Jun 23 2009 'Last Airbender' Teaser: There Must Be More Impressive Applications for Airbending
Welp, the teaser trailer for Last Airbender, M. Night Shyamalan's live-action NickToon adaptation has been released, and my feelings are a bit mixed. On the one hand, I'm relieved Shyamalan appears to have avoided the camp and silliness that plagued fellow martial arts cartoon-turned-movie Dragonball. Or, in other words, at least it looks like an actual movie.
But on the other hand, I feel when there's a lead character with the power to manipulate the wind (or bend air, if you will), there has to be a cooler way to show that off than just showing him extinguishing candles. Putting out candles is the most rudimentary thing you can do with air manipulation. That's a skill only threatening to birthday cakes and romantic evenings in a bathtub with only the company of a romance novel. This is it?:
May 28 2009 New 'The Last Airbender' Photo: Nice Coat, Slumdog
Thanks to Flex at MovieGod for passing along this new photo of Dev Patel in The Last Airbender. Strange how quickly a promising young actor can go from being in the Best Picture of the Year to playing some kind of samurai street pimp of the Himalayas in an M. Night Shyamalan film based on a NickToon.
May 22 2009 'The Last Airbender' Photos: It's the Kid with the Arrow on his Head
USA Today has posted some shots from The Last Airbender, M. Night Shyamalan's adaptation of that Nickelodeon cartoon that looked like a fake anime starring a bald kid. Above is the first look at unknown Noah Ringer as Aang, the aforementioned bald kid.
Now I'm no Avatard (Trishna87, who sent this in, claimed that's a term), but I'd say this kid at least does a pretty good job capturing the look of "bald kid in a fairly expensive, store-bought Avatar: The Last Airbender Halloween costume." In terms of accuracy, that's marginally more successful than Dragonball!
Below the cut, Slumdog Millionaire as Prince Zuko, who is apparently another character in this world.
Continue Reading " 'The Last Airbender' Photos: It's the Kid with the Arrow on his Head "
Jun 12 2008 Shyamalan: "'The Happening' is Totally Meant to be Kind of Bad. Did I Not Mention That?'
In the wake of early, largely-disparaging reviews for The Happening, director M. Night Shyamalan has added a last-minute twist to his latest film: it turns out it's not, like, a serious film or anything. Just a fun B-movie, y'know? So lighten up. From Reuters:
"I wanted it to be a fantastic, fun B-movie," Shyamalan told Reuters in a recent interview about the eighth film he has written and directed. "The No. 1 thing is I want people to say: 'That was a really fun B-movie.'"
Clever, M. Night, sheltering yet another disappointing film under the tissue-thin canopy of this "fun B-movie" umbrella. If this works, you should retroactively claim that the one thing you wanted people to say about Lady in the Water is: "That was a really vapid, self-indulgent mess." Or that the main intention of The Village was to leave people saying: "F*** me--they're in modern times? Seriously? That's it? Let's go home and be drunk." Then title your next movie: Further Evidence I'm Coasting Off a Couple Early Hits. Critics will have to call that a success, right?
May 21 2008 Theories I've Formed About 'The Happening' Based Entirely on This Poster
- The "happening" is when a novice graphic designer happens upon a fun new Photoshop filter that makes stuff look "all wavy and shit."
- We're traveling through a time warp to the year 2000, back to when news of an M. Night Shyamalan film caused more than a shrug.
- Someone from the graphics department said, "Maybe we should distort this or something to distract from the terrible job we did making the papers on the ground look real."
- The Happening doubles as an edgy new Eastpak ad campaign.
- This is the twist ending: the film being literally, digitally twisted.
Twisted New Poster for Shyamalan's The Happening [First Showing]
May 16 2008 'The Happening' R-Rated Trailer, Plus: A Scathing Review!
Collider has an early review of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, and from the sounds of it, it's come time we stop taking this guy's calls. Here's a sampling:
"The Happening" is a terrible, terrible movie. I mean, it's bad on an epic scale. It's so bad that I can't possibly tell you how bad it is without understating the point or making it sound like I'm picking on the film. But let me stress: this is not pent-up Shyamalan aggression or a desire to see him fail. This is bad in a jaw-dropping "they can't really be serious, can they?" kind of way.If you're dreading the Shyamalan trademark twist-ending, you can breathe a sigh of relief. There's no twist whatsoever. But there's also no ending. I won't ruin it any further by talking about what's not there, but prepare to feel very, very cheated and figure out in advance what consultation you can offer when the person next you confusedly asks, "Is that it?"
With Shyamalan's catalog getting increasingly disappointing with each new addition, it's getting even harder to defend him than it is to defend my everlasting love of Smashing Pumpkins. With both, it's just a lot of, "No, no, no, I know, I know. Yes, their last few were sort of questionable--ignore those. Shut up about Machina/Lady in the Water, OK? Just listen to/watch Mellon Collie/The Sixth Sense. Then you'll get it. What do you mean it doesn't seem all that great? Shut up. I guarantee if you were a teenager when you were exposed to this, you'd be loving it. Shut up. Just shut up."
Oh, and there's a new R-rated trailer under the cut. It proves strangely ineffective after reading that the film is "bad on an epic scale."
Continue Reading " 'The Happening' R-Rated Trailer, Plus: A Scathing Review! "
Feb 15 2008 'The Happening' Trailer Has Disappointing Twist Ending
Another trailer to M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening--this one showing off more of the build-up to the inevitable twist ending. Like the malaise of daily life unavoidably leading to empty tears, the film's payoff apparently has equally unfulfilling results: Kyle, who sent the link, has read the script, and assures us that the reason for the unexplained suicides is "f***ing retarded." I never would have guessed.
'The Happening' Trailer [Cineplex]
Feb 4 2008 'The Happening' Teaser Trailer Finds Self-Awareness
I'll assume that, as he was writing The Happening, M. Night Shyamalan must have realized that making a film about people inexplicably committing suicide would lead to critics citing watching Lady in the Water as the likely cause. So thank you, M. Night, for finally reaching the point of self-awareness that you're willing to make it easy for us asshole bloggers. And thanks to Kyle for the tip.
Continue Reading " 'The Happening' Teaser Trailer Finds Self-Awareness "
Dec 7 2007 'The Happening' Poster Has an Expected Twist Ending
"We've Sensed It. We've Seen the Signs." Get it? It's like his old movies! Except they forgot a few. To correct the issue, mentally add the below text to the poster.
"We've Watched It Unable To Be Broken, But Likely Forgot About That.
We've Stayed In The Village, Then Walked Out Angry.
We Didn't Even Bother With Lady In The Water. Seriously, These Cars Have More People In the Seats Than That Shit Did. Hey-Ohhhh!
And How About That American Express Commercial? That Sure Isn't Winning Any Oscars. Unless They Make One For 'Most Self-Indulgent Douche.' Am I Right, People?"
The Happening Poster [Coming Soon]
Sep 12 2007 Shyamalan Talks Avatar, Likes 'Eastern Stuff'
MTV Movies Blog has a new interview with M. Night Shyamalan, where he discusses his reasons for his newest project, adapting the Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender into a feature film. His selective criteria included: "cool fighting scenes and everything," "the supernatural with all the elements," and "Eastern stuff." Keep an eye out for the follow-up interview where he admits, "Also, I figured out a way to tack on a really inane twist ending and some other bullshit that will make a lot of people wonder how I've ever made a successful picture."
Jul 18 2007 Leguizamo Joins The Happening
Variety reports that John Leguizamo has joined the cast of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening. The film stars Mark Wahlberg as a man escaping natural disaster with his family, with Leguizamo taking the role of his best friend. Now it's time to play the popular game, What's going to be up with John Leguizamo in The Happening?
1. He's some kind of god that is causing the very disaster they're fleeing.
2. He has some hidden power that can stop the disaster at the last minute.
3. He's a ghost.
4. He's an alien.
5. He's something far more obnoxiously convoluted.
6. He's something strange that will be obvious to you in the first five minutes, which you'll later brag to your friends about as a testament to both Shyamalan's poor direction and your own impressive deduction skills.
7. He's the pest.
8. He's obviously not seen Lady in the Water and has made a horrible career move.
Feel free to suggest your own.
