Tom and I often have long-winded conversations about movies via skype. Recently we were trying to think of some movies to debate on future podcasts, so naturally the name of M. Night Shyamalan quickly came up. Shyamalan is definitely one of those filmmakers that people either love or hate. With the release of Shyamalan’s latest film, The Last Airbender, we thought we’d post our conversation here, it seemed relevant enough. So, with no further ado…
Titus: We need a good film to debate.
Tom: A good one would be The Last Airbender. I can always find reasons to defend Shyamalan.
Titus: Really? Even with The Happening?
Tom: lol. I could totally defend that film as a whole. I will concede to some lame parts but I would still
take a positive side on that one
Titus: “Some” lame parts? :)
Tom: Yes, some. It just needed a different twist, not trees killing people.
Titus: And a better cast or possibly some direction.
Tom: lol. That’s pretty harsh. I don’t think the cast was the problem. I don’t think he directed it poorly
either. The whole thing is pretty cool and builds tension well until we find out the plants are angry
with us. After that revelation it is hard to take the rest seriously.
Titus: Oh man! The acting in that was reprehensible and I wasn’t buying the whole “we meant for it to
be bad” shtick.
Tom: Was the acting really the big issue or the lines they were asked to deliver with a straight face?
Titus: Wahlberg’s performance was laughable at best. I was watching it dumbfounded at how bad the
acting was. I kept thinking “is this for real?” Script, acting, directing, it was all bad!
Tom: Wahlberg was Wahlberg. That’s what you get when you cast him. Everyone going to see him act
knows that by now. That’s what we expect when we watch him.
Titus: It had potential too, that was the sad part. The scene where those kids get shot was so funny and I
think we were supposed to feel bad.
Tom: I have to watch it again because I honestly don’t remember that scene. We saw it opening night
and haven’t seen it since. I’m going to have to Netflix it now.
Titus: Everyone is surrounding that barn, and then a double barrel shotgun pops out and blows a kid
away right off the porch. Everyone in the theatre was either confused or laughing.
Tom: lol. I have to watch it again. I put it in the same boat with Death Race, Incredible Hulk, Doomsday,
AvP, etc. I enjoy watching all those when I just want to watch something fun and don’t want to
have to think too hard.
Titus: I saw it opening day too. First and last time I will ever see it. The movie tried to be so much more
than those movies though. That’s what made it so much worse. I was hoping The Happening
would be fun, but I didn’t think it was.
Tom: I think if you took out the premise of plants killing people because they are angry with how we
treat the environment and replace it with like a toxic gas or crashed satellite you would have had a
different reaction.
Titus: Lady in the Water?
Tom: Lady in the Water is tough to defend. Kind of like Sharkboy and Lava Girl was for Rodriguez.
However, kids love Sharkboy and Lava Girl for some reason. I have yet to meet a kid that likes Lady
in the Water. Actually I have yet to meet a kid who saw Lady in the Water.
Titus: Lady in the Water was real bad, but I think I may have liked it better than The Happening.
Tom: Lady in the Water was supposed to be for kids but it was way too creepy for kids, among many
other problems.
Titus: I thought water being the aliens’ weakness in Signs was lame, but the rest of the movie was good
so it got a pass. The Happening is a whole other story.
Tom: Why would you have a problem with water being the aliens’ weakness? When was the last time
you were attacked by an invading alien race? I am perfectly willing to give things like that a pass in
films because who really knows. Just because it doesn’t fit into our conventional thinking of what
should kill an alien? I take that stance with many films that people/critics are way too hard on.
Titus: No, it’s more like with aliens being as smart as they are why would they invade a planet that is
70% water?
Tom: lol. Again, over thinking the situation.
Titus: haha, this could be a fun blog post.
Tom: It made perfect sense for the aliens because they got a long way before people figured out water
was there weakness. They figured it out by complete accident.
Titus: Water didn’t ruin Signs for me, but it did seem like he was a little lazy with the writing there.
Tom: I really liked Signs almost as much as Unbreakable.
Titus: I liked Signs too. I thought it was a lot of fun. The Village was ruined for me though because of all
Shyamalan’s plot holes.
Tom: Yeah, that one frustrated me but it was still fun to watch. I enjoyed Bryce Dallas Howard’s
performance. That was the first thing I had ever seen her in. I thought the whole premise for the
film was a neat idea. And it wasn’t crazy plot twists at the end. You kind of already knew.
Titus: With The Village though, I couldn’t buy that Adrien Brody’s handicap character became all
menacing when he put on the monster suit. Stuff like that throughout The Village just ruined it for
me. I did like the ending though and thought it was fairly entertaining.
Tom: I loved in The Village how the people had these bad accents and were attempting to speak in old
English. It bothered me through the whole movie and then it made sense why they were speaking
like that at the end. I thought that was a nice touch.
Titus: They should have a put a twist like that at the end of Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. Shyamalan is
just getting gradually worse. He became so lazy in his writing after he struck gold with The Sixth
Sense and then bombed with Unbreakable.
Tom: I guess sometimes I give people a pass because they have such intriguing ideas. I loved the ideas
and concepts behind Unbreakable, The Village and The Happening. Shyamalan is a good director,
just not sold on his writing. He should dictate his ideas to someone else and let them put them all
to paper.
Titus: Unbreakable, yes. The Village, kind of. The Happening, no.
Tom: You didn’t think the effect of the toxin or whatever in The Happening was cool? What it made people
do? That was awesome! It just shouldn’t have been angry plants.
Titus: Yeah, that opening scene was like the only cool part. I think he is a good storyteller, but I don’t
really think he can direct actors.
Tom: So you would compare him to George Lucas? Lucas is horrible with actors but he is a great
storyteller. It will be interesting with Airbender to see him direct someone else’s material. I think
that will help prove my theory that his only real problem is his writing ability.
Titus: He is basically more of a Lucas than a Spielberg. Which sucks for him since Spielberg is like his idol.
Tom: Lucas has still yet to direct a script he did not write. Shyamalan needs this film (Airbender) to
prove he is still worthy of studios giving him money.
Titus: I agree with you though that sometimes critics and people are too harsh and sometimes they
deserve a pass. But Shyamalan is so cocky and studios give him so much money to make his films,
and sometimes it seems like his films fail just because of his laziness or cockiness.
Tom: You can put a few directors in that same boat. I think Airbender will prove if writing is his only
problem or if he can’t direct actors either. He is getting a young and relatively inexperienced cast to
work with.
Titus: I’ve never really been a Shyamalan naysayer until Lady in the Water and The Happening. Both of
which I saw in theatres right when they came out. I’m still rooting for him in a way.
Tom: I’m always rooting for films and directors in general. I wish they could all be good and come out
the way directors see it in their heads. Then this wouldn’t be a love/hate blog and we would have
nothing to debate.
Titus: That’s impossible as long as Uwe Boll is out there :)
Stay tuned, this debate may continue once we both see M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender.
