Signs is not just about ‘expecting the unexpected’

If an unanticipated climax, suspense and a supernatural concept are the only reasons you think Signs made it big, then think again. There’s more to the movie than just the ‘expect the un-expected’ outlook.

Set in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Signs is about Graham Mess (Mel Gibson), a recently widowed, recently retired preacher, raising his two small children, Bo (Abigail Breslin) and Morgan (Rory Culkin) along with his younger brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix). The signs start right away when crop-circles appear in Hess’s cornfield. Before long, the family realises that this is the work of aliens. How Hess and his family learn to reluctantly face something disagreeable and, in the process, grow closer to one another makes up the rest of the movie.

That Manoj Night Shyamalan’s direction is exceptional goes without saying, but it is the flawless screenplay that is most impressive. Unlike his previous movies Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, in which the audience is dubious about the flow of events, Signs leaves no room for ambiguity. If you’ve seen the movie and differ on this point, go watch the movie again. The script is such that the movie gives enough hints and the ‘obvious’ stares at you all the time; you simply fail to notice it.

Subtle strains of ingenious humor, intertwined with the main story line, come as comic relief, one more reason why you should watch this movie. Much of this humour emerges from the two youngsters’ reaction to the mysterious force at work in the cornfield, as well as from their fear. Young Bo (Abigail Breslin) charms audiences with her presence and naïve manner of speaking.

Two more reasons why Signs is a must-see: music by James Newton Howard and cinematography by Tak Fujimoto. The haunting musical score lends an eerie feeling and progresses at a deathly pace, often adding to the excitement of the movie. Unorthodox camera shots by Fujimoto are spellbinding and successfully contribute to the spooky feeling.

Shyamalan has proved once again that the unseen and the unknown can be far more terrifying than the revealed. Signs might not exactly be the usual ‘edge of the seat’ horror flick, nor will it scare the living daylights out of most. Still, it manages to give the viewer the creeps… not only while there but long after after leaving the movie theater.

This review was originally published in The New Indian Express (Chennai)

When my first book showed promise in various competitions, I became firmly entrenched in my decision to make the switch from writer to author, even if it meant I’d be forever ruined for reading for innocent enjoyment.

Oddly enough, the aspect of this business that most confounded me was genre. I couldn’t decide what niche the book fell into. At one point, I actually yelled at myself for not knowing what I wrote and for not writing a story that fit neatly into a genre. (That was before I learned how wonderful cross-genre stories can be, and how unique my story was because it wasn’t cookie-cutter genre fiction.)

So I followed some advice I read on the internet (always a wise thing to do, right?) and I walked into the bookstore, decided where my book would fit in, and even pushed a space between the books on the shelf to make room for mine. It would be right there with the books I enjoyed as a reader and thusly I narrowed it down to two genres: paranormal romance and urban fantasy.

What’s the difference between the two genres? In the beginning, I had absolutely no idea because the books I enjoyed were found in the same section of the book store. While I gradually learned there are rules for each genre—and like every other rule, there are exceptions, loopholes, and trapdoors—back then, I used a more practical approach: it came down to my choice of footwear that day. If I was wearing leather boots, I called my story urban fantasy.

The term urban fantasy was coined to characterize fantasy stories taking place in modern times (that is, not the country-bumpkined, unurbanized, and undeveloped good ole days before dragons became extinct.) Most I’ve read are city-based. So is my story, but that’s only because I live in a rural location. Instead of dragons, I have corn fields and wild turkeys and a pack of biker frogs that take over my frog pond every March for their egg-laying orgies. How cool is that?

Not very.

I get stuck behind tractors when the dirty jerks won’t pull over. I have near-death experiences with tri-axle coal trucks that lumber like oily mammoths on the charge. I get mad when a neighbor is noisy. Shut up! This is the country! Don’t junk it up with your I-used-to-live-in-town-and-I-can-talk-loud-at-ten-o’clock-at-night-if-I-want-to attitude!

And nobody—I mean nobody—in their right mind will write a story about this place. Considering you can’t pick up a wi-fi signal anywhere, there are no good coffee shops around, and I’ve never seen a single sidewalk in this twenty-three tractor town, there’s really nothing to do.

Then again, there’s no stop lights, either. The only bonus.

I mean, come on. What could happen here? A few years ago at the beginning of my research and subsequent enlightenment, I wrote a sarcastic piece and used this blurb as an example:

Internet-surfing heroine Martha Underfelderkoch discovers a sinister plot while illegally trespassing on coal breaker grounds. While speeding on her ATV through a stripping pit, she notices a strange residue. It’s not coal dirt. It’s much more evil than that.

I promiised myself the day I read a country-based urban fantasy would be the day I accidentally-on-purpose stepped on my reading glasses. We read to escape, and some of us read more than others.

Thank goodness for writerly interventions.

I’d be irresponsible if I didn’t listen to Jade Blackwater, fellow Pennwriter and Philly expatriate, who recently pointed out the existence of popular rural-urban fantasy. Her first example was “Twilight.” Forks is no Manhattan or Chicago or St. Louis. It is (or, she says, at least was before the “literary tourism” kicked in*) a teeny, tiny, twenty-five-mph pass-through-in-a-blink logger town. All that existed prior to Twilight were some old original saw mills, a couple of greasy spoons, and some small rural homes.

Definitely not urban.

Another great example, she added, is M. Night Shyamalan, one of our own Philly hometown heroes, who did his share to keep Southeast PA at the top of the list of apparently creepy places to visit. Remember the film “Signs” and the yucky alien leg in the cornfield that you just had to pause and replay on quarter speed?

That’s right. Corn. Not urban.

Kind of made me feel a little bad, she did, for making fun of rural urbans. And to top it all off, a reader who saw the Martha Underfelder Koch book blurb didn’t realize it had been complete sarcasm and commented: hey! That sounds like a cool story! Has it been published yet?

Maybe it’s time to drop that pesky urban label, however kick-ass-admirable it may be. I don’t want to be the one to coin a new phase. (Jade can—she’s a lot braver than I.) Regardless, urban fantasy doesn’t have to be as urban as it implies. Darn those slippery shelves we call genres.

And, as it turns out, I may not have to settle for a rural-urban label anytime soon. I had pitched my agent with the genre paranormal chick lit—a genre I feel wonderful about because chick lit is one of the loopholey exceptions to the romance rules—and he is confident that it can sell as paranormal romance, after all. To top it off, if it’s any indicator of future success, I recently finaled in the paranormal category of a popular RWA contest. Looks like I’ve got a whole new genre to investigate now.

Sigh. There’s that bittersweet thing again.

*Jade provided some excellent links to info on the Twilight surge of literary tourism. See how a popular book can affect a dying town and give it a taste of immortality (bad puns intended):

Youth Looks Elsewhere — Logging Classes Are Given The Ax — Forks High School Teen-Agers Give Up On Declining Industry
September 3, 1990
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19900903&slug=1091142

Federal Aid To Help Lift Forks Out Of Economic Slump
January 12, 1994
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19940112&slug=1889254

Fans of “Twilight” vampire series pump new blood into Forks
July 27, 2008
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2008075490_twilight270.html

Vampire tourism going strong in Forks
August 7, 2009
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2009618933_webvampiretourism07.html

Maybe I *do* need to write about Schuylkill County, after all. It might do wonders for my property values. =)

…but men may have forgotten how to listen…

Ecco il prologo (unica sequenza animata) di Lady in the water, il film simbolico di M. Night Shyamalan che riflette sul senso della vita e della vocazione personale ispirandosi a una fiaba orientale.

posted by: gcallejo

M. Night Shyamalan volverá a producir una película de miedo, Devil. Esta vez la trama girará en torno al demonio. Personalmente, siempre he pensado que las películas de suspense más aterradoras han de ser las que versan sobre ese tema, porque a fin de cuentas es el más paranormal y, sin embargo, el más real. Así que si Shyamalan se embarca en un proyecto semejante, cabría presuponer un filme, cuanto menos, inquietante.

La obra artística de este director -escasa- es casi intachable. The sixth sense, por ejemplo, escrito y dirigido por él, fue un alarde de buen cine. Mejor dicho, de espléndido cine. El dúo protagonista, interpretado por Bruce Willis y Haley Joel Osment, funciona de modo ejemplar. La inquietante trama transcurre con un ritmo elegante e inteligente, lejos de los cánones al uso, y su contundente desenlace es digno de elogio.

En cualquier caso, en este largometraje sobresale el tema de las relaciones humanas. Y eso es lo más importante en una película de terror: que el espectador padezca con los personajes, que comprenda su tortura a la perfección, que haga suyas sus aflicciones. Gracias a un guión fabuloso y sutil, al que Shyamalan sacó mucho partido, esto se logró con creces. Ojalá lo haga de nuevo.

M. Night Shyamalan

By Paul Young – ScreenRant.com

M. Night Shyamalan’s next story, Devil, a horror-thriller, is being backed by Universal and directed by brothers John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle (Quarantine) with actor Chris Messina (Julie and Julia) attached to star. Brian Nelson (30 Days of Night) wrote the script based on Shyamalan’s story, the details of which are being kept a tightly guarded secret. I’m not really sure why a movie based on a story no one has heard about would be kept secret, unless Universal is concerned that pre-filming buzz would either  be highly critical or ruin one of those “Shyamalan Twists”.

Shyamalan grabbed the world’s attention with The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and even Signs as well as The Village, Lady in the Water and most recently the “environmental” film, The Happening.

Devil starts production in Toronto on October 26th, 2009 and so far it looks like Messina is on his own because no other names have been attached to the project yet.

Amazon Specials!

O ator Aasif Mandvi (Zaoh) comentou sobre a produção do filme em uma entrevista recente a MTV. Ele conta que o diretor M. Night Shyamalan está bem “estressado” com a pós-produção.

Veja mais clicando abaixo.

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“Tenho certeza de que ele está puxando seu cabelo em alguma sala de edição”, brinca Mandvi. “Há bastante luta, efeitos especiais,  CGI e ação”.

Mandvi também comenta sobre os cenários, e a MTV conta que “a Nação da Àgua é um palácio de gelo extravagante, com lustres ornamentados e grandes varandas, tudo polvilhado com uma neve fina e branca. Há uma caverna de gelo de cortar a respiração com uma árvore de flor meticulosamente pintada de cereja. A Nação do Fogo tem enormes encouraçados de aço equipados com armamento pesado. O templo, onde há estátuas detalhadas de heróis antigos, está impressionante. “.

Também, o ator fala sobre seu colega Dev Patel.

“Ele é um faixa-preta”, diz Mandvi. “Esse garoto sabe de artes marciais, e eu tive que pedir ajuda pra ele, afinal, sou um dos mais velhos do elenco.”.

Quer ler a notícia completa? Clique aqui.

Hey, it’s been awhile. After a brief hiatus, due in large part to family and professional obligations, and in small part to the lack of interesting news, we’re back in the saddle again. Time to catch up!

Shaun Toub spoke with Thomas Attila Lewis on the red carpet at the Emmy’s briefly about his experience working on the film. He believes it’s ‘an incredible film’ and ‘visually unbelievable.’ Toub went on to describe how the world is ‘full of mystique’ with a really complex protagonist.

Cliff Curtis (Fire Lord Ozai) spoke on The Last Airbender with CraveOnline.

Cliff Curtis: How was shooting The Last Airbender?

CraveOnline: It was wonderful. It was really great and it’s also great that I’m going to be able to work the two. I’m not giving up film. I’m just doing another job that happens to be on television.

Cliff Curtis: Are you playing a character from the animated series?

CraveOnline: Yes, I am. I’m playing fire lord Ozai.

Cliff Curtis: Did you take anything from the animated form?

CraveOnline: I’ve not watched it. I didn’t want to watch the animated form because I knew the director, M. Night, was going to depart from that.

Cliff Curtis: You must be dealing with a lot of pyrotechnics. How do you deal with that?

CraveOnline: Fire, well, that’s a good spin. Is there anything in particular about fire? Yeah, just don’t touch it. I don’t know, don’t touch it, you’ll get burned. In particular, I’m so in the world of making a movie. They have safety meetings before anything is done and all the safety people gather around, so I’m so protected from the fire, I don’t even get near it.

Cliff Curtis: Do you have a visceral feeling when the explosions go off?

CraveOnline: No, because both of my characters, whether it’s Rabbit or the fire lord, actually are very comfortable in those situations. So I pretty much just ignore it.

Cliff Curtis: Both this show and the Airbender movies, this will be the first time you’ve played the same character more than once. Is that a different approach?

CraveOnline: I’m yet to discover that. I don’t really know. You’re right, I haven’t done that so I’m about to figure out what that’s like. I think the big difference so far that I’ve discovered is that in a film, it’s very contained. So we know before going in to make the film what the film’s going to be, and then when the film is completed, we find out what it is. Whereas television, as far as I’m discovering, it evolves. As the show evolves, everything’s fluid. Characters can disappear tomorrow as you see in the pilot.

Cliff Curtis: What is M. Night like on the set?

CraveOnline: He’s very deliberate and predetermined, extremely. He’s planned everything. Storyboarded to the frame.

Cliff Curtis: So you’ve seen the movie already pretty much?

CraveOnline: No, he doesn’t show those to you unless he’s trying to explain what he wants in a scene, so I only get a portion of that, that’s relevant to what we’re shooting.

Finally, Entertainment Weekly brought us an exclusive look on the set of The Last Airbender, with four new photos of Noah Ringer, Shaun Toub, and Dev Patel. Click the images below to view in high resolution.

Unbreakable comienza con un inquietante prólogo que nos muestra el nacimiento de un niño con brazos y piernas fracturados, este niño es Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) y sufre de osteogenesis imperfecta (enfermedad que provoca que sus huesos sean muy débiles). Entre fractura y fractura, Elijah ha tenido suficiente tiempo como para leer cómics (como si no fuera normal que uno leyera cómics a menos que sufriera de alguna enfermedad incapacitante) y posee una galería de arte dedicada a comercializar dibujos originales de artistas del cómic, además de poseer la inusual teoría que los superhéroes existen y están entre nosotros. La lógica de Elijah le dictamina que si hay alguien tan frágil como él debe existir una persona que sea indestructible. Este sujeto es David Dunn (Bruce Willis), frustrada estrella juvenil del football cuya carrera fue arruinada por un accidente de transito y que se desempeña como guardia de seguridad en el estadio de Filadelfia. Al comienzo de la película David es el único sobreviviente del descarrilamiento de un tren de pasajeros en el que mueren más de cien personas pero del cual él sale sin el menor de los rasguños. Debido a esto, Elijah cree que David es la prueba que demuestra su teoría.

Una nota dejada en su auto interpela a David con la siguiente pregunta: “¿has estado alguna vez enfermo?”, interrogante que David no puede contestar por sí mismo precisamente porque es algo que nunca se ha a cuestionado. A través de la nota David llega al remitente que no es otro sino Elijah, quien (supuestamente) gracias a su acabado conocimiento de la dialéctica heróica de los cómics de superhéroes, impulsa a David a reconocer su verdadera naturaleza y propósito en la vida. Pero David tiene sus propios problemas; está separándose de su esposa Megan (Robin Wright Penn) mientras trata de lidiar con su hijo Jeremy (Spencer Treat Clark) por lo que en un principio se resiste a creer que es una suerte de Superman, hasta que descubre que posee ciertas habilidades especiales que desconocía. Poderes que siempre ha tenido pero de los cuales nunca se había dado cuenta. El hijo de David (Spencer Treat Clark) está maravillado ante la posibilidad de que su padre sea un supertipo como en los cómics mientras que su esposa sólo está interesada en salvar su matrimonio que hace tiempo se fue a pique (en cierta medida es este personaje el que sirve de ancla para el espectador). A medida que David va convenciéndose de las palabras de Elijah descubre que como la mayoría de los superhéroes, él también posee una debilidad fatal y así como Superman es vulnerable a la kyptonita y Linterna Verde al color amarillo, él lo es al agua, o más bien, a ahogarse.

Shyamalan construye la historia con recursos cinematográficos poco comunes como fundidos, congelados, encuadres extremos, lentes de gran angulación, montaje de contrastes, etc., dotando a cada escena del mismo y sutil desasosiego experimentado en Sexto Sentido y prestando especial atención a los colores. El guión de Unbreakable está impregnado del mayor realismo que podría conseguirse (algo que se agradece a la hora de llevar superhéroes del cómic a la pantalla grande). Como señala Ascanio Cavallo, crítico de cine de la revista El Sábado, Shyamalan posee una especial vocación para sugerir en vez de detallar siendo la elipsis, en su caso, a lo menos tres cosas: un componente estructural de su estilo narrativo; un tema por sí mismo; y el pilar de las envolventes atmósferas de perturbación que genera. En cuanto a los actores, Willis, que verdaderamente se luce con personajes apáticos y fuera de lugar como en 12 Monos y Pulp Fiction, está muy bien en este filme mientras que Jackson aporta suficiente carisma y sensación de amenaza mientras que Penn parece genuina como el personaje “con los pies en la tierra” y el niño Clark es bastante creíble y no llega a exasperar como suele ser el caso de los mocosos en el cine.

Varios de los elementos de Sexto Sentido se reiteran en Unbreakable. Ambas películas transcurren en Filadelfia y cuentan con el protagonismo de Bruce Willis. El personaje de Willis en ambos filmes se relaciona con un niño y lo sobrenatural juega un rol preponderante dentro de la estructura narrativa. Unbreakable es lo que en cómics se denomina una historia de “origen” y está enfocada más bien en el impacto que provoca en el individuo su recién descubierta condición que en el mundo que le rodea. Los orígenes de los superhéroes y villanos en las películas por lo general se reducen a unos pocos minutos o simplemente se ignoran por completo presentándolos tal cual por lo que bien puede decirse que Unbreakable trata en dos horas lo que muchas otras películas del género hacen en diez a veinte minutos de metraje donde poco lugar queda para el auto-descubrimiento, la duda, y el desarrollo del personaje ante su nueva condición.

Como Roger Ebert (de la famosa dupla critico-cinéfila Siskel & Ebert) señala en su reseña publicada el 22 de noviembre en el Chicago Sun-Times, Shyamalan en vez de filmar esta historia con la estructura de un cómic tradicional de superhéroes opta por un muy bien observado y doméstico realismo que tiene mucho en común con Stephen King en lo que al tratamiento de lo sobrenatural sin perder la perspectiva humana y los detalles cotidianos se refiere. Ebert agrega: “Qué interesante, por ejemplo, que el personaje de Robin Wright Penn no sea simplemente otra esposa más en un thriller jugando el rol de espectadora, sino una mujer real inmersa en un matrimonio que parece estar desmoronándose. Qué interesante que cuando su esposo se salva de morir en un accidente que mata a todos los demás pasajeros, ella decide que tal vez sea la última oportunidad de salvar su matrimonio. Qué interesante que la relación de David Dunn con su hijo sea tan fuerte, y que el niño aparezca en escenas cruciales como el primer encuentro de David con Elijah.”

A prácticamente ningún crítico le agradó el final de la película y lo tomaron por otra “vuelta de tuerca” à la Sexto Sentido pero más forzada y absurda. Por mi parte lo encontré lógico y coherente con la dialéctica del cómic de superhéroes, además de plantearnos nuevos cuestionamientos. ¿Puede realmente considerarse a Elijah un villano? Sí, es cierto que provocó la muerte de muchas personas buscando a su “superhéroe”, pero de no haber sido por su intervención, ¿habría David Dunn aceptado y reconocido su verdadera naturaleza? ¿No murieron finalmente todas esas personas durante la búsqueda de Elijah por un bien superior? El conocimiento de todas las vidas que se perdieron acentúa aún más el sentido del deber de Dunn que no puede permitir que todas esas muertes hayan sido en vano, esto lo lleva finalmente a cumplir su rol de superhéroe, a proteger a los inocentes y combatir el mal que en cierta forma lo produjo.

La simbiosis entre héroe y villano de Unbreakable me recuerda al Batman de Tim Burton. En el filme de Shyamalan los cómics de superhéroes gatillan las acciones de Elijah que a su vez provocan el surgimiento de un superhéroe real. En la película de Burton, en la confrontación final entre Batman y el Joker, este último le reprocha su existencia diciéndole: “tú me creaste”, a lo que el hombre-murciélago contesta: “pero tú me creaste primero”. Ambos son producto el uno del otro, las dos caras perceptuales de una misma moneda, la serpiente Uroboros mordiéndose la cola.

© 2004, Sergio Alejandro Amira.

Publicado originalmente en Calabozo del Androide #8, febrero 2004.

แม้ลูกถนัดด้านภาพและผังความคิดหลักในการสืบเสาะความหมายแฝงจะต่างกันสุดขั้ว แต่กลับมีขนบการสร้างงานพ้องกันอยู่ในผลงานของเอ็ม ไนท์ ชามาลัน(M. Night Shyamalan)กับไมเคิล มานน์(Michael Mann) ใต้ผ้าพันแผลอาบยาสลบของค.ศ.2000 สังคีตยุทธพลันกัมปนาท ความระทึกพวยพุ่งในความเงียบสงัด วันดีคืนดี วิญญาณมนุษย์ค้างคาวเข้าสิงนกฮูกซึมกระทือใน Unbreakable ส่วนผู้บริหารขี้หงอใน The Insider(ค.ศ.1999)ก็องค์ลง ปวารณาตัวจองเวรกับวงการยาสูบ มีความละม้ายในงานของสองผู้กำกับต่างวัยทั้งในงานขนาดย่อมและงานไว้ลาย

ความพ้องพานในงานของเอ็ม ไนท์ ชามาลันและไมเคิล มานน์จะเป็นที่ประจักษ์ในชั่วความยาวของบทความนี้ ไม่เฉพาะในแง่ใดแง่หนึ่ง หากหมายรวมไปถึงความสอดประสานอันสืบเนื่องลื่นไหล แม้จะมีให้เห็นเพียงนานทีปีหน แม้กระนั้น การเปรียบต่างคนทั้งสองพิกัดต่อพิกัดน่าจะช่วย น่าจะช่วยทุ่นแรงได้มาก ในแง่หนึ่งมานน์เป็นรุ่นลายครามคร่ำหวอดอยู่ในวงการถ่ายทอดเรื่องราวผ่านภาพ ไม่เกี่ยงงาน กำกับได้ทั้งงานเดินตามขนบและตามใจตัวเอง อีกด้านหนึ่งคือรัตติกาลขี้อาย(Night and Shy)ในคราบเด็กพิเรนท์ตาแป๋ว มุ่งมั่นและคึกคะนอง

เหมือนเป็นการบ่มกลั่นจนเกือบนานเกินรอเป็นครั้งที่สอง มานน์กำกับ Heat(ค.ศ.1995)ในวัย 50 ต้น ๆ ตบะหนังแก่กล้าเจนจบ ถึงพร้อมด้วยกลเม็ดทว่าสุขุมในทุกก้าวย่าง ขณะที่หนังผีของราตรีขี้อายก็แสนละเมียดเนิบนาบเสียจนตะคริวจับ

ลูกผีลูกคน(Gray Zone)

งานทั้งสองเรื่องเข้ากันเป็นคอหอยลูกกระเดือกในเรื่องความเคลือบแคลงวังเวง ปราศจากอารมณ์ฟูมฟาย รปภ.กะกลางคืน(บรูซ วิลลิส)เพิ่งประจักษ์ในพลังแห่งเจตจำนงของตนลอกคราบกลับไปกลับมาระหว่างภาพลักษณ์ซีดหมองพอกันระหว่างการเป็นพ่อบ้านเงื่องหงอยเหมือนสีเทากระดำกระด่าง และผู้พิทักษ์สนามกีฬาผู้มาพร้อมกับเงาทะมึน

เจฟฟรีย์(รัสเซล โครว)ผู้บริหารปลายแถวถูกนายจ้างตักเตือน จากนั้นบททดสอบชวนใจหายใจคว่ำก็ประเดประดังเข้ามา เดวิดเป็นผู้รอดชีวิติหนึ่งเดียวจากอุบัติเหตุทางรถไฟ

ลือกันไปทั่วว่าเจฟฟรีย์จะลากไส้บริษัทที่ตนเองเป็นลูกจ้าง รอเพียงคนจุดประกายมาปรากฏตัวเพื่อปลุกจิตวิญญาณวีรบุรุษ และมอบอนุสติ ทั้งนี้คนจุดประกายมักเป็นพวกอยู่ไม่สุขและสีสันจัดจ้าน ไม่ก็ฉลาดเป็นกรด เหมือนเคยกะล่อนหาตัวจับยากมาก่อนแต่เลิกพฤติกรรมนั้นแล้ว

เอไลจาห์(แซมมวล แอล แจ็คสัน)ใน Unbreakable คอการ์ตูนเข้าเส้น ผู้พิสมัยชุดเสื้อคลุมสีช้ำเลือดช้ำหนองยาวกรอมเข่า เขาคนนี้เชื่อว่าเดวิดคิดไม่ตกคือวีรบุรุษ ส่วนใน The Insider นักข่าวโลเวล(อัล ปาชิโน)(กับการวาดลวดลายสวมบทขั้นสุดยอด)ร่ายโวหารชักแม่น้ำทั้งห้าไม่รู้จักเหน็ดเหนื่อยสมราคาความกร่างระหว่างตามตื้อเจฟฟรีย์ให้ดับเครื่องชนกับสารเสพติดในบุหรี่

ก็เห็นอยู่ว่ามนุษย์หาเช้ากินค่ำเหล่านี้ตะหงิด ๆ จะประกาศธาตุแท้อันองอาจให้รู้ดีรู้ชั่ว แต่กระนั้นความอึมครึมลูกผีลูกคนในตัวพวกเขาหาได้สูญสลายไป หนำซ้ำกลับหนักข้อกว่าเดิม เจฟฟรีย์เป็นนักสู้ลมเพลมพัด เขาพร้อมจะผละหนีจากเส้นทางการลุยไถทุกขณะจิต ฉันใดก็ฉันนั้น เดวิดยังคิดไม่ตกอยู่วันยังค่ำนับแต่เหตุการณ์ที่สถานีรถไฟจนถึงสระน้ำ การให้สีดังกล่าวแทบจะถือได้ว่าเป็นเบาะแสสำคัญคอยการคุ้ยแคะ ดังจะเห็นต่อมาใน The Village(ค.ศ.2004) ชุดคลุมหัวสีบาดตาห้องล้อมด้วยฉากหลังหม่นทึม ขับเน้นภาวะการเป็นผู้พักพิงดุจเดียวกับนักบวช ส่วนสีแดงกระชากขวัญของผีป่าคือการตายตกไปตามกัน

หนังเรื่องอื่น ๆ ของชามาลันและมานน์ต่างอัดแน่นด้วยภาวะอึมครึม(greyness)เย็นชา ไม่ว่าจะเป็นแสงฤดูหนาวชวนสั่นสะท้าน(ใน The Sixth Sense งานค.ศ.1999)  มนุษย์ต่างดาวปรากฏตัวสร้างความพิศวงงงงวยกลางทุ่งข้าวโพดเหลืองอร่าม(Signs งาน ค.ศ.2002)   การประลองลำหักลำโค่นระหว่างระหว่างขาใหญ่ของวงการ เดอ นิโร และปาชิโน ในทำนองเสือสองตัวอยู่ถ้ำเดียวกันไม่ได้ก็มีปูนและอลูมิเนียมเป็นส่วนประกอบหลักของสังเวียน(Heat)

มีการลดความสดปลั่งในภาพลักษณ์ทอม  ครูสกลายเป็นเพชฌฆาตสีเงินยวง ตะลุยไปทั่วแอลเออาบสีหมากสุกมลังเมลือง(งาน Collateral งานค.ศ.2004)  มือสังหารวินเซ็นต์แดกดันความแล้งน้ำใจและกักขฬะของแอลเอโดยถึงขั้นตั้งข้อสังเกตว่า ต่อให้มีคนขาดใจตายอยู่ในรถไฟก็อาจไม่มีใครผิดสังเกต และบทอวสานของเขาก็เป็นเช่นที่ว่า  จิ้งจอกเงินสิ้นชื่อปล่อยร่างงอก่องอขิงราวกับจะหลอมรวมเข้าเป็นเนื้อเดียวกับตัวถังสีเงินมันปลาบของรถไฟที่ซึ่งเดวิดพาตัวเองฝ่าออกมาในช่วงต้นของ Unbreakable

เหลือแต่ชื่อ

รสนิยมร่วมในเรื่องพิสมัยความเนิบเนือยและมิจฉาทิฐินับเป็นจุดแข็งในดงฮอลลิวูด ขณะที่การปฏิวัติทารันติโน(Tarantinian revolution)สีสันแสบทรวงก็ไม่เลือนหาย  เรื่องความแตกต่างนั้นไม่ต้องพูดถึง แต่ที่โลกของมานน์และชามาลันอึมครึมก็เพราะมวลสมาชิกเป็นเช่นนั้น ผู้คนในโลกเหล่านั้นล้วนตายไปแล้ว  ในงานของชามาลัน สร้อยการเล่าอันเจ้าเล่ห์ถักทอราบรื่นชวนตายใจเรื่อยมาจนกระทั่งมาความแตกในตอนท้ายของ The Sixth Sense  วิลลิสตามมารับบทให้ใน Unbreakable อีก ก็ไม่พ้นอีหรอบเดิมอยู่ดี ถึงจะแคล้วคลาดจากอุบัติเหตุรถไฟ แต่เขาก็ไม่ต่างกับผี เขามืดแปดด้านกับการประคับประคองชีวิตส่วนที่เหลือรอดมา  ใน Signs ก็เช่นเดียวกันภาพภรรยาที่ตายไปแล้วเหมือนยังคงวนเวียนอยู่ใกล้ ๆ คอยเ็ป็นปกป้องสามี   The Village คือภาพการมุงของเหล่านักมุง ผสมโรงด้วยภาพดงป่าอันน่าสะพรึงกลัว ความล้มเหลวในการผลิตซ้ำมัจจุราช(the Grim Reaper)  พวกชาวบ้านไม่รู้ว่าตนเป็นเพียงเงา(เพราะพวกเขาเหลือแต่ชื่อในโลกความเป็นจริงเบื้องนอก) แม้แต่ในโลกที่พวกเขาเดินเหินไปมาทุกเมื่อเชื่อวันชุดผ้าคลุมของพวกเขาก็ละม้ายกับบุคลิกของปีศาจจากหน้าหนังสือการ์ตูน

เบาะแสที่ทั้งตอกย้ำและขัดขาภราดรภาพคือ Manhunter งานค.ศ.1986 ของมานน์ หนังเรื่องนี้เข้าฉายในปารีสในชื่อว่า The Sixth Sense หนังของมานน์นั้นไม่ได้เน้นที่การเจาะภาพบุคลิกส่วนปีศาจ แต่จะมุ่งเสนอความเป็นไปของเหยื่อการพิพากษาแบบรวบรัดตัดความจะเอาโทษให้จงได้  การสิ้นชื่อไปแล้วในความหมายของมานน์ จึงมาในรูปของการต้องโทษตามธงพิพากษาที่ปักไว้ล่วงหน้า วิถีของตัวเอกในงานของมานน์จึงไม่ต่างกับหมูเดินชนปังตอ

ในกรณีของ Heat การหักเหลี่ยมเฉือนคมระหว่างปาชิโนกับเดอนิโรจบลงเหนือความคาดหมาย เพราะฝ่ายหนึ่งมีอันพลาดท่าแก่คมกระสุนอีกฝ่าย  Collateral ก็เช่นเดียวกันมือสังหารผู้ปลิดชีพผู้คนง่ายดายราวพลิกฝ่ามือกลับประจันหน้ากับมรณกรรมโดยปราศจากการแข็งขืนเป็นเรื่องเป็นราว ปริศนาธรรมว่าด้วยวงแดงที่ฌ็อง ปิแอร์ เมลวิลล์(Jean Pierre Melville)วางระบบไว้ในงานชุดนักสืบผู้ยอมพลีตนเพื่อภารกิจอันลือลั่นของเขาเป็นอันกระจ่างด้วยบทพิสูจน์ของมานน์

พวกนอกกฏหมายในหนังของมานน์ไม่เพียงมีชีวิตแบบตายผ่อนส่ง หากยังเวียนวนดำผุดดำว่ายข้ามไปข้ามมาระหว่างพรมแดนคุณค่าความหมายของความเป็นความตายอยู่เป็นทุนเดิม(ไม่เชื่อก็ดูปีกดำเมื่อมของอัศวินรัตติกาล – มนุษย์ค้างคาวเดวิด อันแสนประพิมพ์ประพายกับภาพลักษณ์ยมทูต(Grim Reaper)) หรือสารรูปของชาวบ้านใน The Village ก็เหมือนภูติผีไม่มีผิด ฉาบหน้าหนึ่งแปลงโฉมสู่กะโหลกต้นแบบดูเป็นพ่อบ้าน(เสื้อผ้าผมเผ้าอยู่ในกลุ่มสีเทา)ผู้ไม่เคยลังเลท่ามกลางห่ากระสุนหูดับตับไหม้ เขาไม่ลังเลจะจับเด็กหญิงตัวเล็กเป็นตัวประกัน อ้ายคนจัญไรหัวจรดเท้าโผล่มาสร้างความวินาสสันตะโร และลงท้ายก็สติวิปลาส ตะโกนสาปแช่งโสเภณีว่า นรกกำลังจะมาลากคอแกไป

 
ร่างไร้ชีวิตพเนจรไปในจักรวาลสีเทา ผู้กำกับทั้งสองอาจดูคล้ายเป็นพวกพิสมัยการสังฆกรรมกับศพซึ่งเข้าทางปืนสมมติฐานว่าด้วยมรณกรรมของภาพยนตร์(death of cinema) ไม่ก็ ..ของมนุษยชาติ ไปโน่นเลย ต้องเข้าเป้าสักอัน) จากจุดยืนดังกล่าวกอปรกับความอ่อนหัดก็อาจยกข้อหานั้นขึ้นมาปรักปรำ สูตรการแบ่งขั้วตามธงทฤษฎีมีบ้างที่ประเมินค่าชามาลันกับมานน์ในทำนองว่ารายแรกนั้นฝักใฝ่กับการเล่าเรื่องย้อนรอยเป็นบ้าเป็นหลัง ขณะที่ฝ่ายหลังก็ยังมีข้อหามือปืนรับจ้างทำงานตามใบสั่งติดเป็นชนัก

แต่ทั้งสองย่อมมีลูกหาิกินเป็นธรรมดา ทว่าพวกเขาก็สั่งสมบารมีจนเข้าขั้นเซียนเหยียบเมฆไปแล้วและนับวันก็ยิ่งติดลมบน คน ๆ หนึ่งแตกดับไปแล้วย่อมไม่มีวันตายหนสอง สีเทาจึงมีสถานะทั้งจุดเริ่มต้นและจุดสิ้นสุด คอยรองรับแย่งชิงพื้นที่ความหมาย สีแทนความหมายมากล้นของความเสมอเหมือน(virtuality)ในฐานะแหล่งสิงสุมของอะไรต่อมิอะไร) หัวเลี้ยวหัีวต่อระหว่างการจุติกับความตายดังที่พอล คลี(Paul Klee)ว่าไว้ ชามาลันและมานน์ไหนเลยจะไม่เฉลียวใจว่าพวกเขาย่อมมีวิถีของตน อันมีเรื่องราวที่พานพบ รหัสนัย เป็นตัวกำหนด แต่พวกเขาไม่ได้มาเพื่อนำเสนอสุสานวิจิตรอ่อนช้อยหรือเปลือก แต่อยู่เพื่อซักฟอกเรื่องราวเหล่านั้นให้จืดสนิทกันไปข้าง

วัฏจักรและจอ

รักจะเล่าเรื่องต้องตั้งศูนย์ถ่วงดี ๆ  ชามาลันและมานน์ต่างให้ความสำคัญและคิดค้นช่องทางขยับขยายเรื่องราว และทั้งคู่ต่างก็ไม่ถูกโรคกับสภาพบางอย่างเหมือนสวรรค์แกล้ง กล่าวคือ หัวเด็ดตีนขาดทั้งสองก็ไม่มีวันข่มเ้ขาหนังขืนให้ฟูมฟาย หรือแฉโพยเรื่องราวจนหมดเปลือกภายในคาบเหตุการณ์เดียวได้ ทำนองเดียวกับ Signs ที่เริ่มจากฟากฟ้าก่อนออกลายในภาคพื้นดิน  หรือเอไลยาห์ วาดจินตภาพตามเค้าโครงการ์ตูนทาบสวมเข้ากับตัวตนของเดวิด

องค์ประกอบพื้นฐานในงานของมานน์จากมุมมองดังกล่าวมีให้เห็นได้จาก Ali (งานค.ศ.2001) กับการบิแบ่งชีวประวัติอันเกรียงไกรออกเป็นเศษเสี้ยว หินผาล้มคว่ำไม่นำพาจะยืนหยัด หนังเริ่มจับเหตุการณ์ช่วงยอดมวยกลายเป็นตำนานไปแล้วมาขยายความและพุ่งเป้าไปที่การฉายภาพความสำเร็จล้มหลามเหลือเชื่อ ลีลาการขายขนมจีบกะเร่อกะร่าพอ ๆ กับการทอดไมตรีกับมัลคอล์ม  เอ็กซ์และพิธีกรรายการโทรทัศน์

คนดูไม่อาจล่วงรู้ตัวตนแท้จริงของอาลีว่าเป็นแค่ราคาคุยหรือคนจริง ซื่อหรือประชดส่ง  เท่าที่สัมผัสได้ก็จะเป็นการปลอบใจตัวเองด้วยภาพชีวิตยามรุ่งโรจน์สุดขีด  ในแง่การเล่าแล้ว โลกทัศน์ในหนังแบนราบขาดการร้อยโยง ตัวละครก็บ้องตื้น มีแบบแผนตายตัว ขุมข่ายเรื่องเล่าเข้าทำนองขึ้นต้นเป็นลำไผ่ลงท้ายกลายเป็นบ้องกัญชา ชิ้นงานแห่งความทรงจำต้องยกให้งานตามล้างตามล่าอย่าง Heat และ Collateral

กรอบการมองเปลี่ยนจากชุมชนเมืองมาเป็นวงการสื่อเมื่อมาถึง The Insider และ Ali แต่ที่มาที่ไปของกรอบการมองก็ไม่ได้เพื่อสนองตอบแนวคิดสัมพัทธนิยม  กลไกเหตุและผลกรองเก็บฝีภาพ “ฝากไว้ก่อน” และชักใบให้เรือเสีย หลงทางอยู่ในลายแทงหยาบ ๆ ของทะเลทรายอันไพศาลไร้ที่เปรียบ

แต่มาดการเล่าของชามาลันจะหนักไปในทางละมุนละม่อม อ้อมค้อมและเป็นสัดเป็นส่วน เรื่องราวจะกวาดรัศมีการเล่าและชำระความตัวละครผู้รักสันโดษและทนทุกข์กับการพลัดพรากจากปัจจัยพื้นฐานของชีวิต จอมหมกเม็ดยอมเสี่ยงต่อคำครหาว่าจมปลักอยู่กับอุปลักษณ์เรื่องราวใกล้ ๆ ตัว เพื่อที่จะวาดวัฏจักรอันมีจุดเริ่มต้นจากท่าบังคับแล้วค่อยหาทางหลบลี้จากหนี้เวรหนี้กรรมในบั้นปลาย

ชามาลันไม่เล็งผลเลิศกับปุจฉาโวหารเพราะเขาเชื่อในเรื่องนรกในใจ ในการนำเสนอภาวะอันเป็นรูปธรรมชามาลันจะกวาดตาไปรอบข้าง ภาพใหญ่ของหนังก็จะเป็นเหมือนรูปสัญญาณขนาดยักษ์เป็นอนุกรมการบอกเล่าที่ไขปริศนาได้ทั้งการมองเบื้องบน และลงพื้นที่สำรวจ  กรอบการทำงานจะเน้นฉายภาพวงจรนับจากวงจรหนึ่งขาดสะบั้นลง วงจรทางกายภาพสองอันก็จะลัดถึงกัน

นักเลงในงานของมานน์ฝันถึงวัฏจักรอันไม่มีวันพานพบ ความชิดเชื้อเป็นของแสลงสำหรับพวกเขา คนเหล่านี้ใฝ่ฝันจะมีบ้านดุจเดียวกับที่คนขับแท็กซีีใน Collateral แปรสภาพพื้นที่บนยานอวกาศลอยค้างเหนือค่ำคืนของแอลเอ ให้ลิ้มลองชั่วครู่ชั่วยาม

ในทางกลับกัน บางครั้งเอาเข้าจริงบ้านในหนังของชามาลันกลับหาได้เป็นป้อมปราการอันปลอดภัยไม่ หากซ้ำร้ายตัวละครกลับถูกจองจำด้วยภารกิจรักษาฐานที่มั่นไว้ให้จงได้  เหตุการณ์โอละพ่อจนโลกกลับตาลปัตร คนเหล่านั้นอ่อนไหวและห่วงหน้าพะวงหลัง ทางหนึ่งก็ไม่อยากเอาเป็นอารมณ์ แต่ก็มักตบะแตกกับปัจจัยยั่วยุโดยมีความรักเป็นเดิมพัน ขาดการห่วงหาอาทรมานานจนเกินเยียวยา  ดุจเดียวกับที่ เดวิด ตื่นขึ้นมาในเช้าวันหนึ่งของ Unbreakable อย่างคนหมดเคราะห์หมดโศก

จบ

แปลจาก

Aubron,  Herve. 2006. ’MIRRORED IMAGES: SHY AND MANN’. http://www.cahiersducinema.com/article823.html

O site oficial brasileiro do filme já está online.

Não há nada de diferente, apenas está traduzido, com o trailer dublado e com o título “O Último Mestre do Ar”.

Para acessar, clique aqui.

O ator Cliff Curtis (que interpreta o Senhor do Fogo) falou sobre seu personagem no filme The Last Airbender, em um evento promocional de seu novo trabalho na nova série chamada “Trauma”.

“Meu personagem é como o Darth Vader, assim dizendo. É uma trilogia, e se tudo ocorrer bem, estarei de volta nos próximos filmes.”.

Curtis também comenta sobre o diretor M. Night Shyamalan:

“Eu acho que M. Night é um diretor muito interessante, e quando ele comentou comigo sobre o filme, ele disse que é o trabalho mais influente desde Star Wars. Para ele, este foi o seu Star Wars que ele tanto desejava fazer, então eu fiquei interessado.” .

Quando questionado sobre suas roupas, Cliff Curtis responde:

“Excelentes! As mais belas que já vi, juro.”, afirma ele. “É uma mistura do estilo romano com grego, e até há alguns traços do estilo samurai. É realmente muito bonito.”.

Leia mais em SciFiWire.

Bruce Willis astro da primeira fita e o diretor M. Night Shyamalan se reúnem novamente para contar esta fabula sobre super-heróis. Feito logo depois do sucesso O Sexto Sentido não obteve o mesmo sucesso.

Dunn é um pacato pai de família com um casamento em crise, quando em uma viagem a procura de emprego sofre um grande acidente ferroviário onde ele é o único sobrevivente e não sofre nenhum arranhão.Ele vê sua vida mudar, com a chegada do misterioso Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson, Shaft, O filme) que lhe deixa um misterioso bilhete que faz Dunn revisitar seu passado atrás de respostas e ir a uma jornada de auto descoberta.

Corpo Fechado em minha opinião é o melhor filme de origem já feito. Merece ser visto e revisto e lamentar por que não haverá uma continuação. O estúdio responsável pela fita o vendeu de forma errada, prometendo ao publico um novo Sexto Sentido, o que acabou não ocorrendo. O filme é  uma obre- prima, feito  numa época onde Shyamalan nos entregava o que prometia.

Trailer

Meu próximo filme vai ser uma merda, mas aposto que você vai se surpreender no final! - M. Night Shyamalan

Todo metier tem sua trupe de picaretas. Nas artes plásticas, um cara que se banhava em cocô de pombo chamado Salvador Dali fez uma das obras mais cafonas da História da Arte e é até hoje considerado um gênio.

Já no cinema, posso elencar vários. Um deles é famoso por fazer filmes que na verdade se assemelham muito a uma carta enigmática do passatempo da Mônica, o que seria uma proposta até válida, não fosse o fato de que ninguém se dá conta disso. O nome desse picareta é David Lynch. Assistir Cidade dos Sonhos não é uma experiência cinematográfica de regojizo, e sim uma massagem no seu ego: quanto mais você decifra a charada, mais inteligente você se sente. Ninguém liga que o filme é feio, mal atuado, chato e arrogante: afinal, estamos falando de uma obra-prima, não é mesmo?

No Universo da picaretagem, o cara que mais me deixa puto é um diretor sem talento chamado M. Night Shyamalan. Você deve conhecê-lo por filmes como O Sexto Sentido, Corpo Fechado e A Vila.

São filmes ruins, em todo sentido da palavra, mas com um final que ninguém esperava. Ou seja, é como comer uma baguete envelhecida com um pedaço de bacon no miolo.

Eu não sou contra finais surpreendentes. Muito pelo contrário. Adoro Psicose, por exemplo, e gosto de ver Norman Bates de vestido como a cereja de um bolo saboroso e refinado. Aliás, quando eu vi o filme eu já sabia do final, minha mãe me contou quando viu o VHS em cima da mesa. Foi meio sem noção da parte dela? Sim, mas no frigir dos ovos aquilo me ensinou que um filme não é feito de final, e sim dele todo, então valeu manhê!

Também sou fã de Lost, mesmo porque Lost, ao contrário de Sexto Sentido, é um produto honesto, ele não faz uma dramaturgia qualquer com um final revelador, mas passa os 40 minutos de cada episódio brincando com isso, produzindo pistas falsas e contaminando o roteiro inteiro com a proposta final. Ver Lost é participar de uma grande gincana dramatúrgica: é como um filme do David Lynch, só que sem a parte da masturbação canhestra.

Agora, ver 2 horas de uma mina cegueta andando pra lá e pra cá e o Adrian Brody fazendo papel de retardado é exatamente aquilo que eu não chamo de entretenimento, muito menos de arte. A atuação do Adrian Brody no filme A Vila me constrange, porque parece que ele aprendeu a atuar com o Batoré, aquele cara que acha que é bonito ser feio. E olha que o Adrian Brody é um belo de um ator.

Eu até imagino o Shyamalan no set cortando o take e dizendo: “Cara, sua atuação tá ótima, elegante, e digna de um Oscar, mas eu quero uma coisa mais Batoré mesmo”.

Vai ser ruim assim na puta que te pariu!

M. Night Shyamalan

Michael Stevens – HollywoodNorthReport.com

The upcoming feature Devil from director M. Night “The Sixth Sense” Shyamalan is reportedly moving production out of Philadelphia to tax-friendly Toronto.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, officials with the state film office say the director’s planned move is due to uncertainty over whether Pennsylvania’s film tax credit will be approved in the state’s budget.

Shyamalan lives near the Philly suburb of Malvern, filming eight of his nine features in the region.

Devil is due for a 2011 release.

The Happening is a stupid, stupid movie. I don’t think anyone can deny that. In fact, it may just be the stupidest movie I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen Snakes on a Plane and Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. It plumbs the depths of dumb in ways that few films have ever done before and for that, the M. Night Shyamalan deserves some credit. A few days before reviews for the film were posted online, M. Night said that The Happening was intended to be a B-Movie and I can’t help but call bullshit. If it was, why did he wait so long before revealing this fact? Why wasn’t it mentioned in any of the films advertising? Can you imagine if Grindhouse had been released under a different name without any attention being drawn to the fact that they were Grindhouse films? People would be annoyed and rightfully so… Though with the two films released under the Groundhouse title it is painfully clear what is going on even without any reference to it so maybe that’s a bad example. Sorry. Anyway, it’s pretty clear that Shyamalan intended for this film to be something more than a B-Movie and, when he got wind of the reaction to it, he decided to try and bluff everyone. Well, it didn’t work.

Once more, spoilers ahead. The Happening tells the stupid, stupid story of people all along the East Coast of the US mysteriously killing themselves for no apparent reason. It begins in New York in Central Park. People suddenly stop what ever they are doing, walk backwards and start killing themselves. What ever is causing this soon spreads throughout New York ending in a hilarious scene where builders begin leaping off of the building they are working on.

It’s in the next scene, in Philidelphia, that we meet Mark Wahlberg as Elliot Moore, the worst science teacher in the world. He believes in auras and mood rings and at one point, with regard to the disappearance of bees, he actually says:

“Science will come up with some reason to put in the books, but in the end it’ll be just a theory. I mean, we will fail to acknowledge that there are forces at work beyond our understanding. To be a scientist, you must have a respectful awe for the laws of nature.”

Wow, that is truly, truly awful. I can agree with the last sentence but everything before it is terrible. Just a theory? There is no way that a scientist would consider the meaning of the word ‘theory’ to be a guess. That’s the colloquial definition of theory. In science a theory must be based on observed facts and make testable predictions. It must have no equally acceptable or more acceptable alternative theory and it must have survived attempts at falsification. And what’s this crap about acknowledging that there are forces beyond our understanding? A scientists job is to explore those forces and try to understand them. In short, Elliot Moore should not be teaching anyone science. Still, despite all this, Mark Wahlberg is the best thing in this film. More on that later.

Anyway, the school principal, played by Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, closes the school early and Elliot and his best friend, Julian (John Leguizamo), decide to get the fuck outta dodge and get a train to Julian’s mother’s house in Harrisburg. They are accompanied by Julian’s recurring plot device… I mean daughter, Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) and Elliot’s wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel, yes, she actually spells her name that way.) It’s hinted that Alma may have cheated on Elliot in some way and that she’s still lying to her husband about it. I hope that pays off well.

The train is stopped in the middle on nowhere because, as the train drivers say, “We lost contact… With everyone.” Wow, powerful stuff. Anyway everyone holds up in a tiny diner for a while, getting constant updates on the situation from the TV. This is also where the greatest scene in the entire film occurs. It is literally awesome. In fact, let’s make it a Great Scene From Shit Films entry as well. Ok, here it is:

(I’m sorry, I thought there was a better quality version of this scene on YouTube but I couldn’t find it.)

Fuck me. That dude got his arms all ripped off by lions. Thankyou movie, honestly, for letting me see that. At least you have a reason for existing. That’s more than most of the Razzie films I’ve watched for this segment. Let’s back to the story. Julian can’t get in touch with his wife on the phone and decides to go to Princeton to find her, leaving his daughter with Elliot and his missus. He get’s a ride in a jeep being driven by Dante from Clerks, though you never clearly see his face, his beard in the side view mirror is enough to give him away. Sadly, Julian never meets his wife because, after another hilarious scene which features a bunch of bodies hanging down the road in Princeton, air leaks into the Jeep and everyone becomes infected. Dante intentionally crashes the jeep, somehow managing to propel the person behind Julian over him and through the windshield. Julian survives only to get out of the jeep, pick up a piece of shattered glass and slice open his wrist.

Meanwhile Elliot and co. manage to hitch a ride with a hot dog obsessed botanist and his wife. The botanist doesn’t believe the official story behind what’s going on, that terrorists are behind the mysterious events. Instead he believes it’s plants, because all plants can communicate with each other and they’ve all evolved to want to take us all down a peg. This is, of course, blatantly stupid. Even if plant’s can communicate with members of their own species (and such communication is pretty much limited to releasing chemicals to warn others when they are being eaten so that the others can increase toxin production) they certainly can’t communicate with other species. It’s also impossible to assume that they all evolved this strange neurotoxin at once. Plant evolution works in exactly the same way as animal evolution. The smaller, quicker-breeding plants can mutate quicker whilst the large, slower-breeding plants mutate at a much slower rate, therefore there’s no way the trees and grass could all do this at the same time. Unless it was all part of some nefarious plot, the grass evolving this ability centuries ago and have since been waiting for trees to catch up. Now that they have, the time to strike has come! No… That’s too stupid, even for The Happening.

The group soon meets up with a few more survivors and they begin walking to a lightly populated town in hope of escaping the terrorist attack. They split into two groups, with Elliot, Alma and Jess’ group being in the front whilst the second, larger group follows behind. Suddenly, the first group hears gunshots and realises that the second group are killing themselves. Not only that but the botanist was right! It is the plants! Oh my god! This scene leads up to one of the moments that makes Mark Wahlberg the best thing about this film. He is hilarious.

Wow. Just wow. Throughout the film Wahlberg acts like this and it actually makes the film watchable. If not for him, The Happening would be a boring piece of shit with an incredibly stupid plot. I salute you Mark Wahlberg and your heroic mastery of the craft of non-acting or whatever it is that you’re doing.

This scene then leads into one of the stupidest things ever put to film. Did I mention this film was stupid? Well, what happens next is a scene wherein Wahlberg’s group runs away from the wind. Yes, there’s certainly nothing more exciting in all the world than seeing a bunch of people run away from the wind. And that’s pretty much the point where the film completely falls apart. Each scene is more ridiculous that the last. There’s sights you’d never thought you’d see like Mark Wahlberg pointing to a big house in plain view of everyone and shouting “Hey, there’s a big house.” Mark Wahlberg talking to a plastic potted plant, asking it’s permission to use the bathroom. We also found out what it was that Alma was feeling so guilty about. She confesses to Elliot that she and a co-worker went out for GASP! dessert and she never told him about it! Really? That’s it movie? That’s your big infidelity storyline? Fuck you movie. Fuck you. There’s an awesome scene of a man getting himself run over by a ride on lawn mower and there’s a crazy old lady who lives alone and doesn’t like it when people eye her lemon drink.

It’s while staying at this old lady’s house that Mark Wahlberg’s performance reaches it’s pinnacle, where Wahlberg truly reaches for the stars:

There’s something about this scene that makes it seem as though Elliot was planning to kill the old women, even though I’m pretty sure that never crossed the character’s mind. Maybe he suffers from a similar condition to me. I find it really hard to sound sincere when I say thankyou, even when I genuinely mean it. Maybe Elliot really has a problem trying to sound as though he’s not going to kill someone, even when he has no intention of doing so.

Anyway, the film culminates with The Happening not happening any more just as Elliot, Alma and Jess have to go outside. I mean literally just before. It’s so fucking stupid it makes me damn, damn mad. Anyway, Jess is adopted by Elliot and Alma, Alma get’s knocked up and a man on the TV posits that this was just a warning. We then cut to Paris where The Happening begins to happen again. This time, however, it only lasts a few hours as the French immediately surrender and France is soon ruled by trees. Sorry to any French readers but, well, who can resist?

So there you have it. The Happening was easily the most entertaining film I’ve seen out of the Razzie nominations, largely due to the hilarious performance of Mark Wahlberg. Seriously, without him this would have been an awful, awful film but because of him it’s just a stupidly fun bad film that gets two pints out of five.

Gene Simmons escreveu recentemente em sua página oficial, que foi convidado a fazer a voz do Dragão Espiritual, no novo filme de M. Night Shyamalan. Ele afirma que não tem certeza se irá ou não.

Pelo menos temos certeza, agora, de que as partes divulgadas com o Dragão Espiritual são verdadeiras.

Fonte: LastAirbenderFans

O site LastAirbenderFilm conseguiu uma parte do que parecer ser o projeto do filme, datado para 02 de março deste ano. Nessas páginas, Aang visita o “Spirit World” e nota-se que há algumas diferenças para o desenho. Claro que não sabemos se essas páginas são verdadeira, então não leia acreditando que tudo que está alí é verdade.

Nós do blog traduzimos para vocês. Leia o post completo.

CONTÉM SPOILERS

_______________

A primeira cena mostra Katara falando com um desconhecido. Ela afirma que ele [Aang?] precisa fazer algo, e que vão aguarda-lo retornar. O lugar em que eles estão não é revelado, já que é uma continuação da página anterior. A cena corta para o “Northern Air Temple Prayer Room”.

É noite, e o “Prayer Room” foi transformado em uma prisão. Aang é suspenso por correntes fixadas no teto, inconsciente, então a cena muda para uma floresta enevoada. Aang caminha através da névoa até encontrar uma caverna, a qual um dragão (possivelmente Koh) começa a falar com ele. Ele explica para Aang que existe algumas pessoas da Nação do Fogo que acreditam que o “Spirit World” influencia o homem a chegar ao fim(?). Ele comenta que a Nação do Fogo adquiriu conhecimentos a partir da “Great Library” e que tenham a intenção de utiliza-los incorretamente.

Apesar de Aang prometer detê-los, o Dragão explica que ele não tem muito tempo para dominar os outros três elementos. O Dragão diz que o cometa que iniciou a guerra irá voltar em três anos, dando aos Dobradores de Fogo o controlo sobre suas habilidades, e, portanto, a capacidade de eles mesmos criarem o fogo. A cena termina com o Dragão dizendo para Aang que Katara será muito importante para ele, e o alerta para ser consciente de seus sentimentos e de suas ações.

Esta parte é uma cena mais para frente das citadas anteriormente, com Katara na Tribo da Água do Norte informando uma pessoa desconhecida que o Príncipe Zuko está na cidade, e que ele quer capturar Aang novamente. Em seguida, corta para Zuko arremessando o corpo de Aang para dentro de um tipo de armazém da Tribo da Água. Zuko espera o  anoitecer para fugir com o seu prisioneiro. Aang está desacordado, então corta para ele no “Spirit World” novamente.

Aang conversa com o Dragão, perguntando como derrotar a Nação do Fogo. O Dragão responde que a Nação do Fogo se esqueceu de que todos os elementos são iguais, e que ele deve mostrar-lhes o poder da Dobra da Água. Aang pergunta se ele deve derrotar os solados da Nação do Fogo, e o Dragão responde que sim. Novamente ele pergunta sobre a sua relação com Katara que o Dragão havia mencionado antes. O Dragão explica que ele deve escolher entre estar com Katara ou ser o Avatar.

O que acharam?

Abraços.

We have received what appears to be authentic pages of an early draft of The Last Airbender script, dated March 2, 2009, from an anonymous source. These pages detail Aang’s visit(s) to the Spirit World, and a few interesting plot differences from the animated series. As we are unable to confirm nor deny the authenticity of these pages, please read on with a bucket of salt close by.

Update: Producer Frank Marshall has tweeted that the “script does not seem real” to him. It’s interesting to note he didn’t flat out deny the summary’s authenticity, as he did the promotional image last month.

Update 2: The legendary Gene Simmons of KISS recently update his website claiming to have been offered a voice over role in The Last Airbender. And what’s the role? None other than the Dragon Spirit heavily featured in these alleged script pages. It seems the legitimacy of that portion of the script has been settled.

SPOILER ALERT

The first scene picks up with Katara speaking to an unknown person(s). She claims “he” (Aang?) needed to do something, and that if they wait he will return. Her location is not revealed in our pages, as the scene is continued from the previous page. The scene cuts from her worried expression to the Northern Air Temple Prayer Room.

It’s night, and the Prayer Room has been turned into a prison chamber. Aang is suspended by chains from the ceiling, and as he falls unconscious the scene cuts to a mist filled forest in the Spirit World. Aang makes his way through the mist until he comes to a cave, from which a dragon (possibly Koh the Face Stealer, Roku’s dragon Fang, or Roku himself?) begins to speak to him. He explains to Aang that there are some in the Fire Nation that believe the Spirit World’s influence over man should come to an end. He claims the Fire Nation has acquired knowledge from the Great Library, which they intend to misuse.

While Aang promises to stop them, the Dragon explains that he doesn’t have much time to master the other three elements. The Dragon says that the comet that began the war will return in three years, giving the firebenders control over their Chi, and thus the ability to create fire themselves. The scene ends with the Dragon telling Aang that Katara will be very important to him, and warning him to be mindful of his feelings and actions.

The second scene picks up later in the film with Katara at the Northern Water Tribe informing unknown person(s) that Prince Zuko is in the city, and that he’s captured Aang again. It then cuts to Zuko dumping Aang’s body inside a storage room in the Northern Water Tribe Stronghold. Zuko is resigned to wait for the cover of nightfall to make his escape with his prisoner. As he considers the unconscious Aang, it cuts to Aang in the Spirit World forest again as he makes a run for the cave.

Aang confronts the Dragon again, asking how to defeat the Fire Nation. The Dragon tells him that the Fire Nation has forgotten that all elements are equal, and that he must show them the power of water. Aang asks if he must hurt the Fire Nation soldiers, to which the Dragon replies that he may have to. Aang then asks about the struggle between himself and Katara that the Dragon mentioned before. Before departing, the Dragon explains that Aang must choose between being with Katara, and being the Avatar.

During Comic Con ‘09, Del Ray Manga a division of Random House announced they will be releasing a Manga based on M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender. No release date has been announced yet.  Dave Roman will be writing it and   Nina Matsumoto will be creating prequel art.

Coupled with news of a new toy line just last week based off The Last Airbender, this gives Avatar fans even more to look forward too.

SOURCE

According to toy industry news website, Playthings, Spin Master has been named the worldwide master toy licensee for Paramount Pictures’ The Last Airbender. Using “innovative technology that will enable fans to live out their most memorable moments from this epic film,” Spin Master will produce a comprehensive line of products including action figures, vehicles, and playsets.

Adam Beder, Spin Master’s vice president of licensing, had this to say about film and the deal.

“M. Night Shyamalan and Paramount have done an incredible job of adapting the mythology of Avatar…into an imaginative and visually stunning live-action big-screen fantasy adventure film. It’s a natural fit for us to re-create the magic of the film into an original and creative new toy line that children will love.”

I love the quadruple take of that! Gets me every time!

Everybody hates The Happening. That’s just a given. If I ask, “What do we breathe?”, you respond, “Air.” If I ask, “Who’s your favorite superhero?”, you respond, “Mr. T.” And if I ask you what the worst M. Night Shyamalan movie is,your gut instinct will be to say, “The Happening.” It’s the film that everyone loves to mock and deride. It’s one of the most incredible misfires of the past few years, and I honestly don’t know whats’ worse; the fact that I saw it in theaters or the fact that when I first saw the one-sheet and heard the premise, I actually thought it might be good. I feel double-bamboozled for that very reason. So, for those of you who want a number rating so you can move along with your day, I give The Happening 1 1/2 Mark Wahlberg estrogen freak-outs out of 10. It’s bad, but you already knew that. The rest of this review, I’ll be dipping into a rant about what makes this movie the way it is. Feel free to leave now if you didn’t want to be a part of that. I’ll be watching Robinson Crusoe On Mars tomorrow, so I’ll see you then!

Okay, all the stragglers gone?

Good. Now, to explain the plot, I’ll try to be as careful as I can without spoiling THE SHOCKING SECRET! The tragedy is that it sounds SO promising on paper! Basically, the story follows Elliott, a high school science teacher in Philly who is as normal as can be. One day, he’s doing some science stuff with kids when he hears about a troubling event happening across the Eastern seaboard, around where he lives. The news isn’t very clear as to what it is, though, this event. It’s a horrible…thing, whatever it is, that is killing people left and right. Distraught and confused as to what they should do, Elliott and his protegee Julian, along with Julian’s daughter Jess, make their way across the city to meet their respective spouses. They find Elliott’s wife Alma, and together they want to leave the city, as whatever the thing is that’s happening is coming closer to them. But Julian’s wife is all the way in Princeton, New Jersey, which has already been hit hard by the effects of the…thing. So at a train stop outside Philly, Julian decides to leave his daughter in the care of Elliott and Alma to go out and look for her. The bewildered group goes far outside of the confines of the city to find shelter, but even in the farthest reaches, can the…whatchamacallit still get to them?

It’s hard to even talk about it, because a very strange aspect of this viewing experience is that you’re not supposed to know WHAT is happening the first time you watch it. I respect that, even though I don’t respect the movie. But honestly, all this secrecy about the plot won’t make it much better for you, even if you ARE shocked about the outcome. It’s a mess all around.

First of all, they cast everyone against type, a la Southland Tales. Mark Wahlberg plays a walking, talking vagina of a high school teacher. John Leguizamo plays a dorky guy with glasses and various other “nerdy” teacher affectations. And Zooey Deschanel plays an actual human being!!! It results in the exact same horrid effect that it did in Southland Tales, too! Nobody seems believable; not because they are stepping outside of the box, but because they strain so hard outside of the box. Wahlberg seems to have the most trouble adjusting, which is strange because I always thought he had the most potential as an actor. But here he turns the ineffectual knob to an 11, which doesn’t bode well for ANY hero, and completely overdoes it. I swear, Elliott is unreasonably bubbly and composed for such an…event to be going on around him. In some scenes you can almost see the tampon string coming out of his mouth, for fuck’s sake!

And I hope you weren’t expecting to hear anything positive about Shyamalan’s direction. His “less-is-more” strategy only works if there is sufficient pay-off for the audience to reward them for sitting through a barrage of anti-eventful scenes. That can work for a film like Signs or The Sixth Sense, where there is a TWIST at the end to make people feel like there is a reason to keep the tension high by adding a lot of static scenes. But the only TWIST here is that there is no TWIST. It’s a lot of stagnation and mood that goes nowhere and comes from nowhere, like a Mobius strip of angsty film. The only secret to be deciphered is what is happening, and when it is revealed (about halfway through the film, by the way!) there is nothing to do but laugh to yourself, shake your head at the film, and press on for another 40 minutes.

And a quick note about dialog! Anyone who wants to talk to me about how Shyamalan’s dialog is “misunderstood”, watch this movie first. I was floored by an unnaturalism that was partly delivery, partly script-rooted, and wholly shit. Zooey Deschanel’s Alma deserved her weight in Razzies alone (that’s not many awards, considering how waifish she is, but my point stands). So be prepared, Internet Shyamalan Fans (the ISF), if you want to talk to me about his direction, his choice in music, his use of actors, or even his hair, I believe it’s up for debate and you COULD change my mind with a reasonable argument. But I will not budge on any defense regarding his wince-inducing dialog! Here’s a little taste at the end of this muddy clip. Enjoy:

Wow. You really sold me there, lady.

So, in conclusion, this movie sucks. Oh, wait, did I already tell you that earlier? Well, good. End rant! That explains my low rating, and that also explains my stance on Shyamalan since The Village. As I said, my review tomorrow will be Robinson Crusoe On Mars, and now that I’m done with that fiasco, I’m gonna go rinse out my eyes with some hilarious internet clips! Here’s one of my favorites!!!