M. Night Shyamalan has had one of the most fascinating, unexpected career trajectories of our lifetime. Over the course of twenty years, Shyamalan has garned Academy Award nominations and billions in global box office while being hailed as the next Spielberg before nearly being laughed out of Hollywood after a series of critical and financial flops. In the last several years, Shyamalan has been experiencing something of a career revival and with his latest movie "Old" opening to number one despite dividing critics, we decided it was the perfect time to reevaluate the polarizing filmmaker. We're joined by critic and host of The Good, The Bad and The What?!, Ryan Oliver, to look back at Shyamalan's most notorious flop - the post-9/11 disaster allegory "The Happening" - as well as his latest, "Old."
Were critics blind to Shyamlan's B-movie aspirations with "The Happening"? Would any competent director earnestly cast Mark Wahlberg as a science teacher? Is John Leguizamo the only actor to escape the critical whipping of "The Happening"? Is "Old" pro-cop and anti-science? Who is Mid-Sized Sedan and does his appearance in "Old" illuminate one of Shymalan's blind spots as a filmmaker? And most importantly, why isn't there any cum on this beach???
"The Happening" is currently streaming on Peacock and "Old" is playing in theaters everywhere.
