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THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Set Visit Preview and 4 Awesome New Posters!Reporter Puts M. Night Shyamalan on the Spot About His Career and THE LAST AIRBENDER
by Germain Lussier Posted:July 19th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
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For the amount of people who trounced M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, very few had the guts and/or the chance to talk to him about it to his face. There’s now a video from a foreign press conference (it’s labeled Mexico City but Shyamalan says he’s in France so who knows) where one ballsy reporter asked him if he was making films more commercial now because the audience had lost faith in him as a filmmaker.
“I think if I thought like you I’d kill myself. Everything you said is the opposite of my instinct as an artist. The way you just thought, I literally would kill myself,” Shyamalan said. And that’s just the start of a near 3 minute answer. Check it out after the jump.
Video via Geeks of Doom:
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The video and Shyamalan’s response obviously speak for themselves but there are a few things to point out. First, as bad as we think most of Shyamalan’s recent movies have been, he has the utmost confidence in them. Second, he doesn’t mention The Happening. Third, Jackson Rathbone’s reactions, both with his face and mouth, are hilarious. I’m sure he and his sister have had MANY heated arguments about which of Shyamalan’s films are their favorites, The Village or Lady in the Water. Fourth, if what Shyamalan says is true, he should start opening his movies in Europe first because the way he makes it sound, only America doesn’t get what he’s trying to do.
What do you guys think? Is he delusional? Narcissistic? Or just super defensive? I can’t figure it out.
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Related Links
- The Razzie Awards Names THE LAST AIRBENDER the Worst Film of 2010
- THE LAST AIRBENDER Blu-ray Review
- DUE DATE Press Conference with Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Director Todd Phillips and Michelle Monaghan (With Audio)
- Watch RED Press Conferences with Bruce Willis and Karl Urban, Helen Mirren, and Mary Louise Parker
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He mentions The Happening. He says they're teaching a class on it in England. Presumably that class is entitled “How to Make an Abomination of a Movie”. It's a pity more journalists don't have the balls to call it like this French lady.
Read my above comment, cretin.
Ugh. I felt bad for him before, and thought he had just had hit a bad point, but now I see that he's truly clueless and arrogant.
WOW, he is such a fucking asshole. He really has no clue about why people criticize his movies and he shows no indication that he is willing to change in any way to make them better.
In my opinion his main problem is his writing, if he just worked with pre-written scripts and just concentrated on directing, he could once again make amazing movies. But a sign of a truly stupid person is the inability to learn from mistakes, he seems to be that type of person.
Read my above comments, too, cretin.
completely and utterly delusional.
Rathbone is so cheesy.
she's NOT french!!! listen to her! there's a HUGE difference on how is the sound of french and spanish!! you short-minded americans never get these things right, you think you're the center of the world. I think Shyamalan was only super defensive which is TOTALLY understandable and he's far from being short-minded like you people. I hate his most recent movies but I apreciate his attitude, if I was a director whose career was bombing like this I would think the same, would never lost faith in myself and would continue to try my best on what I would do next.
relax
Mate, I’m not American, which exposes your immense hypocrisy. I didn’t listen to what she was saying to be honest, I just read the subtitles and thought it had said somewhere that she was French.
Wow man, seriously, you talking like that of him for being American, is as short minded or more than simply not knowing Spanish or French, especially if it they relatively less necessary than English.
definitely americans ARE short minded and think erroneously that they are the center of the world, as it can be confirmed by this post defining french and spanish as “less necessary” than english. I can only imagine what the american conceitedness thinks about any other languages or countries in the world. by my personal experience (2,5 years in the states) I can confirm that the general american belief is “the world is all that useless thing surrounding america”. But the real useless place in the world are actually the united states of america. The world would be a much better place without americans.
definitely americans ARE short minded and think erroneously that they are the center of the world, as it can be confirmed by this post defining french and spanish as “less necessary” than english. I can only imagine what the american conceitedness thinks about any other languages or countries in the world. by my personal experience (2,5 years in the states) I can confirm that the general american belief is “the world is all that useless thing surrounding america”. But the real useless place in the world are actually the united states of america. The world would be a much better place without americans.
Please, it is Mexico City. Can't you listen to the journalist's Spanish? Or read the Spanish title of the movie on the backdrop?
shit is that how Mexico treats a director who graces them with a press conference
reporters basically called him a racist and a failure to his face
'What do you guys think? Is he delusional? Narcissistic? Or just super defensive? I can’t figure it out.'
Yes.
When did she call him a racist? And hes not gracing anyone with anything, hes doing promo for his movie. Its a standard thing and all big movie directors and actors do it, Mexico is a huge market.
Air Bender showed that he isn't good at directing Action sequences though. He should stick to more drama/mystery focused stories
sense11 go watch the full conference it is on you tube they basically call him a racist
and even say ” how does it feel to be from a country that feels it is superior than everyone else”
“omg, my sister and i argue about his movies.” who cares?! haha
Yeah, nice attempt at a save there, Rathbone.
If anyone should be pissed at Shyamalan it's Jackson Rathbone, for completely gutting his character.
I honestly don't think Shyamalan has written a second draft of any script since THE SIXTH SENSE hit. He became so insulaterd and convinced of his own genius I'm sure he thinks every word he writes is brilliant. Even the atrocious lines in TLA.
Well isn't that true lol just kidding. I just watched the clip above, did not see that part of the press conference.
Hes just so damn full of himself that its irritating, so far up his own ahole that hes going to need a flashlight to get out.
People hate, but ultimately he's a great director, easily better than what's his name fincher, who this and many websites are happy to suck his… You know…
What a douchebag. You can easily tell from his response that he didn't like the criticism that the reporter gave towards his resume of movies. A true and respectful creator of works of art would've responded in a more mature and professional manner. By telling her that if he thought that way he would kill himself says tons about his arrogance. Word to the wise….Don't be cocky while making shitty movies. P.S. Avatar was a fluke.
Excuse me…..Avatar :The Last Airbender
Americans can be such assholes.
nowhere close to ask good as David Fincher
avatar was not a fluke ok mabe the movie but the cartoon is absolutly great
1. Assuming he is American is just as ignorant as him saying shes french. (although to be honest it wouldn't surprise me)
2. It says a few lines down from the top “(it’s labeled Mexico City but Shyamalan says he’s in France so who knows)” and he most likely didn't pay attention to what she was saying (or how) and instead just read the subtitles. So if anything you should be mad at Shyamalan for not knowing where the fuck he is and being ignorant not some random internet poster.
And lastly Shyamalan IS short-minded because he hasn't listened to any criticism of his works that he brought about in the last decade (much like George Lucas I bet). It's one thing to go and say what he did and brag about how commercially successful his films are (there is no denying that) , but not how critically reviled he has become of late.
Also, I've seen the happening. And it was the worst film I've seen behind Battlefield: Earth.
He doesn’t say they are in France.
He says, “The thing is, you gotta think – it’s ironic – France right now, France’s favorite movie is The Village. In Spain Lady In The Water is HUGE. In Japan…”
So stop the confusion. He is in Mexico. The woman is speaking to him in Spanish. He knows where he is.
Some of you people are just so moronically stupid it blows my mind.
Amen-Ra.
Agreed on Battlefield Earth.
So can every other nationality.
Hey, Roman Polanski called he wants to rape your daughter.
true, but other nationalities are more humble. They don't complain as much as we do.
Take a message.
This took place in mexico city without a doubt, and she is speaking spanish. Shyamalan just said that their favorite movie in france is The Village.
This guy is so full of shit, His films are getting worse and worse, people still give him a chance by going to see the last airbender and they are let down once more. With this list of bad movies I think a lot of fans just won't show up for the next one. He has to learn from it and this Mexican reporter had the balls to tell him to his face. He should instead realize she is trying to make him understand that his first more honest films were better and that now all his forced effort just makes him seem desperate for greatness. She is just telling him what I think everyone else is wondering right now about his career, because right now it seems he is doing films for all the wrong reasons and it's very sad having so much potential.
I personally thought The Village was a good film, I really enjoyed it (even more than Sixth Sense). However his movies after that one have all sucked, and personally I never thought much of Signs either.
I think all of the praise Shyamalan got early in his career went to his head and now its full of nothing but narcissistic daydreams. The guy is clearly flattering himself to maintain the quota so generously given to him a decade ago, thus preventing his dreary down-climb to suicidal tendencies by keeping his self-esteem high. Its no wonder he said he would kill himself if he thought like that, because everybody else would be egging him on.
Tell that to the French president. Americans are just as arrogant and self-righteous as most developed countries citizens. We just have more culture to market our arrogance (I know, so arrogant right?)
Yeah he said “If I'm in France right now, Frances favorite movie is…” but it is easily mistakable as “I'm in France right now,” so I can understand why so many people are confused.
LMAO! All she said is what everyone but him already knows. He should make a movie about his own denial–a true story.
Humble? No they're not haha. Visiting England, I heard plenty of arrogance. They get more than America. Visit countries. Maybe live there a while. You'll hear as much complaining and arrogance. According to a professor of European History that I had…Germany is equivalent to America. Hmmm. Visit. Experience. But then again I'm probably arrogant by calling other countries arrogant. Remember, America is a country built on immigrants. The arrogance had to start somewhere…
He never said he’s in France, he just said that the French love The Village and that is their favorite Shyamalan movie. The conference took place in Mexico City last Friday, I attended and when it was over, I was invited to a brief “meet & greet” with M. Night.
Here’s more or less how my one question and his answer went:
Me: I just have one question, what is more important for you? Critic’s reviews, box office results or your personal satisfaction?
M.Night: Critics (M. Night laughs at his own joke). No really, so far audiences have come to save me, I haven’t had a filmed that bombed, so it’s all about personal satisfaction
(from here on I’ll just write a shortened version of his response)
You have to understand there’s two things: the reality and the perceived reality. And you have to live in reality and neither box office or critics are part of it, they are part of the perceived reality. For example Iron Man 2 has received better reviews than all of my films so far, all of them and… (he pauses and stops just before bashing Iron Man 2), take Hitchcock for example, or Stanley Kubrick. When their movies were released they didn’t get rave reviews, but quite the opposite, and maybe a week later another film opened that would get much better reviews than any of their films, and you tell me which one do you remember? Which one prevails? Neither won any Academy Award in their entire career and which name, which movie do you know? The Academy winners or their films? I just think, as a filmmaker, you have to live in reality, and not do anything based on critics or box office, because only time will tell if you can stand the test of time (which is a part of the perceived reality). When I was making The Sixth Sense it was a horror movie, and at the time horror movies were straight to DVD, so they told me not to do it. When I was discussing the story with a friend and I wanted a kid to star, he would tell me not to do it, because no one would take a film that had a kid as the lead as a serious film. And look how that went. When I finished “Unbreakable” I couldn’t market it as a comic book movie, so I marketed it as something different and it came out and it was great, and now we have tons and tons of comic book movies. It’s like the first “The last Airbender” teaser, did you see it?
Me: I…uhm…
M. Night: The one with the candles
Me: Yeah sure.
M. Night: When we first screened it, my name would appear in the middle of it, and audiences just clapped every time. They loved the teaser, and they clapped every time my name was on the screen. So the studio decided to put my name just above the title and that’s just, wow.
Me: I just want to tell you I admire you because no matter if your film is poorly received or it has critical acclaim you will always do what you want, not what they tell you to do. So I think that’s respecta…
M. Night: (cuts me off before I can finish, and it wasn’t rude actually) Thanks a lot, you have great energy and I really hope you enjoy the movie, what’s your name?
I told him my name and he signed my poster and then I left. This isn’t a literal transcript, I’m writing this from memory, but 90% of it is accurate. If I can find a video I’ll post it.
So what do you think? Does M. Night actually live in reality or in HIS very own perceived reality? I agree with what he says, but I quite disagree with how he applies it to himself. I, for one, only like The Sixth Sense and The Village and deeply dislike any other of his films, with the atrocious “Lady in the Water” part of my bottom 5 of all time.
Oh yeah, I forgot, the quote that stood out the most to me was:
M. Night: Plus I’m the only one making original films anymore!!
Clearly Gavin's statement reveals that Americans are short-minded and think they are the center of the world, what with all his talk about nothing even remotely close to that. Here's another baseless generalization for all the people in the country Felipe come from: f*ck you.
hahhaa eat a pink one flipe! (Hehehe, see that? I couldn’t be bothered to spell her name right!)
No one would watch a sequel of any of his movies anyway, so maybe he should save his money for when people stop going to see his new movies.
I think he meant the movie.
Everything I think has been pretty much said. I'd just like to add that, being a native Mexican-Spanish speaker, that reporter's tone does make her seem a bit cocky. Yet, I still think Shyamalan absolutely overrates the quality of his own crappy work, and is generally full of himself.
Also, Jackson Rathbone's sister is probably eight.
I think a lot of people are slamming him for being arrogant, or not listening to criticism to improve his films. But it seems to me as a film maker he wants to make the movies he wants to make, and maintain his vision. Maybe he is in his own perceived reality, but only as it applies to his movies. Who likes which film is completely up to them. Certainly some of his films are weaker than others, but I personally love the Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs. The Village was alright, and I haven't seen Lady or The Happening, so I can't comment. Point being, let him keep making movies. Whether anyone goes to see it is up to them. Doing something he is proud of personally seems more important to me than what anyone else would ever think.
If you seriously think Shyamalan is a better director than Fincher … I … Honestly, I don't even know how to respond to that intelligently.
You're obviously a troll.
Everyone kissing M's ass. The guys films are weak, with obvious endings.
Cool post,
I just don't understand why he would kind of compare himself to Hitchcock or Kubrick, I think he has a really strange perception of himself. Movies are for audiences, other people need to be able to enjoy them too.
wow. you're an idiot. that statement just invalidated anything else on this issue that you could ever argue
Shyamalan is not delusional, his film backers are morons, there is a difference.
yeah, that's one ignorant statement, monster. i've lived in many other countries. pride isn't concentrated to america by any means. you live in a fantasy world, contracted through biased media
I find N Shyamalan intriguing. I personally hated “The Happening”, but for me his best film is “Lady in the Water”, and still don't understand why most people hate it. And I can't deny “Signs” exceeded my expectations, but I still don't understand why people have special feelings for “Unbreakable”. And I felt insulted with “The Village”.
Thanks for your first paragraph were you clarified everything. I guess there's some people that can't pay attention.
He's a dumb ass, he can't direct. He's really defensive because he sucks. Simple as that.
No. They are stupid. They even are so delusional to think M.Night thinks he is in France. Stupid, stupid people.
Actually, I think he said, “It's ironic, in France right now…”
I'm with you about the Village. I thought it was brilliant! I do agree that Lady In The Water was pretty bad and I haven't seen the happening – and have no desire to.