James Newton Howard
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…oh yeah, there’s news spinning around that he’s going to score the next film by his longtime partner M. Night Shyamalan, REMAINS. Nice.
Disappointing (or rather non-existing) reactions here, to the big news that JNH is reuniting with Shyamalan.
While I’m a big Shya fan myself (even a defender of some of his less successful films), and love how the scores work in the movies, I’m not that big fan of the soundtracks. Well, except THE VILLAGE, which I absolutely adore. But regardless, this is something I’m looking forward to a lot.
I am not the biggest JHN fan but I generally like him. Same with the Shyamalan. The early ones like SIXTH SENSE, THE VILLAGE or SIGNs are great but I think I haven’t seen most newer ones. I did see OLD which was not bad but I could have lived without that scientific explaination actually.
I’m excited for this one! I’m a huge fan of JNH, not much of Shyamalan’s films. But I also think Jake Gyllenhaal is a great actor, so maybe between the two greats it will make for a good movie, even with a mediocre director.
I am a big fan of JNH and MNS first five collaborations. But for me they already peaked with UNBREAKABLE. Both. Best JNH score. Best MNS movie.
And I already wasn’t so impressed with THE LAST AIRBENDER and AFTER EARTH.
But of course I am curious what they will do.Great stories from Cailin!
I also had the pleasure of meeting James Newton Howard (slightly) at his concert in the Golden Hall, Vienna. I was impressed by the rapport he had with the orchestra. They seemed to genuinely like him and his music. I had a 30 year quest to get a copy of “Falling Down” after seeing the film. That made a big impression on me.
He has covered a bunch of styles over the years. I find that (on first blush) the music is sometimes dull for me, but when I get into it, it sort of unravels into a deeper appreciation of the skill. I did like his first two Harry Potter, beasts and whatnot scores. I’m always amazed by how productive he is.
That sounds like such a wonderful concert, Mark! What sort of program did he conduct? I always wonder, like, what are HIS favorite pieces that he’s written, or is it always just crowd pleasing choices…
And I’m not familiar with Falling Down, I will have to look that one up!
I’m generally “pro” M. Night Shyamalan, he’s done some great movies and takes some risks, at least he tries some new things. However, he’s really done some awful duds as well, that tarnished his reputation. Unbreakable was my pick as favorite score of 2000. It’s a great score for an excellent movie, that’s a top pick.
I mean, on the plus side we have:
The Sixth Sense (1999)
The movie that started it all. Great movie, holds up super well. Works even if you already “know” the twist (which happened to be the case for me, even though I saw the movie when it originally came out.)Unbreakable (2000)
Great follow up. One of Shyamalan’s best.Signs (2002)
Pretty interesting… more like a Twilight Zone episode. Ending a bit weird, but it worked. Haven’t seen it since it came out. Maybe time for a re-watch.The Village (2004)
Far out premise, yes, some people may laugh at it, but it’s a beautifully done movie. One of Howard’s most beautiful scores, and the movie works for me.Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008), The Last Airbender (2010) (didn’t see that one), After Earth (2013)
This is were it all comes apart… some of these movies make no sense at all. Lady in the Water, After Earth, they are just plain stupid. The premise doesn’t work, the resolution doesn’t work… Shyamalan is still a good director here, but an awful screenwriter. Didn’t see the last Airbender yet.The Visit (2015), Split (2016)
With these two movies, Shyamalan is back in form. The first one is a low budget, slow burning horror movie, and the second one was a terrific kidnapping drama, which — surprise, surprise, Shyamalan did what no one has done before: a stealth sequel. That’s the “real” Shyamalan twist here, that the movie turns out to be a sequel to UNBREAKABLE. I don’t think that’s ever been done before, to secretly make a sequel to a successful film and explicitly not market the movie as as such. Boss move!Glass (2019), Old (2021), Knock at the Cabin (2023)
This is where it gets bad again. GLASS was a disappointing letdown after UNBREAKABLE and SPLIT, OLD wasn’t very good either and had a lame resolution, and KNOCK AT THE CABIN was then totally bad beyond all hope.I haven’t seen Trap (2024), so not sure where that one falls.
I am very much looking forward to a new M. Night Shyamalan movie scores by James Newton Howard. I’ve seen James Newton Howard in concert a few years ago, and he spoke highly of Shyamalan and called him his “friend”, so there seemed to be no riff between the two, even though Howards had not scored any of his later movies.
Somehow Shyamalan almost always makes movies where you think, you could make a great and interesting elevator pitch on that movie. It sounds smart, original and promising. Then often you are watching it and think, how did he manage to fuck this up so badly. Often he doesn’t seem to know how to properly wrap things up. The resolution often is unsatisfying and the twist too far fetched.
Glass (2019), Old (2021), Knock at the Cabin (2023)
This is where it gets bad again. GLASS was a disappointing letdown after UNBREAKABLE and SPLIT, OLD wasn’t very good either and had a lame resolution, and KNOCK AT THE CABIN was then totally bad beyond all hope.Totally disagree. Okay, GLASS was so-so, but OLD was quite good, and KNOCK AT THE CABIN was friggin’ excellent! Wrote a review of that too, here (google-translated). My second favourite film of 2023.
As I said, I’m a big Shya defender, there are even supreme qualities in those four films you mentioned that usually get a bad rap. Also, let’s not forget the fantastic slow burn series SERVANT. But my fandom fades completely compared to a colleague of mine, Dag Sødtholt, who has written brilliant deep dives into all films. If you have some time on your hands, and a curiousity about all of the director’s visual motifs, even in the films that get a bad rap, I recommend checking out that article series, they’re all in English. But be sure to bring plenty of coffee!
Totally disagree. Okay, GLASS was so-so, but OLD was quite good, and KNOCK AT THE CABIN was friggin’ excellent! Wrote a review of that too, here (google-translated). My second favourite film of 2023.
Well, great you liked it. Good review, too. I might give KNOCK AT THE CABIN another shot one day, I was seeing it under less than ideal circumstances.
But ever Shyamalan movie is interesting enough to watch at least once to see what happens… it’s just not every Shyamalan movie is something I would want to watch again.
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