http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Signs-1114791/
“The last 10 minutes are so misguided and goofy, it’s hard to believe they were made by the same people who did the rest of the film.”
Where, where, where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, from M. Night Stupidaman’s last unwatchable disaster, Unbreakable.
At this point even Kevin Costner has more directing credibility.
Wumpus, do you believe everything you read at Rotten Tomatoes?
WUmpus that reviews from the Kalamazoo gazette! I don’t even know where the hell that is!
etc
I really liked Unbreakable.
Wumpus neglects to point out that the review that he quotes is in the minority at RT. Currently the film has a 75% score (100% in the “Cream of the Crop” section, although there are only two reviews there so far). Not that I believe that evaluation by consensus is a useful metric or anything, but Wumpus’ post makes it sound like the film is getting trashed, which is not true (at least not so far).
One thing I will say for Rotten Tomatoes is that you can always find a review that supports your opinion, whatever it may be. Which is fine, I guess, even if it is a somewhat meaningless form of validation. Here’s some more sample Rotten Tomatoes quotes:
“It’s astonishing that so much money, talent, technical expertise and visual imagination can be put in the service of something so stupid.” (review of The Matrix in the San Francisco Chronicle)
“LOTR bored me to death. The best way to tell if a book adaptation really works it to ask if the movie makes you want to read the material it is based on. Before watching LOTR, I was inspired by the great hype, and considered read Tolkien’s towering novels. After watching this movie, I would not read any of the author’s books if they were the last novels on the face of the planet.” (review of Fellowship of the Ring on MovieNutz.com)
“Why this piece of garbage managed to get such an outstanding cast is a mystery.” (review of the Royal Tenenbaums in the Greenwich Village gazette… sorry, Tom)
So really, anyone can play the Rotten Tomatoes game. Just sayin’. And by the way, Wumpus, your pal James Sanford at the Kalamazoo Gazette loved Tomb Raider, A Knight’s Tale, and Reign of Fire. Also just sayin’… ;)
Ben, nicely done! But you put way too much effort into that. Your talents are better spent in more worthy arguments.
David Ansen of Newsweek loved Signs, FWIW.
I’m with Mr. Sanford on A Knight’s Tale and Reign of Fire, both were a lot of “fun”. ;)
As for Signs, my local paper, who has a pretty good critic in one George Hatza gave Signs a great review. I think Ebert and his buddy also gave it two thumbs up according to the ad in today’s paper. I’m going tomorrow night, babysitter willing, so we’ll soon know.
–Dave
A wacky twist ending? Wow, that would be so out of character for Shyamalan. Let me guess; Mel Gibson is actually an alien? A dead alien? An EVIL dead alien? Whatever.
Somebody please post the spoiler so that I never have to bother watching it.
I liked “Unbreakable”, too. Not as much as “Sixth Sense”, but I do not know many who did. I think M. tries to do things differently and anything different in Hollywood is cool with me. An ending you cannot guess 10 mins. into the movie is enough to satisfy me. Maybe I am just easy to please.
“Signs” has got to be better than another SFX-filled, overhyped, predictable summer blockbuster. I will go see it, if for no other reason, than to contribute to more semi-intelligent movies being made. I certainly do not want to help another Mummy Returns or Scorpion King or Tomb Raider being made. Or Country Bears. :)
Don’t discount Country Bears, Frank DeCaro loves it.
http://www.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/thedailyshowwithjonstewart/dailyshow_movies.jhtml
I saw the review last night. Funny stuff, but somehow it did not make me want to go see the movie.
>M. Night Stupidaman’s last unwatchable disaster, Unbreakable
I thought it was a much better movie than Sixth Sense.
I’m not going to say better, but I did enjoy Unbreakable quite a lot. Sixth Sense felt like a more complete film.
There are some specific problems I had with Unbreakable, but I think in the end the source of all the problems was lack of time. If it was a 4 hour movie, it would have been a masterpiece. As it was, I would love to see what was left on the cutting room floor.
There are several deleted scenes on the DVD with the director describing how he hated to and why he left them out.
Brilliant! Genius parody! Answer the phone Wumpus, that’s MAD Magazine calling you!
Brilliant! Genius parody! Answer the phone Wumpus, that’s MAD Magazine calling you![/quote]
Is he allowed to work for Mad and Cracked at the same time or does he have an exclusivity or no-compete contract with Cracked?
Mad magazine is actually hiring a replacement for Dave Berg. If anyone wants to apply, here you go:
Kalamazoo is a city in Michigan and is home to Upjohn (the makers of Rogain), Derek Jeter, and my grandparents. Why it’s even the name of a cat in a dandy little tune by Hoyt Axton, called “Della And The Dealer.” :lol:
(many thanks to Google for providing me with the title name to the afore mentioned Hoyt Axton song)
Hey! Unbreakable was a great movie. In my personal top 10. I probably will not see Signs till it hits DVD. Just to hard to watch a long movie in the theaters with a 3 year old son.
Just tell him “If you don’t sit quietly, the aliens will come out of the screen and get you”.
It may warp him, but you’ll get to see the movie in peace.
They have these things called babysitters, Rob. Maybe you can get one of those so you can see a movie from time to time? :)
–Dave