July 31, 2004

"Instead of making vibrant, relevant movies, he's created his Pennsylvania fiefdom ... "

The main thing New Yorker writer Michael Agger seems to have against M. Night Shyamalan is that he refuses to leave the suburbs of Philadelphia:
He lives outside of Philadelphia with his wife and children and insists on shooting most of his films within a day's drive.

… raised in an affluent Philadelphia suburb, M. Night grew up ensconced in the world of regulated suburban achievement …

On the Philadelphia set, Shyamalan somehow transformed himself into a disciplined director.

He stays put in Philadelphia, refusing to move to L.A. and play ball. He creates a local film industry around his productions.

Shyamalan's interest in creating a vibrant film business and setting his films in a specific place that he knows and loves is portrayed as some sort of sick deficiency: "He's not making movies. He's making cocoons."

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