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JustinJackFlash's Replies
"Shawshank has for a while now remained the top underdog champ and it's because of IMDb making it number one... It's a great movie but to me and many a great good movie as opposed to a true classic like The Godfather but...
Anyhow, I'm wondering that, when the boards close, and when the proverbial tree makes no more sound in the woods, will this movie mean as much... when the boards close it seems, to me, no one will care about things like what's number one or hell even number 11 for that matter since there will be no more discussion of any kind"
Right then, young skipper. Let me tell you about the olden days. A long, long time ago before we had the internet. We would have to discuss films with people in person verbally, get our movie news from programs on the telly (ask your Granddad about Barry Norman) and even read about films in magazines, which we'd actually have to hold ourselves and turn the pages. With our hands! :p
Anyway, young man. Don't worry. Shawshank Redemption was rated the best film long before imdb existed. It actually gained it's popularity due to tv showings and was usually number one in most film magazine polls. It wasn't imdb that gave it it's popularity so it will remain popular for a long time after.
Yeah, it is a shame about the imdb boards closing, but I think something else will take it's place. This site seems to be doing ok so far.
Will do
It's been a very long time since I saw the film so I couldn't discuss the performances in any depth. I just remember that I didn't think the performances were as you describe. But my intent wasn't really to discuss the overall quality of Signs. I don't mind doing that, but I wouldn't be able to talk about things like acting particularly well because I haven't seen the film since it's cinema release. And as I said, I don't think your wrong, it's just your perception.
Interesting ideas about the space travel. Yeah, it's odd the kind of elements people will complain about while ignoring others.
See this is a complaint that is a lot more subjective. It's not retarded, it's your opinion and perfectly fair. I do disagree with it, I think the performances reflect the mood and I like the mood. But this isn't a case of wrong or right. The water issue, I believe, is a completely different story.
I think Shyamalan has been victim to a lot of bad luck over his career. I haven't seen the films that are truly hated, which I guess would be The Happening and The Last Airbender. So I couldn't really comment. But I really like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. He is very good at creating a mood and atmosphere flavoured by an emotional tint that reflects the character's gloomy mood. Despite The Village's flaws it's hard to deny it has a well established tone.
As an example, compare the first episode of his tv show Wayward Pines, which he directed, to the rest of it, which he didn't. While watching it I didn't know it was directed by Shyamalan, but the atmosphere was very well crafted and seemed kind of familiar. So I looked up the director and it made sense. Watching the rest of the show, you could really feel his absence, it did seem like a step down.
I think Shyamalan's best route would be to make smaller, independent and more character driven films rather than big budget studio controlled films that expect a big twist and other thriller conventions. Though I haven't seen Split yet, but apparently it's very good, have you seen it?
And yeah, the aliens weren't the real story in Signs, it was about the family. Which is the case in many of his films. The Sixth Sense is about the bond between Willis and the kid and how they help each other to come to terms with their problems, let go and move on. The ghosts and twist are just window dressing. A lot of people seem to miss this and focus on the less important matters, searching for things things to find fault with.
And this is kind of the reason why I'm starting a thread like this. My aim is to comment on audiences rather than the films. There is plenty of criticism of films, but sometimes the blame doesn't lay entirely with what's on the screen.
Haha, ok. I was meaning to. I keep getting sidetracked.
We all have our opinions, but i'm just curious. You said you liked the new Ghostbusters. But why do you find that funny but not Deadpool? You said the jokes are juvenile but I'd say both films are childish. It's just that Deadpool does it with charm.
Your a bullshit artist.
Hollywood at the moment is very much convinced that familiarity sells. There's already a built in audience for the Ghostbusters brand name. I don't mind a remake here and there but they've gone into overkill. I can only hope that with tv taking so many risks that films will have to follow suite if they want to survive.
I'd preferred it if they'd just left it alone. I think some films can be remade and some can't. Things like Ghostbusters and Back to the Future are examples. They have a certain magic to them. I dread the day they mess with Back to the Future.
You sum up exactly how female characters should be written, and I think we're getting there, especially in TV shows. And in Ghostbusters, they should have been characters first and funny second, which is what I felt the original film achieved. It might even have been beneficial to cast actors not known for comedy, but write them into funny situations.
And yeah, it did feel very improvised. It felt like they were going for that kind of oddball, random humor that you get in things like Anchorman, but they didn't really understand how that kind of comedy works.