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Writing the post on plagiarism was fun, not just because it
distracted me from the business of Disney or comic books or strange coincidences between films, but because it reminded me of something I hadn't
thought about in quite some time: the films of M. Night Shyamalan. No doubt you
recognize the name; there was a time not long ago, in fact, when audiences
could barely bring themselves to think about anyone else. From The Sixth Sense (1999) to Unbreakable (2000) to Signs (2002) and, yes, even The Village (2004), the man could do no
wrong, at least in the eyes of box office pundits. Then came the accusations of
ripping off other people's work, the big-screen debacle that was Lady In The Water (2006), and worse, The Happening (2008), and suddenly, the
one-time wunderkind was reduced to a fake and a fraud, a Hollywood hack whose
luck - not to mention his talent - had definitely run out. (And don't get me
started on After Earth or The Last Airbender, big-budget studio
extravaganzas which clearly showed Shyamalan out of his element.)
Still, for a while there, Shyamalan was rightly regarded as one
of the defining voices of the 90s/early Noughties. Like Tarantino, Fincher,
Anderson (Wes or P.T.) or Jonze, you went to see a Shyamalan movie to
experience the shock of the new, for the mood he created, and for the many ways
he toyed with the language of film. Everyone remembers the twist to The Sixth Sense (and to a lesser extent,
Unbreakable and The Village), yet there is so much more to his earlier films than
initially meets the eye. His long, languishing camera takes, for one - as
opposed to the staccato style of editing so common to the contemporaries of his
day (here's looking at you, Michael Bay). Or the way he used specific colors to
key us in on important plot points. By the time he was 32, people were calling
him "the next Spielberg," or, better still, "the next
Hitchcock." With praise like that, it's no wonder all the acclaim and
attention seemed to go to his head.
Perusing the Internets the other day, I happened on a most distressing trend...
Jurassic Park gets a fancy new
upgrade on Blu-ray this month (in 3D!) after raking in an additional $42 million
in U.S. theaters (including one week in IMAX) since April 5th. I haven't been
too enthusiastic about these post-converted 3D re- releases so far (read here
for evidence on that), but I have to admit seeing Steven Spielberg's 1993
dinosaur epic again on the big screen might have its perks. (That sublime
raptors-in-the-kitchen climax, in full-on jump-at-your-face three-dimensional
glory? Yes, please!) I've resisted the urge to buy a ticket, though, since I
happened to catch the movie twice on TV during the last week (once on DVD, and
the other during its regular rotation on Starz), and I realized that my appreciation
for it hasn't dwindled a bit since my initial viewing 20 years ago.
Even on the small screen, to witness Jurassic Park again is to be reminded of two things: one, that it
helped change the face of CG special effects work as we know it, and two, it's
a prime example of Spielberg's unparalleled genius as a virtuoso action director. No
one can deny that the dinosaurs are the stars of the show - a glorious mix of
computer-generated images, animatronics, and sound design. But without
Spielberg's sly signature wit Jurassic
Park might have turned out to be just another mindless monster movie.
If you've never been acquainted with the Mondo Gallery in Austin, TX, then you'd do well to acquaint yourself. An offshoot of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain (est. 1997), the Gallery enlists world-class artists to re-create posters for movies old and new - and then sells them (if you can nab 'em) online, at $35 to $100 a pop. (Posters are created as one-offs and sell out fast, via Facebook and Twitter feeds; buyers often re- sell their purchases on eBay, but at three times the original cost.)
Styles range from comic book designs to collages. And each and every one is a knockout - clever re- imaginings of popular (and not-so popular) films, unburdened by studio mandates or movie star egos. For brevity's sake, I've decided to share some of my favorites below, but really, if you consider yourself a serious film buff, or at least have a moment to spare, then it's worth perusing their extensive back catalogue at www.mondoarchive.com. Click on each poster below to make bigger:
