This past June movie fans were exposed to the upcoming creation from filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. Surprisingly enough, The Last Airbender did not come across as a failure like his last three projects have conditioned us to believe. Thankfully, the concept for the film is not an original idea from him, which comes as a change from the 30-year-old director’s norm. With Shyamalan not imagining his own ending, movie goers can be hopeful that the conclusion to this movie won’t induce strong feelings of violence against the creator of such atrocities as Lady in the Water and The Happening.

Slashfilm has just posted a TV spot for the film that is set to air during the Superbowl (that doesn’t come cheap). Also reported are mixed reviews for the film from test screenings earlier this week. Many people either love Shyamalan or hate him (I generally don’t like him) and this early report from the test screenings looks to prove this fact. It is too early to tell from such a small sample however.

The trailer is loaded full of action which is not a typical Shyamalan movie trait; but that doesn’t make it something he can’t execute well. From what you can see, The Last Airbender looks astounding. I am still holding out for this movie being awesome. The trailer below should give you the same feeling.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

● So the last Green Lantern update I posted was that Mr. Ryan Reynolds had been tapped by Warner Bros. to don the green suit and power ring. Since then, set news has been relatively quiet from the $150 million superhero blockbuster. Currently, Reynolds, director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) & Co. are about to wrap filming in Australia. Production on set has been delayed several weeks due to various unexpected problems, but the project seems to be hitting its stride now.

A serious rumor has surfaced via SlashFilm claiming that none other than Mr. Jackie Earle Haley has been tapped by Warner Bros. to play the villainous Sinestro, opposite Ryan Reynolds.  For those who don’t know, Haley made his mainstream debut last year in a fantastic performance as the menacing Rorshach in Watchmen. He then took on the huge responsibility of taking over Freddy Krueger duties from Robert Englund in next years a Nightmare on Elm Street remake (in which he looks badass). Now it seems, he’s going to portray another major character in the world of comics and horror by playing Sinestro. Previously names such as Nic Cage had been thrown around to play the villain, but they turned out to be just rumors. All I can say is Haley is a brilliant actor who has proven himself very capable of being menacing and hopefully terrifying, so this is nothing but good news.

● This seems to be a cycle for M. Night Shymalan. You hear news about these great concepts for his movies before production starts. Then the movie’s trailer looks amazing and thrilling. Then when you see the movie, you are exponentially disappointed by the idiotic, signature “twist” that completely takes you out of the flow of the film. Lady in the Water, The Village, The Happening; how does this man continue to get the trust and financial funding by studios? Now, there’s no doubt he has talent. The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable are amazing. But his work over the last 7 years has been atrocious and I am on the breaking point of cutting him off.

M. Night is currently wrapping up post-production on The Last Airbender which opens in 2010. We now get news of his next project, which true to form, sounds really awesome. M. Night is not directing the film, rather the Dwodle Bros., but he did write the story so his creative imprint on this film is significant. The film is titled Devil, and it’s plot seems as simplistic and concise as its title would suggest.

Devil is basically a supernatural thriller set inside of an office building. There are some people stuck in an elevator, and one of them is not who they say they are…they’re the devil.

There is also a security guard and a policeman. The security guard is trying to convince the policeman to get them out of the elevator. He is also trying to convince the policeman that he is the chosen one to save the people.

So there you have it. The concept sounds really intriguing. I mean, it’s so simple, but could be so thrilling and terrifying. But again, it is M. Night, so the first 3/4′s of the film could be awesome, until we find out that the whole thing was just a dream, or some stupid twist like that. But the story sounds really cool, so I’ll be very cautiously optimistic about this one.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Okay. I’m totes magotes JK. But!…There is a poss sequel in the works to M. Night Shyamalan’s brilliant 2000 superhero drama Unbreakable, starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. Now, I’m sort of torn on this one. I honestly think that Unbreakable is Shyamalan’s best film. The story is so compelling, that creates characters you truly care about and of course, contains, I THINK, his best mind-blowing ending plot twist. When David Dunn touches Mr. Glass’ hand for the first time and realizes that it was he who caused all those horrific, deadly accidents, was just a hair-raising moment in cinema. HOWEVER!….Shymalan’s last three films have been poop and crap mixed with burnt poop and crap.

I’m sorry, but The Village was one of the biggest disappointments in movie history, with its retarded (no pun intended) ending plot twist. Lady in the Water was…”Meh” at best and The Happening was atrocious at best. So, he’s got some work to do to win back the faith of movie-goers. It seems very rare for a filmmaker to make three critically-acclaimed, box-office smashes in a row: The Sixth Sense,  Unbreakable and Signs. Then, make three critically-destroyed, box-office failures in a row: The Village, Lady in the Water and The Happening. Don’t get me wrong, M. Night is a brilliant filmmaker, who is unbelievably talented, but those latter three films were crap. They just were!

So what the hell am I talking about, you might ask? Well, M. Night sat down with MTV, during mid-production on his latest film, the fantasy-adventure movie, The Last Airbender, and he addressed his rumored interest in doing an Unbreakable 2. When asked if he was interested, he told MTV:

“I am.I don’t know where all the parties are in the world. Sam [Jackson] is like ‘Mr. Comic Book’ now. And Bruce, I don’t know what he’s up to. I don’t know where Disney’s at in their head and what kind of movies they’re up for making. But yeah, I love that movie.”

So, IDK. If M. Night can get his shit together and stop worrying about the shock-value of his signature mind-blowing endings and actually write a good, compelling story, I’ll see it. But if he keeps whipping out this crap, I will start to boycott his films. You only get so many chances in Hollywood people. C’mon!!

What Do You Think? Discuss.