film criticism by maryann johanson, not an AI | since 1997
There is only one thing worse than an M. Night Shyamalan movie with a twist ending. And that is one without a twist ending. Feels like a faith-based movie trying to sneak in under a disingenuous wire.
Plus drone warfare, murder most genteel, and more. (First published May 7th, 2022, on Substack and Patreon.)
Over the river and through the woods to yet another banal, anticlimactic attempt at storytelling from M. Night Shyamalan. And this time, it’s found-footage.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be from a terrible film. I can imagine someone otherwise loving Citizen Kane who thinks the discovery of Rosebud’s identity at the end is howlingly idiotic.
Plus: first-grader teased over her Star Wars water bottle; journalistic ethics getting a workout; saga of a film critic banned from screenings who got her buddies at The New York Times to intervene; more…
All I can think about is M. Night Shyamalan’s risible The Happening, and poor Alan Ruck having to deliver one of the most awful lines of dialogue in the history of movies: ‘There appears to be an event occurring.’
…you people who hate his films more and more with each passing release. At least that’s how it sounds from a bizarre exchange at a recent press conference to promote The Last Airbender, as reported by Chicago Now’s Marcus Leshock. First came the question from a journalist: You had a very strong start of your … more…
U.S. AND CANADA/OPENING WIDE The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: A girl with no personality is unable to choose between the vampire she loves and the werewolf she loves. The invisible man was heartbroken. If you can’t make it to the multiplex, try: • Hard Candy (2005): For a much better exploraton from director David Slade of … more…
It had to be done: all in one place, the very best bad dialogue of the year 2008. I didn’t mean to hold these till the movie year was over — it just sort of happened that way. I’ll return to posting quotes as I hear them for 2009. There’s surprisingly few of these. That’s … more…
This appears to be a movie about an incident that occurs to a certain number of people across a particular region consisting of a few states.
