Snark, Critic and Pop!

My take on Brian’s GED style query, “M. Night Shyamalan is to directing as
__________________ is to acting“:

The correct answer is . . . (dramatic pause) . . . SYLVESTER STALLONE. Why?   Both guys have some talent as indicated by their breakout movies.  Stallone started out strong — critically and commercially praised performances in Rocky & First Blood. Shyamalan started out strong in critically and commercially praised films like Sixth Sence, Signs, and Unbreakable.  I’m not so much into Unbreakable, but all the others are genuinely good.  Then both started doing more of the same stuff (Rocky II-VI, Rambo II-III, Cobra, for Stallone; Shyamalan with crap like the Happening and Lady in the Water).

When they tried to break the cycle with something different, they sunk into utter crap territory — The Last Airbender for Shyamalan, which I reviewed here, and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot for Stallone, which no one has the courage to review. 

After a few decades of irrelevance, Stallone has returned to some prominence doing a nostalgia act with him in the first place for — the action movie tough guy (see The Expendables & the latest Rambo, which wasn’t that bad).  If my comparison is right, Shyamalan will continue to try to break the mold with more nonsense like Airbender and trying to recapture the thriller mojo with rehashes of the Sixth Sense.  After doing direct-to-dvd titles for a few years during the 2020s, Shyamalan will finally produce a good horror-thriller, and get back in the good graces of the audience. 

That’s my opinion, and I welcome yours.