Shyamalan's ideas and The Dark Knight...Supersized Please!...

Taking a back seat...

Ok, let's talk film. There are very smart Hollywood players out there. Besides you, yes. Let's talk M. Night Shyamalan. Some execs out there put their thinking caps on and figured out what his problem is. Well I told you so again. I have said this before and it is repeated here in Variety.com. Media Rights entertainment is letting him come up with the ideas and let others write and direct. He is now forming Night Chronicles a production partnership that allows him to come up with a good idea like the Happening, but will not let him write or direct it. Thank God for this thinking. M. Night is not a good writer director. He is a great idealist. But in directing his ideas, something falls way short here. I a glad he is seceding his rights to his ideas. I would do that as painful as it may be.

I mean you have to consider how painful it must be for M. Night. People telling you that your ideas are good, but your execution sucks has got to tear you apart inside. I mean actors and directors kill themselves literally with drugs and alcohol when they are successful in the business. And here is guy who is failing at every idea he attempts and keeping his head up high. He is saying essentially, "you know, I just can't do this thing alone" and he is throwing in the towel. Granted no one will finance a solo effort again on his part, but it takes guts to do what he had now done.

He is just going to write the stories. How great was it when George Lucas did that? Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were great because Lucas was forced to take a back seat. Lucas is the number one example of someone who has great ideas, yet no real talent to execute them. That's why Spielberg directed Raiders, that's why that worked. Lucas stubbornly helmed the first two Star Wars prequels and look what happened. It was like watching the history channel. Spielberg had to come in and Ghost direct Episode 3 for it to be any good. And it was.

So I have to say as painful as it may be for Shyamalan to give up his director's hat, how wonderful is it gonna be to get his great stories with someone who can translate them with style. Maybe he may find his directorial counterpart like Lucas did with Spielberg or Mike Nichols with Neil Simon scripts.

You have to look at it this way too. Shyamalan, though a troubled writer/director, still has good ideas and the execs want to milk that. They are not going to let him fully retire. They are still going to drain any creative juices flowing out of him. Well good luck Shyamalan, I am sure you will have more success doing this than that. So it will be nice to see this happen.

It was pretty unreal...

If you saw The Dark Knight in IMAX this weekend you were most likely totally blown away at the experience. It was a crystal clear picture. It was a huge screen. I mean you were in the film. There is not doubting that. Nolan filmed what seemed like more the half of the film in IMAX. The beginning scene with William Fichtner as the bank manager was unreal. Although I can think of a hundred other actors I would like to see in that much detail besides Fichtner. Jk, but you know. The truck being thrown on its end was unreal. And I jumped at that one part with the window. So in traditionally Hollywood form. It took The Dark Knight's 6.3 million in IMAX theaters to alert other film makers that this could be a trend.

Two for the Dark Knight? Would you like to Super Size that?

It's Super Sizing is what it is. Would you like your film super size? Well then IMAX it is. That is what this will turn into as if has not already. Yet filmmakers have a huge challenge on their hands. The cameras for IMAX are enormous, bulky, and really unfriendly. AND they are the f word, which is TOO EXPENSIVE! That's it! So how Hollywood will actually respond to this remains to be seen. The price tag for this format will throw this option right out the door. It's just gonna be up to the individual filmmakers to make the decision on this. And it will all depend on the weight of thier name. Only the popular ones will have this option. Bay should have thought about filming in IMAX for Transformers 2. Actually don't be surprised if he does. There is still time for him to do so. Until tomorrow, let's talk film!