so... hit it...

for his defenders, i think what those of us who are haters really really hate, above all, is the arrogance of a filmmaker who thinks he knows about the human condition, and he's gonna tell us, and we're gonna like it. see, he thinks his films aren't supposed to be horror, they're supposed to be ART. he is SO ALL-KNOWING, and we are just a bunch of cretins who have to have it fed to us through a derivative story with a twist in it, a seriously lazy element of storytelling, just to put the nail in the coffin. i myself agree wholeheartedly that his films are always well-acted and excellently designed, and, of course, he gets awesome cinematographers and editors on the payroll as well. but an unassuming, poorly-designed, poorly-shot film like 'once' has more impact than m night's work because we're not being condescended to. i'll probably be taken to task for my somewhat circuitous logic, but that's ok, i'm secure in my hatin'.

richard, did you watch the 3 1/2-hour doc on the blade runner dvd? it's fascinating!

I liked: Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs.

I didn't like: The rest of them. They weren't terrible but they had enough problems that I couldn't give them a pass... At least M. Night movies always look and sound great, though.

horned one, i do know good movies. i also enjoy many, many bad movies; i am egalitarian. but i do not enjoy being preached to, cinematically. better to rent 'rope' and enjoy a real masterwork of the genre.

In only his Calvins...

Mr. Walberg knows how to pick a movie - I've yet to see one that I did not entirely enjoy watching.

I dont care if Mr. "Harry has a vendetta" Ratner was directing this, I'd watch it because Mr. Walberg seems to realize that any given movie could be his last, so he makes sure they're all movies he can be proud of.

klo, he's right, your idea is brazills. you should re-send it to spieley, and if he passes i'm sure romanek would love to have it, i hear he's out of a job. *tee hee*

The only solution: Burn down all the trees.

What are all the monkey's going to do? Hmm? They can't swing from shrubs.

The only solution: Burn down all the trees.

What are all the monkies going to do? Hmm? They can't swing from shrubs.

I don't agree, but it takes some stones to insinuate that M Night is on a different level than the audience, and THAT is why he has misfires.

did you SEE the village? did you wait all the way til the ending? what level was he operating on then?

From Roger Ebert's review of The Village:

"Eventually the secret of Those, etc., is revealed. To call it an anticlimax would be an insult not only to climaxes but to prefixes. It's a crummy secret, about one step up the ladder of narrative originality from It Was All a Dream. It's so witless, in fact, that when we do discover the secret, we want to rewind the film so we don't know the secret anymore.

And then keep on rewinding, and rewinding, until we're back at the beginning, and can get up from our seats and walk backward out of the theater and go down the up escalator and watch the money spring from the cash register into our pockets."

pretty harsh, but most people I know over the age of 12 agreed. The Village was so god awful horrendous, he lost me for a while. I didn't even see Lady in the Water because it seemed to be more of the same.

that said, this one has Zooey Deschanel, my favorite actress. (maybe not the best out there, but very good and completely adorable). and that is instilling a feeling of cognitive dissonance in me that is reaching epic levels. I might actually pay to see this in theaters.

or I could just go see Cell with a picture of her. pretty close.

Zooey was SO cute in it, but I think it was just a noble failure. a few good moments, but it should have been a 2 hour theatrical release.

All I know though if I see a barrel of purple kool aid being passed around and the main character's name is Jim Jones then I am OUT!!!

Rated PG for Preetty GIIRRLL!!!!

Thank you, thank you. I'll be here every Monday night. Please be generous and leave tips for our waiters.

2) Airplanes. Where are they?

3) They are racist. They want to isolate themselves from the minorities. Sometimes I do too but you don't see me going to such lengths. I just go to the spa.

J/k ~~~~ It's ok to love the Shamanna..

Not a casual fan, though, are you Tivo? Seriously, what's the deal? It's pretty clear you're a plant; just be honest with us.

Tivo's posts

On MNS being a douche- "Never got how he comes off as a douche by TiVo1138 Dec 7th, 2007 07:55:24 PM Is there some sort of documentary or something where he's an asshole?

"While The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs were all about faith,--faith in one another, faith in one's self, and faith in something BIGGER than one's self--The Village and Lady in the Water are obviously protest songs. And Ebert's review of The Village completely missed the mark. The movie is ABOUT deception. Everything's a lie, including the supernatural. Shyamalan himself has acknowledged that that's why the movie angered a lot of people. In my opinion, it makes it no less great than his other movies."

PrettyNursePoppy by TiVo1138 Dec 7th, 2007 09:35:00 PM "That says nothing about Night's character. It just points out that Michael Bamberger had a ridiculous man-crush on him."

"I've read the book, so you don't need to take excerpts from it. Taken out of context, those would make him sound like a douche. While I found the author of the book to be all too adoring of Night, I still think it portrayed him as human, eager-to-please, and insecure. A conceited, egomaniac, asshole however, I don't see... at least not any moreso than other directors."

"It'll be competing against Hulk... by TiVo1138 Dec 8th, 2007 10:44:30 PM same opening weekend."

Man, Maybe you're just an avid fan, but my sixth sense is picking up chlorophyll here.

both were bloated vanity exercises that collapsed under their own perceived weight. I swear to god, anyone that didn't see the ending of the village coming is not too bright. and anyone that saw it coming but was still satisfied has very low expectations.

and not for nothing, it wasn't just Ebert who eviscerated it in reviews.42% at rottentomatoes, got panned by some major critics.

but hey, it made over $200 million worldwide, and Crash won an Oscar. there's no accounting for taste, I guess.

2) I know that Hurt paid off the gummint to keep the preserve fenced off and airplanes out, but at some point they will see something in the far distance. It's inevitable. Then the children will be worshipping dragons in the sky. Do we want that?

3) I know Shamoana is a minority but that doesn't excuse the fact there are none in the Village. Just a buncha crackaZ in holing themselves in da woods for fear of a black planet.