M. Night Shyamalan: Thoughts?

I'm new to this union, so I dont know if this is really what its about, but Id like to know what you all think of M. Night Shyamalan as a director/writer/producer. I personally think he's one of the best directors of our time. All of his films have a deeper meaning than they first appear, and they are all a joy to watch. What are your opinions on his films?

P.S. If you dont know who he is somehow, he made:

The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, Lady in The Water, The Happening, Praying With Anger and Wide Awake.

I loved The Sixth Sense, it had some of the strongest tension I've seen in all cinema, and some of the best pacing. That could've been cause it was so scary as I watched it when i was really young. :P But man it was awesome. Re-watching it though, it looses a lot. That's too be expected, though. Oh and the twist was awesome.

So on that evidence alone he gets kudos for making a great film. Hard to judge him overall as a director when I've only seen one of his films, and even harder as a writer when I've not read one of his books. :P

Oh, and discussions about writers are welcome here. :)

Edit:

Actually, I've seen Signs too. That was enjoyable too, but not as great as The Sixth Sense.

Signs = scary, and one of the few modern horror movies that didn't require blood to create tension.

Sixth Sense = I've seen parts. Excellent, surprising, and fun

The rest were not good movies. I think M. Night Shamalamadingdong was better when we didn't expect much from him.

Signs = scary, and one of the few modern horror movies that didn't require blood to create tension.

Sixth Sense = I've seen parts. Excellent, surprising, and fun

The rest were not good movies. I think M. Night Shamalamadingdong was better when we didn't expect much from him.

gbarules2999

I totally agree with you on Signs. That movie and The Sixth Sense is why I respect M Night Shyamalan as a director. He doesnt need to throw in need less blood and gore to create suspense and horror. He can perfectly craft a story with believable, very human characters that some of us can identify with.

I enjoy his other movies though, even though you clearly dont. The Village has been criticized very wrongly. Just because it has a shocking, unexpected twist doesnt make it bad, it makes it brilliant, and this film was a much more amusing romantic film than most other films (yes it is technically a love story, for those who havent seen it). Unbreakable was insulted for being a slow paced film, but I enjoyed its originality. Once again, Shyamalan created a human hero that most people could relate to in terms of his relationship with his family, and his inability to accept his newfound power. Its a much better superhero film than crap like The Fantastic Four.

I do admit that Lady in The Water was a disappointment (although I do own it and watch it now and then). But again, I disagree with critics insulting The Happening. Now it is an R-rated film which did get me a little frustrated, since I enjoyed the PG-13 accessability of his other films. But after seeing it and the bonus features, I admired Shyamalan's restraint. It is gory, but nowhere near as bloody as many horror films like Hostel or Saw. It ALMOST ended up that way (like I said, watch the bonus features), but M. Night cut out many of the gorier scenes, scenes which, according to him, "would have gotten an X rating." It also is pretty creepy at times, and the film is much more about the struggles of main character Elliot Moore and his wife Alma. In my opinion, it is VERY underrated and people are only blasting it because its an M Night Shyamalan film. If it was any other director, it'd have much more praise than criticism. Its DEFINATELY not as good as Signs or The Sixth Sense (which is arguably a classic in the suspense/horror genre), but its good nonetheless.

Unbreakable was alright; I didn't mind it, but it wasn't for me. The Village is on my list to view, so I suppose I can't judge. :P

He is a good director, but when it comes to linking everything together in a movie, its kind of odd.

Like with Signs.

(WARNING: SPOILER FOR PEOPLE THAT HAVE NOT SEEN IT)

He links up Signs with Mel Gibson's wife's passing. She tells him to "Tell george to swing away", and his daughter begins to have water issues and cannot drink water anymore since it has something in it or it tastes funny. And his son has the idea to start channeling into their frequency via baby monitor.

This leads into the following:

George uses his bat from his baseball days to hit the glasses of water at the alien who was discovered to be there by the aliens radio transmissions!

So the way he links things up is odd, but the production value and the suspense puts everything into perspective. He's a modern day Stephen King.

WHAT A TWEEST!

Personally, I don't watch many movies and sadly I have watched none of those.waZelda

Same here. :P I heard about the Sixth Sense, and have seen parts of it, but I never sat down to watch it all the way through.

I also never knew this guy was a writer. Can someone give a poor fellow some info on any of his books?

The Dark Knight really was a masterpiece.EndlessGame

You wait till Watchmen comes out. If you haven't read the book already.

[QUOTE="waZelda"]Personally, I don't watch many movies and sadly I have watched none of those.iloveflash

Same here. :P I heard about the Sixth Sense, and have seen parts of it, but I never sat down to watch it all the way through.

I also never knew this guy was a writer. Can someone give a poor fellow some info on any of his books?

Whoops, my bad :P I forgot to mention that he wrote the scripts for the movies, not actually writing books :? Sry bout that.

Unbreakable was alright; I didn't mind it, but it wasn't for me. The Village is on my list to view, so I suppose I can't judge. :P

gbarules2999

I understand your view on Unbreakable. everyone I know hates it for being slow paced and lacking on action, and they're right, but I enjoy it simply for its atmosphere and being much different than the traditional superhero film.

I personally love The Village, but the twist may or may not be enjoyable to you. I thought it was cool, but once you know the twist, the film loses a lot of its magic and atmosphere. I guarantee you'll love the movie after you see it the first time, but you might hate it quite a bit the second time around. I stil think its pretty cool though.

I fall in with the most recent crowd in not having seen any of the mentioned movies, lol. I certainly heard about Signs and the Sixth Sense, but I've never really been a suspense/horror fan; I'm always more fantasy/adventure/sci-fi. But in regards to "hero movies" (you mentioned Fantastic Four in your post, which, I agree, wasn't very good) I've been hard pressed to think of any that bested the Dark Knight. While I prefer Iron Man as a hero to Batman, The Dark Knight really was a masterpiece.EndlessGame

Agreed :) Iron Man is tied with Unbreakable for second place as best superhero movie, but The Dark Knight wins by a hair. That movie really is a masterpiece.

If you like hero movies, you should give Unbreakable a try. Its much slower than other superhero mmovies, but its a lot deeper than most movies as well. The basic plot (only the beginning since i dont want to spoil the movie):

The main character is David Dunn, a security guard who works at a football stadium. On a train ride, the train derails and kills everyone inside, except David. He becomes the only survivor of the other 300+ passengers and he returns home to his wife and son. He has been very distant with his wife for a while now, and she feels that his survival is no coincidence and that they ccould start over and try to work on their relationship together.

Meanwhile, David receives a note under the hood of his car from a man named Elijah Price. He is theowner of a comic book artwork store who believes that Davids survival was no coincidence as well. Except he believes that Daivd survived due to superhuman strength. He is intent on having David develop his abilities, but David is reluctant and tries to avoid Elijah. But as the movie advances, David begins to wonder if Elijah really is telling the truth.

I could put in more, but its a movie you really should see for yourself. Even if you find you dislike it, you've got to admire Shyamalan for his originality.

[QUOTE="iloveflash"]

[QUOTE="waZelda"]Personally, I don't watch many movies and sadly I have watched none of those.MetalMan300

Same here. :P I heard about the Sixth Sense, and have seen parts of it, but I never sat down to watch it all the way through.

I also never knew this guy was a writer. Can someone give a poor fellow some info on any of his books?

Whoops, my bad :P I forgot to mention that he wrote the scripts for the movies, not actually writing books :? Sry bout that.

I thought The Lady in the Water was based on a children's book he wrote?

I should have known not to believe American morning shows!

I heard that the Lady in the Water was not as good as his previous ventures.

I thought The Lady in the Water was based on a children's book he wrote?

I should have known not to believe American morning shows!

Foolz3h

Children's book. But the story does not confirm to that of a children's book

[QUOTE="EndlessGame"]The Dark Knight really was a masterpiece.gbarules2999

You wait till Watchmen comes out. If you haven't read the book already.

[QUOTE="MetalMan300"][QUOTE="iloveflash"]

[QUOTE="waZelda"]Personally, I don't watch many movies and sadly I have watched none of those.Foolz3h

Same here. :P I heard about the Sixth Sense, and have seen parts of it, but I never sat down to watch it all the way through.

I also never knew this guy was a writer. Can someone give a poor fellow some info on any of his books?

Whoops, my bad :P I forgot to mention that he wrote the scripts for the movies, not actually writing books :? Sry bout that.

I thought The Lady in the Water was based on a children's book he wrote?

I should have known not to believe American morning shows!

I dont think he wrote it as a book, but Lady in the Water waws a story he made up and told his children. But he kept revising over time and ended up with the plot in the movie. I agree that it was nowhere near as good as his other movies, which are in a totally different league. But what I admired about the movie, and Shyamalan, is how Lady in the water still had very deep messages and themes that give you something to think about as you watch the movie. When a somewhat poor movie still can give you something deep and thought provoking while you watch it, thats a sign of talent.

Even still, if you watch one movie from M Night, dont choose Lady In The Water unless you have to. Its deep, but The sixth Sense and Signs are exponentially more well done and entertaining than that movie.

The Sixth Sense and Lady in the Water are his best.

The Village was meh.

Signs and The Happening were a joke. (Signs was not scary at all, and The Happening's acting sucked so bad it wasn't even funny, and the concept sucked too.)