It’s true when they say that nothing lasts forever, but that statement becomes even more depressing when you realize that most things don’t even last for a fraction of forever.
That being said, there’s rarely anything wrong with quitting while you’re ahead, lest that which doesn’t last forever is remembered far less fondly than how it could have been. Indeed, in the world of cinema, we’ve seen many a beloved director fade into the darker pages of history after muddling their strong starts with a string of stinkers, and the folks over at r/movies, equipped with takes both safe and spicy, are ready to call them out.
One user went straight for the internet’s jugular by calling George Lucas one of cinema’s most washed-up directors. Lucas may have only directed six feature films, consisting of Star Wars‘ original and prequel trilogies, and it seems as though the latter grouping of films didn’t sit well with this particular rendition of a Star Wars enthusiast.
A few other users suggested Christopher Nolan, who, in his defense, found himself tasked with following The Dark Knight, which many would agree could have overshadowed just about anything he made afterward. Batman masterpieces notwithstanding, gripes with Inception and Tenet were nevertheless part of the subject. We’ll just have to see what he does with Oppenheimer, it seems.
And, of course, one responder offered up the answer we all expected in the form of M. Night Shyamalan; how the man responsible for The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable was also responsible for The Happening, Old, and a certain live-action adaptation of a Nickelodeon cartoon that we dare not mention, remains one of the universe’s greatest mysteries.
Indeed, a fall from grace is rarely something we care to embrace, but it goes just to show that, even in a realm as magical as cinema, we’re all human.