I thought Sings as a whole was awesome. As for the ending, I mean it may seem illogical but we were looking at the invasion from the point of view of a farmhouse family. Who knows why the aliens were desperate enough to invade the planet... it was something never discussed. Besides it wasn't the sort of movie to discuss the 'science' of it.
Fox lands M Night's THE HAPPENING - it's a helluva script!
Hey folks, Harry here... Well Tom Rothman did the right thing here - There's a pretty strong anti-M Night movement out there in the world right now. Personally - I'm 100% on the other side of the tracks. I love the work that M Night has done - and I completely understand why the films that so many seem to vocally dislike - play that way towards them - I just don't share that opinion.
With THE HAPPENING, I predict if Fox stays out of M Night's way, that this will be seen as M Night's 'comeback'. Right now, I'm 40 pages into reading the 106 page draft of M Night's THE HAPPENING, which on this draft was known as THE GREEN EFFECT. THE HAPPENING is a much stronger title in my opinion... For one, THE HAPPENING is a phrase that feels and oozes 1960s. And what M Night has constructed thus far in this script is a very 1960's End of the World scenario. If you've ever seen NO BLADE OF GRASS - combine that to the premise of something like Stephen King's THE CELL - and you're heading in the direction that this movie goes in.
The script begins with some haunting violent imagery. The sort of imagery that instantly scares the shit out of you. This isn't a long slow build up to something, right at the beginning, the shit has hit the fan. It's downright scary nightmare scenarios. Everything the media makes us afraid of - it's happening all around us. I won't spoil what's causing things to happen, but I will say that by page 40 - the thing we're led to believe is happening... is a SCARY FUCKING THING.
It isn't often that I can pat Rothman on the back, but good job picking this script up. It's going to be an amazing film.
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Ok - just finished the script. This has the potential to be the best film M Night has made. It depends on the casting, but he's always done well with his casting. As with all of Shyamalan's films - at the heart of the script is spiritual healing and hope. However, unlike everything he's done - there's a mean streak. I see why so many studios were scared by the film, as there is definitely a fatalistic vibe pulsing through this film. However, I've always loved stories about the end of civilization as we know it. They always make for interesting conversations after you see the film. The "what would you do, if you were among the last survivors of a global pandemic? This is an awesome "fear" story. We'll follow this production as closely as we can.
Maybe the disconnect between us comes from the fact that the science gaffes are not as obvious to you? I don't know, I can't understand how anyone can get past this. Picture Gladiator with freeways, telephone poles and the occasional Boeing 767 in the background. It's not just a matter of taking a few liberties to tell a story. It's a laughably flubbed situation, to any movie producer who would take 10 minutes to give a shit about the logic and details in his movies.
Here is what Harry from AICN had to say:
link (http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31785)
Man, I stopped paying any attention to that guy (not that I really did before) after someone linked me to a blog post he made about Heroes. It was 1000-1500 words on how the 15 year old girl in it probably has a permanent hymen and the logistics of fucking her (or something like that). Not that bad, and kind of funny....until you think about his appearance and realize he's totally being dead serious.
The Watchmen? I'm heavily into Heroes, so now I'm curious. What is it?
Watchmen is set in 1985, in an alternative history United States where costumed adventurers are real and the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union (the Doomsday Clock is at five minutes to midnight). It tells the story of a group of past and present superheroes and the events surrounding the mysterious murder of one of their own. Watchmen depicts superheroes as real people who must confront ethical and personal issues, who struggle with neuroses and failings, and who - with one notable exception - lack anything recognizable as super powers. Watchmen's deconstruction of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its innovative adaptation of cinematic techniques and heavy use of symbolism, multi-layered dialogue, and metafiction, has influenced both comics and film.
What happened to this guy? I mean he's clearly a hack now, but how does someone with some truly clever ideas and skills hit the pavement so hard so fast and never be able to pick himself back up again?M Night is a producer for one of the better shows on TV this summer, called Wayward Pines (on FOX).
I had forgotten about my posts in here. (They still reflect my thinking about the whole thing.) I have not even thought about this guy in years. I was unaware he had a TV show. I may have to check it out just for yuks.Wayward Pines is really good, actually.
Wayward Pines is really good, actually.
He has a hand in production, mostly. Good thing he's only involved w/ producing and is not involved w/ writing!
He only directed episode 1, not any of the others.
Alrighty. I'm always on the lookout for new things to watch. I'll give this one a go. Thanks.
I thought I'd dredge up this old thread to talk about M. Night Shyamalan and what exactly went wrong. Obviously this thread ran its course before The Happening, The Last Airbender, and After Earth, all three of which were completely horrible movies in all kinds of ways. I mean it's really sad to say that The Happening is the best movie of those three. It was a piece of shit. I rewatched Lady in the Water a couple of years ago and I think I hated it even more after watching it again. Basically, everything I said about the movie (http://www.overwritten.net/forum/index.php?topic=2199.msg27277#msg27277) remained true, but it was somehow amplified upon a rewatch.
So what went wrong with this guy? Was he basically a one hit wonder with The Sixth Sense? I saw that movie again recently and it is a great movie. I did end up seeing Unbreakable and it's pretty good. Probably my third favorite behind Signs which, yes, I still enjoy. But everything after that movie is basically utterly terrible. In fact, they just kept getting worse and worse as he made more movies. I can't believe anyone associated with the movie industry still takes his calls.
What happened to this guy? I mean he's clearly a hack now, but how does someone with some truly clever ideas and skills hit the pavement so hard so fast and never be able to pick himself back up again?
I think he was very skilled at a couple of aspects of filmmaking but that well dried up by Signs. You've summed it up well. He went from being one of Hollywood's hottest directors to a joke.