Posted on 07/27/2004 6:38:11 AM PDT by jalisco555
I'm with you. I think this article is reaching a lot.
M. Night Shyamalan likes to do a lot of filming in my neighborhood (Bucks County, Pennsylvania) and I took my daughter into our little town a few years ago to watch him and Mel Gibson at work on 'Signs'. She will never forget it.
I don't have any idea why Ailes keeps him on. As much of a wacko leftist as Roger Ebert is, he actually does have some writing talent and occasionally does do a decent job reviewing movies.
Friedman doesn't even have that much going for him. He's just a bomb throwing hack.
You were the kind of kid who searched the house high and low to try to find out what your Christmas presents were gonna be, weren't you? My kiddo is like that, and I've told him his whole life that he's robbing himself of the delight of a surprise. He can't stand the idea of not knowing what he's getting.
Nothing ticks me off worse than for someone to be sloppy about keeping secret what they've gotten me for a birthday, Christmas or anniversary present.
Amen. I've been looking forward to this movie and I have every intention of seeing it, then I'll decide for myself. That stuff about the color red signifying the red states is nonsense, IMO. Shyamalan used the color red extensively in "The Sixth Sense" as a visual cue. The article states that Shyamalan kept the post 911 fear in mind when he made the film, but he doesn't go on to say anything about the movie having to do with a fear of the president.
Like I said, I'll see the movie and decide for myself.
That must have been a thrill! Signs is a movie all the kids at the Catholic school went to see and the fact that all Shyamalan movies are set in Pennsylvania is a point of pride for them.
I loved Signs so much that I went out and Got "Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable". Now I'm a fan.
IMO, that's what makes Shyamalan such a great director. He invites moviegoers to use their imaginations. In "The Sixth Sense," there was virtually no violence--you were shown the effects of violence and your mind was able to play out what was going on behind the scenes. "Signs" was chilling...until the alien scene at the end. Which scene was scarier--when we caught a glimpse of the alien from the birthday party footage or when the alien was in the living room?
*Possible Spoiler*
If the leaked script is any indicator, I don't see it as "anti-Bush" at all.
I can't vouch for the authenticity of this, but don't read on if you absolutely don't want the surprise spoiled.
The gist is that an isolated village is kept isolated by "monsters" in the surrounding woods. Second only to the fear of these monsters is a phobia of cities and towns which is propogated by the village elders.
From what I gather, the creatures are hardly seen until the third act, and the "twist" turns out to be that these are nothing more than the village elders themselves dressed in costumes to keep the villagers in line.
Oh, and it's not really the 1800's, as is discovered by the villager who finally braves the woods in search for medicine to heal her gravely wounded fiance. She apparently ends the film by stepping out of the forest onto a modern highway in 2004.
I suppose one could use the deception of the elders to keep the people subdued as an allegory of any government they disliked. That doesn't make this anti-Bush, or the ephemeral monsters in the woods terrorists or WMD allegories. It's just a movie.
The same cannot be said of Michael Moore's ignorant vitriol.
Cheers!
Seems to me this writer is just seeing what he wants to see...
Frankly while 6th sense was good, and while Signs was well acted and directed... I will pass on this one.. the lame lame lame ending of Signs just killed him for me..
I mean come on WATER? You mean all it was going to take to stop an alien invastion was something that falls from the sky regularly over MOST OF THE EARTH? Sorry... but that just was too lame for me. So I'll pass on the village, but it has nothing to do with this guys belief that it is a political hit piece.
"You know, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."
Amen.
One of us walking around the Demo-convention might walk away in fear saying "I see(brain)dead people."
Besides, maybe the "red" symbolism in M. Night's new movie is for Marxism? His "Signs" was an excellent moral drama packaged in an alien wrapper.
Nah, I have no intention of bothering to see the movie in the theater, so I took 5 seconds to find out what the twist was. Haven't seen any of the previous M. Night films either, except for snippets of 6th Sense.
It never ever ends. Next up, The Manchurian Candidate. You can't tell me that on a subconscious level, this doesn't have a cumulative effect on the national psyche.
If this is an allegory, what is he saying? That we don't REALLY have enemies overseas? I don't understand.
I'm not certain it is allegory. Many have attempted to classify Tolkien's Lord of the Rings as allegory to WWII, when the author stridently claims otherwise.
One could easily claim this is an anti-Bush film, allegorically suggesting the government lies to us to keep us afraid and under control, but I choose to look at the message as being more of a general one: Dare to think for yourself. Take nothing at face value. Question what you are told. Don't let others form your opinion for you. Face rather than fear the unknown.
There'd be a lot more conservatives than liberals if more of us took that message to heart. :)
I was joking, but if this film is Bush bashing we ought to make sure he couldn't drive a cab in this country.
I have only seen 6th Sense and not the others. I want to see Signs. As I understand from my readings about the director, he is a converted Catholic and is weaving his questions/beliefs of religion into his movies. It is good to ask questions. Dean Koontz's latest novel -THE TAKING - is along this theme - a merging of science fiction with religion. It is spooky and makes you think - something good entertainment should do.
You are correct. In 1996, the RED states were those who went for the Dems. Suddenly in 2000, RED was assigned to the Repubs.
"Signs" looked like it was made on a budget of $25,000 in my backyard. I was not impressed.
Even if The Village was anti-Bush I would probably go see it. I will give M. Night. the benefit of doubt. However, movies with acresss like Julia Roberts/Fonda/Moore/Streisand/Baldwins who "Shout instead of Sing" etc I will not.
It's getting to the point I will not be able to see any movies/hear music or a buy a product because some liberal is in it or has ties to it.
If this all-out boycotting keeps up, us conservatives will be living like the Unabomber or Taliban the rest of our lives.
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