|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
Shyamalan Book Tells of Breakup With Disney Over "Lady"A new chapter has just been written in Hollywood about the never-ending tension between "the talent" and "the suits."
It can be found in a soon-to-be-published tell-all book that offers something very rare, indeed: a candid recounting, complete with tears and recriminations, of a messy divorce between a movie studio and one of the world's most famous writer-directors.
In "The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How M. Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale," the 35-year-old filmmaker whose name has become synonymous with spooky suspense thrillers crucifies the top executives at the company he long had considered his artistic home since his 1999 surprise hit "The Sixth Sense": Walt Disney Studios.
the 278-page book hits stores one day before the theatrical premiere of Shyamalan's new movie, "Lady in the Water," which is at the center of the dispute
The $70-million movie, a scary fantasy that stars Paul Giamatti as an apartment building superintendent who rescues a sea nymph he finds in his swimming pool, was ultimately financed by Warner Bros.
But arguably as shocking as the movie itself is the way Shyamalan, in the book, disses his former studio.
Disney production President Nina Jacobson gets the worst drubbing. Jacobson and Shyamalan enjoyed a close, albeit sometimes combative, relationship. Over six years, she shepherded his four Disney films including "Unbreakable," "Signs" and "The Village." On what would have been their fifth collaboration, their bond so eroded that the two didn't speak for more than a year.
At a disastrous dinner in Philadelphia last year, Jacobson delivered a frank critique of the "Lady in the Water" script. When she told him that she and her boss, studio Chairman Dick Cook, didn't "get" the idea, Shyamalan was heartbroken. Things got only worse when she lambasted his inclusion of a mauling of a film critic in the story line and told Shyamalan his decision to cast himself as a visionary writer out to change the world bordered on self-serving.
But Shyamalan gets his revenge on Jacobson in the book, in which he says he had felt for some time that he "had witnessed the decay of her creative vision right before his own wide-open eyes. She didn't want iconoclastic directors. She wanted directors who made money."
Shyamalan felt that when executives criticized his "Lady in the Water" script "they were rejecting him." So he walked.
The book's most revealing scene is the tense dinner of Feb. 15, 2005, and its aftermath — referred to by Shyamalan's colleagues as "The Valentine's Day Massacre."
"You said it was funny; I didn't laugh," the book quotes her as saying. "You're going to let a critic get attacked? They'll kill you for that … Your part's too big; you'll get killed again … What's with the names? Scrunt? Narf? Tartutic? Not working … Don't get it … Not buying it. Not getting it. Not working." Her words went over like spoiled fish.
"She went on and on and on," the book says. "Night was waiting for her to say she didn't like the font" his assistant had printed the script in.
After way too many courses, Disney executives walked Shyamalan and his agent to the elevator, and Cook asked to speak to the director alone. "Just make the movie for us," Cook said, hoping to keep Disney's most important director in the fold. "We'll give you $60 million and say, 'Do what you want with it.' We won't touch it. We'll see you at the premiere."
Shyamalan said he couldn't do that. He couldn't work with those who doubted him. As Cook and his team left the hotel, Shyamalan broke down and cried. "He was crying because he liked them as people and he knew he would not see them again, not as his partners," the author writes. "He was crying because he was scared … He was crying because he knew they could be right."
She and Shyamalan would not talk again until March of this year. At the director's request, the two met for breakfast at the posh Hotel Bel-Air.
By then, Shyamalan had realized that "it wasn't Nina's fault that she didn't 'get' the original 'Lady' script, it was Night's fault."
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,030
6000+ posts
|
|
6000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,030 |
Quote:
Things got only worse when she lambasted his inclusion of a mauling of a film critic in the story line and told Shyamalan his decision to cast himself as a visionary writer out to change the world bordered on self-serving.
OK, I can agree with her on this one. Shyamalan more than just cameos in his movies a la Hitchcock...he tries to be a part of them, as though he's writer-director-actor, and yes, it's self-serving. He made himself a major aspect of the plot in SIGNS and it fucks with the fourth wall. Should he care if he takes his audience "out" of his movie? Well, he should if he wants us to care about his characters and take his story seriously.
We all wear a green carnation.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
Me too. His brief cameo as the doc in "the Sixth Sense" worked because it was short. Casting himself as the vet who, basically, served as "Basil Exposition" in "Signs" was a major flaw in an otherwise well done movie.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
|
|
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091 |
Signs wasn't well done. There were plot holes you could fly an airbus through.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
It worked for me, other than the fact the kid was leaving water all over the house and, dizzam, water JUST happened to be the aliens' weakness.
If the aliens were so damn vunerable to water, how did they exist on earth for more than a few hours without getting rained on, exposed to dew, splashed by a mud puddle, etc?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
It worked for me, other than the fact the kid was leaving water all over the house and, dizzam, water JUST happened to be the aliens' weakness.
If the aliens were so damn vunerable to water, how did they exist on earth for more than a few hours without getting rained on, exposed to dew, splashed by a mud puddle, etc?
They brought raincoats and umbrellas.
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok. 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
Seriously, Sixth Sense is my fav. of all his movies, after that comes Unbreakable, then Signs, then the Village.... He puts a very nicely done air of creepieness and intensity into all his movies, which I like.
Am hoping the new movie will be very good. I have them all except The Village.
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
|
|
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
It worked for me, other than the fact the kid was leaving water all over the house and, dizzam, water JUST happened to be the aliens' weakness.
If the aliens were so damn vunerable to water, how did they exist on earth for more than a few hours without getting rained on, exposed to dew, splashed by a mud puddle, etc?
It was bad short sighted writing plain and simple.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
Water played a BIG factor in UNBREAKABLE, too, as it was the main character's weakness.....
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 28,009
Inglourious Basterd!!! 15000+ posts
|
|
Inglourious Basterd!!! 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 28,009 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
It worked for me, other than the fact the kid was leaving water all over the house and, dizzam, water JUST happened to be the aliens' weakness.
If the aliens were so damn vunerable to water, how did they exist on earth for more than a few hours without getting rained on, exposed to dew, splashed by a mud puddle, etc?
Don't forget your basic humidity.
Uschi said:I won't rape you, I'll just fuck you 'till it hurts and then not stop and you'll cry. MisterJLA: RACKS so hard, he called Jim Rome "Chris Everett." In Him, all porn is possible. He is far above mentions in so-called "blogs." RACK him, lest ye be lost! "I can't even brush my teeth without gagging!" - Tommy Tantillo: Wank & Cry, heckpuppy, and general laughingstock ![[Linked Image from i6.photobucket.com]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/JoeMama13/RedSoxBanner05.png)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
|
|
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091 |
The aliens had more than one weakness. Knives and wooden doors to name a couple.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
Well, knives as a weakness didn't bother me.
And I suppose its possible the things were simply not physically strong enough to break down a locked door.
But if water is going affect them in the same way as, basically, an acid affects a human, it makes no sense they could survive for more than a few hours without getting exposed to it and dying.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
You know, sorta going back on topic, its funny that Night has such a thing for water.
It was the weakness in both "Unbreakable" and "Signs," and now its the source of the title character in his new film.
Did the guy have a near drowning incident as a kid or something?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
|
|
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
Well, knives as a weakness didn't bother me.
And I suppose its possible the things were simply not physically strong enough to break down a locked door.
But if water is going affect them in the same way as, basically, an acid affects a human, it makes no sense they could survive for more than a few hours without getting exposed to it and dying.
They were physical enought to do a more than twelve foot vertical leap onto a rooftop.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 28,009
Inglourious Basterd!!! 15000+ posts
|
|
Inglourious Basterd!!! 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 28,009 |
I think their problem had less to do with doors and more to do with pantries. Which begs the question: What's in the PANTRY??? WHAT'S...IN...THE PANTRY???
Uschi said:I won't rape you, I'll just fuck you 'till it hurts and then not stop and you'll cry. MisterJLA: RACKS so hard, he called Jim Rome "Chris Everett." In Him, all porn is possible. He is far above mentions in so-called "blogs." RACK him, lest ye be lost! "I can't even brush my teeth without gagging!" - Tommy Tantillo: Wank & Cry, heckpuppy, and general laughingstock
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
Quote:
Ultimate Jaburg53 said:
They were physical enough to do a more than twelve foot vertical leap onto a rooftop.
Uh...strong legs, weak arms?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
Quote:
Ultimate Jaburg53 said:
They were physical enough to do a more than twelve foot vertical leap onto a rooftop.
Uh...strong legs, weak arms?
That the aliens were able to jump so high might indicate that they came from a planet with stronger gravity than on Earth, thus enabling them to jump 12 feet or more....but, the problem with that is that it ought to have given them greater musclular powers, too...which they seemed to lack in their arms.
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
|
|
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091 |
Yeah so kick the wooden door.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
The aliens must have came to earth on the short (space) bus!! They didn't know how to use their abilities to their best advantage.... which opens the door to THIS possibilty : Might there actually be races of dumb aliens out there? Look at the Pakleds from Star Trek : the Next Generation ..they were downright stupid!
" We look for things that make us go."
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
|
|
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091 |
Not to mention what a retard commander Riker is. First he sends them an away team of one. And the away team of one he sends is his chief engineer when the tecnology of the Pakleds was far behind his own.
I would have fired his ass or at the very least given him a very serious reprimand.
And to think the geniuses at Starfleet Command were tossing starships at him to command. Thank god for the crews of those ships he never took them up on it.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
|
|
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091 |
Did Troi warn him they weren't on the up and up before or after Geordi beamed over?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
She warned them AFTER Geordi beamed over..she was suspicious of the Pakleds after he went aboard their ailing ship.... and she warned Riker a few moments too late to beam him back...so, either the Pakleds were good at masking emotions, Troi fucked up or : Bad Plot device. Or - all the above....
You make the call.
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
|
|
The Once, and Future Cunt 15000+ posts
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 23,091 |
I still blame Riker. An away team of one.... What a moron.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
True.. Bad call, that..but, again, it was a plot device : Send Geordi over alone, so he can get to be the designated hostage. Sometimes the shows were written that way.
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
Quote:
Ultimate Jaburg53 said:
Yeah so kick the wooden door.
He didn't want to get a splinter?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
Quote:
Ultimate Jaburg53 said:
Yeah so kick the wooden door.
He didn't want to get a splinter?
Okay, so the aliens were dumb..afraid of water... and had a weakness to splinters. What's next, maybe they could be killed by being forced to watch reruns of THE FACTS OF LIFE?
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
That would explain why they knocked out the TV signals, remember?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
That would explain why they knocked out the TV signals, remember?
Yes..and here are the fatal lyrics that killed many of the dumb aliens before they figured out that they had to fuck up tv signals... :
You take the good, you take the bad,
you take them both and there you have
The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life.
There's a time you got to go and show
You're growin' now you know about
The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life.
When the world never seems
to be livin up to your dreams
And suddenly you're finding out
the Facts of Life are all about you, you.
It takes a lot to get 'em right
When you're learning the Facts of Life. (learning the Facts of Life)
Learning the Facts of Life (learning the Facts of Life)
Learning the Facts of Life.
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
R.I.P., dumb SIGNS aliens.... your demise was a weak but amusing plot device...gone but not totally forgotten. 
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
Remember how in " Mars Attacks" the aliens were killed by the music of Slim Whitman?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
Yes, I sure do!! Their green heads as'ploded!!
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
It was pretty gross, actually..the movie was fun, even if Paul Winfield and Michael J Fox died during the invasion....at least a black man, Jim Brown, got to be the hero in it. The kid from WITNESS was in it, and I was in WITNESS for about 7 seconds.
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
I have an autographed picture from Slim Whitman.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
Loved the movie, UNBREAKABLE..... it was not quite as excellent as THE SIXTH SENSE.....but it was interesting that Bruce Willis was in two of M Night's movies back to back...
Loved the superhero aspect of it. Samuel L Jackson was terrific in it, as was Bruce....
As for the SIXTH SENSE, didn't they make a tv show out of it? I don't follow network tv....
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
|
|
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,958 Likes: 6 |
I liked "Signs" better than "Unbreakable" but I realize both were flawed works.
I never saw "the Village," and from what I've heard I don't think I missed much.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
I saw THE VILLAGE, and to be blunt, it sucked bigtime.
SIXTH SENSE was the best of the lot. It was creepy. It was intense. Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment both put in excellent performances. Loved the fact that we got to see dead people, too!!
UNBREAKABLE was not as cool a movie, but it had it's moments..enough of them to make it enjoyable. As I posted earlier, the comic book aspect made it fun.
SIGNS..it was kinda dumb, but I enjoyed this one. Love aliens and invasion plots, though, as discussed in this thread, it was lacking.
It was creepy enough to make it a movie I had to own.
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,030
6000+ posts
|
|
6000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,030 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
It worked for me, other than the fact the kid was leaving water all over the house and, dizzam, water JUST happened to be the aliens' weakness.
If the aliens were so damn vunerable to water, how did they exist on earth for more than a few hours without getting rained on, exposed to dew, splashed by a mud puddle, etc?
I will agree this is the weakest aspect of SIGNS, that aliens with a "weakness" to water land on a planet that's over 75% of its surface covered with water. One would think that even basic condensation and evaporation would hamper these aliens.
We all wear a green carnation.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,030
6000+ posts
|
|
6000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,030 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
Quote:
Ultimate Jaburg53 said:
They were physical enough to do a more than twelve foot vertical leap onto a rooftop.
Uh...strong legs, weak arms?
Works for t. rex.
We all wear a green carnation.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
|
|
I walk in eternity 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 19,633 |
Quote:
Jim Jackson said:
Quote:
the G-man said:
Quote:
Ultimate Jaburg53 said:
They were physical enough to do a more than twelve foot vertical leap onto a rooftop.
Uh...strong legs, weak arms?
Works for t. rex.
Jeepster Lyrics
by T. Rex
You're so sweet, you're so fine
I want you all and ev'rything just to be mine
'Cos you're my baby, 'cos you're my love
Oh girl I'm just a jeepster for your love
You slide so good with bones so fair
You've got the universe reclining in your hair
'Cos you're my baby, yes you're my love
Oh girl I'm just a jeepster for your love
Just like a car you're pleasing to be hold
I'll call you Jaguar if I may be so bold
'Cos you're my baby, 'cos you're my love
Oh girl I'm just a jeepster for your love - oh
The wild winds blow upon your frozen cheeks
The way you flip your hip it always makes me weak
'Cos you're my baby, 'cos you're my love
Oh girl I'm just a jeepster for your love - oh
Your motivation is so sweet
Your vibrations are all burning up my feet
'Cos you're my baby, mmh, 'cos you're my love
Oh girl I'm just a jeepster for your love
I said girl I'm just a vampire for your love
I'm gonna suck you
Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o wow
A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a ow, wow yeah, vampire!
"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your death bring you the peace you never found in life." - Tuvok.
|
|
|
|
|
