Defending Shyamalan
A defense of M. Night Shyamalan by Slate's Ross Douthat. Key passage: "While Shyamalan may be a narcissist with delusions of grandeur, he's also a filmmaker of rare talent and creativity (these are hardly mutually exclusive categories, after all), and however lousy Lady in the Water proves to be, he deserves to survive this summer of embarrassment and live to film again. He's not a Dylan or a Disney, to pick just two names from the roster of ridiculous comparisons that [Michael] Bamberger fastens on, and his potential has often gone frustratingly unfulfilled in the nine years since Haley Joel Osment told Bruce Willis about all the dead people he kept spotting. But Shyamalan's missteps have been interesting, his mistakes worth a second look, and his obsession with the integrity of his own artistic visions, however irritating, has distinguished him from nearly all his young-Hollywood competitors."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 20, 2006 at 3:19 PM
comment #1
Joel says ...
Nine years? Sixth Sense came out in 1999. Did I miss 2007 and half of 2008?
Posted by Joel at July 20, 2006 3:47 PM
comment #2
Jack Webb says ...
Douthat is using the Mayan calendar.
Posted by Jack Webb at July 21, 2006 12:34 AM
comment #3
Anonymous says ...
"His obsession with the integrity of his own artistic visions, however irritating, has distinguished him from nearly all his young-Hollywood competitors."
Yeah, well. Some would call it navel-gazing. I do. Distancing yourself from the pack, while sometimes a great notion, isn't worth much if you end up in a cul-de-sac and only make circles.
Posted by Anonymous at July 21, 2006 12:48 PM
comment #4
Josh Mooney says ...
For the record, post #3 was from me. Never accuse an artist of navel-gazing unless you can sign your name to the defamation.
Posted by Josh Mooney at July 21, 2006 1:19 PM
comment #5
Anonymous says ...
It's going to open at number three with under 20 million.
Ouch.
Posted by Anonymous at July 22, 2006 8:36 AM