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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

The Last Airbender

Z

Zach Zoller

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What did you guys think?

The digital-post-3D was poor, poor, poor.
Owl Guardian movie trailer in 3D was the best part.

and personally, I've lost faith in M. Night.
 
Zach Zoller said:
and personally, I've lost faith in M. Night.
Click to expand...

Wait, The Village, The Lady in the Water, and The Happening weren't enough for that?

The reviews on this one have been particularly brutal, though. Also kind of fun to read.

Roger Ebert

A. O. Scott, NY Times

In particular, this passage from Scott:

'...the idea that this is just the first “Last Airbender” seems either delusionally optimistic or downright cruel. An astute industry analyst of my acquaintance, who is 9 and an admirer of the Nickelodeon animated series on which the movie is based, offered a two-word diagnosis of its commercial prospects on the way out of the theater: “They’re screwed.”'

As an aside, I have no clue as to what this Owl Guardian thing is, but I saw the trailer before Toy Story 3, and the it looked AMAZING in 3D. Not the story or the content, mind you (Pitch Meeting: It's like Lord of the Rings, but with Owls!), but the images themselves. Incredibly impressive animation. Almost made me want to see the movie.
 
it got completely flailed by critic reviews. i was willing to look past all the casting issues and look past it. But reading that the fundamental core of filmmaking was lacking turned me off completely. Not just the 3d looking like muck, not just the action being more a series of poses rather than actual fighting, but the fact that the story just blew and it was a lot of exposition and boring dialogue explaining everything from moment to moment.

on my list of EPIC FAIL.
 
I liked Unbreakable, but that was about the last one I did!

He's seriously lost his way sadly.
 
Jason Murphy said:
Wait, The Village, The Lady in the Water, and The Happening weren't enough for that?
.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess if I think about it I lost faith after The Village. I didn't see Lady in the Water until after it was out on DVD for a while. And I haven't seen The Happening.. so.. Now I'm asking myself "Why did I expect anything good from Airbender?"
 
Gavin Greenwalt said:
You forgot Unbearable.
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No, I didn't. It's the one M. Night Shyamalan movie I really really like.

Also, Signs would have been one of the greatest alien invasion movies ever if they lopped off the last half hour and ended the movie in the basement in the dark, with Mel Gibson reassuring his family until the audience heard the sounds of the aliens breaking into the basement and killing them all (still in complete darkness). Would be a totally different movie, but a really freaking scary one, as opposed to the freaking stupid one it turned out to be.
 
Jason Murphy said:
Wait, The Village, The Lady in the Water, and The Happening weren't enough for that?
Click to expand...

What the hell happened to this guy..???..it's like he lost all movie instincts
and common sense...looking back it seems like the first two were just
incredible flukes...it's really kinda weird situation.
 
Steve Das said:
What the hell happened to this guy..???..it's like he lost all movie instincts
and common sense...looking back it seems like the first two were just
incredible flukes...it's really kinda weird situation.
Click to expand...

He got incredibly lucky with THE SIXTH SENSE, that's it. Must have had a damn good crew.

RedLetterMedia should review The Last Airbender
 
Go back and watch the "6th Sense" and you can see M. Night's bad writing and filmmaking rearing its ugly head. The movie just blinds everyone because of the twist ending it had. I mean come on, what do you expect from a guy that thinks he's the reincarnation of Alfred Hitchcock.
 
Andrew Walker said:
Go back and watch the "6th Sense" and you can see M. Night's bad writing and filmmaking rearing its ugly head. The movie just blinds everyone because of the twist ending it had. I mean come on, what do you expect from a guy that thinks he's the reincarnation of Alfred Hitchcock.
Click to expand...

I read the screenplay 3 months back. Made me tear up a little bit. The story still holds up.
 
Well, there's a lot of one trick ponys -- but the guy must be an incredible pitch man to keep on like this. I've worked for a few great BS artists and done my best to save their behinds and I'm sure many here have done the same.

It also is one more example that once you are a celebrated marketable commodity, people have a vested interest in proving the commodity has value. And how that aura can color what people see. Think of these films without his name on it -- how would they be seen? Overpriced not very good B-movies, I venture.
 
Night S. had only one good movie, the 6th sense - it must have been a lucky strike as all other movies I saw (all except happening) sucked terribly...he`s still feeding from the 600+ million success of 6th sense, I believe.
 
Andrew Walker said:
Go back and watch the "6th Sense" and you can see M. Night's bad writing and filmmaking rearing its ugly head. The movie just blinds everyone because of the twist ending it had.
Click to expand...

I disagree - I like the writing and general filmmaking in the Sixth sense - the comments below this scene say it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLyYYHqVTsE

I think this scene is terrific in it's own right.

M's conundrum may be that he has become famous as a director who deals in twists. Thus the audience plays the smart-assed self-defeating game of trying to figure it out before the movie reveals. People love nothing more than than proclaiming "I figured it out" - which really translates as "I can read script markers..." rather than any indicator of intelligence (which would be to write, produce and direct a better film).

It becomes a double edged sword for the writer/director - too many clues and the audience twigs - too few and they feel it's a Deus Ex Machina.

Just felt that the thread had evolved into a group "bash" against M. Night.
 
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