Glass

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So, I saw it. Stray thoughts collected below
  • I'd say it's worse than Unbreakable (which I think is decent-to-good and almost certainly my favourite Shyamalan) but better than Split (which I didn't like, but wouldn't consider particularly bad either) - probably helps that it, um, divides Kevin's screen time with David and Elijah but he still much ends up being more of a presence than I'd personally prefer (though that can't be helped since the other two are so subdued by design).
  • I re-watched Unbreakable beforehand. There are a lot of minor call-backs.
  • Interesting (if a little obvious) use of colours.
  • First half is slow, perhaps too slow.
  • I still remain fascinated by just how off-kilter his characterisation and dialogue tends to be, not necessarily in a so-bad-it's-good way but there is something about the way his characters interact at times (often in deliberately humourous manners) that is so distinctly...him. There's even an extended reference to the Salt Bae meme for some reason, which is on the level of that one guy from The Happening talking about hot dogs.

WARNING: "Glass" spoilers below
- I'm not sure if I missed something (ran late and walked in halfway through the credits sequence), but I'm wondering where exactly Elijah managed to get the shard of glass he uses to slit the orderly's throat. It seemed like the sort of thing that should've been foreshadowed so I do wonder if I simply missed something or if it's a mistake because it took me out of the movie for a bit.

- I do think it's interesting how this has got a clear meta reading that comes across as a mix of Shyamalan being self-reflexive about his cinematic output and also standing in defiance towards his critics (as represented by Dr. Staple and the cult aiming to keep down "special" individuals like the three leads being a particularly unsubtle metaphor, especially the scene where she attempts to convince them that they're not superhuman in a manner reminiscent of asking "why would water-allergic aliens invade a water-covered planet"?). On its own, that's not necessarily the most agreeable sentiment as "made for fans, not critics" has so easily become shorthand for "bad films made for brand-loyalty suckers" (especially when we're talking about a shared-universe threequel to a 20-year-old film from back when he was generally considered good). With Shyamalan in particular, it does seem somewhat earned considering just how bad of a beating he's taken over the years - he's flawed, but he's far from being one of the worst filmmakers out there as so many would have you believe. An interesting idea, but not particularly well-executed.

- Hell of a climax, enough so that I was like "wait, did that actually happen? Is this where this is going?"

- On a related note, there's also a certain endearing naivete to the fact that it actually goes for a "can't stop the signal" ending in 2019, but I think that does drive home the meta reading that people will respond to the "truth" i.e. the quality and concerns that his films do possess rather than remain ignorant because sinister forces (critics/haters) will attempt to suppress it no matter what.

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I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



Welcome to the human race...
So it seems this post has been moved out of the thread in the "upcoming" section and made into a separate thread in the "reviews" section. If I'd known that was going to happen, I might have given it proper review structure, but then again given that it's a Shyamalan film I guess I can see why it would get what the AV Club would call a "spoiler space".



We've had an issue with reviews just going into the Upcoming forum's version of the threads that I'm trying to sorta fix.

I'm working on more long-term solutions, though.



The reaction has been surprisingly more polarizing and chaotic than the initial outpour would have you believe. I was on the Reddit thread and one post would be gushing about it while the next would be bashing it. Actually, most were praising it, which you wouldn't think from the Rotten Tomatoes score.

I saw it last night and I need to be brief about it (which won't happen) because I'm still processing and figuring out what I think. It's a perplexing movie in it's craft, with incredibly high highs and some pretty low lows in terms of filmmaking. At least on first glance. Weirdly enough I was along for the film entirely - and really enjoyed the first twentyish minutes - until the final "showdown," after which I... was baffled. I was just confused as to what Shyamalan's vision was meant to be, and therefore didn't get that sense of resolution. It didn't feel appropriate to the first film. But now I'm realizing that may be because the first film didn't NEED another resolution. It ends a bit open, but not really, and it works perfectly as an ending. Luckily this movie is so stylistically different that I can separate the two in my mind and see them as their own entities. This is more a sequel to Split than Unbreakable, but I don't think that's a bad thing.

Seriously though, I've never had a reaction to a film quite like this one. I left the movie feeling sour about it all not because the movie was bad but because I didn't know what to make of it and it wasn't what I thought I wanted. I started reading what other people had to say, trying to make sense of it, and today I am having the opposite feeling. I may like this movie. But I need to see it again and wrap my head around it.

There is no denying that Shyamalan was pretty bold here, though. And I think that's incredibly admirable. I prefer when filmmakers take risks and fail (which I'm not sure he did fail) then to play it safe.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
There is something about the way the trailer is cut that I can't put my finger on. It seems like there are two sets. I assume one inside "the facility" and one outside. It strikes me that they short-armed the budget and maybe it led to some issues. After watching him on the Norm Macdonald show, I really started rooting for the guy.



Welcome to the human race...
Well, it is Blumhouse - a studio that succeeds precisely because it cranks out cheap horrors. The budget number I heard for Glass was $20 million, so much smaller compared to your average superhero movie. Then again, this is Shyamalan - a fair few of his films take place in and around a single location so he's used to utilising this limitation as a feature instead of a bug (and given what his experiences with big-budget epics tend to be like, maybe that's for the best).



I just saw Glass yesterday and overall I thought it was a good movie. The way it ends it does leave some cliffhangers so even though Night said he doesn't plan to make any more sequels I hope he changes his mind.

Also I've been wanting to learn about what happened with Casey's mom. In Split you don't know if she died or took off but you know that for whatever reason she's out of the picture. Unfortunately Glass doesn't tell you anything about her.