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stuffp
Keeping it Light
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am Posts: 11185 Location: Bright Falls
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Glass
Quote: Glass is a 2019 American superhero thriller film written, produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The film is a sequel to Shyamalan's previous films Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016), cumulatively forming the Eastrail 177 Trilogy. Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Spencer Treat Clark, and Charlayne Woodard reprise their Unbreakable roles, while James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy return as their Split characters, with Sarah Paulson, Adam David Thompson, and Luke Kirby joining the cast.
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Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:28 pm |
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Thegun
On autopilot for the summer
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 10:14 pm Posts: 21628 Location: Walking around somewhere
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Re: Glass
I actually enjoyed this quite. I thought it blended the characters really well. It’s not really high on scares, comedy, or even great action. All are much subdued here. M did quite a bit considering though with that 20 million budget But I was engaged throughout, and would be interested in a follow up
_________________Chippy wrote: As always, fuck Thegun. Chippy wrote: I want to live vicariously through you, Thegun!
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Fri Jan 18, 2019 4:48 pm |
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David
Pure Phase
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am Posts: 34865 Location: Maryland
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Re: Glass
This is a deeply...peculiar film, and I am honestly not 100-percent sure what I thought of it. One definite qualm: it utilizes Bruce Willis poorly. He registers as far more of a secondary character than he should. His character's journey (whether to succumb to the psychiatrist's assertion—his belief in himself as a super-powered being is a delusion—or continue to invest in being a superhero) is described much more than Willis is ever allowed to play it as an actor. He exhibits almost no charisma or emotion; this is arguably in keeping with his muted and melancholy turn in Unbreakable, but still. Even the handful of action sequences do not serve him well; it frequently feels as if they are shot and cut around his unwillingness and/or inability to convey much in the way of formidable physicality. Conversely, the film decidedly does not have a James McAvoy problem; this is obviously a less focused showcase than Split, but his theatrical portrayal of dissociative identity disorder remains a sublime and satisfying feat of high-wire acting, alternately hilarious, heartrending, and frightening in the space of a single scene. Samuel L. Jackson delivers a a satisfying-if-standard fusion of eloquence and menace once the film, quite belatedly, allows his character to emerge from a vegetative state.
Then there is the film in general. Which is...there? It is deflating to realize the culmination of this nearly 20-year journey is two hours largely spent inside a blandly designed mental hospital, with these compelling characters frequently just sitting quietly while Sarah Paulson delivers the same you-are-not-special and everything-you-have-done-can-be-easily-explained speeches at least a half dozen times. I cannot deny it: I wanted more propulsion, more style, more suspense, more context, etc. An engaging through line never emerges, and the ending possesses a degree of swing-for-the-fences abandon (I certainly did not enter this film expecting Willis' character to unceremoniously drown to death in a puddle) without being notably satisfying or resonant.
_________________1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game
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Fri Jan 18, 2019 9:23 pm |
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David
Pure Phase
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am Posts: 34865 Location: Maryland
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Re: Glass
I am haunted, lol, by the idea this entire film is a metaphor for evil critics telling M. Night he is not extraordinary, he did not deserve the early hype, etc., just with the word "filmmaker" replaced by "superhero."
_________________1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game
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Fri Jan 18, 2019 9:25 pm |
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publicenemy#1
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:25 am Posts: 18843 Location: San Diego
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Re: Glass
Welp shouldn't have clicked on this lol
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Fri Jan 18, 2019 9:31 pm |
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publicenemy#1
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:25 am Posts: 18843 Location: San Diego
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Re: Glass
I liked this a lot surprisingly.
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Sat Jan 19, 2019 11:52 pm |
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Dil
Forum General
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:48 pm Posts: 8942 Location: Houston, Texas
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Re: Glass
Wow I'm actually shocked to say this, but I actually ended up really enjoying this movie. I'd even go as far as to say I liked it even more than Unbreakable or Split which I did just recently re-watch and while they are good movies with great moments sprinkled throughout for the most part I'm just not a big fan of either one. Willis is definitely the weakest link here since he almost has nothing to do, but I can't help but wonder if that almost plays better to the strength of this movie because if you ask me he didn't seem all that invested anyways. I didn't have much of a attachment to his character in Unbreakable either, so maybe that's also the reason why it didn't bother me as much. I'd also say that Anya Taylor-Joys character felt way more like an after thought here even though she is still good in her role, and it became quite apparent early on that M Night isn't the best when it comes to handling the action sequences although I did still like the confrontations between The Beast and David Dunn. Loved McAvoy here though and his scenes with Sam Jackson were all fantastic IMO.
Those were easily my favorite parts of this movie and all this controversy over the so called twist had me expecting something else entirely, but you know what it actually made sense to me. I mean Shyamalan has subverted our expectations in plenty of his movies before and I knew there was no way it was going to end the way they were setting it up too.
B+
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Sun Jan 20, 2019 3:33 am |
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publicenemy#1
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:25 am Posts: 18843 Location: San Diego
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Re: Glass
I really liked how they got the same actor who played Willis' kid in Unbreakable to come back.
Also after rewatching Split I was kinda disappointed with Casey's part in this movie. I'm not sure where I wanted her character to go but I don't think it set up her basically freeing Kevin that well.
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Sun Jan 20, 2019 4:25 am |
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thompsoncory
Rachel McAdams Fan
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:13 am Posts: 14544 Location: LA / NYC
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Re: Glass
This actually may have been my favorite of the three, lol. I enjoyed it a lot and I thought McAvoy was better here than Split. B+
Last edited by thompsoncory on Tue Jan 22, 2019 11:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sun Jan 20, 2019 10:17 pm |
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SolC9
Forum General
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:11 pm Posts: 7172 Location: Wisconsin
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Re: Glass
I love Unbreakable. I like Split, and love McAvoy in it. Glass is greater than both. Where MNS took this was genius to me. The more I think about it, the more I love it.
A+
Out of over 550 movies I've rated on letterboxd, I've only given 5/5 to 8 films, and this is one of them. That's how much I love this movie.
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Mon Jan 21, 2019 7:48 pm |
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thompsoncory
Rachel McAdams Fan
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:13 am Posts: 14544 Location: LA / NYC
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Re: Glass
This movie is really fun and a nice closer to everything. I thought it was in the upper echelon of Shyamalan movies.
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Tue Jan 22, 2019 11:37 pm |
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MGKC
---------
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 10:42 pm Posts: 11808 Location: Kansas City, Kansas
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Re: Glass
I dug it overall. Unbreakable and Split are definitely still superior in my mind, but this was quite interesting.
I think the only thing that doesn't work is the release of the footage by the peripheral characters. It plays up the moment as a win, but I'm not convinced society would believe the footage. It's hard to build a satisfying takedown of an organization we didn't know existed 15 minutes prior.
I think a better ending would have been Glass surviving and somehow escaping, then helping the peripheral characters actually blow up that new organization (not necessarily in the brand-new tower), while releasing all their files and the footage taken earlier.
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Tue Jan 22, 2019 11:46 pm |
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publicenemy#1
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:25 am Posts: 18843 Location: San Diego
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Re: Glass
I liked it even more on second viewing.
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Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:27 am |
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Rev
Romosexual!
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 3:06 am Posts: 32083 Location: the last free city
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Re: Glass
B+
All because of James McAvoy! Give him an Oscar.
_________________ Is it 2024 yet?
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Sat Jan 26, 2019 8:34 pm |
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Thegun
On autopilot for the summer
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 10:14 pm Posts: 21628 Location: Walking around somewhere
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Re: Glass
I did enjoy this. I think the biggest issue among critics is their is a lot of wasted potential. It's almost like its M's Four Rooms. I like all of their stories, I love when they all interact. But it does feel disjointed.
I think it would have worked better if it was just SLJ in the Asylum and his breakout, but Dunn and Kevin are roaming free and keep fighting. The whole secret society is cool, but it's just thrown in as an afterthought.
_________________Chippy wrote: As always, fuck Thegun. Chippy wrote: I want to live vicariously through you, Thegun!
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Sun Jan 27, 2019 12:28 pm |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm Posts: 67000
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Re: Glass
Well, this isn’t the genius ending that I had hoped for, but I’m not letting that take anything away from how great it still is. I thoroughly enjoyed this. It sends you one way then sends you the opposite way before revealing what we wanted all along. If I’m honest, I would have liked a few more instances of superhuman behaviour. But just getting the opportunity to have these three stories culminate in a showdown of a film has sort of made my day. And there are a few other cool things, such as tying in Kevin’s dad being on the same train that Dunn was on. Also it’s nice to see the actor from Unbreakable reprising his role 20 years on as Dunn’s son. Maybe it happens all the time, but I just have an impression that when these situations arise, normally it’s a new actor.
There was a part in this film where I just thought to myself “this is what film is all about”. Just the idea that Samuel L. Jackson is playing a real-world Lex Luthor, and that he’s recruiting The Beast, and that female doctor is a Stryker-Professor X type character (where she’s actively supressing mutant powers). It’s just awesome to behold. It doesn’t feel as clever as it did back in 2000, but it’s still great to see how it all wraps up. I was a little thrown by it at first, but I also love the secret organisation travelling from city to city keeping these cases from escaping. I love it when plot strands are all tied up. This wasn’t even a franchise I thought I cared about until I saw Split. Now suddenly it’s what Shyamalan will be remembered for [by me at least].
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Sun Apr 07, 2019 7:24 pm |
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tree and a half
Cream of the Crop
Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2016 11:38 am Posts: 2084
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Re: Glass
Algren wrote: Well, this isn’t the genius ending that I had hoped for, but I’m not letting that take anything away from how great it still is. I thoroughly enjoyed this. It sends you one way then sends you the opposite way before revealing what we wanted all along. If I’m honest, I would have liked a few more instances of superhuman behaviour. But just getting the opportunity to have these three stories culminate in a showdown of a film has sort of made my day. And there are a few other cool things, such as tying in Kevin’s dad being on the same train that Dunn was on. Also it’s nice to see the actor from Unbreakable reprising his role 20 years on as Dunn’s son. Maybe it happens all the time, but I just have an impression that when these situations arise, normally it’s a new actor.
There was a part in this film where I just thought to myself “this is what film is all about”. Just the idea that Samuel L. Jackson is playing a real-world Lex Luthor, and that he’s recruiting The Beast, and that female doctor is a Stryker-Professor X type character (where she’s actively supressing mutant powers). It’s just awesome to behold. It doesn’t feel as clever as it did back in 2000, but it’s still great to see how it all wraps up. I was a little thrown by it at first, but I also love the secret organisation travelling from city to city keeping these cases from escaping. I love it when plot strands are all tied up. This wasn’t even a franchise I thought I cared about until I saw Split. Now suddenly it’s what Shyamalan will be remembered for [by me at least]. What an unexpectedly well written review from Algren - - unprecedented from him!
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Mon Apr 08, 2019 3:24 am |
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stuffp
Keeping it Light
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am Posts: 11185 Location: Bright Falls
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Re: Glass
It's not a badly made film, and despite the best parts being how it connects with the history of the characters and stories of Unbreakable and Split told me before, there isn't hardly anything new in Glass that's interesting to watch. Sarah Paulson's character is just quite annoying, the build-up to Willis and McAvoy meeting the first time and the time in the shrink hospital are pretty average. It was great to see Spencer Treat Clark return in the role, and I wished to have ATJ in more scenes too. I wasn't the biggest fan of Split, but McAvoy made that very watchable, and in Glass we unfortunately didn't get enough of him, I felt in general we went too much around in circles with all three of the main characters instead of them developing further. There might have been a good film in this as a sequel to Unbreakable and Split, but it's a shame that this just feels a bit unnecessary aside from a few good moments here and there.
C+
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Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:05 am |
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ballsack
Newbie
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2019 2:10 pm Posts: 7
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Re: Glass
Shyamalan is apparently where I part ways with the rest of the forum. The Sixth Sense is a classic, The Visit has some of the best horror direction ever, Split was more than decent....everything else he's done, save maybe the middling effort of The Village, has been fucking terrible. He makes much, much better films when he's trying to win his reputation back. Skimming some of the reviews here it feels like I'm taking crazy pills. It doesn't have the crappy feigned gravitas as Unbreakable did, it just suffers from an abject lack of imagibation, a truly ridiculous scenario, and it's entirely stylistically pallid. tree and a half wrote: What an unexpectedly well written review from Algren - - unprecedented from him! Look at the cock gobbler dribble. Algren's reviews are nearly always that well written - maybe you were too biased to notice before?
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Sun Apr 21, 2019 4:53 pm |
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