Movie Jail: This week's defendant is...M. Night Shyamalan!
Feb. 4, 2013
The Defendant
M. Night
Shyamalan
The Case
The Prosecution: The Last Airbender, Lady in the Water, The Village, The Happening*
Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, there are many institutions that are made for certain people. Schools, students. Fast food restaurants, failed students. But if there's one person that the institution of Movie Jail was created for, it just might be M. Night Shyamalan. We're hard pressed to find a more requested defendant than Mr. Shyamalan and with After Earth set to release this summer, we feel it's finally time to put the writer/director/producer/plot twister on trial. How many chances is Hollywood going to give this guy? He hasn't had a fresh rating since 2002's Signs and even some people are iffy on that. He made his plot twist, "aha" moment a trademark and created some pretty ridiculous stories around it. His last movie The Last Airbender, while looking sometimes pretty was an absolute disaster and his producing credit on 2010's Devil had people booing at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con. Isn't it time we lock this guy up and throw away the key? Or do we need to see how Father and Son Smith handle things in After Earth?
The Defense: The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Devil (producer), Signs, Stuart Little (writer)*
Ladies and Gentleman of the jury, we know we're facing an uphill battle and that you may already have your decision made (most likely), but let us attempt to sway you into a dismissal. It's true that Mr. Shyamalan hasn't had a bonafied hit in some time.....okay, 11 years, but let's disregard his first two lesser known movies and start with 1999's The Sixth Sense. Including this and the soon to be released After Earth, he's directed a total of 8 movies. Now, almost half of those movies are actually pretty good, so shouldn't we give this guy more time to work and get his product out there? We think that despite his most recent flops, his first three major motion pictures are solid enough to grant him a stay of execution. Err, we mean, we're looking for a dismissal. Oh, and can we agree that The Happening is one of the best bad movies ever? If that was his intention, he totally succeeded. And that counts for something.
IN CLOSING...
So, what’s to be done with M. Night Shyamalan? Is his guilt a long time coming? Should we give him more time to turn things around? And the most important question to be asked, once all evidence is taken into consideration, we ask you The Jury, is M. Night Shyamalan GUILTY or NOT GUILTY? Let’s hear YOUR arguments, either side, by STRIKING BACK BELOW.
*The court recognizes that all movies are subjective, so relax.
WHAT SAY YOU, GUILTY OR NOT?
LAST WEEK'S VERDICT
It is the jury's decision that after reviewing last week's evidence, the court finds Hilary Swank NOT GUILTY of all charges. We're two for three when it comes to Academy Award winning actresses walking the Not Guilty path of righteousness, but are there any other Academy Award winning actresses who should be thrown on the chopping block?
| Extra Tidbit: | Who Should Take the Stand Next? Strike Back Below! |
|---|
| Source: | JoBlo.com |
|---|
Not Guilty
Guilty
Guilty
Guilty
Next Up: How about John Woo?
Next Up: How about John Woo?
Guilty...
So much potential...
Who's next?
GUILTY
he ruined Avatar: The Last Airbender
GUILTY but...
Guilty
guilty, guilty and GUILTY!
Guilty
Guilty
Signs was speeding-ticket bad. The Village was shoplifting bad. The Happening was drunken assault against a policeman bad. When he finally realeased The Airbender it was pretty clear that he had reached dead underage hooker rolled in a carpet in his trunk bad.
Who knows what level he has reached with After Earth.
Signs was speeding-ticket bad. The Village was shoplifting bad. The Happening was drunken assault against a policeman bad. When he finally realeased The Airbender it was pretty clear that he had reached dead underage hooker rolled in a carpet in his trunk bad.
Who knows what level he has reached with After Earth.
Guilty
Signs
oh yeah...Guilty
first of all why would you put hilary swank in movie jail?
first of all why would you put hilary swank in movie jail?
GUILTY
Guilty
Guilty
Not guilty
Guilty But...
100%
Guilty
Too bad he is guilty
Guilty
I've been waiting for this one!
...as hell.
[link]
...as hell.
[link]
Not guilty
Guilty!
GUILTY
Guilty
Guilty
It's about time! Guilty!
GUiLTY
not even reading the arguments
Guil
shamalama ding-dong!
Either way, Shamalama Ding-Dong is not guilty. The audience is.
- Gary
Not Guilty
devil sucked!
guilty
Not Guilty
GUILTY
GUILTY AS HELL
He is guilty because he is talented yet makes stupid movies nowadays.
He is guilty because he is talented yet makes stupid movies nowadays.
Soooooooooooooooooooooooooo guilty.
Also you're not 2 for 3 in Best Actress winners. You're 2 for 4, I think. Sandra Bullock and Hilary Swank are both not guilty, and Halle Berry and Julia Roberts are both guilty.
Also you're not 2 for 3 in Best Actress winners. You're 2 for 4, I think. Sandra Bullock and Hilary Swank are both not guilty, and Halle Berry and Julia Roberts are both guilty.
Lifetime Parole.
Death
Guilty
His career had such a promising start and then took such a catastrophic nosedive, I'm not sure there's any way back for him. His name became shorthand for "ridiculous plot twist" and then increasingly just synonymous with "bad films". I personally didn't hate The Village for what it was, but The Happening was what really sealed his fate in my mind. Such an embarrassingly bad film, I'm surprised it got released. Thing is, I don't think
His career had such a promising start and then took such a catastrophic nosedive, I'm not sure there's any way back for him. His name became shorthand for "ridiculous plot twist" and then increasingly just synonymous with "bad films". I personally didn't hate The Village for what it was, but The Happening was what really sealed his fate in my mind. Such an embarrassingly bad film, I'm surprised it got released. Thing is, I don't think people would give the guy such a hard time if his first few films hadn't been cool.
Not Guilty
As a director, he has made visually awesome films, which is the first rule of making a film. As
As a director, he has made visually awesome films, which is the first rule of making a film. As such, he cannot be found guilty.
Guilty as HELL!
Tar and feather him and run him out of Hollywood, STAT!
Tar and feather him and run him out of Hollywood, STAT!
Throw away the key
Gulty
But i
But i thought you guys said you werent gonna put him on trial because its obvious everyone's gonna vote guilty .
Next Defendant: Ivan Reitman
Guilty
GUILTY
The man was a one hit wonder who has a cult following of Unbreakable. He hasn't done anything good in 10 years.
The man was a one hit wonder who has a cult following of Unbreakable. He hasn't done anything good in 10 years.
call me crazy
Don't get me wrong, M.Night is a bad director, and he's made awful movies, but at least they're entertaining. He's got the "so bad it's good" niche down perfectly (Last Airbender proved this without a doubt). Unlike other cases (Julia Roberts/Adam Sandler) who are doing nothing but rehasing the same roles/jokes in every movie. M.Night is trying to do different things (Horror/Supense with 6th sense,signs,Devil, Superhero/Action with Last AIrbender,
Don't get me wrong, M.Night is a bad director, and he's made awful movies, but at least they're entertaining. He's got the "so bad it's good" niche down perfectly (Last Airbender proved this without a doubt). Unlike other cases (Julia Roberts/Adam Sandler) who are doing nothing but rehasing the same roles/jokes in every movie. M.Night is trying to do different things (Horror/Supense with 6th sense,signs,Devil, Superhero/Action with Last AIrbender, Drama with Lady in Water), even though he's failing miserably with all of them, he's at least trying, and back to my point, he's showing just how awesomely bad he can be at any genre.
In closing, sure his movies are bad, but if you see them as comedy's, he's pretty damn good at what he does. Also, you're lying through your teeth if you say you NEVER once laughed during Airbender or The Happening, come on. The guy made a movie about killer trees and played it straight. If that's not funny I don't know what is.
NOT GUILTY!
I say this with genuine affection for the guy, but for next week I accuse Jason Statham. Dude needs an intervention at least.
I say this with genuine affection for the guy, but for next week I accuse Jason Statham. Dude needs an intervention at least.
Guilty
Guilty
Guilty
After Earth is his last shot for me. If that movie js bad then i have no hope for thr guy. So I have to say not guilty for the time being.
After Earth is his last shot for me. If that movie js bad then i have no hope for thr guy. So I have to say not guilty for the time being.
Guilty...and I fucking hate saying that.
Guilty as Sin
GUILTY
Guilty