TheSixthSense Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Shelf Life: The Sixth Sense
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Fandom », Shelf Life »
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Last week's "Shelf Life" looked back at Carrie, the iconic Brian De Palma movie that introduced the world to movies about terrifying teenage girls, the latest iteration of which is Diablo Cody's follow-up to Juno, Jennifer's Body. In anticipation of the upcoming movie Surrogates, which opens this Friday, we decided to revisit Bruce Willis' last great hit, The Sixth Sense, admittedly less because it has anything other than its star in common with Jonathan Mostow's technothriller than the fact that there are few movies in the last decade as acclaimed and commercially successful as M. Night Shyamalan's 1999 breakthrough. As such, we figured it was time to take a look at the movie that made "I see dead people" a pop culture catchphrase and examine whether it should truly live on as the classic it was originally considered.
The Facts: M. Night Shyamalan and his diminutive star, Haley Joel Osment, became overnight icons with this 1999 film about a doctor named Malcolm (played by Willis) desperately trying to reach a little boy named Cole who claims to see ghosts. Though it allegedly cost only $55 million to make, the film became the sleeper hit of that summer, earning some $670 million worldwide as well as six Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor, Director, Editor, and Original Screenplay. Meanwhile, the film drew almost unanimous praise from the critical community, and currently enjoys a 85 percent Tomatometer rating. Not to mention its greatest legacy – namely, making twist endings the hallmark (and eventually, Achilles' heel) of its director, most of whose subsequent movies featured some sort of third-act surprise.
Interview: 'Away We Go' Director Sam Mendes
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », New Releases », Interviews », Summer Movies »
Sam Mendes started his feature directorial career with American Beauty, an incisive look at suburban malaise that in addition to netting multiple Oscar nominations, earned him a reputation for being a keen if not altogether optimistic observer of human nature. Ten years later he's virtually cemented that pessimistic point of view with films like Jarhead, Road to Perdition and Revolutionary Road, all chronicles of characters desperately in search of something, if not better, than at least different than what they already have. But while his latest film, Away We Go, uses a couple's road trip as yet another journey of self-discovery, Mendes looks at the central characters' future with one another with optimism and genuine hope, offering a reassuring rejoinder that the director does not in fact believe that all relationships are destined to fail.
Cinematical recently sat down with Mendes to discuss Away We Go, an intimate but broadly appealing comedy about two lovers, Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph), who embark on a road trip to figure out where they want to raise a family, if not also determine what kind of family they want that to be. In addition to talking about his own feelings – cinematically and otherwise – about the prospect of living happily ever after, Mendes discussed the process of helping his co-stars get comfortable with one another, and ruminated on making a movie for the first time that's unfettered to the expectations of an awards season.
Cinematical Seven: Great Movies About People With Psychic Powers
Filed under: Action », Animation », Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Cinematical Seven »
This Friday will see the release of Push, a sci-fi actioner about people with amazing mental abilities on the run from a government organization that wants to exploit their gifts. I'm reminded of how cool it would be to have mental powers of my own whenever I find myself comfortably ensconced on the couch with the remote just out of reach, and I try to bring it closer through sheer force of will. Being able to predict the future would certainly enhance my stock portfolio and the ability to read minds would vastly improve my poker game. Movies about people with special mental abilities have a long and illustrious history, so here are seven of my favorite films from the genre.
The Star Wars films
A discussion of psychic powers in the movies that did not mention The Force would rightfully earn me a verbal slap down in the comments section. The Force is an energy field created by all living things, that surrounds and penetrates living beings and binds the galaxy together -- and if you're a Jedi (or for that matter a member of the Sith), you can channel this energy field to do pretty much anything the script may require.
- Telekinesis? Sure. It comes in handy during a closely matched light saber duel, allowing you to whip large objects at your opponent.
- Mind control? Absolutely. This is particularly useful for telling weak minded storm troopers to buzz off.
- The ability to see the future? Hell yeah. This is what allows a Jedi to anticipate an opponents moves in battle.
- Fire a proton torpedo through an exhaust port that's only two meters wide? Oh please. The Star Wars saga would have ground to a halt early on without this ability.
Haley Joel Osment Making His Comeback on Broadway
Filed under: Casting », Celebrities and Controversy »
We hadn't heard from child star extraordinaire Haley Joel Osment for a while -- at least not in any productive way. His last film (not counting the unreleased Home of the Giants) was the mediocre 2003 coming-of-ager Secondhand Lions; since then, news about him has mostly involved car accidents and drunk driving. But thankfully, things seem to be turning around. The actor, now 20 years old, will star in this fall's Broadway revival of David Mamet's challenging American Buffalo, alongside John Leguizamo and Cedric the Entertainer. I'm assuming that he'll be taking on the role of teenaged Bobby, played by Sean Nelson in the 1996 film. Not a huge part, but being one of a cast of three on Broadway certainly isn't trivial.So few child stars make a successful transition into adult careers, but an actor of Osment's caliber deserves one. (The Sixth Sense is all well and good, but A.I.'s "David" was a masterpiece.) Now that he's no longer an adorable moppet, he should probably aim for "character actor" rather than "star." If that's the goal, then American Buffalo seems like a step in the right direction; there are few things like a little Mamet to establish some thespian street cred.
The play starts previews on October 31st and opens in November.
Eva Longoria Investigates Rob Corddry in 'Lower Learning'
Filed under: Comedy », Independent », Casting », Newsstand »
Would you ever believe that Eva Longoria dated Jason Biggs? Well, Hollywood is asking us to suspend our disbelief, because the two are starring in a comedy in which they play former flames. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sexy "desperate housewife" and the doofy "pie f**cker" have been cast alongside Rob Corddry in Lower Learning, the debut feature from writer-director Mark Lafferty, who was responsible for the gay-centric Sixth Sense spoof, The Seventh Sense ("I see gay people"). In Lower, Corddry will play a shady elementary school principal under investigation by Longoria's inspector with help from her ex, a former cop who is now a vice principal. The cast will also include Corddry's old Daily Show co-worker Ed Helms, Tenacious D's Kyle Gass and Saw's Monica Potter. I don't know about you, but I expect this to be another movie in which the adults are less mature than the children.I hope there aren't too many disappointed men out there, but Jason Biggs isn't much of a substitute for Beyoncé Knowles. Remember last year, Longoria was said to be doing a lesbian film with Knowles, but the rumor was quickly and unfortunately shot down. Well, let's just hope Longoria's character doesn't end up getting back together with Biggs' character, so we don't have to suffer through their reunion kiss -- though I've already suffered from imagining it. I'm rather hoping this movie focuses more on Corddry, who is a lot more enjoyable to watch. However, I might be in a minority here, considering audiences weren't too receptive to his recent sitcom The Winner, nor were they interested in his starring role in Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story nor as support in The Heartbreak Kid. Personally, I think he needs another shot at carrying a movie -- his next few roles are fairly small, playing second fiddle to Justin Long, Will Ferrell, Harold & Kumar and Ashton Kutcher. Like Longoria, he could definitely do better.
The Crappiest Twist Endings of All Time
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Johnny Depp », Remakes and Sequels », Lists »
Over at Cracked.com, they've made a list of the top ten worst twist endings of all time. Obviously that list has a lot of spoilers, but I'm going to attempt to write this post without revealing any of them. Why? To make sure you go over there, of course. So, if you're not worried about ruining the endings to some movies you probably shouldn't see anyway, then head over and read the hilariously confusing explanations, or attempts at explanations, and/or how some endings don't make enough sense to bother with explanations. I will let you in on the titles of the movies, just in case you are interested in seeing any of them in the future and would like to go in spoiler free. The ten, in order from "least asinine" to "most asinine", are: Stay (2005); High Tension (2003); Signs (2002); Hide and Seek (2005) and Secret Window (2004), which tie for #7, because they're considered the exact same plot (is that spoiling it for you guys? probably -- oh well, I tried); The Forgotten (2004); Basic (2003); Perfect Stranger (2007); The Number 23 (2007); Planet of the Apes (2001); and The Life of David Gale (2003).I haven't seen the number one movie, but I can't imagine it's worse than the others that I have seen, especially Planet of the Apes. Basically, I think Cracked.com considers it the worst because it stars Kevin Spacey, who also starred in The Usual Suspects, which pretty much, along with The Sixth Sense, obviously, got Hollywood on this crappy twist kick to begin with (He was also in Se7en, which had another so-so twist ending). Look at those films; they all came out between 2001 and 2007. And what was the most common twist? The main character did it. Either he or she has a split personality, or amnesia, or suffers from some other psychological ailment. Other idiotic yet easily written twists include: aliens did it; it's all a dream (as if you need to steal from Bob Newhart, come on!); and, in the fashion of Suspects, it's all just made-up stories. Personally, I'm upset to not see my least favorite twist ending. It involved a whole crop of great actors who just so happened to be explained as existing inside the imagination of some mental patient. That one had the split personality plus the dream plus the Suspects idea that none of what we watched is real. Can you name it?
Cinematical Seven: Hollywood Trends That Need to End
Filed under: Animation », Horror », Music & Musicals », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Family Films », Cinematical Seven », Remakes and Sequels », Lists »
Oftentimes Hollywood's lack of originality leads to overexposed trends. Remember when every action movie seemed to be easily defined as 'Die Hard on a ...'? Remember when disaster movies were all the rage? And then twenty years later when they were all the rage again? Remember when there were like a hundred body-swapping comedies? Well, there appear to be fewer trends these days, or maybe it's just that Hollywood turns trends into full-blown practices, as in the case of sequels, comic book movies and fantasy films based on literary franchises. Nowadays even a promised trend, like the one involving religious Passion of the Christ copycats, isn't necessarily going to happen. But despite there being so few here-today-gone-tomorrow film fads, there's at least seven bad ideas currently in vogue in Tinsel Town, and all of them need to disappear soon, lest they too become permanent.
1. Torture Porn
I'm going to start with an easy, surely obvious one. Torture porn is the latest trend in horror, a genre that changes its predominant style every few years, and it may be the most despised -- at least by us non-horror junkies. I miss the days when a friend, an actual junkie, could drag me to a harmless scary movie that provided a few screams, a few laughs and afterward, at the most, a few silly nightmares. Now, with each new horror movie there's promise of a seriously depressing experience. After watching The Hills Have Eyes, I realized I hadn't been frightened at all. Instead I wanted to cry my heart out. I haven't been to a horror flick since, and my friend is going solo. Sure, I hear that Eli Roth's movies are a lot more enjoyable than watching a young woman raped while watching her father burned alive and her mother raped and then shot in the head, but I just haven't been in the mood to find out.
Apparently the torture porn trend is already on its way out. Hostel II performed poorly at the box office and Captivity may have peaked too soon, reaching maximum tastelessness before even opening in theaters. So what will be next? I'm rather looking forward to when slasher movies are in fashion again, when I can delight in seeing sinful human beings killed off quickly and deservedly by an implausible maniac. Which brings me to the next trend ...
Lasse Hallstrom to Direct Romantic Comedy
Filed under: Comedy », Romance », Deals », Sony »
I don't like picturing Jessica Lange dating Haley Joel Osment, but that is what popped into my head while reading about Sammy. The romantic comedy follows a relationship between a woman who communicates with animals (à la Lange in Broken Flowers) and a man who communicates with the dead (à la Osment in The Sixth Sense) . The script has been written by Delia Ephron, but instead of being directed by her sister Nora, the project has Lasse Hallstrom attached. I pretend that I dislike Hallstrom as a director, but honestly the only film of his I've bothered to see is The Cider House Rules. Still, I have noticed that his career hasn't been going so well of late. His next film The Hoax is due in a month, and he's also set to direct Daughter of the Queen of Sheba, either of which could turn his luck around (he also mentioned plans for The Royal Physician's Visit last fall), but lowering himself to the level of a paranormal rom-com is not a good direction to go in. Seriously, what was the last successful romantic comedy with fantasy elements? I understand that Hallstrom could be desperate enough to make studio fluff, but unless he simply needs the paycheck, he can't hope for much good to come out of this.
Review Of M. Night's Rejected 'Green Effect' Script Pops Up Online
Filed under: Action », Drama », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Scripts », Newsstand », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
Over at Latino Review, they've posted a review of the much-circulated -- and much rejected -- script by The Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan called The Green Effect. Sadly, the script recently went around Hollywood and nobody was interested -- which is something the author of the review just can't understand. At the site, the reviewer goes on and on about how fantastic the script is and how Night is getting the shaft in Hollywood after only one "flop" -- the less-than-stellar Lady in the Water.
In the piece, the reviewer also goes on to say that any studio executive who passed on the project should be fired because, among other things, Shyamalan's films have made billions and this script has a chance of doing the same. I kinda agree -- at least about the shafting part. It's a story probably as old as Hollywood itself. A writer/director has a huge success the first time he gets a chance and then spends the rest of his career trying to live up to that success. Shyamalan is a talented writer/director and I hope he won't follow in the footsteps of another very successful first-timer who never really "recovered" from his initial success -- the genius Orson Welles.
Welles was never really the same after Citizen Kane and spent the rest of his career trying to live up to it. Shyamalan, at least, has already had a few successful films under his belt. Heck, even Spielberg made one or two not-so-good movies -- just watch 1941 if you don't believe me. So, in spite of his recent downturn, I think Shyamalan has the talent and skills to bounce back. What do you guys think?
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Interracial Harmony: 'Ninja Assassin' vs. 'Blind Side'
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Exclusive 'Nine' Poster Premiere!
Exclusive: Title Track for 'The Road' Soundtrack
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