A personal reflection on M.NIGHT SHYAMALAN
Feb 23
Remember the first time you watched The Sixth Sense? Perhaps you were lucky enough to not know the ending upon your first viewing – making the twist all the more powerful. I remember hearing about the film long before I saw it, there was always someone at school talking about how they went with their older brother and it scared the shit out of them. ‘The ending is amazing’ was a phrase I found myself hearing all too often.
The Sixth Sense was pretty much a cultural phenomenon during its release. It was heralded as the savior of the ‘traditional’ thriller, said to be one of the scariest films of all time and had an ending which caught everyone by surprise. When I finally saw the film – on VHS – my 13 year old self immediately agreed with the buzz. This was one of the greatest films I’d seen and its writer/director M. Night Shyamalan was my new hero.
Oh how heroes can fall.
M. Night’s last film The Happening is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. If I think about how bad it is for too long, I get the same dizzy feeling that occurs when I try to fathom how big the universe really is, and how tiny and insignificant we all are. If I were able to go back in time and show my 13 year old self The Happening, I’m positive my 13 year old self would think I’m joking and try to push me down some stairs for lying to him. Luckily, another version of me would travel back in time to save myself, creating a time paradox in the process.
I guess it’s a good thing time travel hasn’t been invented.
M. Night didn’t fall from grace quickly though, he wasn’t a ‘one hit wonder’. Instead, his fall was a slow and painful one. After the success of The Sixth Sense, Night was practically able to make any sort of movie he wanted, he had total creative freedom. Not only that, he was offered some of Hollywood’s biggest properties with Night famously turning down the opportunity to write a script for Indiana Jones 4 (this was well before Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was announced, although the basic story would have been the same). Rather than taking whatever he could get, Night opted to write and direct his own story once again. The result was Unbreakable.
Unbreakable is arguably Night’s best film and seems to be getting recognized as such the more that time passes. Unfortunately, it didn’t fare so well at the box office during its release because it was marketed as a thriller from “the writer/director of the Sixth Sense”. The general moviegoer went in expecting another supernatural thriller and what they got instead was a slow paced drama about a man discovering he is a super hero. Keep in mind as well that Unbreakable was released before the Hollywood onslaught of ‘comic book’ movies.
The story took its time to develop characters and plot and Night’s cinematography reflected this. Unbreakable has less than 500 cuts (or edits) in it. To put this in perspective, a large action scene can have well over 500 cuts in it, particularly if it’s of the modern Transformers variety. Although Unbreakable also contained a twist ending, it didn’t feel tacked on and served as a natural climax to the story.
Following the relative commercial failure of Unbreakable, Night again set out to write and direct an original idea of his own. Signs was written with a large movie audience in mind and the result was another box office hit. Thankfully, Night didn’t simply ‘phone it in’ to make a quick buck. The whole film was a homage to the classic thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock, with James Newton Howard’s eerie score conjuring up images from Psycho. Much like his previous films, Night lets the tension build slowly, hinting at horrific images and creatures without ever showing them fully. I still remember sitting in a packed theatre and almost jumping out of my seat when that ‘birthday party footage’ was shown…you know what I’m talking about.
The performances were great and while the ending usually splits people down the middle, I found it very satisfying. In terms of pure entertainment, I think it’s Night’s best effort.
Unfortunately this is where we must pause and take a moments silence. Night could seemingly do no wrong. The man was able to create audience friendly films without sacrificing story and artistry.
Something went wrong after this period though. His films started to show cracks, weaknesses that had never been apparent in his other works began to rear their ugly heads. I won’t dwell too much on the following 3 films because their faults far outweigh any good.
The Village: Although it was beautifully shot, contained a stellar cast (all of them delivering pretty good performances) and was home to one of James Newton Howard’s best scores, its script was extremely lacking. The plot was quite thin and unnecessarily contrived, containing 3 twists – the major of these feeling tacked on simply for “shock value”. To be fair, the love story was quite appealing, although it is ultimately lost in the mess of everything around it.
This was Night faulting a little, I was prepared to accept that.
Lady in the Water: Based on a bedtime story Night used to tell his daughters. The concept is sort of interesting, but the narrative is one of the most needlessly complex scripts to be put on screen in a long time. Lady begins as a simple fairy tale, and the first 30 minutes or so are quite innocent and charming. Unfortunately it goes downhill rapidly after this, breaking the 4th wall in the most absurd ways. A film critic addresses the camera halfway through the film, announcing that he won’t be killed because the story is following a formula…only to be mauled to death. I suppose this is Night saying that he isn’t following the standard structure of a script, which would be fine were it not for the horrible path he chooses to take instead. Likewise a central character – a writer who will save the world – is played by none other than M.Night himself. Whilst I don’t think he intentionally meant to seem so full of himself, it’s hard to ignore.
Lady in the Water was the last straw for a lot of film buffs; they’d officially lost interest in Night.
Unfortunately, it was only going to get worse.
The Happening is currently M.Night’s most recent theatrical release. It tells the story of a supernatural disaster which hits the eastern side of the USA. What kind of disaster? Well, the planet has decided that we (humans) are treating it like shit. Not content with going down quietly, trees, grass, and whatever other plant life you can think of release a toxin into the air. When inhaled by us pesky humans, this toxin causes us to kill ourselves in the most creative way possible.
I guess the bare bones of the concept are interesting, but that’s all The Happening has going for it. The script has some of the worst dialog I’ve ever heard in a movie. Characters spout their motivation without any subtlety “Hey be careful with that [ring], it has meaning to me”. The horror elements were clearly thrown together with very little effort. A scene involving characters running away from the wind may seem chilling on paper (although probably not) but on the big screen it just looks, well, silly.
It seemed as though it was all over for M.Night. I had desperately tried to hold on to something, anything from his films that could inspire me. For a while the cinematography and acting was enough, but alas, that too failed after a while. How could this be the same man who wrote and directed The Sixth Sense all those years ago? While I’ll always love his first 3 films, I can’t ignore the fact that something has gone wrong with one of my filmmaking heroes…
…or at least, something was wrong. I could be speaking too soon, but Night’s next film The Last Airbender seems to be showing all kinds of promise. We won’t know for sure until it’s released, but it seems as though the process of adapting a story – as opposed to constantly writing his own – has done wonders for Night. Perhaps it’s what he needed all along. I’ve written some thoughts on the trailer itself and what we can expect from the movie, so I won’t reiterate that here.
In terms of M. Night Shyamalan as a film maker, I’m living in hope again. My inner monologue is once again offering excuses; Sure The Village was a little weak, but it looked great! Lady in the Water was pretty silly, but he just needed to get that out of his system. The Happening…well, The Happening was plain awful. He’s back in form with The Last Airbender though, I’m sure of it…I’m sure…
I truly hope The Last Airbender is as exciting as it looks. It’s a chance for Night to redeem himself in the eyes of critics and film lovers, it also provides him with a fresh start and the opportunity to establish himself as the master filmmaker we all know he can be…or was…or something.
Come on Night, you can do it!
The new TOY STORY 3 trailer is loaded with nostalgia and looks amazing
Feb 13
I was lucky enough to be near a cinema last weekend that was screening the Toy Story Double Feature (none of the theatres near my apartment are showing it for some reason). It was great to see a couple of my favourite films up on the big screen again.
It was an extremely nostalgic experience. My head was suddenly filled with thoughts of family, old friends and that comforting feeling you get when watching a childhood film that still holds up. Films like Toy Story, The Lion King, Aladdin, The Land Before Time and Jurassic Park have become almost a part of me as I’ve grown over the years, and I dare say many people in my generation would feel the same way.
After the double feature, it dawned on me that the first Toy Story film is 15 years old. It seems like a ridiculously long time when you say it like that. For over half of my life I’ve been admiring these films. There’s an entire generation of kids – I was 9 when Toy Story was released – that have grown up loving these films. Kids that are now adults with university educations, full time jobs and children of their own. It’s a pretty scary thought. Time can pass so quickly.
However, it’s also a testament to Pixar and their ability to create stories that have a timeless appeal. Both Toy Story and Toy Story 2 hold up incredibly well to today’s standards, serving to be just as entertaining and moving as any other modern family release.
It seems fitting in a way that the central theme with Toy Story 3 is following on from that of Toy Story 2; nothing lasts forever.
With the release of the final trailer this week, we’re once again told that Andy (the owner of our favourite cast of toys) is moving away to college. On a quick side note, I love the fact that the real world time between Toy Story 2 and 3 is the amount of time that has passed within the Toy Story world. Our gang have been placed into a box and are being sent to Sunnyside Day Care. At first everything seems peachy keen. There’s a bunch of new toys to hang out with and heaps of rabid kids, eager to play. Is everything at Sunnyside as it seems though? Or is there something more sinister happening behind closed doors? Why does Andy seem depressed that he’s lost his toys? Does he have a better plan for them?
This is pretty much all that the trailer gives us. Judging from the formula established in previous Pixar trailers, the whole ‘Sunnyside Day Care’ is only one element of the story that they’re advertising. I’ve no doubt that more mature based themes will be prevalent throughout the film (nothing lasts forever, watching those you love slip away, etc). Obviously, it’s full of gags too, most of which look hilarious.
There’s no doubt I’m a Pixar fanboy. They’ve yet to produce a film that has severely disappointed a majority of people and the fact that they’ve taken 11 years to release another Toy Story sequel is a pretty strong indication that they were waiting to get the story just right. We’ve grown up loving these characters, and I for one cannot wait to see their (most likely) final adventure on the big screen.
Toy Story 3 hits Aussie cinemas 24 June 2010.
THE LAST AIRBENDER TV spot suggests a return to form for M.Night Shyamalan
Feb 08
It’s that time of year folks. A time when a bunch of guys can get together, drink a shitload of beer, eat a shitload of pretzels and shout at their plasma televisions. That’s right, we’ve just lived to see the passing of another American Super Bowl.
Luckily for movie buffs — and for anyone in the world not excited about American football — the Super Bowl isn’t just about the match itself. Every year, millions and millions of dollars are spent on TV advertising space. The worldwide audience for the event is huge and proves to be a ‘must have’ for the biggest films Hollywood is currently working on. Every year we’re subjected to TV Spots of the year’s biggest films; in terms of budget anyway.
One of the most exciting TV Spots to rear its head was that of The Last Airbender, the first film in a planned trilogy based on the extremely popular – and exceptionally well made – animated series; Avatar – The Last Airbender.
I suppose part of the reason this TV Spot took a lot of people by surprise is the fact that the film is being directed by M.Night Shyamalan… and it looks great!
You know M.Night, the guy who made 3 amazing films early in his career (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs) then faltered a little (The Village), then must have fallen down some stairs and hit his head, resulting in two virtually unwatchable messes (Lady in the Water, The Happening).
Support for Night’s films has been steadily decreasing and the internet hate among various film communities seemed to be at a boiling point. His writing was suffering and even his direction, which is usually rock solid despite a weak script, had pretty much disappeared in The Happening.
Although a previous teaser has been released, it’s this TV Spot that really gives us an insight into how the film will look and feel. Its slick editing, gorgeous cinematography, breath taking effects and the fact that James Newton Howard is scoring have me officially counting down the days till its release (8 July in Australia, July 2 in the US).
With such strong base material – the animated television show is very well constructed – I’m hoping that Night’s writing will be less cringe worthy than his recent efforts. Although to be fair, neither of the trailers released have featured much dialogue. Likewise, we haven’t had a chance to check out the performances of the cast, but at this point I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt.
I think I can be cautiously optimistic and ask; Could this be a return to form for M.Night? I really hope it is.
Here’s the official story synopsis from Paramount:
Air, Water, Earth, Fire. Four nations tied by destiny when the Fire Nation launches a brutal war against the others. A century has passed with no hope in sight to change the path of this destruction. Caught between combat and courage, Aang (Noah Ringer) discovers he is the lone Avatar with the power to manipulate all four elements. Aang teams with Katara (Nicola Peltz), a Waterbender, and her brother, Sokka (Jackson Rathbone), to restore balance to their war-torn world.
Based on the hugely successful Nickelodeon animated TV series, the live-action feature film “The Last Airbender” is the opening chapter in Aang’s struggle to survive.
Limitations can help filmmakers and GEORGE LUCAS is insane
Feb 04
Is it possible for someone to suddenly change? I mean, I know that as we age we mature and gain life experience. We learn from our mistakes and become better people by overcoming life’s adversities. It’s like dating really, you go through a few (or a lot of) failed relationships until you’re lucky enough to find the right one. Sometimes it’s worth going through the hardships – horrible as they are – to gain some sort of life experience. People change over time, there’s no doubt about it.
We aren’t talking about this kind of learned or aged change though. We’re talking about something abnormal, something possibly paranormal.
We’re talking about George Lucas.
The growth of a filmmaker is a lot like a human life in many ways. You learn about the craft the more that you participate. George Lucas doesn’t seem to follow this rule, in fact, he seems to be a Benjamin Button type figure when it comes to well known directors. Lucas was a determined, furiously independent young man. He sought funding from a big studio for Star Wars simply because he couldn’t get the money himself. George didn’t take no for an answer and he was constantly fighting against ‘the man’.
We received news this week that he is currently producing a CGI musical feature centering on faeries. Let that sink in.
To be fair, there’s nothing wrong with this. If that’s the avenue he wishes to take, then all the more power too him. Hearing this news did start to make me think though, have most of the big ‘Hollywood directors’ been possessed by some sort of CGI demon? George Lucas obviously is, James Cameron has all but given into it, Robert Zemeckis has been dating it for years and Steven Spielberg is teetering on the edge of falling in love with its sleek shiny surfaces. I’ll let you be the judge, but here’s my argument:
It’s almost redundant at this point, so I’ll only briefly talk about George Lucas. The first really troublesome signs that he’d given into this beast appeared throughout the re-releases of the original Star Wars trilogy (episodes 4 to 6). Here we were introduced to comic Jawas falling off beasts, large CGI lizards which walked directly in front of the camera, whole new musical numbers and a Sarlacc Pit that had a beak and tentacles…a beak, and tentacles.
The real horrors were yet to come though, as I’m sure you’re well aware. The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith were films that needed a lot of effects, this is true. Unfortunately, Lucas had become completely obsessed with CGI at this point. Why build a set when you can create it digitally? Why not have the frame brimming with CGI distractions? Why not digitally put a baby into Ewan McGregor’s arms?
The answer to these questions is obvious, but not to Lucas. Almost everything in the prequels felt fake and light. It all looked like it came from a computer, despite the hard work put in from the folks at ILM (they’re a great company, but even they can be pushed over the top). In fear of sounding like every internet fanboy, the original trilogy had more weight to it.
There’s something about having a physical object caught on camera that I don’t believe CGI will ever replace. The budget and physical restrictions that were placed on Lucas back in the 70s and 80s were obviously a blessing in disguise. There is such a thing as having too much control, most artists would like to slave over every detail in their work, but sometimes it helps to have your creation taken away before you unwillingly kill it. As Georgie boy himself says in the Making of The Phantom Menace.
“You can do it, you can destroy these things, you know.”
Lucas isn’t the only one to fall victim to this trend. Although I am a fan of Avatar, the CGI demon has been slowly coaxing James Cameron for years now. Taking him out for expensive dinners, giving him lifts to work, paying for his movie tickets and ‘accidently’ laying it’s hand across his crotch. Unfortunately, he’s starting to fall for it. Take this quote for example, from a recent issue of Newsweek:
“ If I did Titanic today, I’d do it very differently. There wouldn’t be a 750-foot-long set. There would be small set pieces integrated into a large CGI set. I wouldn’t have to wait seven days to get the perfect sunset for the kiss scene. We’d shoot it in front of a green screen, and we’d choose our sunset.”
I realize that CGI is one of the biggest changes we’ve had in filmmaking since it existed, especially in terms of effects (I’d wager it’s caused a bigger change to cinema than 3D ever will, but that’s a different story). Building partial sets makes sense a lot of the time, but when does this tool stop helping the directors vision and start hindering it? I don’t know about you, but there’s something to be said about the ‘magic’ of capturing something on film. A CGI sunset will always be just that, computer generated. If it’s going to be the set piece of a sequence, why not spend the time capturing something that’s real and beautiful? I’m glad they did it for Titanic.
Perhaps the worst example of Cameron’s love affair with the demon is a comment he makes on the commentary for Terminator 2. During the scene where Arnold exposes the metal skeleton of his arm, Cameron comments that if he were to do the scene today he’d use CGI.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with how the arm looks, even by today’s standards. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that a CGI arm would look slightly out of place and, most likely, move around way too much. It’s comments like these that make me slightly worry about Old Jim, thankfully he still seems to have control over where to put all of his CGI. Say what you will about Avatar, but it was directed and framed pretty beautifully.
So what can we gather from this little discussion? Is it too late for some of our favourite filmmakers? I’m not sure*, but I think it’s safe to say that limitations can – at times – help directors. Take Duncan Jones’ Moon for example, which was reportedly made for 5 million dollars and thus, was forced to use the techniques and tricks of Sci-Fi from the 70s, 80s and 90s…and wouldn’t you know it? It looked amazing, much better in fact, than any of the Star Wars prequels.
Creative freedom is something every artist aspires to have. Unfortunately more often than not, if they’re successful in their endeavors, then their work starts to suffer. It’s a trend we see a lot.
- The young angry artist who wants to get his vision out to the world and who’ll fight the suits in charge to make it happen.
- The middle aged artist who creates work that is starting to become repetitious, there’s hints of former greatness, but they’re diminishing.
- The elder artist who has now turned to his previous work as it’s all he has to stand on. He re-releases his films and inserts new scenes, promising that they’ll make the film better. He even puts a beak and tentacles into the Sarlacc Pitt.
It’s easy to rip on CGI, and I hope that I’m not coming across like that. After all, it gave us the beautiful and haunting images of fully mobile Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, it made us feel empathy and anger at Gollum in The Lord of the Rings films. However as a wise man once said, with great power comes great responsibility. Please, wield it well Cameron and co. Wield it well.
I’ll leave you with this comic from an artist friend of mine; Christian White
Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.
* Except in the case of George Lucas.
THE CASTLE: Not just a feel-good comedy
Jan 26
It’s probably an obvious choice when it comes to writing or thinking about an Australian movie, but there’s a reason why The Castle has dug itself deep into the Australian psyche, and I don’t think it’s just because it’s a ‘funny movie’. The level of satire and observation of the ‘typical Aussie family’ in the film is quite astounding. It’s impossible to bring it up in conversation without someone exclaiming out loud “This is going straight to the pool room” or to finish a sentence with “It’s just the vibe”. Like a great work of art, or an Olympic athlete, the Castle appears as though it was made effortlessly…the truth is obviously far from this.
The film is well over 10 years old now, having been released in 1997. Yet it’s still as hilarious, insightful and culturally relevant as it was back then. This is largely due to the observational writing by Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Jane Kennedy (better known as the heads behind production company Working Dog). Every character in this film behaves like someone in our own lives and I believe this is one of the major reasons we still love the film today. Yeah, I say we because The Castle seems to be a favorite of almost everyone I’ve met no matter their age or position in life.
This observational writing no doubt helped all of the cast slip into their roles easily, The Castle is one of the rare cases where every single cast member fits their character and plays it flawlessly.
Steve’s love for the trading post, Darryl’s constant house additions, Sal’s creative experiments, Dale’s observations and Tracey’s love for her father are all everyday traits that have only been slightly embellished.
Michael Caton’s Darryl Kerrigan is the role he will be forever remembered for and although the other cast members deliver stellar performances, it’s Caton who really steals the show and makes it his. When you think of The Castle, you think of Dale Kerrigan standing in his backyard dressed in a bath robe, staring thoughtfully at the power lines nearby (they are a reminder of man’s ability to generate electricity, after all).
Aside from the comedy– which, might I add, always results from character moments and never from cheap laughs– there is another important element to the film that keeps us coming back. Heart.
From the moment The Castle begins we’re shown that the Kerrigans are a loving, happy family.
Dale Kerrigan’s narration lovingly introduces us to all of his family members and although there’s comedy in the way they behave and think, over time we come to love them too. They’re an Australian family that we can relate to.
There are genuinely touching moments in The Castle , and they’re so effective because the team at Working Dog have spent time creating characters who care about each other and don’t simply spout one-liners. We feel the pain of Darryl as he comes to terms with loosing his home. It’s often said that there’s a fine line between comedy and tragedy and although The Castle never dips into melodrama, it slightly nudges our emotions every now and then to remind us that this isn’t just a feel good comedy.
It just feels good to sit down with friends or family and watch The Castle. If a film can leave you feeling uplifted and inspired, then it must be pretty special.
THE CASTLE
92/100
OPINIONS COUNT