BJacks

Just got back from a screening of the final version of Lady in the Water. I can't really divulge anything, but suffice to say I think a lot of people will be very pleased with this film. It's a very nice entertaining rendition of a fairy tale with some great acting (particularly by Paul Giamatti). Shyamalan upgraded himself from a cameo actor to a full supporting role, but he doesn't reach beyond his means and gives a good performance. There's a fun dash of humor sprinkled over the mythical plotline with some very light horror undertones. All in all, makes for a worthwhile movie experience.

Anyway, just my two cents.

sauce07

wow, can't you just tell how much The Village left viewers for more M. Night?

Fincher Fan

Wait until he gives himself the starring role.

Jackskeleton

So what's the twist? Was it really that the wolf in the back yard's book was "to serve man"? How about that Paul Giamatti was really death all along? Perhaps Bryce Dallas Howard was just an alien from Venus who was sent to colonize earth before the alien wolf creature from mars?

The whole Twilight Zone marathon from this past weekend is still in my head so I'm sure I'll eventually guess the right twist to this one, right?

Rival11

Dammit!!! You could have at least used spoiler tags!!!!

TomOpus

After The Village, M Night has a lot to make up for. I expected this to be decent.

Rival11

I Don't know, after seeing the trailers (not just the teaser) It seems like the same ol' same ol'. Nothing against Night because I like him, this one just looks like a rental for me.

zombiezilla

Christ, Jackskeleton...nothing like fucking it up for everyone, I guess!

Filmmaker

All the shots in the trailer of the members of the apartment community staring wondorously, rapturously into the sky remind me of *BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED, and that ain't a good thing, so I'll pass...

BJacks

I wasn't a fan of The Village. I wouldn't say Lady in the Water is anything like it. This one doesn't follow his usual conventions.

To Filmmaker: the trailers don't really do the movie justice. Warner is trying a few different strategies for the marketing (promoting it as a horror film, a film of wonderment, etc.) and depending on what trailer you see, doesn't really showcase the film as a whole. People staring into the sky is one comparatively quick shot among many.

Filmmaker

I was a bit overdramatic with my post; the only Shyamalan film I've ever enjoyed is SIGNS (THE SIXTH SENSE is the single most overrated screenplay of the last decade, IMO, riddled with plot holes and inconsistencies) and even that suffers from a truly vomitous scene midway through where Mel Gibson expounds on the critical (and complete b.s.) difference between so-called believers and non-believers. I didn't even bother with THE VILLAGE when the reviews came in, and considering the pre-release buzz on LADY IN THE WATER (not the least of which is the fact that Buena Vista dumped Shyamalan because they found the script so problematic) is so poor, combined with that truly absurd trailer, and I just have no desire to see it. If the reviews are primarily exultant, I may change my mind...

JumpCutz

Another review from Joblo.com

http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=11828

mndtrp

The previews make it look interesting. I've enjoyed all of his movies, so far, I think. It'll be a rental, for sure, but I'll still see it.

Hokeyboy

I'll be there. I've loved one M. Knight film (UNBREAKABLE), liked/kinda liked two (SIXTH SENSE, SIGNS) and was ultimately indifferent towards another (VILLAGE). But all of them have always been extremely watchable.

Plus Giamatti is like unto God.

Giantrobo

I'm with you.

Giantrobo

Dude, it's the Internet. EVERYBODY thinks they're a Jr film critic or film student so they shit on everything they don't like and they pick apart anything they can just for shits and giggles.


I agree.

LivingINClip

It has nothing to do with liking the "twist" in The Village. It has to do with being a one trick pony. The whole "twist" in The Sixth Sense worked, but after that it got to a point where every film he done is just two hours waiting for a big "twist" at the end, which so far, three out of five times has been a huge let down. Factor this in with the fact that he can't act, but feels he should have speaking roles in his film and I think at best, he is riding off the coat-tails of people who loved The Sixth Sense (I was not one of them, I think The Others was vastly superior).

NatrlBornThrllr

Unless it's ridiculously hyped by critics and audiences alike, I'll likely sit this one out. The main reason? Spite. Fuck the marketing genius who thought it'd be clever to have a kid whisper every goddamned word in the trailer. That, and I still haven't forgiven M. Night for "Signs."

-JP

Hokeyboy

Geeze... the way some people froth and rant about the guy, you'd think he took a crap in their watermelon dessert or something.

Filmmaker

I'd like a moment for rebuttal...

Shilex

It's always strange how an M. Night discussion can arouse such passion from people. To some people, it's like he's the devil. I guess people don't like to be duped. I for one have enjoyed ALL his movies (even the Village). It is somewhat pompous of him to put himself in all of movies (with increasingly larger roles), but Quentin Tarantino has done the same thing (all directors want to be actors for some reason). I think The Village was basically killed by marketing. It was made out to be one thing, and going in it turned out to be completely different. I'm afraid that's whats happening with the Lady in the Water ads too. It makes it look like a horror movie. Is it?

Filmmaker

More like a holier-than-thou Christian, which is ironically bedeviling. He's also aggravating as hell because, not only is he a one-trick pony kind of storyteller, but his one-trick(s) consistently fails to stand up to logical scrutiny. He's all smoke-and-mirrors, pay-no-attention-to-that-man-behind-the-curtain, good-looking atmosphere candy-coating hollow shells of screenplays.

Josh H

This will have to get tremendously positive reviews (like 95% on RT) for me to even consider seeing it after not caring much for Unbreakable, disliking Signs and LOATHING The Village.

Breakfast with Girls

Meh. I have zero interest in this. After Signs I more or less called it quits on Shyamalan's films. I don't hate the guy or anything, but his films seem to have gradually gotten worse with each new release.

Peep

Count me in along the crowd that thinks that every one of his movies looks progressively worse. I'm sitting this out until some poeple I trust have seen it. Not some studio PR-sounding sneak peekers.