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There are as many different types of films as there are film goers. I think back to the days when Gene Siskel was still alive and reviewing movies with his good friend Roger Ebert. Back then, Siskel was a reviewer that focused on how a movie made him feel and not so much into breaking a film down to impossibilities. If it was completely implausible he would, of course, but mainly that was how Ebert would critique it. After Siskel’s death though, Ebert softened, and became much more forgivable.
I am more of a film goer that could relate to Siskel, and less with Ebert. That’s why Signs is my favorite Shyalaman film. Whether the most important plot device to this movie is about the family, the aliens, or the loss (and subsequent regaining) of faith, is beside the point. It all comes down to what kind of audience you are. First, and foremost, I want a movie to heighten my emotional level to some degree. I don’t necessarily want a flimsy tear jerker, but a movie like Signs is right up my alley. I personally didn’t think it was the same as a movie of the week or a subject relative to an episode of Oprah. I thought that its portrayal of a man torn from the love of his wife and the love for his God heartbreaking and beautiful. The emotion I felt for the brother, for the kind person he is, and for his failures because of who he is, terribly poetic. And as for the children, I loved them both.
Kong has some very valid points for his reasoning to not like this film, and I won’t presume to judge what type of audience he belongs to, but it seems apparent that certain things are important to him in order to enjoy a movie. There were no plot holes in Signs, but there were things that don’t make a whole lot of sense. Why did the aliens decide to come to our planet, when %85 of it is completely lethal to them? Maybe they presumed we would not know or conclude what theie weakness were in time for us to put up any resistance. Why would a species that are capable of interstellar flight not be able to open a door? Who knows, and frankly, I don’t care. Even though there are some less than credible aspects to the aliens as a whole, the way they were presented was classic. I’m not the type to really care about these things so much, because the movie delivered in the way I wanted it to be delivered. The way the signs were dished out to us from beginning to end, yet only revealed to us as actual signs near the end of the film was beautiful to me. The way the brother had his day at the end gave me goose bumps. And one of the things that I loved most about it was the music. I’m hard pressed to remember many films where the music pitched my emotional state in so many different, and powerful, directions as it did in this movie.
In my opinion, arguing about the infeasibilities of the aliens is pointless. If you are of the type where this will annoy you to the point of ruining it for you, then it isn’t for you. If you are the type that forgives, because it just made you feel so damn good, then this movie is going to be one of your favorites.
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"Today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."