If you haven't released a feature film in nearly a decade, you can't be at the top of the list. I still put Spielberg up there. Munich will be awesome, I'm guessing.
Regardless of what people thought it was going to be, quit acting like this was the most important piece of American film ever. There are many reasons why anyone can dislike a film. It's arrogant of you to believe that if one didn't like the movie it was because it was over their head. Um, he used a cartoon that is extremely satirical and many times intelligent. Please explain how South Park is indicative of piss poor American values? Which values are piss poor? I know you didn't talk **** about Beavis and Butthead. Them's fightin' words.
WHAT?? George Lucas b**** slapped him back to earth after he turned in a script for Indiana Jones 4, Lucas was so not impressed with his script he and Steven Spielberg started looking to other scripts a soon after reading Shyamalans..
apparently, your short attention span has once again shown it's true colors. what? you didn't think The Phantom Menace was a masterpiece? It's a movie movie with a plot rather than a bunch of special effects flying around with no storyline.
I am not "acting like it was the most important piece of american film ever." I am saying it was a very good movie and not a piece of crap like some on here are indicating. The typical movie going audience these days are only interested in blockbuster special effect flicks with little or no plot and substance. Sorry for appreciating a movie that has a plot, good imagery and story telling. I don't watch it, i saw one or two episodes when it first came out and wasn't impressed with it. The episode I saw poked fun at a skinny little ethiopian boy. I don't recall exactly how it went but they adopted him or something and fun was made at him and ethiopians. That type of racial humor doesn't appeal to me. There are more things in there are horrible. This show was so popular when I was in H.S. and Kids actually thought it was cool to imitated: being "brain dead", jobless and have no ambition, disrespect of authority, complete degradation of women, promote drug and alcohol abuse. If you are into all that and wanna fight to defend those values than I feel for you.
I happen to love M. Night's work. He has a great knack for storytelling and creating atmosphere and suspense in his movies. That's not to say his work is without flaws though. All his films are pretty slow, to the point that I wouldn't watch them again all the way through (and I haven't). Sixth Sense, while a great film, wouldn't have been near as good if not for the twist. On the flip side, The Village's twist was its downside. That was a great film. Yes you read right, it was a great film (and I was very skeptical of it initially). But he had become a slave to his own creation. He had become known for that twist ending, so everybody started guessing it before they even watched it. Plus the film was marketed horribly. It wasn't horror movie w/ a twist. It's a riveting social commentary with a nice little love story. Unbreakable was good with or without the twist, put it was painstakenly slow and pretty depressing throughout. Signs was, in my opinion, his strongest work. Outside the beggining (wich was again terribly slow), the film was tight, well paced, suspensful and at times scary, with an awesome twist that wasn't really a twist at all. Say what you will about the flaws of his work, but he is one of the better filmmakers out there right now. He just needs to move away from the thriller genre and try something different. Despite that, take a look at the plot summary for his latest work... Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep (Giamatti) rescues what he thinks is a young woman from the pool he maintains. When he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the journey back to her home, he works with his tenants to protect his new friend from the creatures that are determined to keep her in our world. Sounds pretty damn interesting to me.
Thanks for brightening my day, this thread is hilarious. Keep this in mind, just because someone disagrees with you a movie, doesn't mean they're braindead idiots who only enjoy flashy things with no substance. Just because you thought it was good storytelling doesn't mean I have to think it was. What's the old saying? Different strokes for different folks. And you may want to watch more than 1 or 2 episodes of a series that's been on the air for nearly eight years before judging it.
Just what I thought. Couldn't have a valid response for the crap you watch. It's tough to defend racist humor and horrendous values. You probably do NOT share those values, but you (along with the millions of other people) continue to contribute/encourage the stereotypes and bad values expressed in pop culture. Like you said, different strokes for different folks. Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving. I am out. Peace!
Actually, I hope your feast gives you diarrhea and aliens come and destroy your house, all while having no real plot or good storytelling. HA! I give thanks that I don't judge people on whether or not they like crap like The Village or whether they spout off on a television show they've only seen once or twice! HA! Again, thanks for the good laugh...you're hilarious.
I wouldn't pass judgement on a show you haven't watched nor understand. South Park is probably one of the more intelligent shows currently on air. But you have to look past the crude humour.
I got all of Shyamalan's movies. They are interesting to watch, but I didn't think they were that mind blowing. Everything he has done Alfred Hitchcock did better 40 years ago without the need for a shocking twist at the end of every movie. Not saying he is a bad filmmaker. He's good at what he does. But, I doubt any legitimate critic would place him in the top 10 or 15 filmmakers making movies today.
I don't know why everyone hates "The Village". I think it's a good movie. The twist may not be that surprising, but it's a good story.
If you watched signs as a sci-fi thriller, then yes, I can see why you're disappointed. Those aliens weren't that great and the logic behind their invasion plan is pretty idiotic. However, I enjoyed Signs as an exposition on faith and the miraculous ability of the human mind to make leaps of faith under the most stressful of circumstances. Another thing about Night's films is that they are always stocked with watchable actors. His actors treat the story seriously and play it as serious drama. So even when you don't enjoy the movie's plot, the acting and atmosphere created by the music and cinematography makes it still more enjoyable than 80% of the crap out there.
