text:
June 30, 2010, 11:50 p.m. CST
by TaisonX
June 30, 2010, 11:50 p.m. CST
by ebonic_plague
You shit the money bed, M. Night!
June 30, 2010, 11:51 p.m. CST
by ErnestBorgNine
Shyamalan buys his own hype and has become this.
June 30, 2010, 11:51 p.m. CST
by jimmy_009
Nothing but bad reviews. I desperately want M. Knight to revive his career, but it ain't gonna happen after this. Man shouldn't be writing his own movies. Period. All good directors let the writers do the writing. If any studio lets him direct again, that should be the case.
June 30, 2010, 11:52 p.m. CST
by Zadrock
I had a bad feeling about this already but I didn't expect this.
June 30, 2010, 11:55 p.m. CST
by RPLocke
June 30, 2010, 11:56 p.m. CST
by jimmy_009
June 30, 2010, 11:56 p.m. CST
by Holeman
This movie looked like shit to begin with and M. Night has been committing career suicide since "The Village". Watch him turn around and blame us for making his movies suck and then go into hibernation for five years and bounce back with a decent movie that makes us trust him again and then he'll do it all over again. The guy was never that fucking special to begin with.
June 30, 2010, 11:58 p.m. CST
by Durendal
This movie is getting eviscerated by the critics. It's a goddamned shame considering the source material.
June 30, 2010, 11:58 p.m. CST
by BoRock_A_Boomer
And twilight sucks too
June 30, 2010, 11:59 p.m. CST
by RedBull_Werewolf
every shamalamdongdong film has to have a twist, is the kid really dead or maybe the true last airbender is a tree alien traped in a village in paul giamati's apartment pool?
June 30, 2010, 11:59 p.m. CST
by BiggusDickus
Why are people constantly surprised when, once again, he turns out a piece of shite?
Simply avoid his work, people. Stop going to see his films and the suits will stop hiring him. Easy.
July 1, 2010, 12:01 a.m. CST
by Rupee88
I loved this review for some reason...maybe because I am still bitter about sitting through "Signs" at the theater.
July 1, 2010, 12:02 a.m. CST
by jimmy_009
He is a terrible writer. The bottom line is if he could/would direct something written by someone else, it might actually stand a chance of being decent. Why studios haven't caught on to this is beyond me.
July 1, 2010, 12:02 a.m. CST
by Series7
I'll be seeing it this weekend. Is there some checklist somewhere of things for critics to bitch about regarding Airbender?
July 1, 2010, 12:02 a.m. CST
by frank cotton
most studios are run by idiots - each film that comes out lately only drives the point further home
July 1, 2010, 12:03 a.m. CST
by Series7
Seeing this movie in 3-D? Jesus are they forcing you to?
July 1, 2010, 12:04 a.m. CST
by RPLocke
was the BEST OF THE YEAR? And most of them bombed. Guess they're going the other route.
July 1, 2010, 12:04 a.m. CST
by Fa Fa Fooey
That is all.
July 1, 2010, 12:05 a.m. CST
by Fa Fa Fooey
That is all.
July 1, 2010, 12:07 a.m. CST
by WookieAfro
So pissed after watching this last night. Shyamalan took great canon and Jar Jar'd the hell out of it. Please let this hack direct the last Twilight film so he can butcher a franchise that already sucked.
July 1, 2010, 12:07 a.m. CST
by Fa Fa Fooey
...and now the film is a turkey. That's called a two-fer, folks.
July 1, 2010, 12:07 a.m. CST
by Metalheadfan2500
Burn M Night for raping the franchise DAMN HIM FOR ALL ETERNITY in other ways, I dislike the film
July 1, 2010, 12:08 a.m. CST
by Fa Fa Fooey
That is all.
July 1, 2010, 12:08 a.m. CST
by Ghostpirate
of this show. I never watched it, but I bet they were very excited that this was happening. If the movie sucks they may never get a good live action realization of the property. When a film maker gets a chance to adapt a beloved property like this, they should do their best and get second opinions. Maybe a script doctor to check their work. Granted, if a director is creating something new they should be able to do their own thing. But that wasn't the case here. Fans of the show put a lot of hope in this and it sounds like it will be a let down.
July 1, 2010, 12:09 a.m. CST
by Star Hump
How will this affect Syamalan's career? He's pushing out bad movie after bad movie now. He's a consistently poor filmmaker. Will this debacle finish him or will he just roll on? I suspect the latter as there is no shortage of hackery in Hollywood screenwriting and directing. Wasn't there a saying or something? Like "Hollywood is the only place where you can fail upwards"? or something.
July 1, 2010, 12:10 a.m. CST
by raidahguy
I was hoping for the best for Night and thinking this could be his comeback.His first three films were superb, how did he get on such a horrible streak?!! I thought it this movie looked awesome in the trailers, but Capone is a pretty good reviewer. Ah fuck, this sucks, if it is that bad, it may the nail in the coffin for NIGHT, what a shame...
July 1, 2010, 12:14 a.m. CST
by Hipshot
for film that most deserves to fail, this year. If I was an Asian actor, I'd want to skin Shyamalan and roll him in salt. Once he sold out that totally,the chance of him connecting to anything vaguely human and authentic...or even an entertaining imitation of life, was about nil.
July 1, 2010, 12:14 a.m. CST
by pikazerox
My wife wants to see Deathly Hallows in 3D, I told her to fuck right off.
July 1, 2010, 12:15 a.m. CST
by Tarijeno
The only redeeming quality of The Last Airbender is that it'll get more work for ILM artists. I think Shyamalan has just bought into the fact that he's a shitty storyteller when he can't include a surprise ending. So he's stopped paying attention to little things like realistic dialogue, believable character motivations, and a story that makes sense. George Lucas took 20 years to turn into a shitty film maker. Shyamalan only took ten.
July 1, 2010, 12:16 a.m. CST
by RPLocke
And yet it's so damn hard to get Star Wars or Trek in 3D?
July 1, 2010, 12:19 a.m. CST
by Canidate_Micheal
Not sure why shylaman or what the fucks his name even signed on to do this film... Much less that his films have taken on some crazy DUMB mojo.... Hope he gets the good shit back soon!
July 1, 2010, 12:21 a.m. CST
by RadioPat
This movie sucked donkey ballz. http://tinyurl.com/2ao7bnv
July 1, 2010, 12:22 a.m. CST
by Mr. Nice Gaius
I'm sure in the miserable "What The Fuck Did You Do To Your Career?!" annals of cinema, you will be duly enshrined.
July 1, 2010, 12:23 a.m. CST
by ErnestBorgNine
it'll be his favorite Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan movie yet for some bullshit esoteric reason, too.
July 1, 2010, 12:33 a.m. CST
by JonChambers
NOTHING COULD BE WORSE THAN THAT SHIFEST. CAPONE, it can't be anything WORSE!
July 1, 2010, 12:38 a.m. CST
by Some Dude
July 1, 2010, 12:39 a.m. CST
by Teddy Artery
When they can stay awake in the theater...
July 1, 2010, 12:39 a.m. CST
by JonChambers
You know, it just seems like there's a lot of shitty directors & hack writers out there. The only difference with this one being it set up bigger expectations & cost a lot more money.
July 1, 2010, 12:40 a.m. CST
by Alice Cooper Stalker
July 1, 2010, 12:40 a.m. CST
by BenBraddock
Or at least it will be soon. Hollywood will see to it!
July 1, 2010, 12:40 a.m. CST
by Alice Cooper Stalker
July 1, 2010, 12:40 a.m. CST
by blackwood
I love the series. Love it. I actually just watched Season 3 again for the hell of it. It's earnest and heartfelt and funny and has the best action in any cartoon series I've ever seen, outside Tartakovsky. The characters have depth. They grow. The show doesn't play with sitcom reset logic. It builds a story in a compelling, beautiful world. It has an amazing mythology cobbled together from a bunch of different sources. In a lot of ways, its like watching three seasons of Miyazaki at his most coherent.
I have long been a fan of Shyamalan. I don't hate most of his films. I even enjoyed THE HAPPENING, which is really, really, laugh-out-loud funny and still kind of creepy.
I might go see it anyway. In 2D, as I had planned to. Just to see. I want to write this off as Capone just hating to be a hater. I don't believe that, but I want to. Because the alternative hurts me.
July 1, 2010, 12:41 a.m. CST
by Some Dude
That works better.
July 1, 2010, 12:41 a.m. CST
by SmokingRobot
I said this was going to be shit. Who am I, Cassandra?
July 1, 2010, 12:42 a.m. CST
by Rhuragh
A perfect addition to the shit-tastic Shyamalan oeuvre. A perfect complement to Lady in the Water and The Happening. Shyamalan clearly has bought in to his own propaganda and ego. He thinks he's so brilliant, yet he's just another studio hack, no better, wait, he's actually worse than the likes of Michael Bay, Paul Worthless Shit Anderson, and Brett Ratner. In fact, Shyamalan is approaching Uwe Boll levels of awfulness. So, this is the third nail in the coffin of his career. How many will it take before the studios revoke his carte blanche? How many will it take before they simply stop letting him make (or try to, anyway) films?
July 1, 2010, 12:42 a.m. CST
by AxeEmAll
would absolutely consider The Last Airbender an instant classic! He's the greatest troll of em all.
July 1, 2010, 12:45 a.m. CST
by johndillingers20inchseveredcock
But everything I'm reading thus far sounds like this review. And I'm not a big Avatar fan or anything, I would have been a pretty casual viewer. Oh well, money's tight anyway.
July 1, 2010, 12:45 a.m. CST
by OutlawsDelejos
They should have just found some Asian-Eskimo teen actors and used them instead I suppose?
July 1, 2010, 12:46 a.m. CST
by BranMakMorn
too bad the Karate Kid did well... maybe Hollywood can take a hint.
July 1, 2010, 12:49 a.m. CST
by Manatee
It's said that most screenwriters have one story they are born to tell; a story that gestates and then emerges at the appropriate time. For Shyamalan, his story was obviously "The Sixth Sense." It looks like the writing tank is empty now. There's no disgrace in being a good director but a shitty writer. Just ask Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, and scores of other directors. Find a writing collaborator and stop the madness, dude!
July 1, 2010, 12:50 a.m. CST
by Jay_Lenos_Ugly_Wife
Stop doing them. I'd rather have Americans think it's all either Pokemon or hentai porn. It's less embarassing than Dragonball Evolution or Airbender.
July 1, 2010, 12:51 a.m. CST
by yabory
i was really hoping Shyamalan would put forth a half decent film in the hopes he'd get a chance to do more personal work...that it's all been some kinda weird curse...but it looks like he was a 1.5 trick pony. may he redeem himself someday...
July 1, 2010, 12:52 a.m. CST
by ebonic_plague
At least the animated show is on instant netflix, there'll always be 3 seasons of excellence to rewatch.
July 1, 2010, 12:54 a.m. CST
by ORIONgods
completely destroyed and massacred. Thanks Hollywood! and thank u M.Night u fucking hack
July 1, 2010, 12:56 a.m. CST
by yesiamaplant
"Truer words have never been spoken. If you still want to see this movie, you're either too dumb to understand why you shouldn't or too young to care." WTF? Go fuck yourself, Dillinger. You AICN guys can get awfully full of yourselves sometimes, but to insult people for not listening to your apparently sacred opinion? Just...go fuck yourself you self absorbed prick.
July 1, 2010, 12:57 a.m. CST
by T-RACE
Cause I'd rather read a review from them. Also, for the record, it's not anime if it was made in the U.S.
July 1, 2010, 12:59 a.m. CST
by blackwood
That's like the bit of a star he had to take off a good movie to stay credible.
I really feel sad right now.
July 1, 2010, 1 a.m. CST
by D o o d
This film got 9% on Rotten Tomatoes and possibly one of the best quotes from one of the reviewers:-
Even in 3D this movie was One Dimensional...! Genius!
July 1, 2010, 1:02 a.m. CST
by kevred
There's not a lot of actual critique in this piece, mostly hot air. There are only a few moments singled out, which seem to have really aggravated the writer. I read this thing, and I still don't know what's so bad about the film. Bad 3D? 15-year-old girls don't like it? Where's the insight?
July 1, 2010, 1:04 a.m. CST
by D.Vader
Why? Why the hell would you change the pronounciation when the source material told you exactly how to say it?!?
July 1, 2010, 1:05 a.m. CST
by D.Vader
From friends who love the show. Said the movie is allright but Dev Patel rocks in it.
July 1, 2010, 1:05 a.m. CST
by D.Vader
No trademark long takes. Its a movie that feels like one Shyamalan didn't need to make.
July 1, 2010, 1:05 a.m. CST
by sadclown
a lot of elaborate costumes and cgi and epic battleage and I couldn't be any less interested. Currently at 23/100 on metacritic.
July 1, 2010, 1:07 a.m. CST
by ganymede3010
I've never seen a movie rated that low.
July 1, 2010, 1:07 a.m. CST
by D.Vader
My friend said the only noticeable time it was in 3D was during the opening credits. Hopefully, this will stop studios from fucking doing shitty-ass 3D CONVERSION. Stop that amateur shit and stop jacking up prices you risk-adverse momma's boys. Yes suits, I'm talking to you.
July 1, 2010, 1:08 a.m. CST
by blackwood
Maybe I can watch the film and pretend it's the Ember Island Players version! Yes! I did it! I found a way out! WHEN IN DOUBT GO META!
July 1, 2010, 1:08 a.m. CST
by D.Vader
Fucking bullshit, I'm calling it. I think you've got too much bias on your side. The worst movie of the FUCKING DECADE? After Twilight and other movies made by fucking amateurs? Get a grip man.
July 1, 2010, 1:09 a.m. CST
by palimpsest
Nolan will make the bad films go away.
July 1, 2010, 1:11 a.m. CST
by D.Vader
Give me a break. You mean the guy we've seen play comedic roles in Spider-Man 2 and The Daily Show is now suddenly "usually reliable" as a menacing villain? Where the heck did that come from?
July 1, 2010, 1:13 a.m. CST
by DanielPlainviewOnVacationInBoston
Not THE God, but a god. And he's here to help.
July 1, 2010, 1:13 a.m. CST
by DanielPlainviewOnVacationInBoston
It is 2010. This decade just started. He said it is an early contender. This shitpile is getting hammered worse than the only Twilight film made in this decade thus far. Pay fucking attention.
July 1, 2010, 1:15 a.m. CST
by D.Vader
It sounds exactly like the (awesome) cartoon. The Fire Nation is the only "industrialized" nation in the cartoon. The Water-tribe is very tribal and Inuit-like. Of course they're not going to know the very advanced Fire Nation knows how to make fire very quickly. That's the whole fucking point. They were going to get FUCKING STOMPED into the glacier because they were pretty far behind with technology. But you think that's a criticism? I don't agree.
July 1, 2010, 1:15 a.m. CST
by RPLocke
That was a LONG time ago. I thought the movie was out already.
July 1, 2010, 1:16 a.m. CST
by GhostDad
This guy bought his own hype and still acts like he's the best director working. He's made 1 1/2 good movies and the rest have been fucking trainwrecks.
July 1, 2010, 1:16 a.m. CST
by D.Vader
That the decade really starts with 2011? Awesome. I agree.
 But still, worst of the year? Worse than that Bounty Hunter shit with Jennifer Aniston and King Leonidas? Worse than fucking KILLERS??!?
 I seriously, SERIOUSLY fucking doubt it.
July 1, 2010, 1:21 a.m. CST
by D.Vader
"If you still want to see this movie, you're either too dumb to understand why you shouldn't or too young to care. "
 That's EXTREMELY insulting to the portion of your reading audience that doesn't treat your reviews like some sort of holy text. I mean, seriously? You want to insult a large portion of your readers like that? Really?
July 1, 2010, 1:21 a.m. CST
by Phategod2
this has to be one of the worst years of movie ever. I guess this is our punishment for last years awesome movies from Avatar to Hurt locker to District 9 the question was were do we go from here? well now we know. hopefully next year is not as bad. I think 2012 will be a hell of alot better.
July 1, 2010, 1:22 a.m. CST
by Raskolnikov_was_framed
that's how this film is being shoved down our throats...find me one tv spot that isn't trying to pimp the 3D angle...The Last Airbender IN 3D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! jesus M. Night...clean it the fuck up and get your shit together
July 1, 2010, 1:24 a.m. CST
by D.Vader
The summer of fucking ass-tastic movies. This year fucking BLOWS. Sequels and remakes and tv adaptations galore. Nothing original. Nothing with a spark of human spirit or creativity. All crass and soulless. Fuck you studios.
July 1, 2010, 1:25 a.m. CST
by RPLocke
as far as money goes with Iron Man 2, and Eclipse, and Toy Story 3.
July 1, 2010, 1:26 a.m. CST
by Raskolnikov_was_framed
it just is...I don't see us getting anything good this summer...I hope I'm wrong...if Nolan fails we're all fucked
July 1, 2010, 1:27 a.m. CST
by Raskolnikov_was_framed
but Pixar is always good so they don't count
July 1, 2010, 1:34 a.m. CST
by pollaxt
I am dumbfounded, simply dumbfounded by this movie. The fact that they butchered the majority of the PRONUNCIATION of the fucking character names, including the main character Aang, including the fucking word--AVATAR, leads me to assume that none of the producers, none of the actors, and definitely not the baffoon behind the camera actually watched a single episode of the show.

 Fuck you M. Night Shyamalan. I always appreciated you work. Sixth Sense was great, Unbreakable even more so. I even enjoyed The Village. The Happening makes a great drinking game. But this...this is inexcusable. I'm too pissed to go off on the idiotic voice-overs that try to explain that a romance has blossomed without bothering to even show it. This was lazy film-making, and even worse--this was disrespectful film-making.

 Fuck you M. Night Shyamalan. And fuck off.
July 1, 2010, 1:36 a.m. CST
by sokitome
HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Fuck you M Night. LMFAO!!
July 1, 2010, 1:43 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
I am in COMPLETE agreement with both yourself and PhateGod2 about this years movies- they have been a solid pile of unadulterrated pig shit.

 However, these movie makers and studios that greenlight such bollocks are never going to learn and are never going to change. For example- we are currently at the end of June and so far US Domestic alone is $5,269 billion, just under half of last years $10,595 billion record breaking box office.

 Although 2010 wont get to that magical number, I am betting it will come pretty fucking close, and why?

 We will STILL go and see the shit that is on offer, as the studio execs rub their hands together in delight. For example, A Nigtmare on Elm Street 2010 is one of the worst movies I have seen.(and before I get lynched, no- I did not pay to see it..) It has received some of the worst reviews I have read, and has almost committed a hate crime against cinema that has had TBers on this site spewing vitriol.... however, it cost about $30m to make and has so far made $63m back- $32m on its opening weekend, making it currently the number 20 movie US domestic this year.

 WHY??????? Because in some demented way, Capone is right in what he said. We warned each other, and a shit load of people STILL saw this mess!!!

" "If you still want to see this movie, you're either too dumb to understand"- as insulting as it is, it is not very far from the truth. We just simply cannot stay away.

 Maybe Prince of Persia is the exception to that rule? $200m outlay for a $87m return? Don't fucking bet on it- for every US failure there is a huge fucking foreign market out there ready to plonk their fat arses into cinema seats (P O P $226m abroad and counting...)

 We can't win; and unless we vote with our feet studios will just keep piling on the shit that we will eat up like candy.

 YES! this year has been fucking rotten, but with HUGE hitters like Twilight (shit)eclipse and Potter 7 to come, it will be another successful one for the studios.
July 1, 2010, 1:46 a.m. CST
by Orionsangels
July 1, 2010, 1:48 a.m. CST
by Orionsangels
July 1, 2010, 1:49 a.m. CST
by RPLocke
He wouldn't even praise Avatar which was SHOT in 3D. He's become a putz.
July 1, 2010, 1:49 a.m. CST
by mazuzu
it's garbage jesse mccartney is lucky he got replaced!!! check out racebending. com
July 1, 2010, 1:49 a.m. CST
by TheFlyingWasp
He makes the cultural phenomenon that was The Sixth Sense. Then he follows that up with the greatly underappreciated Unbreakable. Third was the charm with Signs. But then everything went downhill from there. And just when he couldn't have possibly done any worse than The Happening (his first R rated movie, omg holy shit!) he appears to have made something that is even worse. Why? It's puzzling that a director who was once the most promising talent in Hollywood to fall so far.
July 1, 2010, 1:51 a.m. CST
by WillTheThrill
Capone, you said that 3-D conversion "doesn't work, so just fucking stop ruining my experience going to the movies." Dude, for one thing... calm down. And for another... NO ONE IS FORCING YOU TO PAY AN EXTRA $4 TO SEE A MOVIE IN 3-D. If you don't want to see a converted 3-D movie... umm... watch it in good old fashioned "2-D". It's really that simple. Dumbass.
July 1, 2010, 1:52 a.m. CST
by mazuzu
I guess Manoj spared a lot Asian Americans, Eskimos and Native Americans actors by not casting them in this movie!!! HAHAHAHAHAH!!
July 1, 2010, 1:52 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
...Hostel 3- to be set in Las Vegas at a bachelor party......hhmmmm- the Hangover - humour + chainsaws...... more bollocks we will be expected to part with money for....

 I am just waiting for the announcement that it will be in (drum roll please...) 3 fucking D!!!!!
July 1, 2010, 1:53 a.m. CST
by mazuzu
racebending .com!!!
July 1, 2010, 1:57 a.m. CST
by CHRISTIAN_BALE_TRASHED_MY_LIGHTS
I think M Night Shyamalan is a brilliant director! Signs, Unbrekable, Sixth Sense! Wow. Anyway, I can't wait to read IMDb to find out what other incredible movies, we're all going to be watching.
Now I'm going to read this review. I fully expect that Shyamalan is one of the top directors by now!
July 1, 2010, 1:57 a.m. CST
by CHRISTIAN_BALE_TRASHED_MY_LIGHTS
July 1, 2010, 1:57 a.m. CST
by Bazzz
Why is everyone harping on the race of the characters? The characters in the cartoon weren't necessarily Asian, despite the obvious anime influences.
July 1, 2010, 2 a.m. CST
by SoupBack
Except for Winter's Bone, which was amazing. I am really hoping that Inception is strong, and that Predators is at least entertaining.
July 1, 2010, 2:01 a.m. CST
by Ecto-1
Having watched the trailers, I thought it looked pretty cool. Damn it... :(
July 1, 2010, 2:05 a.m. CST
by Kai_Mah'gra
Oh, come now, Capone. Humongous logic plotholes are the Hallmarks of M. Night's Shamalamakalamzoo's movies. Water-allergic Aliens invading a planet covered by over 70% water and which rains, and hoping to make food out of the inhabitants that happen to be constituted of 75% water.
 Interstellar travelling Aliens who can't figure out how to open a pantry door.
 A secluded Village of people who can't figure out how to climb over a 7 foot high wall, and are completely deaf., and blind to anything flying above 1000 feet.
 Plants trying to kill of the human race by forcing them to commit suicide through a poisonus enzyme that they spread by arbitrarily random wind.
 Seriously, the guy is a Master at the art of convoluted logic (yes, Art. You think it's easy to contort and twist logic to the point where it just doesn't even matter whether you're hearing the story backwards or forwards? That's an Artform, my friends). He specializes in this. Probably with the intent that you all shut down your brains and not think too much during his movies.
 How you go into an M. Night Shyamalamadoobydoo joint and expect to find logic residing there is a complete and utter mystery.
July 1, 2010, 2:07 a.m. CST
by Orionsangels
July 1, 2010, 2:13 a.m. CST
by Motoko Kusanagi
Aw, hell no!
July 1, 2010, 2:14 a.m. CST
by Miyamoto_Musashi
This year has been appalingly bad for movies so far, and the trend continues.
Hollywood is going to say that downloading and piracy are the main reasons for lower box office this year, how about its the fact that you have produced so much SHIT!
Make a decent movie and people will watch it.
Yet to see Toy Story 3, but so far this year only one movie was a four out of five stars for me and that was Kick Ass. The later half of the year usually produces the Oscar "bait", but if we had to give awards for the first 6 months I don't think there is enough deserving films to be nominated.

July 1, 2010, 2:15 a.m. CST
by RPLocke
July 1, 2010, 2:19 a.m. CST
by The Dark Nolan
I even defended "Lady in the Water." But after "The Happening," and if this one sucks as much as Capone says it does. I can no longer defend him. Could it be we have witnessed a screenwriter who has lost his gift? Possibly, or maybe he should take some time off to reevaluate his cheesy direction and dialogue as of late. I'm damn disappointed right now, DAMN DISAPPOINTED!
July 1, 2010, 2:21 a.m. CST
by The Dark Nolan
The whole "Shyamalongadingdong" thing is fucking old!!! Stop using it you tool bags!!!
July 1, 2010, 2:22 a.m. CST
by Lone Fox
July 1, 2010, 2:22 a.m. CST
by GavinVanDraven
IRON MAN and TOY STORY 3 were good. INCEPTION, PREDATORS & EXPENDABLES should finish out the summer strong
July 1, 2010, 2:22 a.m. CST
by bubcus
July 1, 2010, 2:23 a.m. CST
by SimonDunkle
film - no twists, supernatural or sci-fi elements - it would be superb. He might still have it in him.
July 1, 2010, 2:24 a.m. CST
by elgato73
Now never have to watch the film...
July 1, 2010, 2:34 a.m. CST
by gotilk
July 1, 2010, 2:35 a.m. CST
by VonThunderballs
and thats not really saying much. overall it was ok. nothing special but okay. oh well, back to watching midget porn.
July 1, 2010, 2:38 a.m. CST
by Tandemar
calling people Benders is not nice
July 1, 2010, 2:38 a.m. CST
by Miyamoto_Musashi
I really enjoyed it, it wasn't a bad movie by any imagination 76% on RT and an average rating of 7 is testament to that, some people weren't fans, some thought it was ok and others loved it.
Iron Man for me was at best a 3.5 star more likely 3. So good but not great. Shutter Island and Green Zone in the same kind of category for me.
A-Team, Daybreakers and Book of Eli around the mark
And saw some shite like Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, Wolfman, Hot Tub Time Machine,The Crazies and Prince of Persia
As I said yet to see Toy Story 3 and disappointed that I missed How to Train Your Dragon and Ghost Writer. Anything released this year worth watching
July 1, 2010, 2:39 a.m. CST
by SoupBack
M. Knight sucking more than ever before.
July 1, 2010, 2:41 a.m. CST
by Miyamoto_Musashi
Needs to go away for a while, work on something he is passionate about, maybe get another writer involved.
July 1, 2010, 2:43 a.m. CST
by The Dark Nolan
Let's get a couple things straight. "Kick Ass" was not a universally trashed film. So anyone here who likes the film has a right to and it doesn't prove that Hollywood can just make shit if we liked "Kick Ass," as I did, KILLIK!!! I personally thought "Iron Man 2" was a gigantic pile of shit that only found it's way in the last act. I wanted to fucking puke when Stark was in the suit while drunk at his party! LAME, LAME, LAME!! The whole Stark dying story wasn't well developed and the script was nonsensical. However, I won't put that film in the same category as "Airbender." So be fair, rip on Airbender, Knight and Day and whatever shit you want to, but don't throw in a good movie just because you don't personally happen to like it. It's okay to hate "Kick Ass," but don't then assume that anyone who does like it is stupid. Make sense when making statements like that! Having said that, if 2008 was the BEST summer for movies, Hollwood quickly countered with it's worst. Only Nolan, Robert Rodriguez, and Sly Stallone and the retirees can salvage this summer. Fuck, I just went through a shit winter for this?
July 1, 2010, 2:49 a.m. CST
by Miyamoto_Musashi
I think expectations are probably going to be the biggest issue for the movie.
July 1, 2010, 2:52 a.m. CST
by TheGhostWhoLurks
Sounds like a Bryan Singer superhero film. >:P
July 1, 2010, 2:53 a.m. CST
by The Dark Nolan
They were also HUGE for The Dark Knight, and it seemed to withstand the pressure. I have full confidence in Nolan, and the early reactions to it have been very good. But yeah, saving the whole damn summer is a tough thing to have on the bandwagon.
July 1, 2010, 2:57 a.m. CST
by GroolDemon
The way I figure it, even though the animated series this is based on is a U.S. produced show (though animated in Korea) it is still looked upon by the masses as "Anime". So, maybe at least this movie bombing will save us from the torment of having to endure more horribly done adaptations of good animated shows and anime classics. PG-13 Akira anyone? Even so, we're probably still fucked. I agree with Capone though, there is definitely a drought going on for quality cinema this summer. Aside from Iron Man 2 and Toy Story 3, the only other movie I really was looking forward to tackling this summer is Inception. Sigh... Well, at least I am saving some dough.
July 1, 2010, 3:05 a.m. CST
by --- Emperor ---
It seems though, based on current reviews, I (and everybody else it seems) have once again overestimated this completely untalented and overexpired relic of a failure known as the Shyamalan phenomenon. A phenomenon, because it defies all logic when one tries to understand how a person with such a promising start to their career, has destroyed it in equal measure beyond repair in equally hasty fashion. This final film will hopefully spell the end of this abomination of a film maker, who should have been stopped after "Lady in the Water". Clearly his overestimation of his 'abilities' have clouded his capacity to direct anything other than his own coffin into the grave.
 RIP Shyamalan -- the story teller that never was.
July 1, 2010, 3:08 a.m. CST
by Raskolnikov_was_framed
when/if that movie gets made it needs a legit director
July 1, 2010, 3:11 a.m. CST
by SumDumGoy
the end is nigh.
July 1, 2010, 3:22 a.m. CST
by RICHARD_GERE_RAPED_MY_GERBIL
It was probably the last good movie I saw.
I won't be watching this pile of festing crap. I still haven't forgiven Shamalamadingdong for making Mark Wahlberg run from the wind. Or making me hate Zooey D in a movie. Seriously, was she stoned whilst shooting that movie or something?
July 1, 2010, 3:23 a.m. CST
by TheJudger
didn't pull a Cameron and forced us to wait for a december date. I agree with the closing remarks Cap. This summer has been very upsetting for movie fans so far. We have expendables iron man 2 toy story 3 and inception. Those are the only movies that exist to me this summer. IM2 could live up to my expectations but it was still fun. I wish it was the empire of the saga but that's ok. Expendables has so much hype behind now. How could it not. Inception will do what it promises. Nolan hasnt failed yet. His gadgets like the microwave gas the bullet recombinator, the cellphone bat sonar, the bank bustiung bus joins the line of average buses and no one notices, the whos killing who in the prestige. These thing make the brain ache, but the story and characters in his films are so strong that we let it slide. So well I dont know. That is the list of summer movies for me. I wish there was more. December is going to be used alot more often for big popcorners. If tron does good B.O. damage, which it will.
July 1, 2010, 3:26 a.m. CST
by lanquix
Seriously im sick of the crap that we have to constantly put up with..enough with mediocrity we need fresh blood!
July 1, 2010, 3:26 a.m. CST
by DoctorWho?
Awesome.
 You just saved me 10 bucks.
July 1, 2010, 3:33 a.m. CST
by kwisatzhaderach
But then again the critics (except Glenn Kenny) loved Star Trekmallwars which I hated, so i'll keep an open mind. Apparently the score is amazing Capone, any words on that?
July 1, 2010, 3:35 a.m. CST
by Grimmjow Jeagerjaques
Has anyone who's watched the TV show reviewed this flick yet? Some of Capone's issues seem to stem from not knowing anything about the source material. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not accusing him of being a troll or anything like that. I realize these reviews are his job regardless of whether he's familiar with the source material or not, but I'd like to read something from the perspective of someone who's actually seen the show. To see if the actual adaptation is really that bad. Hopefully it's at least something the fans that made this property popular in the first place can enjoy. Wishful thinking I know but I'd like to know how deep the rabbit hole of suck goes before I join the haters.
July 1, 2010, 3:35 a.m. CST
by BP_drills_america_a_new_asshole
Don't have the links on me, but some are already calling it Nolan's definitive masterpiece - his life's achievement even. Its hard not to get your hopes up (and I was badly, badly burned by Avatar 6 months ago, which was the biggest letdown since ROTK) but we'll see.
July 1, 2010, 3:35 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
July 1, 2010, 3:37 a.m. CST
by mrbong
then there is the one good contribution to cinema he made. otherwise, his best work features a bloated episode of The Twilight Zone, as well as "somehow" managing to make Samuel L Jackson look cool in a film (wow, tough one, that!)
July 1, 2010, 3:38 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
I found KICK ASS to be an enjoyable time at the movies. Me and my pals who watched it we laughed like hell. It's unpretentious simple fun, nothing more, nothing less. Which in this time and age is a lot.
July 1, 2010, 3:44 a.m. CST
by HornOrSilk
There, I have said it. Ok, there is one which I thought was worthy for being in 3d -- it was an IMAX Space Film. That was cool, because well, there is a good reason to have that in 3d. But for the most part, 3d is stupid. Do I really want to see the Bad News Bears in 3d? No.
July 1, 2010, 3:51 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
You are into something. Maybe Shymalan is indeed saboutaging all this 3D craze bullshit and helping reverting cinema to what it should be. Damn, the guy is a martyr for the cause of cinema, he's sacrificing his career for the same of us all. He's Jesus!
July 1, 2010, 3:57 a.m. CST
by cloudrider`
MUAHAHAHAAAAHHAA...!!!
 i've talked shit about this film in other forums because of the racebending things. does my heart good to see that this whitewashed version crashed and burned!
 bury this trash. if oyu want to reboot it 5-10 years down the line, get someone else with balls to do it properly!
 fuck sake, m.night!
July 1, 2010, 3:58 a.m. CST
by Lemure_v2
Three shit films in a row? Not bad films, not okay films, not average films, but shit films? And still they give the guy money.
July 1, 2010, 4 a.m. CST
by MediaGold
It's like pissing into a glass of Zima. Crap squared. Done with ripping off old Twilight Zone episodes, he's now trying to make franchises out of shitty cartoons. Next up the ultimate humiliation - directing LifeTime movies. Oh well, we'll always have Invincible.
July 1, 2010, 4 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
I have read those early reviews. They aren't exactly reviews per se, because they still can't due to the provisio on the early screenings, they can't even make coments on facebook and twitter, but they provided some impressions, and all of them are positive. All of them say the action alone is worth the price of admition, that the movie is visually impressive and many coment on the intelligence and complexity of the ideas and execution. Some coment that the movie might too too smart for the so-called average audience moviegoers and it could hurt the box office. too smart for it's own good, that is what one said. Well, for me, that's pure ambrosia calling. The movie is too smart? count me in, i love movies which are too smart. Can't get enough of those.
July 1, 2010, 4:01 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
That concept alone is enough to boggle the mind and awe the soul.
July 1, 2010, 4:05 a.m. CST
by MonkeyManReturns
He is an American from South Indian descent....nothing to do with the PUNJAB!! Idiot!
July 1, 2010, 4:05 a.m. CST
by foreverguardian
To Tandemar- glad someone else picked up on that! Do they actually refer to people as 'Benders' in the movie? Crikey, that'll go down well during the Pride season, won't it?
July 1, 2010, 4:09 a.m. CST
by barnaby jones
Surely studios are going to stop giving him these big event movies soon...aren't they ?
July 1, 2010, 4:09 a.m. CST
by Star Hump
"The Last Airbender isn't that much different from the rest of this summer's generally dire multiplex fare—from The A-Team to Jonah Hex—which started with established properties and half-decent ideas, then cranked up the volume, velocity, and effects to the point where neither sense nor tender moments could escape. But it is remarkable in one respect: It's the worst of them."
July 1, 2010, 4:11 a.m. CST
by cloudrider`
shitty cartoons? how about the best cartoon series ever made in america? seen the entire series, have you?
 the cartoon has a mythology on par with that of starwars/LOTR, and i'm not saying that lightly. fun characters, great plot, very detailed and well realized universe and absolutely kick ass actions.
 i hate 99% of anime out there. thought i was just watching a generic kid show, but watch a few episodes first before you chuck it up as disposable trash, because it's far far from it. quite the opposite, the show is quite brilliant. which make this whitewashed version infuriating.
July 1, 2010, 4:14 a.m. CST
by GroolDemon
6%? That is Furry Vengence bad...
July 1, 2010, 4:16 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
With regards to Zoeey D being stoned, she had obviously smoked some of the fucking plant life to ease the pain of making such an abomination. That's why Whalberg spoke to them- that wasn't scripted, he was just out of his fucking box!!!! ;)
July 1, 2010, 4:19 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
...first they loved him, and now they want to stick his movie collection up his arsehole. This is a slide of Orson Well-ish proportions......can't say I blame them- most of his movies are a pile of tosh! Even the Sixth Sense ripped the central plotline from Jacobs Fucking Ladder.....
July 1, 2010, 4:20 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
I'd call this summer unremarkable and lame. Dire was 2009.
July 1, 2010, 4:21 a.m. CST
by mr
July 1, 2010, 4:23 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
"The Last Airbender" is a joyless, soulless, muddled mess, but the worst part of all doesn't come until the very end. That's when it makes the clear suggestion that two more such movies are in store for us. Hopefully, that won't happen."

 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Pharmacists! For fucks sake if M Night comes to you with an extra large prescription for pills- DON'T FUCKING SERVE HIM!!!!!!!
July 1, 2010, 4:27 a.m. CST
by henrydalton
I hope that means the same in America as it does in the UK. *giggles immaturely*
July 1, 2010, 4:28 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
"I hate everything about M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender. I hate that it's racist. I hate that it takes a great, easy-to-adapt show and completely disrespects the material. I hate the performances. I hate the special effects. I hate the borderline non-existent 3D that serves only to jack up ticket prices. I hate the lack of imagination. I hate the embarrassingly bad script that would be laughed out of a Screenwriting 101 class. I hate the consequences if this movie is a success at the box office. I hate the consequences if it fails at the box office. I hate that this movie exists. And "hate" isn't a strong enough word."

 Pharmacists! Maybe you ought to fill that prescription after all........
July 1, 2010, 4:31 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
But... water puts out fire......and fire sets fire to Earth.... and Earth covers the Water.... and Air helps create fire.......

 Kiff- we have a conundrum-ah..........
July 1, 2010, 4:33 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
... however merited that criticism is, and yet loved Jar Jar Abram's SHIT TREK, they have their opinion rendered void and null. If you are going to piss and shit on a bad movie, you do it for all of them, and not nickpick on the one that's cool to like because you like to follow fashions.
July 1, 2010, 4:34 a.m. CST
by optimus122
Man what happened to this dude
July 1, 2010, 4:35 a.m. CST
by thatswhatshesaid
Nolan has been hired to supervise every movie being made for the next 10 years in the hopes someone out there learns something. No surprise to me that this movie is terrible. Yes M. Night has to take some blame, but its just another lazy film trying to capitalize on the success of a TV show.
July 1, 2010, 4:40 a.m. CST
by sirens
Because Kids dont care about scripts and bad acting u know
July 1, 2010, 4:42 a.m. CST
by cloudrider`
i've reached my quota of tolerance with all your trek bullshits you keep spouting everywhere. you hate trek. WE. FUCKING. GOT. IT.
 everyone in the entire universe FUCKING. GOT. IT. BY. NOW.
 okaaaaay? when the new trek shows up, then please... rant endlessly to your heart content. in the meantime... SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT IT!
July 1, 2010, 4:49 a.m. CST
by BDuncan
After Roger Ebert's savage attack on The Last Airbender with a totally abysmal half a star and other US critics weighing in with similar remarks, Harry needs to weigh in with his analysis on this and also on the Eclipse film.
July 1, 2010, 4:51 a.m. CST
by old_man_and_the_sea
... any good?
July 1, 2010, 4:55 a.m. CST
by Koborover
If you put a group of random knowledgable fans of a certain series in charge of developing a movie, you get better results than letting some oblivious Hollywood director call the shots. Just let people like Bay and Shmalylyan take care of technical side of shooting a movie and keep them the fuck away from the creative process.
July 1, 2010, 4:55 a.m. CST
by JonChambers
July 1, 2010, 4:57 a.m. CST
by JonChambers
July 1, 2010, 5:01 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
You hav equota for nothing except your own bullshit. LAST AIRBENDER is a shit movie. JJ's SHIT TREK is a shit movie. People call shit on one but not on the other? You can bet your ass it's a related subject. Buy a brain and you will understand why.
July 1, 2010, 5:06 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
I fear that Nolan's talent and intelligence will eventually be his undoing. He is just too talented and intelligence for the type of movies that Holywood makes today and for what most audience are used to take in. Audiences can take intleligence and challenging movie,s they are just not used to because they have been cosntantly fed stupid dumb ass bullshoit crap sold as entertaiment,. and for a smart good movie to suddently show up, they will be caugh unawares, and their first instict is to reject it, even if they would eventually love the movie. People are naturally conservative in their habits, and to been presented with a smart and intleligent movie when you are used to TEH DUMB FUN, it takes adaptation, which many find harder to do in a quick notice.
<br<One day, Nolan will fall, and he will fall hard. And he will fall because he made a really great and intelligent movie.
July 1, 2010, 5:12 a.m. CST
by AndoSoundsLikeAMong
Just so you know, the original is American script that was animated in Korea.
As one review from a critic stated, the best thing about the TV series is that inbetween the very nice, smoothly intergrated battles (there are maybe a handful of discussions in the entire series about what bending can be used to do; by the end you know what to expect from each style through having seen it used, not being told about it) the characters are just kids, especially Ang.
This means a lot of pretty corny stuff for adults - the show is aimed at kids and makes no excuses for that - but that's also why it works so well. The overall character arcs, plotting, foreshadowing in early seasons that pays off big later and the events in the final season are worth checking out for anyone who appreciates good storytelling, so long as you don't have a stick up your ass about the medium it is presented in.
Furthermore, the basic bones of the story aren't that complex. Shit, just do a live action version of at least the start of the TV series opening at the start of the film.
Look at LOTR or Star Wars - some of the most successful genre films ever that don't bother to talk about everything, rather they show it you. Golden Compass was screwed by voice overs and horrible exposition too; bogged down in things it then shows you anyway.
Worrying about things like where Firebenders fire comes from and then having to explain it is just garbage. Show it happening, people will accept it, and move on with the story!
Real shame about this anyway, if done right this could have been really good stuff...
July 1, 2010, 5:13 a.m. CST
by BP_drills_america_a_new_asshole
Just count the turds - Prince of Persia, A Team, Jonah Hex, Airbender...and its only just July! I have little hope for Predators. The way I feel about this summer is like the seige of Gondor where all hope is lost, and then the riders of Rohan - in the form of Inception - gallops to the rescue. Ridiculous I know, but that's how I feel.
July 1, 2010, 5:14 a.m. CST
by Mariusz
Three words: FUCK THIS CLOWN! Shamalamadingdong not Capone.
July 1, 2010, 5:17 a.m. CST
by Twisk
I know nothing of the cartoon either, and was slightly interested in seeing this. Thanks for saving me from this mess! :)
July 1, 2010, 5:20 a.m. CST
by adiehardfanwithalethalweapon
The guy had some initial talent there but that wasn't enough to carry him as a real filmmaker. He got lucky by ripping off a few of Hitchcocks better ideas. "Wash up" are the only two words that come to mind when I see the guys name slung across the top of a movie title. Thusly, you should expect his films to be shit.
July 1, 2010, 5:21 a.m. CST
by GroolDemon
I partially agree, but I have to also add that with all the people that go into working on a film that it is fucking insane to think that someone doesn't step forward out of all those creative minds and go, "whoa wait a second..." Then again it is probably all due to the whole too many cooks in the kitchen syndrome. Or at the very least akin to that one bad phone call can ruin a movie bump, about whether or not the cartoon character will have pants or no pants, that they sometimes play before a show. I mean, why are people so afraid, regardless of the "honor" it may be to work with a great film maker, to grow a pair and speak up? Thinking of this always reminds me of all those artists and people in the behind the scenes of the Star Wars Prequels that just agree like automotons to whatever drivel that spews out of Lucas' maw even though you can see it on their faces that they think he is completely wacko.
July 1, 2010, 5:23 a.m. CST
by LlGHTST0RMER
Great work, sir. I really enjoyed reading it. Good to see you getting a little riled up, I might add.
July 1, 2010, 5:31 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
I classify the 2010's bad movies as being just dumb and unremarkable. Even as crap they are low tier, they are unremarkable evne in their awfulness. 2009, however, went completly off the scale in the level of shittiness. i don't i can recall a worst year at the movie as 2009. Thank goodness osme good movies also came out that year to wash away the bitter taste, and none of those good movies were big budget hollywood blockbusters withthe exceptoion of the Harry Potter movie. 2009 begged belief! This year is amateur compared to 2009's shittiness.
July 1, 2010, 5:31 a.m. CST
by Fa Fa Fooey
Just sayin
July 1, 2010, 5:35 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
The light that burns twice as bright last half as long. Shymalan has burned very very bright, but he was not to last. He did some questionable things, but he also did wonderful thing. Nothing the God of Cinema will not let him in heaven.
July 1, 2010, 5:41 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
A movie set in a post-apocalypse world where gangs of violent blood-thirsty marrauders fight each other to the death for the last remains of Nike Air Jordans tennis shoes.
July 1, 2010, 5:41 a.m. CST
by mastes360
Has lost it, it pains me to say it as i love his first few films but he's gone now and gone too far to pull it back imo, he's finished.
July 1, 2010, 5:42 a.m. CST
by dailysportspages
July 1, 2010, 5:43 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
What you reckon is Shymanlan's last good movie?
July 1, 2010, 5:46 a.m. CST
by GroolDemon
I've seen dead people you wouldn't believe, attack ships full of aliens afraid of water, or bones as fragile as broken glass glittering in the dark... Those moments will be lost in time... Like.. The Lady.. In The Water... Time to die.
July 1, 2010, 5:47 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Shymalan, for all his wrong steps of late, he really is a talented filmmaker. Nobody can make the movie she made earlier in his carrer and not have talent, lots of talent. He has it. He is just squandering it in this strange projects which he seems to be at lost. He is at lost, creatively. But he is very talented, it's stupid to say otherwise. Something tells me that he will eventually do a great comeback, the only question is when. Will it be his next movie, or will we have to wait 20 years for it?
July 1, 2010, 5:50 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
All those moments will be lost, like DTV in the bargain bin. Time to die a carrer.
July 1, 2010, 5:56 a.m. CST
by biscuithead
July 1, 2010, 5:58 a.m. CST
by mrbong
i wasn't particularly taken with the new Star/Shit Trek, mate. it was a film that struck me as having no idea what it wanted to be.
July 1, 2010, 5:59 a.m. CST
by GroolDemon
Shymalan has a brilliant eye when it comes to working behind the lens, he just really needs to quit writing and getting so caught up in the production methinks. The twist of his earlier breakout hits got old and predictable, and now that he doesn't have that trick working for him it is as if he is trying too hard to prove himself and be too involved with to many aspects of the production rather than doing what he does best.
July 1, 2010, 6 a.m. CST
by Lobanhaki
...where I will just see the film for myself, in the original 2D, just to see for myself. The Negativity is off the scale here, and I don't trust such negativity. I think he was always an acquired taste, but critics and some in the audience are just doing their best to burn him down, and this racebending thing doesn't help, either. I may change my opinion after I watch the film, but I will have my opinion having actually watched it, not having sat here and continued the immature internet hatred that seems to suffuse this all.
July 1, 2010, 6:04 a.m. CST
by Lobanhaki
colors things for those it puts off. People would like to think that they're objective, but if the 3-D effects are annoying and off-putting, then just like having somebody failing to put in the matte bars on a movie, and having mics and barndoors intrude on the shot, it's going to fuck up the experience. That's why I'm not going to bother with 3-D. I will watch it fresh and clean, not with a potentially annoying effect that I'm not going to be neurologically capable of separating from my experience of the rest of the film.
July 1, 2010, 6:05 a.m. CST
by mastes360
Well i consider Signs his last great film, i can only speak for myself of course and i know people have problems with the aliens logic in that film but i think the flow of the film is great and it realy builds tension. The Village was pretty good up until the final 3rd which i just didn't like, i even quite like Lady in the Water although The Happening was awful except Marky Marks laughable performence. The slide has been happening for a while now and its a shame as his first 3 films realy show how good he is at film making imo.
July 1, 2010, 6:07 a.m. CST
by P2Rock
Capone, please, for your own pleasure get out the cartoon. It was a beautifully crafted mythology with a good blend of action, comedy and mythology. Ignore the shalamala ding dong shit fest.
July 1, 2010, 6:07 a.m. CST
by GroolDemon
Take Shymalan and imagine him trying to play Batty in the eye shop scene and try not to laugh... It is impossible.
July 1, 2010, 6:08 a.m. CST
by GroolDemon
Indeed. That said, it is surprising they couldn't pull off a better film given that they had 61 episodes worth of ideas to run out of the gates with.
July 1, 2010, 6:08 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
The movie did have one idea of what it wanted to be: a con act to get the audience's money with little effort.
July 1, 2010, 6:09 a.m. CST
by Thall_Joben
I really don't get it. 'The 6th Sense' I guessed imediately it was SO apparent. The 'Village' ditto. 'Sign's, a total pile of crap. 'The Happening' started well then turned into a preachy evangelical heap of dung. The only film I enjoyed a little was 'Unbreakable', but it still could've been stronger.
July 1, 2010, 6:09 a.m. CST
by Mr Nicholas
July 1, 2010, 6:09 a.m. CST
by Dradis Contact

I've read a few reviews of this, and everyone seems confused about bending, the history of the world in the movie, and some of the pronunciations. If the movie were good, these would be the EASIEST things to understand, since they're not that hard to get in the tv show. I haven't seen it yet, but I suspect one main difference is that in the tv show, bending is commonplace. It happens all the time. Kind of like "kung fu is in everything we do." In the movie, I bet it's reserved for expensive action scenes. But I could just be talking out of my ass.

I'm not willing to spend the money to find out, though.

Also, how are they pronouncing "avatar"? It would be hilarious if they were all pronouncing it correctly, unlike on the tv show. The one character on the show with an Indian accent can't pronounce the word right.

July 1, 2010, 6:11 a.m. CST
by vuvuzela
...."a metric shit ton of money". Great line!
July 1, 2010, 6:13 a.m. CST
by BP_drills_america_a_new_asshole
I'm a big Cameron fan. I waited 12 years for a new film and I found Avatar a big, big disappointment. So sue me.
July 1, 2010, 6:13 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
credited any trace of goodness to the effects people and action director. I knew Shamalamadingdong was going to deliver the bad acting and dialogue. There was never any doubt. I'm shocked Zooey didn't skullfuck him after what he did in The Happening.
July 1, 2010, 6:14 a.m. CST
by Laserhead
Extending a couple Twilight-Zone episodes into feature length does not a genius make. Plus, this guy's like the most self-important turd since... I don't know, some big self-important turd. A lot of studios don't even want to try working with him anymore, because he's such a princess.
July 1, 2010, 6:20 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Maybe that's the point right there, they had a lot of material to work with.
July 1, 2010, 6:25 a.m. CST
by JohnWayneWasGay
Kick Ass was not a hollywood studio film.It was privately funded by individuals.It had a english director and a engligh script writer.It is also the finest film of the year so far.
July 1, 2010, 6:25 a.m. CST
by GroolDemon
I am not even sure I can write one down based anymore. His earlier films like 6th Sense, Signs, and Unbreakable were good, but not really conducive to multiple viewings. Once you know the twist it takes the carpet out from under them and I get side tracked picking up on crappy dialog or lapses in logic and judgement in the films characters instead of enjoying them the way I did the first time around. The Village was alright had someone else directed it but we all knew watching the trailer how it would end up. I can't get past Lady In The Water just based on Shymalan's over presence in the film and that horrid scene where the critic guy basically narrates his own death. I didn't even bother with The Happening. Sigh. He creates really great atmospheres and is capable of suspense but as a lasting all around production guy I think he is just trying way to hard or maybe even at this point is just looking for paycheck.
July 1, 2010, 6:26 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Bullshit! Shymanlan's eye for composition and camera movement, and his ability to build tension with deliberate slow pacing is second to none. He is immensely talente,d and his style of filmmaking is a very good welcome to the Mickey Bayass imitators that infest Holywood this days. Shymalan's problems is not as a filmmaker, but that he is in a creative cult-de-sac and in difficulty in re-inventing himself. But to say he is untalented and always was so is, sorry to say this, but it's a stupid and clueless thing to say. You can hate his latest movies, but that is no reason to be blind to his talents as a filmmaker, of which he had oodles.
July 1, 2010, 6:26 a.m. CST
by RICHARD_GERE_RAPED_MY_GERBIL
Good to read that you also enjoyed that movie. It was probably the most enjoyable time I've had at a cinema this year. I'm sure Inception will equal - if not surpass - that experience.
July 1, 2010, 6:27 a.m. CST
by RICHARD_GERE_RAPED_MY_GERBIL
Funny post, my fellow Whobacker. It certainly made me chuckle. :)
July 1, 2010, 6:28 a.m. CST
by GroolDemon
True. Hell, we don't have to look any further than Transformers for a similar effect.
July 1, 2010, 6:28 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
I think UNBREAKABLE is Shymalan's best film (regardless of what people think of the last scene) but SIGNS is in many ways his best well made movie. I'm a huge fan of his style, and how it contrasts to the usual Mickey Bayass's bullshit style that so many filmmakers today are imitating.
July 1, 2010, 6:31 a.m. CST
by GroolDemon
I believe Avatar properly pronounced in Sanskrit where the word originated sounds more or less like UH-VEH-TWEH.
July 1, 2010, 6:32 a.m. CST
by craptacular
hate crime against movie lovers... unflushed toilet water... You guys got mad hits like you were Rod Carew.
July 1, 2010, 6:32 a.m. CST
by kevinwillis.net
Lady In the Water was terrible--mostly because of the writing. The Happening was also terrible. Mostly because of the writing. Why does it not surprise me to find out The Last Airbender is terrible. M. Night had a few good movies in him, and now he's done. Everything that follows is likely to be abysmal until he decides to really do something different--like direct somebody else's material and not give himself a cameo in it.
July 1, 2010, 6:33 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
I'm certain that INXWPTION will surpass KICK ASS in every department. That is not a put-down on KICK ASS. KICK ASS has something that many movies don't, it did what it set out to do, and it did it very well. It's a simple movie with simple aspirations,a nd mannaged to fullfill them all. That's a good thing. Movies don't need to go epic to be good and satisfy. they cna be small scale and do that just fine. Which KICK ASS did. Of course, to enjoy that movie one needs a sense of humour, it's required.
July 1, 2010, 6:36 a.m. CST
by GroolDemon
I agree, put the guy behind a camera, and he definitely makes for some great suspenseful atmosphere. I just feel like he puts his hands in to many aspects of the production, from script writing, to directing and producing, to even playing in the films; to the point that maybe he is wearing himself thin and should just get down to basics.
July 1, 2010, 6:41 a.m. CST
by kevinwillis.net
I think he can make good movies again. But it's going to take not just a big box office flop, but folks in Hollywood not returning his calls. He's going to have to see how bad his later movies are, how self-indulgent, and how corrupting his own super-inflated ego is in that regards.
July 1, 2010, 6:42 a.m. CST
by Madmarek
The entire audience is dead.
July 1, 2010, 6:47 a.m. CST
by WarrenSmooth
is that this bullshit was made into a movie at all. 99% of anime is re-hashed, derivative crap! Americans want real characters and real plot not silly special effects trying to overcompensate for bad source material.
July 1, 2010, 6:47 a.m. CST
by Cobb05
I really hope this movie bombs. I have lost all respect for the man. It's a real shame. I liked The Sixth Sense and I really liked Unbreakable. He thinks he's Steven Speilberg. He thinks he's this master storyteller and if his head was any bigger, you'd be able to project movies on it. I read the book "The Man Who Heard Voices" and I recommend it to anyone who still thinks Night is a great director. For some reason Night thinks is people whisper, it makes what they're saying more important. People give Chistian Bale shit for whispering when he's Batman, but The Happening seemed like it was nothing but whispering. He doesn't give a shit anymore. He thinks he's the next Hitchcock or Spielberg, but the guy can't tell a story anymore. He has no sense of what makes a good film and he thinks he's god. I also think he needs to stop putting his name on the titles. At least when John Carpenter put his name before the titles, you knew the movie was going to be a John Carpenter movie. Now when you see M. Night's name, you know it's going to be crap. At least he didn't put himself in this one as the most important character. Did he finally realize that he can't act? Fuck, Night and I hope this movie bombs.
July 1, 2010, 6:48 a.m. CST
by rbatty024
I think he wrote the script for this one as well. Directors who think they can write are dangerous people. He needs to become more collaborative. If someone else writes a script for him, then maybe he will have a chance at making great movies again.
July 1, 2010, 6:52 a.m. CST
by The_Maltese_Vulcan
Nobody wants to see your crap movies anymore.
July 1, 2010, 6:54 a.m. CST
by Squashua
I accidentally caught one episode of the cartoon several weeks ago (the first episode of the Sozyn's Comet series finale) and had to watch all of the rest of it. I couldn't stop, it was that good. This movie looked like a travesty from the trailers alone. You need to watch the cartoon - Airbender is to cartoons as The Wire is to television.
July 1, 2010, 6:57 a.m. CST
by Squashua
Everyone who read League knows how amazing it is. And when they saw LXG, they were so shocked; how could something be so far from the source material. Well, that is what happened here. This movie will not make anyone want to watch the award winning and addictive cartoon.
July 1, 2010, 6:59 a.m. CST
by Grammaton Cleric Binks
Having never watched the cartoon I have no interest in seeing this. Like most I've never seen Night's first film, but I've seen them all since Sixth Sense and have enjoyed each. The problem is that all these people tapping away at the keyboards think Night owes them something as great as the Sixth Sense every time. Lady in the Water was a great film but all these people are whining because there's no twist, great or otherwise.
July 1, 2010, 7:01 a.m. CST
by Turd_Has_Risen_From_The_Grave
July 1, 2010, 7:01 a.m. CST
by BP_drills_america_a_new_asshole
Shyamalan was the victim of his desire to be "clever" and unpredictable with The Village. The setup was effective. If only he played it straight I.e a real 17th century village and a real supernatural threat lurking in the woods, it would have been a great film. Instead, he went for the ludicrous twist and the film fell apart.
July 1, 2010, 7:04 a.m. CST
by Turd_Has_Risen_From_The_Grave
M Night Shamalangadingdong ruins everything he touches!
July 1, 2010, 7:06 a.m. CST
by RICHARD_GERE_RAPED_MY_GERBIL
July 1, 2010, 7:07 a.m. CST
by VXXXJesterXXXV
The characters in the cartoon(not anime as it is an American production) are NOT necassarily Asian. The show has Asian influences, but the race of the characters is never mentioned, stated, etc... In fact with it being a fictional world there's no saying what races they would be anyway, so casting the best option for each role is fine. PLease quit bitching about skin color. That is NOT to say the movie is any good however. Shamalongadingdong has been sucking ass for years and I fully expect this does as well, which is a fucking shame because I loved the source material. If this was written/directed by anyone else I would have been excited as fuck and probably there tonight to see it. I would like to read a review by someone who has seen/enjoyed the source material, but I have no hopes for this film at this time.
July 1, 2010, 7:11 a.m. CST
by Ator
Seems like all the good writers have moved from the silver screen to the small screen.
July 1, 2010, 7:22 a.m. CST
by Cobb05
Those words came out of his mouth. That just goes to show how far up his ass, his head is. I wonder if he thinks he can make a better movie than Christopher Nolan?
July 1, 2010, 7:24 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
Finally he got something right.
July 1, 2010, 7:24 a.m. CST
by Graphix67
Then again, I guess the makers of LAST AIRBENDER didn't bother to cut a deal with AICN for promotions on their website. Hence, the freedom for an honest review.
July 1, 2010, 7:25 a.m. CST
by AtheistScum
What a total load of crap this summer!
July 1, 2010, 7:25 a.m. CST
by Cobb05
my bad
July 1, 2010, 7:26 a.m. CST
by Grammaton Cleric Binks
Sixth Sense still tops the list for me because it had the ultimate twist. I do cringe every time I watch the Sam the Man stair fall scene. Signs was good, but for some reason it doesn't stand up to repeat viewings for me. The Village does, but perhaps that's because I grew up around the woods, and that makes it extra creepy for me.
July 1, 2010, 7:28 a.m. CST
by Grammaton Cleric Binks
Stallone will teach Bay how an explosion is really done.
July 1, 2010, 7:30 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
Had Subway hired him we wouldn't have these funny spots. We'd have Jared staring blankly at the screen pondering his sammich.
July 1, 2010, 7:33 a.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
I logged in just to say that. now that I'm here... Signs was better than Unbreakable. you fuckin nerds.
July 1, 2010, 7:35 a.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
get back to supernatural thrillers maybe he can make something that doesn't completely suck. I halfway enjoy even his worst movies.
July 1, 2010, 7:35 a.m. CST
by DannyOcean01
and large sections of The Village and Signs, hell, even parts of The Happening, show a director of boundless skill and imagination. No idea what's happened to the guy now, but you can't retroactively delete the guy from cinematic existence because this new bandwagon looks like a comfortable place to be.
July 1, 2010, 7:36 a.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
July 1, 2010, 7:36 a.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
July 1, 2010, 7:37 a.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
July 1, 2010, 7:37 a.m. CST
by aspamman
Clearly Capone is not an Airbender TV series fan. It's mainly done for the fans of the show. I understand the 3D aspect of it should not have been done but give the movie a break. Lots of actual fans of the show will give accurate reviews of what they think. For an outsider who is biased against M. Night movies, it's an unfair review at best.
July 1, 2010, 7:37 a.m. CST
by Miyamoto_Musashi
your take on M Night as a director and filmmaker is spot on.
Loved Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, Signs was really good, enjoyed The Village up to the last bit. The less said about the latest ones the better.

July 1, 2010, 7:38 a.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
July 1, 2010, 7:41 a.m. CST
by BizarroJerry
As a fan of the show, I was hoping for better. It certainly had great potential.
Not that I'm just assuming this review is right.
July 1, 2010, 7:42 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Somew people have sugested the notion that Shymalan should direct a movie based on somebody else's script, and he should be divorced from the script process, and i think it's a good idea. Would be a good idea to see what he could achieved with somebody else's ideas. Though i think that part of the way Shymalan directs is already pre-planned in how he writes his scripts, he must visualise his movies while he writes them. There are many moments in his movies where you can tell the scene was writen in such a way so they can be shoot and edited in a very specific manner.

Is Shymanlan wearing himself thin? Maybe he is. Or maybe he just has made too many movies in his conformt zone. i think he would need to make a movie like THE WRESTLER to stretch himself creatively, to make a movie totally out of his confort zone, to chance style and tactics, and see what it could come out. Certainly it could make him learn some new tricks.
July 1, 2010, 7:42 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
When the acting, dialogue and story are the utterest shit that ever been shat? Are you inferring that Shamalan should just be a director's assistant? If so then I agree wholeheartedly.
July 1, 2010, 7:43 a.m. CST
by Cobb05
Why would aliens come to a planet where it's made up of 70% of something that could kill them, and not even wear a spacesuit. I mean, what if it was raining? Also Night as the guy who killed the wife totally hurt the movie.
July 1, 2010, 7:43 a.m. CST
by BeyondStatic
A) proof that Shamylan can't direct for shit and needs to stay behind the keyboard, and B) small budget films with big grosses = more work. Big budget films that suck... well, if this don't make money we may never see the likes of M.Night in Hollywood again.
July 1, 2010, 7:44 a.m. CST
by zom-bot.com
in the biopic of his meteoric rise to fame and disasterous fall. both are tan little dudes with tons of pretention and swagger to spare. why is that?
July 1, 2010, 7:44 a.m. CST
by Dirk_The_Amoeba
Sixth sense was great. The Village was decent until the twist which sucked. Everything else he has done has swallowed slumdog turds. So, it aint no surprise this might suck too.
July 1, 2010, 7:45 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
Meaning film school. With a minor in writing.
July 1, 2010, 7:45 a.m. CST
by LaserPants
Sixth Sense was okay, Unbreakable was good, and everything else he's done has been AWFUL; not just critically, but commercially. How does he continue to get work?? I feel like there must be some kind of Curse going on behind the scenes, like maybe the studios have to keep giving him money to make his crappy films or else Kali will kill them or something...
July 1, 2010, 7:47 a.m. CST
by BizarroJerry
But he gave this movie a half a star. Shit.
July 1, 2010, 7:47 a.m. CST
by DannyOcean01
Maybe he's a difficult director to work with? Can you really say he didn't pull something special from Bruce Willis? It might seem stupid, considering their profession, but not every director is a people person. Actors sometimes have to adapt to a director's style. Some fail, others flourish.
July 1, 2010, 7:49 a.m. CST
by GroolDemon
Well, on that note perhaps he should just become a great cinematographer instead? He's definitely got an eye for atmosphere, but it is true that the acting has also suffered in his recent films which is up to a good director to make better. I think we've all agreed though so far that his writing has become increasingly shit.
July 1, 2010, 7:50 a.m. CST
by zinc_chameleon
of passive movie-going. Retreads, rehashed plots, special effects from 50 years ago..the list is endless. I've been saying this since I logged in 1997: full-immersion entertainment is the future, and this summer's lackluster performance is proof.
July 1, 2010, 7:51 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
And next week's will blow Sixth Sense away. Seriously, Danielle is gonna go apeshit because of Teresa and cops are called. I can't wait!!
July 1, 2010, 7:51 a.m. CST
by knowledge1027
July 1, 2010, 7:55 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Our friend GroolDemon said something very smart about Shymanlan, and that his flaws is more to do woth him as a writer then anything else. As a filmmaker, specially as a director, he's extremely imaginative and ever daring in his approach and style. The way he frames his shots and how he judicially used camera movement and editing, specially prolonged one-take shots, is nothing short of suberb. His instincts as a visualist are amazing. He's also one of the rare americna filmmakers who uses negative space in his framming. He's not afraid to use negative space, a rare trait among most americna filmmakers, who always go for busy composition or very close ups, as if affraid to not show stuff in frame. Shymanla's use of negative space, which makes him look almost Japanese in style, does help create those tense moody scenes he's so famous for, specially in his horror films.

Even Shymalan's bad movies are very well shot movies, very careuly framed. That's the trademark of a good filmmaker. You cna tell when a bad movie is made by a good filmmaker when, even though those movies came out poor, they are still very well made with a very good presentation. Shymalan's bad movies are the type of bad movies made by talented filmmakers.

One constant trait among all of Shymalan's movie,s be they good or bad, is that they are ambitious. Ambitious in what they tell and how they tell. Even among his worst movie,s there is always a moment or two whre you cna't help admire the though and imagination that went to create it. Shymalan's style is from a filmmaker who wants to make good movies. There's no denying that, Shymalan deliberatly set out to make good movies. He wants to make them good, really good. Not just "teh fun2 or "entertaimening", but really good. This is ambitious of him. And i can't help but admire and applaude that. His bad movies are interesting failures. I can respect one such movie. I'd rather respect and have that over a mindless dumbed down sucess.
July 1, 2010, 7:55 a.m. CST
by MJohnson
You know what, you fucking morons? You already know that converted 3D films are going to look like shit, and while I completely agree that this current trend is an abomination, I'm equally sick of entitlement-issue fucks like Capone complaining that they are "ruining his movie going experience." You know what, Capone? Choose to go see the 2D version that is also airing in theaters and stop underwriting Hollywood's shameless efforts to shove 3D down our throats. YOU are the problem, Capone - because if the audience stops spending money on them, they'll stop making them. So let me make sure I'm clear - problem: shitty 3D. Problem: shitty online movie "reviewers" who bitch and moan about it while perpetuating the very issues they so pompously condemn in their self-aggrandizing "columns."
July 1, 2010, 7:58 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
He might have an eye for staging and giving decent instructions to his cinematographer but I suspect that if he did his own cinematographing it would suck. But he should give it a try, nothing to lose at this point really. The term "A new low" was practically invented for this hack.
July 1, 2010, 7:59 a.m. CST
by DannyOcean01
Point about negative space is well-made. It's that kind of thing that requires patience and skill, and yet rarely gets noticed by your usual filmgoer. And re. your ambition comment, it's especially funny and sad that Capone talks about a M.Night film in the same breath as his condemnation of this shitty summer of movies.
July 1, 2010, 8 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson, to name a few, have done some of their best acting work in Shymalan's movies. While Shymanla does seem to demand a more stylized type of acting in his movies, it's also very good acting work that all actors from his movies deliver. In fact, maybe only The Happening might have the general weaker acting job from the cast in his movies. But then again, i don't like Marky Mark much.
July 1, 2010, 8:06 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
Clearly you didn't see (500) Days of Summer where Zooey was used to perfect effect. The composition and atmosphere in the last 15 minutes surpasses anything Shamalamadingdong would ever dream of achieving. And unlike in any of dingdong's movies, those actors evoked realistic, emotional, flesh and blood characters - not blank eyed automatons.
July 1, 2010, 8:07 a.m. CST
by OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWW
Capone, if it's as bad as you say it is, nothing can help the negatives. But from the review, it sounded like you labeled some positives as "goofy" just because you couldn't make the connection to the source material.
July 1, 2010, 8:08 a.m. CST
by Dirk_The_Amoeba
M. Naught meet Ed Wood.

July 1, 2010, 8:08 a.m. CST
by BilboRing
I was hoping for an M Night comeback. Oh well.
July 1, 2010, 8:10 a.m. CST
by Mechasheeva
Hoped this would go the other way, but never really believed it. Oh well, we'll always have Inception. Oh, and Predators. That looks pretty badass. Think of the good!
July 1, 2010, 8:10 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Maybe Shymanlan did really fucked up with THE LAST AIRBENDER. i find it hard to believe that he lost all his previous abilities as a filmmaker, specially his deliberate framing of shots and pacient pacing. I can believe the movie is bad, but i can't believe it's badly shot. Capone's review sounds like the type of stuff somebody with an axe to grind would do. And then there is the other thing in his review which i'll coment in a seperate post, becaus eit's worth having it's own space. And the people who know me alreeady in here will guess what i'm about to say, but i have to say nevertheless. This I cannot let go unmentioned.
July 1, 2010, 8:11 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
That was so awesome! Man, i hope you never stop with your stitch, AICN wouldn't be the same without it. Bring on the Zooey!
July 1, 2010, 8:18 a.m. CST
by The_Crimson_King
let's face it, M. Night is now a shitty director
July 1, 2010, 8:19 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
... to attack Shymalan's latest movie, when he was one of those who praised the most Jar Jar Abams's SHIT TREK. Dude, either you hate all bad movies or you like them all. One cannot says stuff like "crimes against those who love movies" when previously have praised a terrible movie. Shit like this will always come back to bite you in the ass.
July 1, 2010, 8:19 a.m. CST
by BizarroJerry
About M. Night, I mean. My first fear was that the series was often light-hearted and very funny at times. Something that I worried he was incapable of doing. Sounds like I may have been right.
July 1, 2010, 8:21 a.m. CST
by Dirk_The_Amoeba
Although I must say M.Naught knows how to frame a Tree without lens flares!
July 1, 2010, 8:22 a.m. CST
by kevinwillis.net
Positive reviews. But I think it's telling that we're talking about a movie from the guy who was once considered "the next Spielberg" as being in the same place as (or markedly inferior to) MacGruber.
July 1, 2010, 8:23 a.m. CST
by andrew coleman
Ever since Transformers 2 it is clear that Americans enjoy horrible movies. So I expect Airbenber to make 200 million. M. Night has gone down hill but when it comes to the Village people are pretty stupid. The Village was advertised as an insane horror movie and that is not M. Night's fault. So people went in hoping for some sort of horror movie which made no sense since he never made horror movies but whatever.
July 1, 2010, 8:24 a.m. CST
by Dirk_The_Amoeba
Sixth sense and 1/4 Unbreakable and 1/4 The Village. That's it.
July 1, 2010, 8:24 a.m. CST
by kevinwillis.net
"I didn't know you could do that."

 "Yeah, isn't that, like, so much better?"

J.J. Abrams > M. Night. Times infinity.
July 1, 2010, 8:27 a.m. CST
by Dirk_The_Amoeba
Oh the inhumanity!
July 1, 2010, 8:29 a.m. CST
by elsewhere
Shame it's a piece of shit. I'm not at all familiar with the source material, but like someone else stated, I too feel bad for the fans. First Dragon Ball and now this. I'm now thinking thrice about an Unbreakable sequel.
July 1, 2010, 8:30 a.m. CST
by kevinwillis.net
And Unbreakable was a very impressive follow up. Showed he wasn't a one hit wonder.

Then came signs. Okay, the logic was a little half-baked--naked aliens come to a planet where everyone can kill them with the most common substance on that planet? But it was well made, good performances, great cinematography, so we give him a pass. Then there was The Village, which was all right. Same logic problems, but suspend disbelief, and it was still okay.

Then comes Lady in the Water, which was a pean to the greatness of M. Night Shamaylan, and a big fock you to the audience (well, critics, really, but to the audience, too). It was just painful for me to watch that self-indulgent idiocy. Then there was the Happening, where M. Night expanded on his George Lucas-like ability to coax bad performances out of otherwise good actors. And lecture the audience. Now, it's Airbender, which looks bad.

 M. Night will have the distinction of being the first auteur who went from being the next Steven Spielberg or Alfred Hitchcock to being the next Uwe Boll.
July 1, 2010, 8:30 a.m. CST
by Big_Daddy_Nero
Ok, maybe a reviewer's job is to go into a movie knowing NOTHING about the subject matter. But something tells me that the reviewer here may have been more receptive to a live-action remake of a kid's Nickelodeon Cartoon if he had known a little something about it going in. And as far as converting to 3D, fair point, it was reviews like this that prevented me from seeing CotT in 3D, so thanks there, but that is more a criticism of the process rather than the film itself. Anyway, I have enjoyed seeing the odd episode of Avatar now and then, and there is some good stuff there, but whether any of it translated into the movie, well, my nine-year-old son will have to tell me about that. In any case, sometimes it looks like the reviewers here have at LEAST gone onto Wikipedia and done 'research' on a movie's subject matter either before or after seeing it, but obviously not so in this case. Which, again, seems more like a problem with the reviewer than solely with the film itself. Now maybe the movie is a steaming pile. Heck, I used to like Shamalamalam, but even I didn't bother seeing The Happening, so maybe the guy needs to go on a Vision Quest or something. But if all he did was make a faithful rendering of the cartoon's elements, and the fans of the show are satisfied, then he can hardly be faulted for that. But if the reviewers don't even bother to know whether or not that's what he has done, then how has that helped ME, the READER, know whether or not to go see it? That's your job dude. I don't care if you were PMS'ing about the crappy 3D. Just do an actual review instead of being so damn snarky.
July 1, 2010, 8:30 a.m. CST
by CartoonFanboy
because this movie is clearly a cinematic skidmark, but for those who think The Last Airbender is anime, it is not (though it was clearly influenced by anime). The show is produced, written and directed primarily by Americans and animated in Korea (anime generally refers to Japanese produced and animated cartoons). Also not all the characters are Asian, the brother and sister who follow the airbender are closer to Eskimos (still doesn't excuse them being cast as white though). Strangely enough the biggest miscast is probably the pissed off price who - unlike the brother and sister - should have been Asian (specifically Japanese) but got cast as an Indian.
July 1, 2010, 8:31 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
Keep on keepin on!
July 1, 2010, 8:31 a.m. CST
by palimpsest
God causes a car crash to kill Mel Gibson's wife. Mel loses his faith. So to restore Mel's faith, God arranges for an invasion of water-phobic aliens on a largely-water planet so that the wife's dying words make sense? Moral of the story: God's got way too much time on his hands these days.
July 1, 2010, 8:34 a.m. CST
by BizarroJerry
AGH! Haven't found a good review yet. The source material was so good, this is a shame. Hollywood is butchering properties so fast, I don't know if they can be stopped. As a kid Transformers and G.I. Joe were my favorites, and Hollywood didn't know what to do with them. Kids today didn't even have to wait ten years for their show to be screwed up by them!
July 1, 2010, 8:34 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
It's stupid to call Shymalan an hack. The man has hiw own style which is different from anybody else. As a filmmaker, he is his own man. And more importnatly, he makes very good use of it. Hacks are idiots like Michey Bayass and Jar Jar Abrams who copy the style of much better filmmakers and still completly fuck up because they can't understand the reason why those better filmmakers used the techniques they used for their movies. That's what na hack is. Shymalan might be m,any thing,s but an hack he is not. If anything, he might even be too unique for many geekoids to understand and appreciate.
July 1, 2010, 8:35 a.m. CST
by kevinwillis.net
Naked aliens that shoot knock out gas (for humans) out of their wrists. And are killed by water. Nuff said.
July 1, 2010, 8:35 a.m. CST
by mjgtexas
"Little Aang looks like Wallace Shawn as a child."
July 1, 2010, 8:38 a.m. CST
by Dave I
I'll preface this by saying the only movie I've seen in 3D (since Jaws 3 or something as a kid) was Toy Story 3. Which I found out was bad for my almost-three year old daughter yesterday. Anyway, I digress.

So my question... Don't they test run like parts of the movies to see if it translates well to 3D? I thought it was pretty cool in Toy Story 3, some of the previews were like watching the actors as cardboard cutouts (flat) in layers with depth between them. But Toy Story 3 looked great, and so did the day-&-night animated thing. So I was thinking, yeah, this could be cool. Generally not worth the money, but once-in-a-while or something, sure.

On the other end, it sounds like most of these 3D-converted movies suck (visually, that is) after they are converted. This results in two things. First, critics seem to universally lambaste it. Second, moviegoers seem furious about it, both the spending of extra money AND the lackluster product. So WHY are they cramming it down our throats? Is this just to sort of force us to deal with it so that when good (or at least BETTER) filmed-for-3D movies come out they've gotten all the wrinkles out and gotten audiences adjusted to the glasses and whatnot? In the interim, why not test run a small portion of the film so that you can tell that, oh yeah, if we translate the whole of Clash of the Titans, The Last Airbender, or whatever to 3D, it'll look like crap, and then wait until you have a better candidate for that type of film?

-Cheers
July 1, 2010, 8:38 a.m. CST
by kevinwillis.net
I had a great time. Everybody I went with had a great time. Everybody in the theater seemed to really enjoy the film.

Call J.J. a hack if you want, he's doing a lot better with the majority of the movie going public that M. Night.

The defense of M. Night is understandable, but the dude has clearly lost his way. Did you really watch Lady In The Water? That was dreck. It didn't even rise to the level of hack work, it was so juvenile, narcissistic, and self-indulgent. It was appallingly bad.
July 1, 2010, 8:39 a.m. CST
by thepoohguy
when watching deleted scenes for Unbreakable with commentary, and he kept saying "this was one of the best scenes, but I cut it". Yeah, cut your best scenes, that makes for a great movie...NOT!
 From that moment, I've yet to see a full movie of his.
July 1, 2010, 8:41 a.m. CST
by kevinwillis.net
Are generally rushed. Which is why they suck. 3D Conversions for older films generally look decent. I enjoyed Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D, and that was converted 5 years ago.
July 1, 2010, 8:41 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
As an atheist, you can bet i also found the theological foundations of the story pretty shaky. but thing is, the point the movie raised are in fact valid faith points in christianity. The movie pratically takes directly form the bible the point it makes about faith. If anything, SIGNS is a movie that understands very well the business of faith. What you might have problem with, as i do, is the very concept of faith and in what it has foundations on. Still, that didn't rob me of my enjoyment of the movie. You know why? becasue it fells honest. Regardless of what you might think of hydrophobic aliens and the killing of innocent to teach a lesson of faith on others, the fact remaind sthat the movie is honest in the story it tells. for that, i can dig it. i don't need to totally agree with what a filmmaker and a film say to like it. Or else i couldn't like one of my all time favorite movie, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST.
July 1, 2010, 8:44 a.m. CST
by BilboRing
I loved the tension and feeling of that movie. To me it was on par with 6th sense and unbreakable. I love signs. Then...things fell apart...
July 1, 2010, 8:45 a.m. CST
by Derrida77
So what if Capone hasn't seen the show? It shouldn't be a requirement that you must have seen the fucking cartoon before seeing the film in order to understand it.
July 1, 2010, 8:45 a.m. CST
by kevinwillis.net
Where the kid had the gun and wanted to shoot Bruce Willis? Or when they kept piling on weights and Bruce kept lifting it? Or when he got stuck in the pool cover in the rain? Or went Mr. Glass went down the stairs? Or . . .

I mean, seriously. What happened to that guy?
July 1, 2010, 8:45 a.m. CST
by Sam_Jay_Jick_Donutly_Dildoclip
...is when Aang bends his dick up into M. Night Shayamalan's ass. Fuck this movie.
July 1, 2010, 8:47 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
One of the first lessons the filmmakers learn is to "cut the darlings". To cut any scenes that doesn't help tell the story economically, regardless of how good they might be on their own. Every filmmaker will tell you that, except if his name is Mickey Bayass.
July 1, 2010, 8:49 a.m. CST
by shutupfanboy
I have only really seen two films this year, Iron Man 2 and Get him to the Greek. Greek, I only saw do to my wife working and having a free ticket. I do want to see A-Team and Expendables. I thought about seeing Jonah Hex, but like Toy Story 3, I'll wait for tv. The real reason, the box office is doing well is the extra cash you have to spend on the 3D. I think Avatar is only in the top 25 of tickets sold, Gone with the Wind is number 1 and Star Wars: ANH is 2. I use that as my inductor instead of cash due to inflation. Expendables and Inception could save the rest of the summer, but in reality Eclipse is going to be the number one summer movie.
July 1, 2010, 8:51 a.m. CST
by buggerbugger
John Barrowman's already booked his ticket!
July 1, 2010, 8:53 a.m. CST
by Cobb05
I just saw that he's planning on producing movies under The Night Chronicles. I knew he wrote Devil, which sounds horrible. A bunch of people stuck in an elevator and one of the is the devil. But he's got two more planned. He really thinks he's Hitchcock. When is he going to make The night Chronicles for TV? He's not the master of suspense. I mean you can make a movie with suspense, without good characters and a solid plot, it's nothing. I mean he puts too much into twist endings, which for the most part totally contradict the last 90 minutes of the movie.
July 1, 2010, 8:55 a.m. CST
by cookylamoo
They're all tiny little people who live in your garage.
July 1, 2010, 8:56 a.m. CST
by MAD_MIKE
70 episodes of a single story into a 90 minute feature.
 It doesn't work.
 The other thing is Effects people need to learn how to do all of the CGI without having it obscured by BLUE Filters or whatever color that muddies it and makes it -seem- more real.
July 1, 2010, 8:58 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
I think he just went bonkers. That was the first film where from a craft stand point (let's not even get into the horrid script), it was poorly exectuted. Regardless of what someone thought of the scripts or acting, his films from The Sixth Sense to The Village were shot/framed/edited extremely well. But Lady in the Water just looked like crap, and was a jumbled mess that looked like it was done by a direct to DVD hack. Oh well. I guess he's suffering from William Friedkin syndrome (put out a string of excellent films early in your career, and then fizzle from there).
July 1, 2010, 9:05 a.m. CST
by ThroughTheBrokenWindowWithDancinDelroyLindo
Regardless, he had to get at least 10 million to write/direct this movie - which has held zero interest for me from conception to now. He probably also finagled a decent amount of the back-end points, which despite the poor reviews, will net him even more millions. The guy has to be one of the wealthiest directors ever, especially considering his age. So whereas it saddens me to see the quality of his films decline as they have, he must be laughing all the way to the Biryani Bank. Then again, it must bother his ego on some level to be getting ragged on so much these last years.
July 1, 2010, 9:07 a.m. CST
by ricarleite2
Now I want MASSA to review this stinker so we can send his indian ass back to where it belongs.
July 1, 2010, 9:10 a.m. CST
by J.B.M.A.
I love Shyamalan as a director.
 Whatever the problems of his last two films (I maintain that The Village is still a fantastic, odd movie) his skill at creating the perfect mood and and tone to a film was indeed Spielbergian: those comparing him to Michael bay need to reassess their I.Q. sharpish. It's depressing to see such a talent go to pot. Has he had personal issues or something? I just don't get it...
July 1, 2010, 9:11 a.m. CST
by jtp8000
You can't put down what is written in the movie. (Firemen? Jesus, know a little about your source material before insulting anyone who liked the show). I am taking anything you (or Ebert or anyone else) who has not the seen the show with a grain of salt.
July 1, 2010, 9:11 a.m. CST
by chibnut
is the logo that was at the beginning of "The Happening" on this movie too? The one with the lady running her fingers through water colors? When I saw that I don't know why or how but I felt really uneasy.
July 1, 2010, 9:12 a.m. CST
by JethroBodine
How many nails can M. Night Shyamalan's coffin take? That's it, I'm CONVINCED that he's a zombie!
July 1, 2010, 9:15 a.m. CST
by NzYme
I love me some superhero movies but I wanted a popcorn eating franchise that WASN'T based on a D.C. or Marvel character that I could enjoy. I'm so fucking disappointed!
July 1, 2010, 9:16 a.m. CST
by J.B.M.A.
posted almost exactly what I was wondering several posts up. Great minds and all that...
July 1, 2010, 9:18 a.m. CST
by Cobb05
It says it all. This book was written by a guy who followed Night around as he made Lady in the Water and you can clearly see he believes his hype as a master storyteller and he thinks his shit don't stink. He comes off as a huge douche. What's great is to read the book and see how excited he was about Lady in the Water and every time someone says: "I don't get this movie." He gets pissed and is like: "How do you not understand this? It's like the Wizard of Oz." And he talks about how funny the movie will be. That the scene where Giamatti is trying to kill a bug with bug spray, he says is the funniest scene he's ever written. He's too drunk with power and too many people have been kissing his ass. He's damaged goods now. He needs to make a small movie and maybe collaborate with someone.
July 1, 2010, 9:18 a.m. CST
by ricarleite2
So we have one final attack that will put M Night Shamalamadingdong into obscurity - a bizarre occurrence in Hollywood when an Academy Award grade genius director works his way into being a porn director.
July 1, 2010, 9:19 a.m. CST
by DangerDave
Great characters, really solid mood and direction and a story that is maybe one of the best comic book movies ever made. Yes, seriously.
 After that the guy goes down hill. But I have never watch anything after The Village. He will be doing SyFi network movies next year.
July 1, 2010, 9:19 a.m. CST
by The Dreaded Rear Admiral
And what I'm hearing sounds so disappointing. I'm still going to see it...I MUST see it. Not fot the train-wreck aspect (or so I'm hearing), but because I genuinely believe the original show to be completely BRILLIANT in every way. Admittedly, the first season was the whole set-up, and it was great. Once the second season kicked in...HOLEY CRAP! So many great characters: Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, TOPH!, Long Feng, Sandbenders. It goes on and on, and it's all killer, no filler. Even if the movie is a resounding flop, which it sounds like, I'm hoping someone will jump in and finish the trilogy. The source material is simply too darned good to be blown off. If I can find it playing in Stuttgart (where I'm staying), I'll watch it and send in my own review! Hope it will get posted!
July 1, 2010, 9:20 a.m. CST
by --- Emperor ---
Listen shithead, do you think I care about the technicalities of this PUNJAB'S heritage? Clearly I am just being vindictive, and if your dumb cunt of a brain thinks vindictiveness gives way to details, you obviously don't understand human nature, which in other terms means you're an idiot.
 I clearly don't like this stinking punjab monkey, and that's not going to change because of his passport. Okay moron? He is a worthless punjab rat, who should be shipped back to his rodent infested shit hole whence he came. And yes, that's in Punjabland.
July 1, 2010, 9:20 a.m. CST
by Thall_Joben
I hear ya, but Avatar's an American show - and a very original one at that, inteligently and humourously written and beautifuly animated. The source material rocks, Dave Filoni is a great director.
July 1, 2010, 9:22 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
... and his incredible skill as a filmmaker, i'll give Shymalan a lot of leeway until the bounced back. He's not a stupid hack like Bayass who shouldn't had had another chance since 2001. I'll give Shymalan for a whole decade to bounce back. True talents deserve that.
July 1, 2010, 9:23 a.m. CST
by THX1968
Beginning with "Iron Man 2", which was abysmal, this years crop of summer movies has been terrible. The only films I've enjoyed have been "The A-Team" and "Toy Story 3". Granted, Pixar is, at this point, always a sure bet for solid entertainment that will actually make you feel something, and Hannibal a Co. made me laugh and blew a lot of stuff up - which is exactly what I wanted, but what we have here is the pinnacle of years of corporate minds marketing films instead of creating pop art. I've always despised Shamalama-ding-dong's work and never understood the appeal or adulation that was heaped upon him after "Sixth Sense" (in which I discovered the "twist" about 5 minutes into the film) or "Unbreakable" in which the end of that film should have been the mid-point! The man is one lucky hack. But let's look at the slate of dreck that has been served up this summer: "Iron Man 2", "Prince of Persia" (Jake Gyllenhaal is dull, dull, dull), "Shreck" (please, please be the last one), "The Karate Kid", the incomprehensible "Jonah Hex" and "Knight and Day", "Marmaduke", the totally lousy "Robin Hood", and let's not forget the vile "Sex and the City 2". To put this, the worst summer of movies ever, into perspective, let's take a look at the best summer of movies ever, 1982. Check it out: "E.T.", "Star Trek II", "Rocky 3", "An Officer and a Gentleman", "Poltergeist", "Firefox", "Conan the Barbarian", "Tron" (Oh, hell yeah!), "Friday the 13th 3D" (which, coincidentally, came out during the last great resurrection of 3D), "Blade Runner" (Blade Runner" for God's sake!!!), "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "The Thing", "The Road Warrior", "Pink Floyd: The Wall" and Disney re-released "Bambi", AND "Raiders" and "Star Wars" had brief runs to top it all off!!!! I don't think anyone expects another explosion of pop fun like that to happen ever again, but you'd think they would try. The people running the show right now, at this moment in time, remember the summer of 1982 very well, because they are roughly the same age as myself, and they have the power to greenlight good stuff without constantly checking the demographics. Just find good stories and let the people who know how to make movies make them! Kinda like what Pixar has been doing all these years, and they have never, ever, made a bad movie.
July 1, 2010, 9:25 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
I was giggling through all those reviews.
July 1, 2010, 9:26 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
So far the only movie I have liked is Shutter Island, and I know that one has people divided. It's been a bad year, and there aren't many bright spots in the Fall either.
July 1, 2010, 9:26 a.m. CST
by DangerDave
Don't you have a Klan ralley to get to?
 More than likely you live in UK, is so....
 Don't you have a Manchester United game to get to?
July 1, 2010, 9:27 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
of the summer has been Sex and the City 2. I really enjoyed that.
July 1, 2010, 9:28 a.m. CST
by Cobb05
Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Temple of Doom, Sixteen Candles, Firestarter, The Natural, Once Upon A Time In America, The Karate Kid, The Pope of Greenwich Village, The Last Starfighter, The muppets Take Manhattan, Red Dawn, Cloak & Dagger.
July 1, 2010, 9:28 a.m. CST
by therealavatar
but in the cartoon(which is awesome and worth a viewing for those who haven't seen it)firebenders make their own fire. they don't need an outside source and every person in that world would know that after 100 years of war. some even breath fire or shoot lightning. I had hoped this would be a good movie, not because I care about M. Night, I don't, but because I love the source material and hoped this would be popular and Nickelodeon would revisit the cartoon with the direct to disc movies it deserves to finish the story.
July 1, 2010, 9:28 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
Robin Hood at 3, because it had a great beginning and middle
 and IM2 at dead last cuz it sucked the proverbial donkey balls from start to finish.
July 1, 2010, 9:30 a.m. CST
by DeusMaximus
I was actually looking forward to this. Thank you Capone for the pain you must have endured and the years of therapy that will follow. You will probably will never look upon monks in the same way, nor fire eaters. I salute you. This is one for the trash then. I had the same experience with DragonBall Z. I was looking forward to that with childish imagination. Then I found out they took the Picollo saga. I was shocked, then casting and then the result... "Stares towards the wall"... "We lost a lot of good minutes on that day"...
July 1, 2010, 9:30 a.m. CST
by smackfu
When you've been an M Night apologist for 5 films straight, I think it's time to admit the first two movies were flukes. Also, I'd accept what you say about his visual sense if it weren't for the fact that he constantly uses that shitty de-saturated blue 'Law & Order' filter for so much of his work. Airbender looks to be his bluest film yet. He has 2 or 3 clever shots up his sleeve, which to his credit he uses sparingly, but other than that, his visual style does not stand out.
July 1, 2010, 9:31 a.m. CST
by leo54304
July 1, 2010, 9:33 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
Saves this Summer. I just hope it's more than the Matrix/Dark City/Ridley Scott mash-up that's it's being presented as.
July 1, 2010, 9:33 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
So the fucker is brown, so what????

 It's not his fucking colour that makes him piss poor as a fucking director, it's just that he doesn't have any talent.

 Michael Bay is white, and that fucker belongs in the 9th circle of hell!!!!!
July 1, 2010, 9:35 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
The way this year is going, Inception might just join the rest of the dross... Oh I fucking hope not!!!!
July 1, 2010, 9:36 a.m. CST
by DangerDave
This is the only movie that I am willing to shit money for this summer.
July 1, 2010, 9:38 a.m. CST
by FeralAngel
Learned a lesson from Astro Boy, although its reviews were much better than the ones Airbender is getting, plus user reviews gave it a lot of love. And anyway, I'm a bit suspicious about negative reviews for Airbender, mostly because of all the "racist-casting: garbage spewed around by nitwads, and I figure some people had it in for the film from the beginning. None of the kids in the cartoon looked Asian, and the world they lived in looked like a mix of Inuit, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, etc. But some people have been screeching for months that the moviemakers "whitewashed" the cast and urged a boycott. What a load of dick. So I'll see this movie and judge for myself, and post a review here later FWIW. But if it sucks then screw you Shamalamadingdong. You had a great show, great characters, great story and a built-in audience. If you fucked that up then have a happy time working behind the clown at Mickey D's.
July 1, 2010, 9:38 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
"An unbreakable Village that gets signs there might be a lady in the water because it has a sixth sense...."

 In 3 fucking D......
July 1, 2010, 9:39 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
At least Dolph hopes so! Then he can do an Ivan Drago Rocky IV spin-off film.
July 1, 2010, 9:40 a.m. CST
by kevinwillis.net
Toy Story 3. Let's be honest. What else compares? I am crazy looking forward to Inception. I enjoyed Iron Man 2, but not nearly as good as the first one. Loved TS3, though.
July 1, 2010, 9:40 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
I might be looking upon him with more charitable eyes. But that egomaniac really got my goat.
July 1, 2010, 9:41 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
Don't give it your money- just download the fucker, or wait for three weeks before it is dragged from cinemas and buy the DVD for $1.99 some time late July....

 Then gouge out your eyes for watching the fucker...
July 1, 2010, 9:41 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
I hope!
July 1, 2010, 9:42 a.m. CST
by Cloaker Cobra
is one of the purest examples of the starving artist theory. The hungry early work of many artists usually is of so much higher quality because it was before the hookers and cocaine and the ongoing press machine feeding beast of the internet. The only way for Night to save his career; get away from all special effects, all twists and turn scripts, and all A list stars. Find a He needs to strip himself down artistically and go raw. Go find a contemporary writing partner ala Lawrence Kasdan circa 1980 and align the narrative with his technique. Do not appear in any of your future films ever. Consider Alfred Hitchcock; the man directed suspense unlike any other, but his best films he was savvy enough to stay away from writing. The core talent is still there for Night, it is just buried under 8+ years of self-induced, ego enabled scar tissue.
July 1, 2010, 9:43 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
July 1, 2010, 9:43 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
Denzel Washington train film coming out in November! Oh Big Butter Jesus, my prayers have been answered!
July 1, 2010, 9:44 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
the movie of the year will be Your Highness. Mark these words.
July 1, 2010, 9:45 a.m. CST
by Dirk_The_Amoeba
A Happening unbreakable Village that gets signs about a lady in the water because it's last airbender has a sixth sense.
July 1, 2010, 9:46 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
And Kevin Smith Al Pacino circa 1971-1983.
July 1, 2010, 9:47 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
would be amazing. Scenes like a city folding into itself, or Autumn reaching out to shake Tom's hand - they just scream for the treatment!
July 1, 2010, 9:47 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
July 1, 2010, 9:47 a.m. CST
by Inexplicable_Nuclear_Balls
How could this not be a good movie, with a giant beaver?
July 1, 2010, 9:48 a.m. CST
by samuraiyao
They should just release Inception along with Expendables already to save the day!!!
July 1, 2010, 9:48 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
Not doing 3-D unless he's forced to. At least someone with clout is standing up to the stooges in Hollywood.
July 1, 2010, 9:50 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
Justin Timberlake! Move over Toy Story 3!
July 1, 2010, 9:51 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
How you would like to be called mexican?
July 1, 2010, 9:51 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
Oh man, that idea just prints fifty dolla' bills Goonies style!
July 1, 2010, 9:55 a.m. CST
by The Founder
I said I wasn't going to bash this film or make negative comments until I see it. This was his twisted version period. Can't believe he screwed this film. No wait I can.
July 1, 2010, 9:56 a.m. CST
by --- Emperor ---
Ah thanks, you got a laugh out of me. I don't mind criticism, as long as there is some sensible humor in it somewhere. The reason the other cunt pissed me off, is simply because he was being dumb. As if it matters whether or not this no-talent hack is from South India or North West India (Punjabi).
 Yes, he is ethnic, and yes I am insulting him for it. DUH. Michael Bay is a pasty horse looking freckly ass bandit. As if I care about race/religion/appearance if I am being vindictive? I just add it for good measure to provide some light entertainment. It's not like I give a flying fuck where the cunt is from. All I care about is that this monkey still gets project opportunities in Hollywood, when he should have been sent to a gas chamber after Lady in the Water.
 The prick has been given too many chances already, and after this botched failure, I don't want to see this filthy dog's name attached to any other project of 'art'. Ever. EVER.
 What pisses me off is not his films (I don't see his films anyway, so it doesn't bother me as much). What pisses me off is that there are plenty of talents awaiting their turn at the big time, who never get a shot. Plenty of unique ideas who never see the light of day.
 Yet this fuckup still gets to write and direct his own movies. The only rational explanation I can come up with right now is: Collective guilt over the plundering of his 3rd world shit hole country by the West (including USA). That's my current explanation.
July 1, 2010, 9:57 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
Just looking for a children's franchise to destroy. My money is on Mad Balls, but maybe they're more into Cow Boys of Moo Messa at this point.
July 1, 2010, 9:58 a.m. CST
by luke_lymon
July 1, 2010, 10 a.m. CST
by Hipshot
I think it clear to most (but admittedly, not all would agree) that the characters in "Avatar" are Asian. Asian motifs, philosophies, (largely) appearance, martial techniques...everything. Ask an Asian if those characters are Asian. The whitewashing that occurred is purely a financial thing, Hollywood figuring that America would not go for a largely Asian cast. They rarely have: why take a chance now? Every group of people likes to see themselves reflected in their art. For all the wonderful things about this country, we're still human. Shyamalan sold himself out big time. ## As for "Karate Kid"--better notice that it is now the highest box office martial arts film ever made. Suck on that: the world is changing around you, and there isn't a damned thing you can do about it. And they didn't change Danial Larusso's race. They told a tale of a different child who had a similar experience with martial arts. Those of you hung up on the race of the character seem to be defining Jaden Smith primarily as "black", that single thing looming larger than anything else about him. You are welcome to do so. I myself am proud that America was willing to take another tiny step toward granting full humanity to all. That is a remarkable thing in human history. We are an incredible people. Some of us are moving forward. The rest of you are welcome to live in the past.
July 1, 2010, 10 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
Oh come on! It's not like the guy dropped a helicopter on his main actor and two children.
July 1, 2010, 10 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
July 1, 2010, 10:01 a.m. CST
by BringingSexyBack
That's my new phone for sure.
July 1, 2010, 10:03 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
And it will magically make the oil retreat back into the earth.
July 1, 2010, 10:05 a.m. CST
by NHRonin
He made one excellent movie in the Sixth Sense, one decent film in Unbreakable and then a bunch of shite. Why do people like him keep getting another chance in Hollywood when there is so much talent out there?
July 1, 2010, 10:05 a.m. CST
by louisse
For not letting Mike and Bryan do the script. What a FUCKING asshole this man is for raping a brillaint cartoon IN THE ASS! Fucking retard
July 1, 2010, 10:09 a.m. CST
by The Founder
When is this man gonna just wake up and realize the "written and Directed" credit isn't working for him. Will he ever learn? Worse yet when are the people around him gonna grow some balls and tell him to just FUCKING DIRECT MOVIES? The man isn't a poor director by a long shot. He's talented but not in writing. He had two good films(probably someone else's idea)and the rest has been shitty.
July 1, 2010, 10:12 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
*Sixth Sense=Production Budget 40 million, total gross 672 million...*Unbreakable=Production Budget 75 million, total gross 248 million....*Signs=Production Budget 75 million, total gross 408 million....*The Village=Production Budget 60 million, total gross 256 million....*Lady in the Water=Production Budget 70 million, total gross 72 million...*The Happening=Production Budget 48 million, total gross 163 million. So really from the box office stand point (which is what Hollywood cares about), Lady in the Water is the only film of his that wasn't profitable. My guess is if Airbender bombs, he'll be in trouble because it's probably the biggest budget he's worked with.
July 1, 2010, 10:14 a.m. CST
by Turd_Has_Risen_From_The_Grave
If it bafflingly becomes a bigger hit than Inception then I'm going to torch shingamingadingdangadongalonga's house myself!
July 1, 2010, 10:14 a.m. CST
by elsachmo
This guy really sounds like an internet hater who is mad that he doesn't have his own famous movie review site. He also doesn't seem to really understand much about making movies themselves although apparently he thinks he does. Jar Jar Abrams? Shit Trek? Oh, you're so funny and clever! Lol. I'm a film school graduate, and I don't think I've met anyone, Trek fan or not, who didn't think the new Star Trek was great. It is definitely the best remake/reimagining I've seen in many, many years. I'll admit that for myself, the Trek series has always baffled me. It was always cheaply and horribly made. The acting was terrible, and it was just cheesy as all hell. The remake was a million times better than any of the Trek series could have ever hoped to be. Even my film professors thought it was written and directed very well, as it was discussed often in classes. As far as this movie, the trailers look really good, so it's sad to think it really is this bad.
July 1, 2010, 10:17 a.m. CST
by obi_juan
I liked it a lot. Inception looks like Dark City or The Thirteenth Floor. I liked Dark City and the Thirteenth Floor, but why would I want to see that again? Pass.
July 1, 2010, 10:21 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
As soon as his massage is over.
July 1, 2010, 10:21 a.m. CST
by UltraTron
Monk-like humans with Asian-esque attributes? Perhaps. I've never heard of any water-bending martial art. No they draw the main characters white and the badguys are Asian in a Ming the merciless sense. There's a miazaki aspect to some creature designs. The show had a good mix of influences but was never deeper than black vs white. The badguy wants to fight- that's his motivation. He's a scrapper. His uncle pulls his strings and wants to conquer some more shit that's already been conquered for a hundred years.
July 1, 2010, 10:22 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
If i wanted to have my own website i would. And nobody is forcing you to agree with me. And i don't call the filmmaker Jar Jar Abrams or the movie SHIT TREK to be cute, i call them that to show my complete despise for those two shits. If you have a problem with that... deal with it. And the least said about America's blind acceptance of that shitty movie and the assclown who wrote and directed it, the better. So now a movie completly made of coincidences and deux ex machinas is considered good writing? Since when it became fashionable to be a braindead slave to the whims and stupidity of Jar Jar Abrams? I'd love to be in the class of your profession who thinks SHIT REK is so well writen, i would go to town with that shit. The guy wouldn't know what had hit him! This open legged slave passive attitude toward Jar Jar Abrams's complete ineptitude at storytelling and the stupid retard movie he made boggles the mind. Since when it became so fashionable to be retard?
July 1, 2010, 10:27 a.m. CST
by UltraTron
should have warned you he had no talent. My 8 mil micronaut's stop motion epic blows anything he's ever done out of the water and I was only 6 when I made it. I could see the hack in him as a child- if you at my childhood scribblings it's easy to see why I have an acadamy award.
July 1, 2010, 10:28 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
I watched it and enjoyed it as action packed entertainment, but it was not Star Trek. Even the most action packed Trek of old had some underlying message/subtext to it that elevated the material into something that made you think. The only thing the new Trek made you think about afterwards were all the plot holes, and that someone really wanted to make a Star Wars film rather than a Star Trek film. And this comes from someone who doesn't really give two shits about Trek.
July 1, 2010, 10:29 a.m. CST
by The Founder
Man after leavin the theater I couldn't bring myself to look at theose poor kids that were dressed in their Airbender garb I saw waiting excitedly in line. They were the ones I felt the worst for and not myself. Dead silence leavin the theater. As a man in his 30's who is a fan of this genre I just feel bad for the kids who innocent AND dependibility in Hollywood hasn't been destroyed yet. Sadly they will learn.
July 1, 2010, 10:30 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
That's what this Airbender elemental fighting stuff is right, just Battle Beasts were a lot cooler looking (even the goofy Walrus).
July 1, 2010, 10:30 a.m. CST
by impossibledreamers
Even when given some really good source material, Shyamalan falls flat on his face. Great. Because I've watched the show with my kids and they want to see this... maybe I should just buy the series on DVD and called it a day.
July 1, 2010, 10:37 a.m. CST
by Rob0729
Face it. The guy's best talent was his plot twists. Even his better movies were enhanced by the twist. Would people love the Sixth Sense as much if we didn't find out at the end.... SPOILER.... That Bruce Willis was dead all along. Personally, I was a bit bored with the movie until that was revieled and then it made the movie great.
July 1, 2010, 10:45 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
"The guy's best talent was his plot twists"

That is so short-sighted! Are you telling me that when you watch a Shymalan movie, all you see is the plot twists and nothing else? Nothing else? Not the detailed and exact frame compositions? not the use of negative space to create tension and suspense? Not the deliberate slow pacing to create tension and mood? The deliberate stylized but good acting? The subtle use of sound to convey menace? Nothing of those things registed with you? What kind of attitude you have when you watch a movie? Really, what are you doing when you watch a movie? specially if you consider yourself a movie geek (or else why be here)?
July 1, 2010, 10:48 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
M Shite to just direct "period?"

 What makes you think the bastard has the talent to film blood flowing out of a womans snatch????? THAT'S ART, THAT IS!!!!!!
July 1, 2010, 10:53 a.m. CST
by HoboCode
Don't SEE the movie in 3D then.
July 1, 2010, 10:54 a.m. CST
by Rob0729
I have exactly liked 2 1/2 of his movies. Sixth Sense was good, but overrated because of the twist. I loved Unbreakable. Signs was good for about a half.

 I said it was his best talent (and I was saying it sarcastically). Personally, I find it to be his crutch. It was perfect in the Sixth Sense. It was decent in Unbreakable. It was schlocky in The Village. It was a bit forced and almost like he pandered to the audience in Signs. I really didn't care about it in The Happening because the best twist in that movie was the ending credits because it signaled the end of the god-awful experience of a movie.

 Shyamalan does have other talents as you listed, but he obviously wants to be remembered as the guy who has twisty ending since he hasn't done a movie that I have seen where he didn't use one. Maybe I should be attacking his writing rather than his directing. But he is still a gimmick filmmaker.
July 1, 2010, 10:54 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
... and they are posting.
July 1, 2010, 10:55 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
... because he was sick of making adult fare, and said he wanted to "touch the children...." Hmmmmmmmm-I thought Michael Jackson was dead.....
July 1, 2010, 11 a.m. CST
by The Founder
You may not agree but I've seen all his films and while none lived up to his only good one the 6TH Sense and entertaining Unbreakable you can see in all his films his decent and very capable skills for the directorial standpoint. He is not a poor director.
July 1, 2010, 11:01 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
And what is the differenc ebetween a style and a gimmickry, then? I say there are filmakers who are full of gimmckry. Hacks like mickey Bay. But not Shymalan. The dude has his own style. you cnanot deny he has his own style that makes him unique among filmmakers. That's not a gimmick, that's style. As for the twists, i think he stoped with SIGNS. I think the point of THE VILLAGE is that the twist was not a twist, in that it was deliberatly telegraphed. Everybody were guessing the twists, and frankly, i think it was deliberate. Becasue it's the point of the movie, the power of lies, and how, if you seen from a different perspective, they became obvious except for those who need the lies. The movie is a whole collection of people using a collection of lies to try to do good. If there is a twist to THE VILLAGE is that there really is none. And neither LADY IN THE WATER and THE HAPPENING have twists either. To keep on criticizing Shymalan merely on the twist stuff is just lazy, if you ask me. It's now a stale criticism. Now, if you criticize him on his writing, that's another matter.
July 1, 2010, 11:03 a.m. CST
by RainesMaker
Face Facts. He got famous on a gimmick. Every subsequent film has gotten worse and worse. Sixth Sense wasnt even as great as you think. Unbreakable was highly overrated. Signs was stupid tripe. And everything since then has battled for the worst movie released that year.
July 1, 2010, 11:07 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
more hands on, or less hands on in terms of his camera and editing, hence the change in quality right around Lady in the Water. I still think the camera work and editing in his earlier films were what made me look forward to his films. I kind of gave up on his gimmick scripts after Signs. Let's take someone like Brian De Palma. At least even when his scripts are muddled, he still seems to bring it on the technical front. Say what you want about The Black Dahlia, but that film had some amazing camera work. It's as if M. Night can't even bring those types of qualities to the table anymore where he could at least elevate a bad script, even slightly.
July 1, 2010, 11:08 a.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
With the exception of his latest offering (the one we're tearing apart without seeing;) I have seen all of his movies ,and I own a few of them too.

 The trouble with Shyamalan is that for all of the talent he might have, he is consistently delivering poor quality movies. Now, that might be just laziness, and if it is it's unforgivable.

 But what I truly believe it is , is ineptitude to be able to give an audience what it wants- not what HE wants. Not since the sixth sense has he been anywhere close. Everyone just keeps looking for the twist- a hole he has dug himself into I'm afraid.
July 1, 2010, 11:11 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
He could even had get famous because he was a one hell of a picket fences painter. That ids not why he's a good filmmaker. He's a good filmmaker because he is very good in the way his movies are shot and presented and edited. Becasue he's very imaginative. Because he got himself his own personal style that is equal to nobody else. That fucking "twist" bullshit non-argument is beyond old now, not to mention dumb. If that's all you can see about Shymalan, then why do you even bother to call yourself a movie geek? Such superficialities would became the dedicated watcher of soap-operas, not cinema.
July 1, 2010, 11:14 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
I totally agree with you about THE BLACK DAHLIA. The slow motion scene in particular, when those two guys fall from the balcony, is just amazing. De Palma was always, and will always be a master visualist. Even his worst movies have always some great visual moment to them. And the same can be said about Shymalan.
July 1, 2010, 11:20 a.m. CST
by Rob0729
Just because he telegraphed the twist at the end of The Village doesn't not make it a twist. He just couldn't be as subtile with the tells as he was in the Sixth Sense. As for the Happening, it was a twist in that they had it happening again in Paris after everyone thought it was over, but it isn't the same twist as a Sixth Sense. But it doesn't make it not a twist.

 Comparing him to Michael Bay is kinda a red herring. Shymalan wants to be an important filmmaker in the vein of Speilberg, Scorese, etc. Bay is a complete and unabashed mindless popcorn movie maker who has the subtilty of a Scud missle. Two different types of directors. Shymalan wants to be judged as a serious filmmaker and he should be held to higher standard because of it. Bay judges his movies by explosions and box office receipts.

 Sorry, I think Shymalan can be an excellent filmmaker at times, but more often than not he is lazy and relies on gimmicks. His successes (Sixth Sense, Unbreakable) are starting to get far outweighed by his failures (The Happening, Ther Village, Signs, The Last Airbender apparently).
July 1, 2010, 11:20 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
A filmmaker shouldn't give audiences what they want. Those who do are the hacks. What a filmmaker should do is, within his own style and staying true to himself, he should give audiences the movies they didn't knew they wanted to see. Filmmakers shouldn't kiss the audiences asses, filmmakers should kick the audiences' asses.
July 1, 2010, 11:24 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
Jonah Hex/Last Airbender double feature? If they did, I think we'd have a real life The Happening by the end.
July 1, 2010, 11:30 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
If you telegraph, and deliberatly, so, then it's not a twist. It's the exact opposite. and frnakly, the movie is quite open to it. If you went on to the story thinking there was a twist, despiste all the lcue to the contrary, then you just fooled yourself into believing something the movie itself said it wasn't there. If there is a twist in the movie, is that you were played by your own expectations. And from the reactions i see here, people feel really upset about tha,t and instead of blaming themselves, they blamed Shyamalan. It's always easier to blame others for our own failings.

Comparing Shyamalan to Bay is stupid. contrasting him to Bay is appropriated, because Shyamalan does right what Bay can't even dream exists in the way of filmmaking. Even when he makes made movie,s Shyamalan makes them like a great talented filmmaker. Bay can't even understand the notion of what is a good movie, much less make one.

Shyamalan is an excelent filmmaker. And even excelent filmmakers can make bad movies and have bad spells. None ar eimmune to that. Even the mighty Hitchcock has a less then stellar run of movies late in his career. Was it because he sudently became untalented? Not it as not, evne his later, lesser movies still show a lot of the old man's magic. Same with Shyamalan. Even nhis later, lesser movies show the magic he is capable off, but his movies ar ejust not working as well as the yused to be. Maybe Shyamalan is in a creative dead-end, maybe he needs to from other people's scripts, maybe he needs to change style, maybe he needs to work in different genres, maybe he needs to work in a different country, who knows? But the guy is very good, and even his bad mobvies show moments of cinematic magic that only a good filmmaker can do, even in his bad movies. The man is his own man, and that's a very good thing, the way i see it.
July 1, 2010, 11:35 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
IMDB it also recommends Fellini's 8/12. Huh???
July 1, 2010, 11:35 a.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
July 1, 2010, 11:48 a.m. CST
by Ironhelix
My son LOVES this animated series, and is so excited to go today, he can hardly contain himself. If this doesn't deliver for him, he's going to be really let down. I was hoping this could be his "Star Wars", but I guess I expected too much...
July 1, 2010, 11:51 a.m. CST
by v3d
M. Night began his career by ripping off Carnival of Souls. It's been downhill ever since.
July 1, 2010, 11:51 a.m. CST
by v3d
M. Night began his career by ripping off Carnival of Souls. It's been downhill ever since.
July 1, 2010, noon CST
by Crackfiji42
I knew it was a bad idea when I heard Shamalamadingdong got a hold of it. I'll still see it, but yeah he's a terrible writer - not director.
July 1, 2010, 12:01 p.m. CST
by BizarroJerry
the film's suckiness will trump it's (real or perceived) racism.
July 1, 2010, 12:13 p.m. CST
by dopepope
"If you still want to see this movie, you're either too dumb to understand why you shouldn't or too young to care." Fuck you. Maybe fans of the series want to see for themselves.
July 1, 2010, 12:17 p.m. CST
by Rob0729
I didn't think he telegraphed it deliberately. There is a difference with leaving clues that things aren't what it appears to be and telegraphing that they really are in modern times and just shut off from the rest of the world. It is still a twist because eventhough the audience all knew things weren't what they seemed to be, we didn't know the outcome. To expect that what it was is that they were a puritan society in a modern world and tricked to stay in the community is not something you would expect. Hence it is a twist.

 Contrasting him with Bay is a red herring in my opinion. No one considers Bay a serious filmmaker and everyone knows his stuff is loud, dumb, unoriginal, and fluff. People don't go to his movies with anymore expectations of seeing a mindless popcorn movie with a lot of explosions and special effects that might end up being mildly entertaining. It would be contrasting the acting talents of say Sir Lawrence Olivier with Pauley Shore.

 Shyamalan may be a talented director, but even the most talented directors fall into the trap of gimmicks. That is what he has done. Whether you want to call it a twist or something else, Shyamalan relies far too much on a grand payoff at the end which he seems more interested in working the rest of the film to get to that point rather than letting the story evolve to that point like it did with the Sixth Sense. That is a lot of writing, but also directing.
July 1, 2010, 12:20 p.m. CST
by Bob Cryptonight
What to go, dude!!
July 1, 2010, 12:41 p.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Carnival Of Souls is a movie about a young indian-american who goes to India to reconnect with his indian roots and finds himself alienated because he's of both cultures and none and he can only pray when he's angry? Last time i checked out Carnival Of Souls, it didn't had that plot.
July 1, 2010, 12:46 p.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Shyamalan did indeed deliberatly open up the game in THE VILLAGE. People wer ejust expecting the usual twist, when there was none. The twist, if ever there was one, is that there wasn't one.

If nobody considers Bayass a serious filmmaker, then why is he kept given big oportunitioes one after the other after the other after the other? No, the said true is, people actually think he is a director of notice. There is a huge legion of Gays For Bay that do think the fucker has any merit. and it's not just the fanboydom, but evne among peopl in Holywood who should know fucking better.

I do think that Shyamalan must have falalen into some creative trap, as you call it. I say, a dead-end. Too often this happens with creative people, even the very talented. Many find a solution to that by going into a new direction,but few mannaged to reinvent themselves into a new style and still be as good as they used to be and were first acknowledged as great filmmakers.
July 1, 2010, 12:48 p.m. CST
by AsimovLives
You mean a very good filmmakers who got heavily criticized for doing something which others much less talented fucks have done much worst and still mannaged to got away with it?
July 1, 2010, 12:50 p.m. CST
by skimn
around the time of Signs, I believe, and called him the next Spielberg...well, it could only go downhill from there. The trouble is that M Night still believes it. The Lady In The Water and moreso The Happening indicate that he has lost any sense of what works on the screen. There are scenes in The Happening that you can tell he was going for tension and suspense, and what was delivered was comedy. At least in Signs and The Village he was able to coax really fine performances from his actors. It seems he can't even do that anymore. And Asimov, to compare M Night to Hitchcock, even in the mildest of comparisons, is like whipping out your dick and pissing on the legend's grave.
July 1, 2010, 12:54 p.m. CST
by RETURN_of_FETT
Has forgotten how to make good movies? It's just total contrived shit and the only thing of remotely any worth is the special effects which were all storyboarded and rendered by SFX people? SHOCKER!
July 1, 2010, 12:54 p.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
Marnie, Torn Curtain, and Topaz are fairly weak, but I think he was starting to get his directoral mojo back with Frenzy and Family Plot. If only he would've been able to make the Short Night.
July 1, 2010, 12:56 p.m. CST
by skimn
The fact that this isolated community existed in the present day was not a twist? Really?
July 1, 2010, 12:58 p.m. CST
by Samuel Fulmer
Were the ones that didn't really have twists. The Village definitly had a twist.
July 1, 2010, 1:16 p.m. CST
by Rob0729
I am not going to argue this anymore, but I will address the Michael Bay thing. He is giving one movie after another because he makes the studio money. Hollywood produced what 30 Police Academy movies for the same reason. Do that make the Police Academy franchise a better franchise than say the Godfather franchise that only had 3 movies?

 No one thinks Michael Bay is a great director (I doubt even his mother does). They do feel he knows how to make a big budget summer blockbuster that will gross hundreds of millions of dollars. Don't confuse Hollywood enamore of how Bay can open a film with them thinking he is a great director. The only talent they care about with Bay is how many hundreds of millions he can get his films gross. Do you think anyone is offering him any movie of substance to direct.

 You are confusing the business side of Hollywood with the craft of fimmaking. When it comes to big budget summer blockbusters, the studios don't care how good a movie it is. They care about two things: How much money it can make and sequel potential. If they can get a good movie to go with it, it is a bonus but not a requirement.
July 1, 2010, 1:20 p.m. CST
by Rob0729
Shaymalan will get more future projects if this movie is as shitty as people say and make $500 million than if it was a masterpiece and only makes $100 million. If this movie ends up being highest grossing movie of the year, the studio will consider it a masterpiece no matter how crappy it is.

 That is how Bay keeps on getting jobs. If M. Night wants to follow suit and make big, dumb, souless summer blockbusters that make hundreds of millions of dollars, he will work forever.
July 1, 2010, 1:33 p.m. CST
by ObiBen
just by watching the trailer.
July 1, 2010, 1:34 p.m. CST
by sam jacksons wig
on this talk back that you would think we were having the worlds biggest game of pontoon!!!!
July 1, 2010, 2:11 p.m. CST
by rogueleader66
Again, my friend I must play devil's advocate.....
You have stated that if people are going to slam TLA as a bad movie then they should also slam Trek as a bad movie. Again, we are back to the fact that you think it is a bad movie, that doesn't mean others do, it doesn't mean that because you do that others should as well. It doesn't mean that because you hate it and think it sucks that people who do like it are retards for doing so.
In another talkback recently you took issue with someone presenting their opinion as fact, alas my friend that's what you are doing here by that statement. To you it's a bad movie and should be placed next to TLA and slammed equally, that's your opinion and you are of course entitled to that, but to others, not so.
Let me ask you this, seeing as you think people who liked Trek are all retards.....do you think I am a retard because I liked Trek?
As you know, I never try to start trouble, I just try to understand you better because sometimes I just don't...LOL
July 1, 2010, 2:31 p.m. CST
by DavidDunn
I read one of his scripts called "labor of love" and it was a really cool, fulfilling story. He should make the love story, low budget, forget about everything, point and shoot. Then he might have a chance at redemption. I know he has it in him, but it will take a while for audiences to forgive him now. It does always seem like his movies are debated over and scrutinized more than anyone else working today in the mainstream. Maybe people just want him to fail or maybe they want him to succeed and keep getting let down... i dont know. I would like to see him comeback cause I loved unbreakable. This really disappoints me though. Guess I'll go have to pay 8 bucks and see for myself.
July 1, 2010, 2:34 p.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
People in Hollywood framed Shamalamadingdong and gave him this project, knowing full well that he was incapable of handling this subject matter and that the final product would sink his career. More news at Infowars.com
July 1, 2010, 2:55 p.m. CST
by ebonic_plague
"...about America's blind acceptance of that shitty movie and the assclown who wrote and directed it, the better."
 Asi, I really, really wish you'd take your own advice on that subject. Actual rape victims don't cry as much about their trauma as you do about Abrams.
July 1, 2010, 3:03 p.m. CST
by AsimovLives
I didn't compared the two. What i wrote, and you can verify, is to point out that even veery good directros, like Hitchcock hismelf, had dry spells in their carrers. It happens even to the great. Kubrick probably saved himself that because between 1987 and 1999 when he died he only made one more movie. Even great filmmakers have dry spells. You will deny that? Who's to say this is not the same for AShyamalan? Because i believe that's the case with him. So, due to what he did before, and brillantly so, i'm not one of those premature ejeculatros who are clakming he has stoped having talent and becamed totally terrible and died out. For me, and due to what great stuff he did before and the amazing skills he showed as a filmmaker, the guys still gets a full decade of good will to bounce back. I'm very pacient and very hopeful for the good filmmakers and not the Mickey Bayshits and Jar Jar Abramass of this world, if you get my meaning.
July 1, 2010, 3:08 p.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Admitedly, Frenzy is a very good movie. Family Plot, alas, not so much.
July 1, 2010, 3:10 p.m. CST
by AsimovLives
"No one thinks Michael Bay is a great director"

Tell that to the Gays For Bay.
July 1, 2010, 3:10 p.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
July 1, 2010, 3:11 p.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Don't play the devil's advogate, the fucker will not pay the fees.
July 1, 2010, 3:11 p.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
July 1, 2010, 3:14 p.m. CST
by AsimovLives
I cry everytime i see a mindless fuck fucking up cinema, something i love, and brings with him millions deluded by some stupid shiny trincket trick and snake oil salesman bullshit. And you, my good friend, do you love cinema too? Doesn't that shit make you cry as well?
July 1, 2010, 3:17 p.m. CST
by AsimovLives
What you said sounds about right. Shyamalan should try a different path for a while, do his own THE WRESTLER, and see if he can pull up another good movie in a different style and way. could revitalize his career and recharge his batteries. But in the end, it's all up to him. Will he keep on fullfilling the promise he showed before, or will he fall into continuous repetition? Time will tell.
July 1, 2010, 3:21 p.m. CST
by RPLocke
Honestly, that movie sucked so bad.
July 1, 2010, 3:22 p.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
July 1, 2010, 3:22 p.m. CST
by Iowa Snot Client
There was a 15-minute "special" about the movie on Nick last night, and M. said he changed the pronunciations of the names to make them "sound Asian," and because "I'm Asian." Umm... you take it from there.
July 1, 2010, 3:24 p.m. CST
by Stabby
M Night's next job.
July 1, 2010, 3:28 p.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
July 1, 2010, 3:30 p.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
July 1, 2010, 3:31 p.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
July 1, 2010, 3:34 p.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
July 1, 2010, 3:37 p.m. CST
by Jayemel
July 1, 2010, 3:38 p.m. CST
by optimus122
Talk about being universally trashed..man this guy's career is over.
July 1, 2010, 3:38 p.m. CST
by Derrida77
Seriously the later half of the man's career is nothing but bad spells.
July 1, 2010, 3:39 p.m. CST
by ebonic_plague
To paraphrase the Governator, I do know why you cry, but it's something I can only do for so long before I have to man up and get the hell over it. Not that I want to dredge up another old debate, but I probably despise Snyder's Watchmen more than you hate Jar Jar's Fraud Trek, for ineptly mangling (through attempts at "improving" and "stylizing") what could have been a great movie adaptation of what is considered the best superhero comic of modern times, and when it came out, I was here in the trenches, making my case as passionately (and reasonably, I hoped) as I could for why it was such a monumentally mundane failure. But that was over a year ago, and even though my feelings have not changed (in fact have only cemented upon subsequent viewings), I don't bring it up EVERY SINGLE DAY in my postings to AICN. I've come to terms with the fact that lots of people (including people whose opinions I generally respect) liked this movie that I know for a fact is an abysmal failure in comparison to the greatness of the source material. Such is life, but crying daily over milk that spilled years earlier and is now just a smelly stain on the carpet is unseemly. As your TB friend, I just wish I could hear more of your (usually very insightful) thoughts on what you LIKE in movies, rather than having to skip past your almost comically repetetive harping on the things you hate about them. Just something to think about, dude.
 That said, when the next Fraud Trek comes out, I full expect to see you here, guns blazing with righteous anger, and you'll hear no argument from me... only cheers. Just don't wear it out in the meantime.
July 1, 2010, 3:41 p.m. CST
by dacanesta
thats it. He deserves more praise. Bye!
July 1, 2010, 4:29 p.m. CST
by auddym
I don't get the extremely negative reactions this film is getting. I have seen The Spirit, The Chun Li Story, and even the god-awful Dragon Ball Z Evolution. I don't get how anyone who has seen BAD
July 1, 2010, 4:48 p.m. CST
by auddym
I don't get the extremely negative reactions this film is getting. I have seen The Spirit, The Chun Li Story, and even the god-awful Dragon Ball Z Evolution (This last one made me a satanist). I don't get how anyone who has seen BAD movies, can get so riled up over a mediocre children's film. As far as Anglicization or rather Americanizaion of Buddhist mythology, I'm more offended with something like Keanu Reeves in Little Buddha than this, because this is based on a children's cartoon and is meant to be devoured by children not intellectualized and dissected by adult critics. The "story" like in Dragon Ball Z is just a set up to get them shooting fireballs and beating the crap out of each other, kids, specially boys, will eat that shit up.
July 1, 2010, 4:49 p.m. CST
by Tim Tringle
Almost Everything, and I do mean Everything about the source material is so pitch perfect I really feel so let down that the acting is not up to the great voice acting that is in the series. I mean even the sometimes overly silly animation during the comedy pieces really grew on me. By the time the series was over I was so sad to see it go. And the Ending, My GOD the ending is SO damned epic it's not even funny. I really loved the trailers, in fact it was the look of the trailers that inspired me to see what all the fuss was about and watch the show on Netflix. From the first episodes I was totally hooked and by the time the show was over I was really hoping that M Night was gonna do this justice. But no reviews prior to today means one thing, they know that they have a turd on their hands and they just want their opening days to be good enough to hopefully account for the huge budget they spent on this. I really wanted this to be good, but a movie with %6 percent on Rotten Tomatoes is not getting my money at the theater.
July 1, 2010, 5 p.m. CST
by RPLocke
July 1, 2010, 5:06 p.m. CST
by MonkeyManReturns
You are a cunt dipped in fucking pig shit. A racist mother fucker who deserves my boot up his loose anus because you represent all that is hated in the world. You call me ignorant when you have no idea what the man's real ethnicity is??? Were you born stupid or did the doctor stamp on your head after he slapped you mama for spitting out such a dumbfuck?? If someone is from Texas, they are called Texans. If I refer to them as Bostonians, they would think me stupid. Kind of how the entire world views you, you piece of dog turd covered in pig wank! If you can't get simple facts right, you have no right opening your mouth let alone being allowed near a key board. In the old days, people would fuck you with spears for being so dumb. Idiot.
July 1, 2010, 5:09 p.m. CST
by MonkeyManReturns
If you refer to ethnicity in an insult - guess what - YOU ARE BEING RACIST! If I see a spike lee movie and then say, "stop making movies Nigger" - that's not me being clever, or funny, or whatever thing you think you are...it makes me racist...kind of what you are, you stupid, stupid man.
July 1, 2010, 5:10 p.m. CST
by TheWaqman
because this guy makes the same fucking retarded, nonsensical statements all the time. I liked the cartoon, but how does this review of a piece of shit give "Scott Pilgrim a free Pass"? From what I've heard that film is quality through and through. Michael Cera may be an annoying prick, but Edgar Wright's still a genius, something Shymamamamalan lost a long time ago.
July 1, 2010, 5:12 p.m. CST
by TheWaqman
I don't think any film has a chance being close to as good this summer. Not even Expendables. The only thing keeping my hype a bit deflated is having to see puffer-face Leo in the film.
July 1, 2010, 5:31 p.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
nuff said
July 1, 2010, 5:32 p.m. CST
by lewarcher1949
and could tell it was going to suck. I know nothing about the original anime (not a fan of the style) but I can't think of a recent trailer that packed more cliches in a two minute running time.
July 1, 2010, 6:06 p.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
a funeral
July 1, 2010, 6:12 p.m. CST
by DigitalBeachWar
M. Knight Shalamanbuttfuck is a one hit wonder film director. Seriously, his movies are a load of fist fuck. His movies are made for idiot 10-year-olds.
July 1, 2010, 6:25 p.m. CST
by Ironhelix
He just got back from the show, and liked it just fine. I think that the target audience will go to see this no matter what the critics say. It is a shame that it's (apparently) not better than it is, but I am not sure that it matters for this movie.
July 1, 2010, 6:31 p.m. CST
by DigitalBeachWar
That's a lame excuse to make a movie poorly. All the Pixar movies are essentially kids movies but are highly enjoyable for all ages. Hell you can watch The Princess Bride and it's a great film. The problem with the movie is the shitty director. Once M. Knight's name was attached to the project I knew it would be a failure.
July 1, 2010, 6:42 p.m. CST
by slickerynodes
They called me Mr.Glass! but those were fun.
July 1, 2010, 6:57 p.m. CST
by RPLocke
You have always been a giant douche on this site.
July 1, 2010, 7:10 p.m. CST
by Disco_sucks
Face it, he's made three of the biggest critical disasters of the last decade, in a row. He clearly has no idea how to write remotely plausible dialogue, direct actors or come up with a script that makes sense. I honestly can't believe people are still making excuses on his behalf when his initial films were never that good in the first place.
And Hitchcock? He'd been at the top of his game for around 25 years and made some of the greatest commercial films Hollywood had ever seen by the time his work started going south. There really is no comparison.
July 1, 2010, 7:32 p.m. CST
by Todaysfate
I keep seeing the trailers for Inception and I dont hear a peep from anyone else in the room. The film looks to complicated for most people to understand. And the name dropping of "The Director or The Dark Knight" ... completely uncalled for. This movie is nothing like the Dark Knight, and anyone expecting something like the dark knight will probably be disapointed. As if the DK was really that good to begin with.
July 1, 2010, 7:58 p.m. CST
by RPLocke
AKA, it stinks.
July 1, 2010, 8:15 p.m. CST
by TheWaqman
it's the same moron. How did you like the Chronicles of Narnia: Adventures of Dharma initiative's ending by the way?
July 1, 2010, 8:20 p.m. CST
by NivekJ
'Nuff said. Expository dialog sucks. This movie was like fast-forwarding through greatness in slow-motion. What the hell is going on with these movies?!
July 1, 2010, 9:05 p.m. CST
by CAPTAIN_AMERICAS_COCK_SHAPED_HELMET
this week we are watching a bootleg stream of the Last Airbender. I just looked and it's not out yet, *sadface*
July 1, 2010, 10:12 p.m. CST
by tormys
Why do people do reviews of movies without getting background information. I quit reading your review because if you're too fucking lazy to find out that the movie was based on you're not worth listening too.
July 1, 2010, 10:31 p.m. CST
by RoarsLoudly
He is the worst!
July 1, 2010, 10:43 p.m. CST
by RPLocke
I don't know. How did you like Grindhouse II?
July 1, 2010, 11:58 p.m. CST
by DioxholsterReturns
shamaladingdong is truly a hack, he got so many chances to come up with a half-decent film and he failed. no retard on earth can fail so many times unless youre Uwe Boll who is not really trying. with my zero filmmaking experence; if i made more than 5 films, probability dictates that at least one of them will be watchable. shamalawhatever doesnt deserve this career.
July 2, 2010, 12:08 a.m. CST
by Miyamoto_Musashi
big reality check for him after Slumdog Millionaire. Going from a much loved movie, to being in something that hasn't even cracked 10% on RT.

July 2, 2010, 12:10 a.m. CST
by DioxholsterReturns
"I close with the hope that the title proves prophetic."
July 2, 2010, 12:11 a.m. CST
by Miyamoto_Musashi
For those in the movie industry, is it watching the dailies, is it seeing the vibe on the set, or is not to the finished product that you know you have made such utter crap. ?
 Am guessing at some point the studio guys are saying, this is appalingly bad, lets try and promote the hell out of it to reduce the damage.
July 2, 2010, 1 a.m. CST
by RPLocke
Christ, he even went on a stupid videogame rant. He slams Republicans, but he's more Republican than anyone.
July 2, 2010, 2:18 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Thanks for the advise, mate, appreciate your concernt, and you said good, wise things. Good job, friend.

As for Zack The HJack Snider, beleive me, brother, you are not alone in despising that movie. 2009 was not a realyl god year,w as it? Thank goodness that DISTRICT 9 and MOON (and to a lesser degree AVATAR) were also made that year, or that year would had put the epic in epic fail.
July 2, 2010, 2:23 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
Frankly, i didn't liked HOT FUZZ all that much. Edgar Wright is 2/3 for me (i liked SHAUN OF THE DEAD and SPACED is aces!).
July 2, 2010, 2:25 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
A one hit wonder that made, at the very elast, 3 pretty good movies, two of them excelent? That's 3 good movies more then most people's carrers. That's 1000 times more then Mickey Bay's carrer, and yet geeks liek you still forgive Bay and give him breaks and whatnot. And you piss on a really talented director because he had a bad run? Small wonder shit movies keep getting made.
July 2, 2010, 2:31 a.m. CST
by AsimovLives
There's a sort of embargo on the revealed material about the movie. Evne the critics who watched the movie in a preview have confidential agreements not to divulge anything about it. The onlycoments they were allowed to post, they are just generic coments, but all of them very positive, praising both the action and the story, some claiming the movie to be too complex for general audiences, other claiming it's a smart new presentation of themes previously presented in such movies as The Matrix and other more cerebral SF movies of the 70s. Many also say there's a very strong Blade Runner vibe to the movie. It doesn't look liek blade Runner but one can't help but thinking about that movie when watching INCEPTION, so they say.

Frankly, i can't wait.
July 2, 2010, 2:34 a.m. CST
by RPLocke
Didn't Blade Runner bomb ass in the theater?
July 2, 2010, 8:03 a.m. CST
by Detso_Ritter
There has never been a single talkbacker who has ever called Bay a "great director".
July 2, 2010, 8:08 a.m. CST
by Detso_Ritter
According to Wikipedia:
 "People with Asperger syndrome often display behavior, interests, and activities that are restricted and repetitive and are sometimes abnormally intense or focused. They may stick to inflexible routines, move in stereotyped and repetitive ways, or preoccupy themselves with parts of objects."
 "Abnormalities include verbosity, abrupt transitions, literal interpretations and miscomprehension of nuance, use of metaphor meaningful only to the speaker, auditory perception deficits, unusually pedantic, formal or idiosyncratic speech, and oddities in loudness, pitch, intonation, prosody, and rhythm."
 "Speech may convey a sense of incoherence; the conversational style often includes monologues about topics that bore the listener, fails to provide context for comments, or fails to suppress internal thoughts. Individuals with AS may fail to monitor whether the listener is interested or engaged in the conversation. The speaker's conclusion or point may never be made, and attempts by the listener to elaborate on the speech's content or logic, or to shift to related topics, are often unsuccessful."
 See also: AsimovLives
July 2, 2010, 8:11 a.m. CST
by xphyle
i have not seen this movie yet...but there seems to be this unanimous undercurrent to lamblast m. night for every single thing he says or does.I am sure the movie isnt as bad as everyone seems to make it out to be again the unnecessary vitriol against m.night is bordering on uwe boll levels...everyone attacks m night but not the movie......noone attacks the director of jonah hex they attack the movie. nooone attacks the director of DBZ or Tekken they just attack the movies....but with M. Night its different. I have my theories but this is not the forum for me to present them. I have not read a single review from someone who has watched the cartoon. if you had you would most certainly know why the fire tribe was attacking. since this is realized as a trilogy presumably the answer would be forthcoming in a future film. currently buried at 7% on RT ,though a second film seems unlkely. My kids and I watched it while going through our divorce...I would save it the episodes on my DVR and we woould watch them when ever I got my visits. It was a great cartoon and we were all giddy with anticipation with the prospects of a live action realization. but even my 8 year old wondered 3 things, 1. How were they going to squeeze over thirty hours of cartoons into a movie? 2. why did they cast white people into roles that were clearly non white? and 3. if they mess it up will someone make another? Again I dont believe the movie is as bad as people are claiming it to be but i will be honest my expectations have been substantially lowered.
July 2, 2010, 8:53 a.m. CST
by Potatino
stop the presses. I did not expect this. Oh wait I did. Pass.
July 2, 2010, 10:11 a.m. CST
by skimn
is quite a dry spell. And its not just that the movies were below the standard M Night set by his earlier films (admittedly The Sixth Sense would by a jewel on any directors resume), its that they were/are bad by any standard. As though M Night has no idea, or has forgotten how audiences view his work onscreen.
I too, hope he finds his way. Filmmakers with any artistic talent are too few and far between nowadays.
July 2, 2010, 10:56 a.m. CST
by paladinryan
Thankfully, our messiah, Leonardo DiCaprio, is about to be incepted into the world by the Director, Christopher Nolan, with the blessing of Martin Scorcese. And you will see Leonardo standing at the right hand of Nolan come Oscar time, with the power and the glory, Amen.
July 2, 2010, 11:49 a.m. CST
by paulyd30
Sorry but not knowing the sorce material makes you sound like a toal Ass Jack backwards complaining about the story line.
Anybody who doesn't think these characters are Asian really have know no clue. http://avatar-the-last-airbender.sequd.com/even-avatar-the-last-airbender-animatic-director-decries-movie-casting
July 2, 2010, 12:45 p.m. CST
by AsimovLives
THank goodness you are not a doctor, all your pacients would die from disdiagnosis. People would come to you with a gunshot wound and you would treat them for headache. Thank goodness you are just a douchbag talkbacker instead.
July 2, 2010, 12:46 p.m. CST
by AsimovLives
July 2, 2010, 12:52 p.m. CST
by CDUB37
seriously next time this goof walks in with a movie idea people should ignore him or ask him where his appointed caregiver is. the 3d was clearly a cash grab because they knew it was going to bomb. There was a point in this movie where I though I had a seizure and blacked out. but it was actually just a combination of poor editing and directing.
July 2, 2010, 1 p.m. CST
by jaseinatl
I was enticed to read your review by your clever headline, but quickly found myself mired in a smattering of poorly referenced toilet humor. As I strained to get through the bulk of your review, I kept searching for some small kernel of value that wasn't completely soiled by your poor word choice, bad grammar, and general disregard for the English language. As the content of your review piled up, so did the faults resulting in what could only be described as offensive. Your writing style, if you can call it "style", is so forced that your entire review stinks. It wasn't until I finished your review that I realized what a waste your review actually was. If you want to shit all over your readers and if your readers are willing to take it, could you at least be a little less corny?
July 2, 2010, 2:29 p.m. CST
by moonlightdrive
July 2, 2010, 4:41 p.m. CST
by 3radley
...I really was hoping it would have worked out with this film. It's concepts had a lot of potential. That said, obviously it had a lot of potential to f-up as well. You have to break an egg to make an omelet, that's how movies get better. But how many eggs are they going to break like this before they give us breakfast.
July 4, 2010, 2:03 p.m. CST
by MyScreenplayWasRejected
I refused to see this in 3D because I knew they tacked it on in post-production. Every movie that has done this has had TERRIBLE 3D. AVATAR, How To Train Your Dragon -- all excellent 3D films! Clash of the Titans? Fucking horrible 3D. Just don't do it, folks. Know the product you are buying. If you're like me and enjoy 3D, then only patronize those 3D productions that do it the right way, instead of half-assing it in a mindless cash-grab (CotT, Airbender).
July 30, 2010, 6:53 a.m. CST
by pms2435
jaseinatl's review! Capone, you're a moron! The least you could do is proofread what you write. And anyone who needs to use that much profanity to review a movie, usually doesn't have much to say. Good luck finding a real job.