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« Today's News: Our Take
Movie News: M. Night and Night at the Museum
Bad buzz for M. Night Shyamalan's mysterious new film already? Observant wags at Defamer note that Super Bowl ads for The Happening, starring Mark Wahlberg and John Leguizamo, were yanked at the last minute. Instead, the teaser debuted online, on Tuesday. What's especially disheartening is that both the Super Bowl and Shyamalan's film are Fox products, so apparently no amount of corporate synergy could overcome a lack of faith in the product. While the film's concept (an environmentally driven epidemic makes people die and/or kill themselves?) looks interesting, all his films have looked interesting at the outset but have (lately) disappointed. What do you think? Are you willing to give M. Night another shot? Or did you, like me, decide that the moral of Lady in the Water was: "Never see another Shyamalan movie"?
In other movie news, Enchanted cutie-pie Amy Adams is game for A Night at the Museum 2, playing an undetermined historical figure who has a crush on Ben Stiller's watchman. — Mickey O'Connor
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Feb 5, 2008 1:05 PM
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at first i think Night became overrated as the media claiming the next Spielberg, but since then he has been taken down a few pegs where he is now underrated, he should be respected as a above average film maker in my book
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Feb 5, 2008 1:47 PM
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I saw the trailer. It was really good. Better than any one of his movies! Not sure why it would get any backlash.
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Feb 5, 2008 2:21 PM
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Some of M. Night Shyamalan's biggest problems come with the marketing of his movies. "The Village" advertisements were misleading and they contributed to the letdown that I felt about the movie. And the first trailers for "Lady in the Water" were romantic and ethereal with a Josh Groban soundtrack, no less. It seemed as though the film was going to be some kind of modern fairy tale. It was jarring to see how the advertisements changed before the film was actually released. It certainly made me think twice about spending the cash to see it in a theater. I still haven't seen the movie, even on DVD. It's such a shame because I do think the guy is talented and is doing some unique things with storytelling.
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Feb 5, 2008 2:24 PM
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Although his stories range from really awesome to 'huh?', all of his movies look beautiful. He really has a knack for creating magnificant visuals and moods. I'm willing to see them, especially in the theater, just because of that.
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Feb 5, 2008 2:28 PM
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I haven't seen Lady in the Water, but I gotta admit (even though I'll probably never say this out loud) that I really enjoy the his work. I love the mood and style of his movies, and even the characters and storytelling. I hope he keeps making movies - he's not a sure bet, but chances are I'll like it, anyway.
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Feb 5, 2008 3:34 PM
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I have liked every one of his movies (including "Lady in the Water"). I think it's a situation where "The Sixth Sense" was so original and successful that anything after that would be a letdown. Hollywood loves to put a person on a pedestal and then take great joy in knocking them down. A "bad" Shyamalan movie is still better than most of the crap out there!
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Feb 5, 2008 4:59 PM
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The simple truth is that ever since The Sixth Sense (one of his weaker movies) was so popular, his movies have been marketed as horror movies with a super surprise twist at the end. Unbreakable was the first to suffer from this, and despite being a great movie, it was lost due to poor marketing. It was NOTHING like what they advertised it to be ("you are the only survivor of a train wreck and you don't have a scratch on you... ooh, spooky").
His movies have been really good as long as you completely ignore the marketing and don't expect a twist ending. I don't even know why people expect that every time. It would be a stupid gimmick if it happened every time, and it wouldn't be a surprise, so the whole point would be lost.
Unbreakable and Signs were truly great films (I still see new angles to Signs). Lady In The Water was good for what it was, which is pretty much a childrens' bedtime story. The Village could have been better, but still has some good character work which makes it worthwhile. Like I said, The Sixth Sense is probably my least favorite, just because it's so incredibly over hyped.
It's fun to badmouth Shyamalan because it makes people feel smart. Truth is, he's had more good movies than most of the A-list directors, but makes less money with them because they're not meant to appeal to everyone.
In case you can't tell, I'll be seeing his new movie.
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Feb 5, 2008 9:53 PM
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Heck, I gave up on M. after Signs. I only wish I had done so after Unbreakable.
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Feb 6, 2008 3:19 AM
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