the TV trailer that was scheduled to air
during the
> Superbowl.
>
> But whether Shyamalan manages a turnaround with "The Happening,"
he's still
> got at least some of Hollywood - and America - pulling for him.
>
> "I think deep down people really believe that Night is a
tremendously
> talented guy, and he's one screenplay away from finding the magic
again,"
> says the insider. "Finding magic over and over again isn't easy. I
think
> Night's now discovering that."
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06012008/entertainment/movies/he_s_not_hap
pening
> __113421.htm?page=0
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
