Old (2021) - Utter failure

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An attractive woman's legs turn old, wrinkled and into bones on a beach on this poster for M. Night Shyamalan's Old

 

A beautiful family of four, who are, however, threatened by imminent break-up due to a still unannounced divorce, arrive at a strange vacation resort. A guide soon drives them to a remote, picturesque beach, where they and other vacationers start to age with record speed.

Old is written and directed by Indian-born American master filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (Praying with Anger (1992)), whose 14th feature it is. It is an adaptation of graphic novel Sandcastle (2011) by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters.

An attempt at a thought-provoking concept here instead results in 105 minutes of characters who cannot grasp the wild physical changes they are going through, which only register with reactive groans and yawns for the viewer, who is 0% invested in them. Old is a streaming-friendly, speedy narrative of the Lost (2004-10) type mystery genre, where a batch of insufferable, yelling, screaming, crying characters leave you apathetic and thirsting for the end credit roll.

22 year-old (at the time of shooting) Alex Wolff (Patriots Day (2016)) portraying a 6 year-old is also an experience I could have been without. Old makes you wonder if the once fantastic Shyamalan will ever again hit the nail on the head with a film.

 

Related posts:

 

M. Night Shyamalan: Glass (2019) - Shyamalan buries past effort in ominous superhero nonsense 

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

The Visit (2015) - Shyamalan's creepy mini-comeback

Top 10: Best Twentieth Century Fox titles 

The Happening (2008) - Shyamalan's out-there, unsettling, undervalued sci-fi horror 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 18 mil. $

Box office: 90.1 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 5.00 times its cost)

[Old was released 21 July (Belgium and 6 other European markets) and runs 108 minutes. Shyamalan received Sandcastle for Father's Day in 2017 and decided to adapt it. Shooting took place from September - November 2020 in the Dominican Republic. The film opened #1 to a 16.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#2, #3) and grossed 48.2 mil. $ (53.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 6.2 mil. $ (6.9 %) and Spain with 5.6 mil. $ (6.5 %). Shyamalan returned with Servant (2019-22) and theatrically will return with Knock at the Cabin (2023). Gael García Bernal (No (2012)) returned in Maya and the Three (2021, miniseries) and theatrically in Z (2021, unreleased); Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread (2017)) in Frida (2021, short) and theatrically in Beckett (2021, VoD). Old is rotten at 50 % with a 5.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Old?

Top 10: Best Twentieth Century Fox titles

 

1. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - John Ford

 

 

2. Alien (1979) - Ridley Scott

 

3. The Fly (1958) - Kurt Neumann  

 

 

4. Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993) - Jim Abrahams

 

 

5. Home Alone (1990) - Chris Columbus 

 

6. From Hell (2001) - The Hughes Brothers

 

 7. 24 - season 3 (2003) - Robert Cochran, Joel Surnow

 

 

8. The Greatest Showman (2017) - Michael Gracey  

 

 

9. The Happening (2008) - M. Night Shyamalan

10. Judy (2019) - Rupert Goold

 

Selected from 55 titles labeled 'Fox'

 

Previous Top 10 lists:

Best action movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best adapted movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best 'box office success' movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date        
Best crime movies reviewed by Film Excess to date         
Best debut movies reviewed by Film Excess to date     
Best Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best Disney movies reviewed by Film Excess to date     
Best documentaries reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Best dramas reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Best drama-thrillers reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Best dramedies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Best drug-themed movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Best epic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  

Best erotic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Best family movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Best films about filmmaking 

Best first-of-franchise movies 

Top 10: Best 'flop' rank movies  

What do you think of the list?
Which Twentieth Century Fox titles would make your personal Top 10?

The Happening (2008) - Shyamalan's out-there, unsettling, undervalued sci-fi horror

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+ Best Mystery of the Year + Best Sci-fi Horror of the Year

 

Something is clearly completely off in the world on this blue-tinted poster for M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening

 

Out of the blue, trees begin to send out a poison that makes people commit suicide, and that is leading people out into grotesque and frightening situations all around the world.

 

The Happening is written and directed by Indian-born American master filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (Praying with Anger (1992)), whose 8th feature it is.

Widely ridiculed and unappreciated, this film is mainly a problem for audiences who lack imagination. It is a kind of modern version of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) and similarly unsettling, - if one has the capacity to be taken up by it. James Newton Howard's (Detroit (2017)) excellent score only adds to this dimension of pleasant genre recall. Shymalan mixes horrific images of events not related to the core story; a couple with a girl, who also fight with the logic of making sense of the strange phenomenon. 

Mark Wahlberg (The Italian Job (2003))  has one of his better, charming roles as a physics teacher. Also good are Zooey Deschanel (Yes Man (2008)), John Leguizamo (Sisters (2015)) and Betty Buckley (Oz (2001-03)) as the old, crazy lady. The Happening at times is a bit out there and wacky, to be sure, but it remains a scary dose of existentialism, and to me it is (strangely) very anxiety-provoking.

 

Related posts:

 

M. Night Shyamalan: Glass (2019) - Shyamalan buries past effort in ominous superhero nonsense 

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

The Visit (2015) - Shyamalan's creepy mini-comeback

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]  

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Reportedly 60 mil. $

Box office: 163.4 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 2.72 times its cost)

[The Happening premiered 10 June (New York) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place from August - November 2007 in Paris, France, New York and Pennsylvania, including in Philadelphia. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release The Incredible Hulk and holdover hit Kung Fu Panda, to a 30.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 64.5 mil. $ (39.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 12.1 mil. $ (7.4 %) and Japan with 11.3 mil. $ (6.9 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. In 2010 Wahlberg said in a press conference for The Fighter (2010) that The Happening was a "really bad movie." The film accrued more than 22.3 mil. $ on video sales in North America. Shyamalan returned with The Last Airbender (2010). Wahlberg returned in May Payne (2008). The Happening is rotten at 18 % with a 4.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Happening?

Glass (2019) - Shyamalan buries past effort in ominous superhero nonsense

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+ Worst Movie of the Year

 

Three contrasting colors and a cool dual image graphic design outline this anticipation-building poster for M. Night Shyamalan's Glass

In a special mental hospital patients are kept, who believe they are superheroes...

 

Glass is written and directed by Indian-born American master filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (Praying with Anger (1992)), whose 13th feature it is. It is the final installment in his Unbreakable trilogy, which also contains Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016).

It is a ghastly and yawn-inducing boring dud that takes James McAvoy's (Wanted (2008)) personality split character and his Beast 'superhero' persona introduced in Split for another bow, as this is served as somehow 'psychological' material, while Bruce Willis (What Just Happened (2008)) and Samuel L. Jackson (Jumper (2008)) ravage as their unnecessarily and agonizingly reanimated characters from the memorable Unbreakable. Sarah Paulson (Swimmers (2005)) is on duty to put her face in serious folds as a doctor.

Without a plot that is anywhere near exciting, Glass flows onwards like a swamp of ominous nonsense. It may be labeled a superhero dystopia for adults, - but who will honestly enjoy this horrid junk?

 

Related posts:

 

M. Night Shyamalan: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

The Visit (2015) - Shyamalan's creepy mini-comeback 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 20 mil. $

Box office: 246.9 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 12.34 times its cost)

[Glass premiered 7 January (Paris, France) and runs 129 minutes. The success of Split prompted Glass, which Shyamalan funded himself, - and likely via this strategy kept star salaries and thus the final cost at an impressive minimum. Shooting took place from October - December 2017 in Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia. Universal Pictures reportedly spent 80 mil. $ at marketing the film. It opened #1 to a 40.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in #1 and one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 111 mil. $ (45 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 14.2 mil. $ (5.8 %) and Mexico with 10.8 mil. $ (4.4 %). Shyamalan returned with Servant (2019-21) and theatrically with Old (2021). McAvoy returned in X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019); Willis with a voice performance in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), The Orville (2019, TV-series) and theatrically in Motherless Brooklyn (2019); and Jackson in Captain Marvel (2019). Glass is rotten at 36 % with a 5.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Glass?

The Visit (2015) - Shyamalan's creepy mini-comeback

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+ Best $ Return of the Year: 19.68 Times 

 

An amusingly designed poster for M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit

 

A pair of teenage siblings are sent to visit their estranged grand parents' farmhouse by their single mother, who badly needs a cruise holiday with her new boyfriend. But grandma and grandpa turn out to be seriously weird.

Indian-American master writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's (Signs (2002)) mini-comeback, - after years of disappointments such as The Village (2004), Lady in the Water (2006), The Last Airbender (2010) and After Earth (2013), - is this youth found footage horror-comedy. It isn't solid cast, but it lives on four engaged main actors and Kathryn Hahn (Bad Moms (2016)) as the skyping mother. The two kids, Olivia DeJonge (Safe Neighborhood (2016)) and especially Ed Oxenbould (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014)) give life and humor to the film. And the two elders, Peter McRobbie (Bridge of Spies (2015)) and especially Deanna Dunagan (The Naked Face (1984)) give the film its creepy wtf-moments. The Visit runs on what is not a bad story, and it is fairly inventively executed.

Unfortunately the pay-off, the film's climax, features a twist that seems a little too dark and gross. SPOILER There are also various gimmicks through the film that can't be joined credibly with the revelation that the two elders are 'merely' escaped insane hospital patients.

 

Related post:

 

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
 

Watch a short clip from the film here

Cost: 5 mil. $

Box office: 98.4 mil. $

= Huge hit

[The Visit premiered August 30 (Ireland) and runs 94 minutes. Filming began in February 2014 and took place in Pennsylvania and Florida, aboard the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas. Shyamalan has said in an interview that he struggled some during editing to hit the right tone in the film. The film opened #2, very slightly behind other newcomer The Perfect Guy, to a 25.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another week and grossed 65.2 mil. $ (66.3 % of the total gross.) The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 5.3 mil. $ (5.4 %) and Germany with 4.6 mil. $ (4.7 %). The Visit is fresh at 64 % with a 5.7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Visit?