And the award for "Most Ironic Title" goes to...

Remember back in the days when M. Night Shamalamadingdong was heralded as the second coming of Spielberg? The Sixth Sense had established him as the heir of Hollywood genius and we were all witnesses the opening act of a master artist?

Notice, no one is citing this guy as being brilliant anymore.

Actually, when I see his films I have great sympathy for ol' MNSlmdd. Imagine having all of that praise and expectation thrown on you in such a public way and then spending the remainder of your career not even making mediocre work? It would be like a young Michael Jordan having trouble navigating his way through a game of horse. Or perhaps like someone who was utterly unqualified to hold higher office who is showered with the hope of change and then...well, you get the point.

Shamalamadingdong is a victim of his own hype. But don't feel too sorry for him. We're all the victim of his writing skills.

This movie is as dull as it is senseless. People begin to die mysteriously. Shamalamadingdong drops some environmentalist nonsense on us and likens us to the plight of honey bees. More people begin to die and society begins to unravel. Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel prance around in rural areas while even more people die. Wahlberg eventually figures out what is killing everyone and then the whole world wants to kill Shamalamadingdong for wasting their time.

Here is a tip for Shammy, STOP WITH THE TWIST ENDING - YOU STINK AT TWIST ENDINGS. Yes, you had a moment of brilliance with The Sixth Sense. You made it work. Congratulations. Just because I luck out and sprint across a Los Angeles highway and make it to the other side doesn't mean I should keep doing it. I should reflect on surviving and then plan on STAYING AWAY FROM THE CARS THAT ARE GOING TO RUN ME OVER.

Just sayin'.



Related Reviews:
M. Night Shamalamadingdong movies
The Village (2004)
The Lady in the Water (2006)


Other Critic’s Reviews:
DearCinema
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Labels: film, M Night Shyamalan, Mark Wahlberg, movie review, Zooey Deschanel

Screenwriter: M. Night Shyamalan (The Happening)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan (The Lady in the Water)
Actors: Jackson Rathbone (New Moon), Randall Duk Kim (Memoirs of a Geisha), Cliff Curtis (Sunshine) and Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)






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Labels: Cliff Curtis, Dev Patel, film, Jackson Rathbone, M Night Shyamalan, movie trailer, Randall Duk Kim

Short Review: Answering the question "How can he do worse than the ending for Signs?"


I’m a dunce. That’s why I like films to have a clear point by the time they wrap up. I’m silly that way.

Stories are arguments. The first act of a story is the "question", wherein the central issue put before the characters and audience is posed. The second act is the various attempts to solve the riddle unleashed in the first act. The third and final act is the answer to the main question of the story. This is the whole point of the three-act structure. Ask – Debate – Answer.

In The Village, M. Night Shamalamadingdong lets rip a cornucopia of symbols and mysteries. Each seems to move toward some grand truth. The film is a string of events that lead us to some interesting places but ends taking us nowhere. Its as if he had a thousand cool ideas, but had no idea what they meant.

It is vital for a story to have a point of view – to take a stand on the issue it presses. This film doesn’t make its stake even slightly. With all of the conflicting subplots, symbols and statements, we end up with a story that is as murky and fun as the lining my toddler son makes for his diapers. Either Shamalamadingdong is for organized religion or he’s against it. Either he is arguing for the goodness of mankind, or he is arguing against it. Either civilization is needed or it is not. Read other reviews of this film. Find me one that is not confused on what is being said with this film. It’s not clever or fair to leave people guessing in this fashion. It’s okay to leave em’ guessing on some plot point or final reveal – but it’s never okay to have large questions surrounding the whole thesis of your piece. That’s just bad storytelling.

Again, it is the result of the third act not carrying its weight. The answers to the questions must make some sense. Perhaps he didn’t know what he was asking. I don’t know. The problem is, no one else does either.


Related Reviews:
M. Night Shyamalan movies
Lady in the Water (2006)
Signs (2002)


Other Critic's Reviews:
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Labels: Adrien Brody, Joaquin Phoenix, M Night Shyamalan, William Hurt

Short Review: A quiet and inspired film. It is like The 6th Sense but with more annoying children.


For the most part, this is a good film. It is a study in how to patiently unfold a story and its characters. It is certainly refreshing to see a movie where the filmmaker knows that solid scenes don’t need to be rushed. M. Night Shamalamadingdong handles most of the film with a delicate hand and gently presents the horror of the alien invasion without becoming overbearing (until the end of the film.)

I have great appreciated the sound design. It would have been easy to make the aliens growling, violent creatures. M. Night Snuffleupagus’ genius in this film was making them so silent. Quiet horror is unsettling horror. Have you have wakened from a dead sleep thinking you’ve heard something in your house? Have you ever thought someone had broken in? This film plays on that terrified listening we fall into when we try to discern if there is a menace that we cannot see.

The ending of the film is weak, it's Michael Jackson in competitive arm wrestling weak. It wraps up too nicely and too conveniently. The ending wouldn't have lost anything if M. Night Shyma-something-or-another, stopped the action, stepped into the shot and simply said "and everyone lives happily ever after". I understand the point M. Night Sha-Na-Na was attempting to make, I just feel he could have done it less forcefully.

Overall, good film. If you haven’t seen it yet, do. Well worth the rental price.


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Million Dollar Hotel (2000)


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Labels: alien, film, Joaquin Phoenix, M Night Shyamalan, Mel Gibson, movie review