Which begs to question: Are creative types so close to their work that they honestly can't judge it merits? I think M.Knight actually thinks the quality of all his movies are as good as Sixth Sense. I'm sure Lucas feels that every Star Wars title is fantastic.
But, then there are those like Bay who just don't care... Gerald Haynes http://thesmallfries.com - Calvin & Hobbes who? http://dontarrestus.com - Latino based sci-fi comic strip fun ________________________________ From: Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sat, July 3, 2010 5:38:10 PM Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] "Last Airbender" Widely Panned I agree. I was going to mention that insiders have said he's not at all open to constructive criticism or suggestions. I remember that he had a meeting with studio execs sometime during the process of "Lady in the Water", where the conversation turned to their concern that the film wouldn't be good. It was reported that M. Knight was in turns pissed, insulted, and finally, actually hurt, literally blinking back tears at the criticism. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mr. Worf" <HelloMahogany@ gmail.com> To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com Sent: Saturday, July 3, 2010 3:14:38 PM Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] "Last Airbender" Widely Panned Rod Serling was an excellent short story writer before he was a director. He was also around a lot of the best people that Hollywood had to offer at the time so that he could perfect his craft. M.Knight seems to be ignoring all input in an attempt to ruin his own career. Its possible that he just may be suffering from "star syndrome" which happens to a lot of people that become successful too quickly. Can't wait to see Mortal Kombat! On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 10:17 AM, Keith Johnson <KeithBJohnson@ comcast.net> wrote: > > >I don't know Martin. I wonder if he's simply limited in skills--which ain't >necessarily a bad thing. With "The Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable" , (which I >love), >and "Signs", he crafted tight, atmospheric, even scary films. He may have >relied >too much on the surprise ending effect, but the movies definitely pulled one >in. >With "The Village", the same old trick wore thin just a bit, and after that >things started going more South. > >In some ways he reminds me of a younger or less skillful Rod Serling. Both >love >heavy drama, themes, lots of dialogue, and really mood heavy work. But whereas >Serling's writing skills were expansive, and he could craft mature work, M. >Knight might not yet be on that level. I'm starting to think he'd be better >for >a while writing and producing more small work, such as a half-hour anthology >series like "Twilight Zone", where he's not straining to fill two hours with >material; or perhaps made-for-TV films that are shorter, such as a >scifi/horror >showcase on Showtime or something. Maybe getting back to the basics will allow >him to hone or develop the ability to write material that's fuller and less >reliant on the effective-but- overused tricks he started out with. > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Martin Baxter" <martinbaxter7@ gmail.com> >To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com >Sent: Saturday, July 3, 2010 6:52:54 AM >Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] "Last Airbender" Widely Panned > > >Keith, I wish I could even guess what M Night had on his mind. > > >On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 2:10 AM, Keith Johnson <KeithBJohnson@ comcast.net> >wrote: > > >>Well, this saves me from a difficult choice. Really irritated at how Asian >>and >>Inuit characters were being played by white actors (with the odd exception of >>the Japanese Prince Zuko being played by an Indian?!) I was seriously >>debating >>whether to support "The Last Airbender". I wanted to blow off my anger and >>just >>see a good movie, but when I saw trailers, and how Ang and his friends are in >>Asian/Inuit garb, but are oh-so-painfully Caucasian, I started the hand >>wringing >>all over again. I was way along the way to not going to see it, but partially >>worried I'd be missing something special in terms of a good fantasy flick. >> >>Not to worry, it seems. Almost without exception, from old and young, white >>and >>Asian and black, fans of the series and newbies alike, I'm hearing this thing >>is >>terrible. Dull, plodding, grim, boring---looks like the hoped-for trilogy of >>films will never become a reality. Some have even compared it to "Battlefield >>Earth"! >> >> I guess that's too bad? >>I think a lot of Asians and Inuits are not-so-secretly looking at this with >>grim >>satisfaction, and can't say I blame them. And despite my anger at M. Knight >>for >>whitewashing so many leads in the movie, I almost feel sorry for the guy: >>what >>in the hell is wrong with him after the handful of gems he created to burst >>onto >>the movie scene?! >> >> >>I dropped a spattering of movie reviews I found below. The last is the >>closest >>thing to a good review I could find... >> >> >>************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ****** >> >>[Rotten Tomatoes] >>http://beta. rottentomatoes. com/m/last_ airbender/ >> >>Consensus: Despite flashy special effects, The Last Airbender squanders the >>potential of its popular source material on an incomprehensible plot, >>laughable >>dialogue, and a joyless sense of detachment. >> >>************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ** >> >>[slashfilm] >> >>Read more: The Last Airbender Review: The Last Straw for This Shyamalan Fan >>| >>/Filmhttp://www.slashfilm.com/2010/07/02/the-last-airbender-review-the-last-straw-for-this-shyamalan-fan/#ixzz0sZmBJgQu >> >> >>With the release of The Last Airbender, M. Night Shyamalan’s gradual >>metamorphosis into George Lucas is complete. Just like the Star Wars >>director, >>Shyamalan burst onto the scene with a couple innovative films (The Sixth >>Sense, Unbreakable), and displayed a talent for visuals early on. And just >>like Lucas, Shyamalan’s screenwriting deficiencies, and his inability to >>properly take criticism from others, have led to his downfall. >> >> >> >>************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ** >> >>[E! Online] >>http://uk.eonline. com/uberblog/ b188788_last_ airbender_ worst_movie_ >ever.html >> >>Is Last Airbender the Worst Movie Ever? >>Today 12:47 PM PDT by Joal Ryan >> Paramount Pictures >>The Last Airbender is "dull," "dreadful," and, lowest of low blows, "like a >>Care >>Bears movie." >>Well, all right, hardly any movie gets perfect reviews. But has any film ever >> >>gotten so many bad reviews? >>The short answer is Battlefield Earth—meaning, yes, other films have been >>blasted good by critics. But, boy, oh boy, in Hollywood's summer of unloved >>movies, The Last Airbender, which opened Thursday, is getting some historic >>hate. >>As of this morning, its Metacritic rating stood at 20, "good" for a spot on >>the >>review-crunching site's all-time low scores list. (Airbender's down there >>between Digimon: The Movie and the Lisa Kudrow rap classic, Marci X.) Worse, >>outside of Ashton Kutcher's and Katherine Heigl's Killers, Airbender is the >>only 2010 wide release on the Metacritic's list of shame. >>Things are no better at Rotten Tomatoes, where its Tomatometer reading is a >>barely there 9 percent, which is actually up from yesterday's 6 percent. >>(For >>the record, our own Luke Y. Thompson assigned the "most boring summer-action >>epic in ages" a D+.) >> >> >>************ ********* ********* ********* ********* **** >>[Beyond Hollywood] >> >> >>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/the-last-airbender-2010-movie-review/ >> >>... >>It’s not so much that “The Last Airbender” is a bad movie, it’s just that … >>well, it just kind of exists for the sake of existing. I’ll be perfectly >>honest >>with you, I had a hard time trying to decide if the film is bad, or if it is >>just mediocre. One thing I can safely say with 100% certainty is that the >>film >>is never outstanding. Not once in the entire two hours. It’s as if M. Night >>Shyamalan spent so much time with the little things – getting all the >>details >>of the water city stronghold just right, the nooks and crannies of the Fire >>Nation ships, the colorful outfits of the various tribes — that he forgot to >>make the film good. Oh sure, the sets are huge and the CGI is always >>outstanding, and all the “bending” effects are seamlessly integrated into >>the >>scenes with the live characters, but … well, what else is there? Not much, >>I’m >>afraid.... >> >> >> >> >> >> > > >-- >"If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell >wrote >the script?" -- Charles E Grant > >http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=fQUxw9aUVik > > > -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/mahogany_ pleasures_ of_darkness/
