| Author | Message | ||
     Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
I know the general concensus on this was that it sucked forst time round, but tonight I watched this with the lads and I/we loved it. What a genuinely sweet, kooky film this is now, rough edged in the loose way of an old Romero. It's funny, daft, and scary, but also quite poetic and lyrical in places - all nice words from the Lovell vocabulary. A new favourite. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
I liked it the first time around. A very good little film, with some startling scenes. I love the ending, too. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
Good article by King; 20210538%2C00.html,http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20210538,00.html And was that me showing my geordie roots - 'Forst'? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.8.15 |
Hate. Ed. It. | ||
| Ian Alexander Martin (Iam) Username: Iam Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 64.180.64.74 |
Not. Heard. Of. Let. Alone. Seen. It. …is this the new RCMB style, by the way? Individual words as their own sentences? Seems vaguely reminiscent of Hemingway. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
Another film that doesn't fit Craig's template theory.  | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Sorry folks, but I'm forced to be a dissenter on this one. I thought it was just plain crap. Badly conceived, badly written, and woefully acted. There have been worst first minutes, though. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
Not seen it yet but I fully intend to. It can't be as bad as The Lady in the Water. It can't be. It Can't Be | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 188.147.201.221 |
Weber - mate, can u send me a blank email, so I can email with something you might or might not be interested in. The email account I keep emailing to doesn't work. Lady In The Water - totally agree, which is a shame since I usually love his films for all their flaws. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
Me before seeing the film again; 'This movie sucks!' Me on seeing it again, knowing it sucked; 'This movie's great!' Go figure. Funny thing is, I could still see its faults, but this time I sort of tuned into the shapelessness of it, the weird lurches into comedy, the fact that the only people who seem to survive all come across as autistic (I thought that was the point of the film at one point). It's nuts, but it's like an old seventies horror filler, sort of unguessable because of its lack of skill. And yet, there IS skill, because it's so frikkin' frightening in places (my middle kid almost had to leave the room when the old lady appeared - I pinned him down, though, and he got through it ok). | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
I even liked the weird acting. It felt like a big budget Jean rollin film, which appeals to me big time. Lady in the Water - yes, problematic, but with a sort of watchable sheen of quality to it. Poor Shyamalan - if only he'd listen to me and do that bigfoot movie. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
I watched unbreakable again recently after my initial lukewarm first watch a few years ago and now think it's a resounding classic. Adorable, goosebump-making stuff. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I find M. Night Shyamalan a director who is capable of heartstopping genre sequences (the monsters raiding the village in 'The Village' say) but who hasn't the instinct to make a whole film hang together... he always seems to get something wrong - often spectacularly wrong (as with the cod religiosity of 'Signs' and his more recent efforts). 'The Sixth Sense' was one of the most overrated films of the 90s that I found pedestrian in its handling and boringly predictable. 'Unbreakable' is the closest he has come to a wholly successful movie (imo) but even it was full of frustrating flaws. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
I've come round to the idea that the flaws are the things that set his films apart. He tries for something bold, a deviation from what a normal film would do. My understanding of this has helped my apprecation of his work enormously. Sixth Sense, for a first film, was remarkable. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
I'm with Tony here. 100%. Shamalayan's ambition (even when he fails) is always worth my time. Also, I think Unbreakable is a bona fide modern classic. The weight-lifting scene is one of my favourite cinematic moments of all time. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
I also loved the "cod religiosity" of Signs. To me it felt anything but faked. That film - unlike a lot of simiar Hollywood blockbusters - had heart. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
At least his films stir debate...  I think time will have to be the judge of how good Shyamalan really is. Tony, he actually directed two films prior to 'The Sixth Sense': 'Wide Awake' (1998) - a school comedy about a young Catholic boy's search for God! 'Praying With Anger' (1992) - a culture clash drama about a US raised Hindu youth's first experience of his spiritual homeland. I guess you were right about his religiosity, Zed. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
We're not used to faith being so boldly presented. It makes us wince. But why? Agnostics, theists, have their way so much of the time we've started taking their view as the norm. Me - I AM open minded, and got it. High five, Zed! - even if we're wrong.  | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
Oh yeah! I forgot about those films, like I suppose I would... | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.167.138 |
Edward Bond once said that what people think the night after they see a play isn't as important as what they think six months later. Sometimes you need a little time. Not seen The Happening or Lady In The Water yet. Or Unbreakable. In fact, I've only seen The Sixth Sense and The Village, and I'm probably one of only three or four people in the known universe who actually liked that film. The scene when the 'creatures' attack the village is stunning- scared the shit out of me. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Tony and I (and Adriana) loved The Village. Brilliant film. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Tony: | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I liked 'The Village' as well but was gutted with the big letdown of the ending. It would have worked far better as a genuinely supernatural parable imo. It and 'Unbreakable' are the only two of his films I've seen that I'd give a qualified thumbs up to... I hated 'Signs' and was frankly baffled by all the ballyhoo over 'The Sixth Sense'. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
The Village seemed about the need for fantasy, its purpose. It's odd because it counters the message in Signs totally. Also, take his films not quite as horror and they somehow work better. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
Frank - I've sent you an email from my work and my hotmail. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 188.147.68.43 |
Weber - just emailed, mate. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
? | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
just hijacking the thread for a private chat that's all | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Tony, 'The Village' was about the need for fear in order to control the masses and in that respect could be seen as an inspired comment on the then prevalent neo-con Bushism (remember when the whole world went temporarily insane?). I still wish, though, that Shyamalan hadn't been so "above genre" as to forget the allegorical strength of his tale - remember, always respect the intelligence of your readers or viewers to fill in the blanks for themselves. Ultimate example: watch Don Siegel's 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers' and then talk to me about having your cake and eating it... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
I thought it showed how fear kept us focussed, feel alive! Crazy. I'm not saying you're wrong, btw, just that it's interesting. Your reading sort of spoils it for me!  I have a sequel idea to The Invasion of the BodySnatchers; girl whose immune to the pod process lives in the world of taken-over humans and fits in quite nicely, makes contact with others like her. I might even make it my next book. It wouldn't be scary btw. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
Oh, and the aliens tolerate these people, counsel them and stuff when they're miserable. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Tony, it wouldn't just be "not scary" it would be a very bad idea imho! The "doppelganger/how do you know who is really human" theme is the single most terrifying in fantasy and any attempt to neuter that (especially if based on an established classic) would be dead before it even got in the water. Rethink please! BTW I can't wait to read Robert Heinlein's classic exploration of this theme, 'The Puppet Masters'. Oh, for a copy... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
You don't think it would be about coping, being muffled by the caring/counselling culture? I think that is scary, myself. Also I like embracing things that turn things on their heads. It feels like it could be quite a questioning, angry book. It might even show the aliens were right. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
I think Tony's idea is very interesting -especially the second bit. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
It's the idea of being one of a handful of remaining humans that appeals to me, trying to fit into a very different world to what you were used to. I actually really do fancy this. Might not be an official sequel, mind. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
God - the feeling's on me! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Sounds fascinating, Tony - a very Lovell theme, if that makes any sense. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
I should go off and start while it's burning, shouldn't I? I can see/hear this girl already. An Emo type, she is - or rather becomes one. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Create your own world then, Tony, don't elaborate on an already established one - especially given such a monumental classic and the expectations of a ready-made audience. If you did manage to pull it off I would not only eat my hat but whistle Dixie naked from the top of Nelson's Column... or something like that. Anyone here seen the genuinely terrifying 'Hammer House Of Horror' episode 'The Two Faces Of Evil'? Also dying to read John Christopher's 'The Possessors' on the same theme. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.255.131 |
My opinion on Shyamalan almost mirror Stephen's: I thought THE SIXTH SENXE overrated, I thought UNBREAKABLE his best film too... from now on, when anyone wants my opinion on anything, I will refer you to Stephen.... Shoutin' out to Zed, way back up top of this thread: That's why it sucked.  | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
Oh, The Happening sucked, but it was special to me. It did things I've not seen or feel any other films do. For me that makes it quite a precious thing. Haven't we all loved a dog with a limp, a girl whose nose is a bit big? We're not droids. I do hold to quality, but sometimes certain things can be not only forgiven but embraced. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Often it's the flaws in art which speak directly to our imperfect hearts. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.255.131 |
I agree with you to some extent, Tony... but the first time I saw this film (and others of his), to carry on the analogy, the dog with the limp bit me, the girl whose nose was too big kicked me... it's only human nature to not want to go back and embrace them, but that's not to say one shouldn't sometimes try... like, when I've finally forgotten the bite's hurt and the kick's sting.... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
We've sort of had this debate before, and generally I agree with you Craig, but sometimes a film really does just speak to you personally and you take it into yourself. I'm quite aware that this is the case with this one. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
That old bug-bear personal taste... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
It's unquantifiable, isn't it? Started preplanning that story - and it's coming VERY easily! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
Shit - a page of notes already. Is this how books begin, so easily? | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Fuck... I better buy a hat then! | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.255.131 |
You know what they say about personal tastes: everyone has them, and they all stink - except for mine, personally speaking. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.176.9 |
What's making it so easy is the fact it tackles things that have been on my mind for some time; that of the depths of emotion - what is 'shallow' for instance. I've never preplanned before; I hope it works. |