Signs

If directing movies was like playing baseball, M. Night Shyamalan is not the kind of director that makes home run kind of hits, however if you ever needed a double to win a game, call this guy up to bat, he will do it and will cause some ruckus in the left outfield just to make the game interesting.

His latest movie "Signs" is no exception, while our left outfielder is doing okay in this movie, it's the shortstop's turn to get whacked in the head mainly because the ball landed in the right outfield and didn't see any signs that the ball came from the other side of the playing field.

Without knowning who else in HawaiiStories has seen this movie it's hard to discuss it without giving away any of the plot elements. I guess the spoiler parts of the movie might take place on the comments part of this entry.

Suffice to say you need to do the following when going to this movie:

1) Don't go alone (Panther was with me).
2) Get a small soda.
3) Get there before the movie starts.
4) Don't move from your seat once the movie starts.
5) Pay attention to the movie above all else.

Comments

The New York Times recently ran a thoroughly intriguing piece about the art of composing movie trailers, and the incredibly involved process behind the teasers for "Signs" figures prominently.

I'm glad to see you liked it, Helen. I perhaps put too much stock in "professional movie reviewers," and they hadn't had very many nice things to say about this one.

(Though, the Tomato rating is a respectable 76 percent... this versus their biggest bomb of the year with 2 percent.)

Even without seeing it or "Unbreakable," it's clear Shyamalan is sticking with a particular flavor or theme. That works for some people, and not for others.

Well, Shyamalan should have hired Helen as a consultant. Some of her theories afterwards made a lot more sense than what was actually in the film.

Swing away damnit!

NO SPOILERS HERE

I saw it on opening weekend, and I really appreciated it. The best piece of advice I could give anyone as they head into the theater would be to leave any expectations and preconceived notions at the box office. Just see it and appreciate it for what it IS, not what you thought it was going to be or what you thought it should be.

Another piece of advice: see it before you read the reviews or hear about it from many more people!

M. Night Shyamalan is an incredibly intelligent filmmaker. I wish he'd stop worrying about creating blockbusters and concentrate on turning out the film that best captures his vision. His running commentary on his own films is always educational for me--I believe I know a lot more about the art of film just from listening to Night talk about his movies.

Before the movie Albert and I were discussing something related to the movie. While our post-movie discussion was still related to the movie it was way different from the discussion before the movie.

> M. Night Shyamalan is an incredibly intelligent filmmaker.

Perhaps. But he's not an incredibly intelligent screenplay writer. I think he'd be wise to find someone else to WRITE his material, then film it.
(He's also a lousy actor.)

It's been almost a week since I have seen "Signs" and so far only once. Would I see it again? Maybe, either with someone else or it was the only available movie at Ward (or Dole). Would I buy it when it comes out on DVD? Sure if it's under $25 (I think "Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" was in that price range anyway) and if it contains deleted scenes as it's extra features.

Is it a good movie? I say yes. Is it a great movie? I say no. It is a terrible movie? I say no.

What works in this movie? Things that dealt with the Mel Gibson's character and his family in face of events that no one in real life has ever faced which is basically the openning stages of an invasion of Earth by an unknown alien force. Well maybe this comes close if one considers the Cuban Missile Crisis (but I am too young and too far away to remember that). The scarey/horror parts were simple but effective with very little gore. The humor parts were also good.

What's wrong with this movie? I think the problem is the lack of seeing the 'bigger picture' or the motivation of the other side. There are other things that don't add up. The incidence of new crop circles around certain parts of the world, the sightings of spacecraft hovering over a major world city in another part of the world, a sighting of an alien being in yet another part of the world. While these events might foretell an invasion, it doesn't seem that all these events were done by one alien race.

I'm hoping the DVD of this movie would have deleted scenes that might explain all or some of this but I suppose Mr. Shyamalan's primary goal was the tell the story from the family's point of view in which case he did a good job there.

The "second" movie, movie-within-a-movie, in "Signs" was utterly inept and unconvincing. The crisis of faith suffered by the Gibson character was, I think, intended by Shyamalan to be more significant. If I'm right, he failed miserably.

The logic of the invasion was just plain stupid. Why on earth did those idiots go to the trouble to make a huge crop circle to locate an isolated farmhouse with four people in it, when they had the ability to hover in fleets over major cities of the earth?

And why didn't they have the sense to wear spacesuits ... or at least carry an umbrella!!! :)

Minor spoiler

Without a world altering crisis like an invasion from outer space, there wouldn't be much to test the Mel Gibson's character.

I still think there was at least 2 different alien races at work in this movie, even through we only saw one in the movie which happen to be the landing forces (grunts, foot soldiers, warriors) and not the brains of the outfit.

As far as spacesuits goes, yeah maybe they had them, just that it wasn't waterproof.

Found out that the DVD for Signs will be available on January 7, 2003.

Picked up the DVD of Signs yesterday. There are 5 deleted scenes and a documentary of making the movie.

Watching this movie a second time on DVD, I picked up a few things that I missed when I first watched it in the theatre.

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