M. Night Shyamalan

Junkyard · July 26, 2007, 07:05:53 AM

This thread is to discuss what we like, hate, anticipate, regret, or whatever about M. Night Shyamalan.

My thoughts:
6th Sense was his only really good one, though Unbreakable wasn't too bad.
Water is a dumb ass weakness, and he shouldn't have made it his "twist" twice.
He should stick to making movies with twists if he ends up making any more at all.

Douglin · July 26, 2007, 07:24:23 AM

I think he was right to drop the twist thing, it became bigger than the films, it's all people were talking about with the last ones he did.

Although I didn't think that unbreakable had a twist, it wasn't his weakness, and I assumed the Sam Jackson's character was bad from the trailers. I think the village would have been better without the twist too and he'd just made it a period piece and added a bit more to it.

Is water really any dumber than a rock, fire, wood or the colour yellow?

Junkyard · July 26, 2007, 07:28:01 AM

Never claimed the comic book weaknesses were any better, but DC has spent countless hours thinking up justifications for their stupid weaknesses.

And I'm sorry, but whether you anticipated it or not, the end of Unbreakable DID have a twist. It was the only thing I found particularily interesting about the film.

Douglin · July 26, 2007, 07:45:55 AM

Quote from: Junkyard on July 26, 2007, 07:28:01 AM
Never claimed the comic book weaknesses were any better, but DC has spent countless hours thinking up justifications for their stupid weaknesses.

They were trying to emulate those comic books though, therefore: goofy weakness, villain is the opposite of hero.

and the film is only two hours long and it's meant to be the first third of the story (Shyamalan said he didn't find the character interesting after the origin so turned the whole film into the first third and threw the rest out) So maybe it was meant to be addressed later originally.

Did they ever actually state that the water weakness wasn't a psychological thing from when he nearly drowned (or thought he nearly drowned) as a kid...The rain and drinking stuff didn't hurt him, only when he was in a "drowning" situation, could have all been in his head.

Quote
And I'm sorry, but whether you anticipated it or not, the end of Unbreakable DID have a twist. It was the only thing I found particularily interesting about the film.

The reveal was interesting and if you want to call it a "twist" than that's fine, to me it just felt a lot more like "oh that makes sense" than in his other films when the twist was revealed it was more like "What the hell"

Junkyard · July 26, 2007, 07:49:59 AM

Hmmm. Fair enough.
I guess the fact that the viewer wasn't nessesarily supposed to be looking for what caused the crash is what constituted a twist. Otherwise, if you were looking for motives, it was just a deduction.

googergieger · July 26, 2007, 07:52:50 AM

unbreakable was his best movie probably.

good build, wether you saw it coming or not. great reveal and all. not to mention did a nice fresh new thing with the super hero thing. which is good on account of most super hero things suck.

Petey Wheatstraw · July 26, 2007, 09:47:37 AM

I didn't like The Sixth Sense. It felt like it was being made by someone from a country where the horror fiction genre does not exist - a person trying to make an attempt at a genre he doesn't understand.

Hebs · July 26, 2007, 09:54:32 AM

Quote from: Isaac on July 26, 2007, 09:47:37 AM
I didn't like The Sixth Sense. It felt like it was being made by someone from a country where the horror fiction genre does not exist - a person trying to make an attempt at a genre he doesn't understand.

I liked it, I thought it had a very Japanese quietness to it like the original Japanese Ring and Dark Water (which I guess are the same movie - same director)
But I thought the whole 'red' symbolism was very artistic. It could be my affinity for Bruce Willis, too.

Raven · July 26, 2007, 09:57:08 AM

For the most part I really enjoy his movies. They aren't the greatest out there but they are better than most of the crap that cycles through the multiplex near my home. The closest theater to me that would actually play anything independant or with substance, is over an hour and a half away from me. His movies tend to be more fun than a lot of others out there. I could care less about the twist or no twist endings and I honestly change my opinion on which of his movies is my favorite.