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[wenis]

He let the escalation of his name and image precede him. He was galvanized in the public as the end all be all of upcoming directors. So it wasn't surprising to see that he tried to replicate that same sensation everyone got with Sixth Sense in his other films and when he didn't try to do that, but gave the public and critics something different (Lady in the Water, quality aside) he was universally panned. And when the critics pan someone who was once thought to be the next big thing in film they hit them extra hard because they (the critics) helped create his image that the public bought into (and he bought into). As we all know it doesn't take much to create a backlash from the public and when the critics started to pan him it was only a matter of time that the public would absorb it and start hitting back even harder. Now we're at the end of the cycle and the vehemence that people once carried for him is starting to die down. He's just become a joke. Someone you'll see getting a short interview in Maxim a few years down the road to see what he's been up to. A nobody. A has been.

That's what happened (or at least what I think).

 

[Imm0rt4l]

unbreakable was awesome.

 

[clav]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hksKLHt9Kzg

 

[cbox]

Fuck off with all The Village hate.


I liked it. : (

I'm with you buddy.

 

[trejo]

The only Shyamalan movies I've liked are Sixth Sense and Signs. To this day I still can't believe people liked Unbreakable since I thought it was absolute shit, to be honest.

 

[RagnarokX]

His only good/decent movies were Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. Signs was terrible and reminded me of that episode of Doug were Doug goes to see a scary movie and keeps closing his eyes just as the monster is revealed. Eventually he finally manages to keep his eyes open and the monster is so fake looking that he can't stop laughing. It does this great job of building suspense and then blows it.

 

[Zoramon089]

I honestly wasn't aware he didn't direct Cloverfield. As one poster said he basically plastered his name all over the project

 

[Branduil]

I honestly wasn't aware he didn't direct Cloverfield. As one poster said he basically plastered his name all over the project

You sound confused.

 

[FlyinJ]

People actually like Signs? I was amazed when that graph showed it so high on RT.

Spoiler

An advanced spacefaring culture decides to invade a planet made up of 80% water, which is absolutely lethal to them, but forget to bring waterproof jackets? seriously? maybe it was supposed to be some kind of deep metaphor regarding 19th century imperialism. but I doubt it

 

[GavinGT]

Signs was NOT a good movie. The writing was particularly bad.

 

[jonnybryce]

I loved Signs. I loved The Village. That's right, haters.

Lady in the Water and everything else was garbage. He's like the Lady Gaga of the film world. This is what happens when you start to take yourself too seriously.

 

[Hylian7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_(film)

He forgot to "TURRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNN ONNNNNNNNNN THAAAAAAAAA LIIIIIIIIIIGHTS!"

 

[G-Fex]

I honestly wasn't aware he didn't direct Cloverfield. As one poster said he basically plastered his name all over the project

psst, nobody knows tim burton didn't direct nightmare before christmas.

 

[Zoramon089]

psst, nobody knows tim burton didn't direct nightmare before christmas.

Wait
*checks*
What?

 

[TheSeks]

Nearly everyone of his movies involves a twist with Water being a weakness.

Go on and say "LOL NO THEY DON'T" but they do.

And I just ruined Unbreakable for a few people that haven't watched it yet, sorry.

 

[Jack Scofield]

People actually like Signs? I was amazed when that graph showed it so high on RT.

Spoiler

An advanced spacefaring culture decides to invade a planet made up of 80% water, which is absolutely lethal to them, but forget to bring waterproof jackets? seriously? maybe it was supposed to be some kind of deep metaphor regarding 19th century imperialism. but I doubt it

This is the first time I've ever heard this mentioned. Ever. You're powers of deduction are exceptional, and you should feel proud for being the first person to ever notice this plot hole.

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter, sir.

 

[Fersis]

I liked Signs,Unbreakable and The Happening.

I havent seen Lady in the Water and Devil yet.

 

[Imm0rt4l]

I never saw the happening, but I'm kinda curious to see just how bad it is. I saw devil though, that was pretty ass.

 

[FlyinJ]

This is the first time I've ever heard this mentioned. Ever. You're powers of deduction are exceptional, and you should feel proud for being the first person to ever notice this plot hole.

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter, sir.

You're powers of grammar are almost nearly as exceptional.

 

[ezekial45]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_(film)

He forgot to "TURRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNN ONNNNNNNNNN THAAAAAAAAA LIIIIIIIIIIGHTS!"

Every time the trailer for this was shown in the theaters, there was a large groan from the audience. Every time.

 

[Lunchbox]

people who hate the village and signs just didnt get it

thats the genius of m night

 

[Ken Masters]

Unbreakable is incredible
Signs is damn good
6th sense still pisses off all critics because they never could predict that ending

 

[ChubbyHuggs]

He realized nothing he made could top Unbreakable and decided to give up.

 

[Count Dookkake]

Unbreakable is his only great movie.

Sixth Sense was a'ight, but I figured out the ending pretty quickly. Signs started out well and then turned into full-on stupidity. The premiere was kinda fun though.

Everything else is shit.

 

[xbhaskarx]

The big twist is that NONE of his movies are good.

 

[Kritz]

Okay, what if...

+

=

?

 

[andycapps]

I bought into the hype around Unbreakable and Sixth Sense, then I saw Signs and it was incredible until the ending where you hit the alien with a baseball bat and a watergun and they all leave. There was a real sense of dread until the end and then the rug was pulled out from under the viewer's feet.

That's beside the fact that if aliens could actually get to our planet that they would have scanned it for water and determined whether it was hazardous to them. The Village was also good until the ending, and the twist that made this elaborate story into something way too simple to be satisfying. If he would stop trying to dumb his movies down at the end and have these "gotcha" moments he would actually be a great director.

 

[ZoddGutts]

The Last Airbender was a huge middle finger to the audience and the fans of the TV series. Fuck him.

 

[_Alkaline_]

Signs was an oustanding movie.

Until the last fifteen minutes.

 

[hiryu]

I'm pretty sure it was either after Signs or the Village that he separated from his long time producers. I believe they stopped working with him because he stopped listening to them and it's pretty apparent that they kept most of his craziness in check.

 

[Houston3000]

I never saw the happening, but I'm kinda curious to see just how bad it is. I saw devil though, that was pretty ass.

It's just bad, it's not really even "so bad it's funny" (barring some of the terrible facial expressions). There's moments in the movie that seem like they should be camp but they're pulled off with the obvious intention of being serious. You'll just be bored, save yourself two hours.

 

[NEOPARADIGM]

I didn't even like Unbreakable.

 

[Kusagari]

It's just bad, it's not really even "so bad it's funny" (barring some of the terrible facial expressions). There's moments in the movie that seem like they should be camp but they're pulled off with the obvious intention of being serious. You'll just be bored, save yourself two hours.

It wasn't laughably funny the entire time but I'll be damned if I didn't burst out laughing at "WE HAVE TO OUTRUN THE WIND!" while leaves rustle in the background.

 

[POWERSPHERE]

Is it only nerds who did or do give a fuck about this dude or what?

 

[JGS]

I bought into the hype around Unbreakable and Sixth Sense, then I saw Signs and it was incredible until the ending where you hit the alien with a baseball bat and a watergun and they all leave. There was a real sense of dread until the end and then the rug was pulled out from under the viewer's feet.

They didn't leave because of that. They left because they won and got what they needed.

That's beside the fact that if aliens could actually get to our planet that they would have scanned it for water and determined whether it was hazardous to them. The Village was also good until the ending, and the twist that made this elaborate story into something way too simple to be satisfying. If he would stop trying to dumb his movies down at the end and have these "gotcha" moments he would actually be a great director.

They knew there was water which is why they picked the locations they did. The one alien at the end had no way of knowing that Mel's daughter had an OCD issue with water.

Like any battle, one could assume there would be casualties, but overall the aliens got what they wanted. This was M. Night's last good movie.

My opinion is he simply ran out of stories to tell. It's not unusual and being prolific has doomed many an artist. He should be glad he wasn't a mone hit wonder and rest on his vast riches. Factor in the fact that his last movie was exactly the catastrophe financially that it was creatively and M. Night will likely have lived out his welcome.

I expect a DePalma trajectory of one kind or another.

 

[Stitch]

i like 6th sense, signs, unbreakable, lady in the water and happening.
village was alright.

dealwithit.gif

 

[thehillissilent]

derp



Pretty good actually, probably because it's not his movie.

He did right Devil, but I think it would be good for him just to focus on writing and not directing.

 

[JGS]

He did right Devil, but I think it would be good for him just to focus on writing and not directing.

I'm thinking the opposite. I think he needs to direct in his style more- actually be the next wannabe Spielberg who also focuses on direction over writing.

There's no reason why Avatar couldn't have been good with him focusing on direction until he got inspired again in the writing department. I do think Avatar was bigger than him. He's not really a big budget type movie maker.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

I really like his movies.
The atmosphere of The Village is incredible.

 

[andycapps]

They didn't leave because of that. They left because they won and got what they needed.

It's been a few years since I've seen it, what was it determined that they were after? I thought they were just colonizing the earth.

They knew there was water which is why they picked the locations they did. The one alien at the end had no way of knowing that Mel's daughter had an OCD issue with water.

Like any battle, one could assume there would be casualties, but overall the aliens got what they wanted. This was M. Night's last good movie.

I think you're putting more thought into this than Shyamalan did. The ending was still poor, like most of his movies. I don't get why he feels he needs to oversimplify his movies at the end and doesn't leave some things a mystery or leave them how the audience perceived them throughout the movie.

My opinion is he simply ran out of stories to tell. It's not unusual and being prolific has doomed many an artist. He should be glad he wasn't a mone hit wonder and rest on his vast riches. Factor in the fact that his last movie was exactly the catastrophe financially that it was creatively and M. Night will likely have lived out his welcome.

I expect a DePalma trajectory of one kind or another.

I agree with this though I don't think he's ever been a terrific writer. He had some cool ideas early on and I think he's just moved off into crazy land at this point. He's still a very talented director.

 

[x Power Pad Death Stomp x]

After 6th Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs, I was down for ANYTHING he was attached to. Especially Unbreakable, I love that movie.

Not sure why he's so off the rails, but maybe he needs someone around to be like "Hey, M...this part where you are the savior of humanity through your writing? Let's leave that out...". If all you have around you are Yes Men, you are going to end up with crap. (ex: Star Wars Prequels, Matrix sequels)

 

[adamsappel]

His movies feel very directed. I know that sounds stupid, but he's got a really heavy hand and isn't very subtle. The Sixth Sense is good, and it's fun to watch through a second time, but I can't imagine it being interesting for more than that. Unbreakable is a great superhero movie, but here I started to notice he would dress his characters in the same colors as the walls, or have really conspicuous framing. Signs was good, except for Night's role. I didn't see the Village because I figured out the twist myself, and everything after has been judged terrible. I hate what he did to Avatar. I love that show.

Apparently you've not seen The Departed.

Speaking of over-directed. I know I'm in the minority, but I hate that movie (Wahlberg is actually good in it, though). It feels like Scorcese is on his knees, begging for that Oscar. Even in that clip. "They like it when I move the camera, right? Watch how I move it in this scene!" Horribly edited, too.

 

[.la1n]

Unbreakable is still an amazing watch for me. I have never seen The 6th Sense (the twist was ruined for me by a friend and never had interest in seeing it since.)

Everything else was garbage.

 

[Zabka]

Loved Sixth Sense, Signs and Unbreakable.

The Last Airbender was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I think I fell asleep during it but couldn't tell if I missed anything. M. Night shouldn't be allowed near an action movie ever again because he has no idea how to make one.

 

[segasonic]

The only Shyamalan movies I've liked are Sixth Sense and Signs. To this day I still can't believe people liked Unbreakable since I thought it was absolute shit, to be honest.

this

 

[JGS]

It's been a few years since I've seen it, what was it determined that they were after? I thought they were just colonizing the earth.

They were harvesting humans for either food or slavery. I can't remember. When they got their fill they up and left.

I think you're putting more thought into this than Shyamalan did. The ending was still poor, like most of his movies. I don't get why he feels he needs to oversimplify his movies at the end and doesn't leave some things a mystery or leave them how the audience perceived them throughout the movie.

Actually, I agree to an extent. I didn't care for the ending because M. Night couldn't resist shoehorning in a twist of some type. I would have preferred the ending to either be linked to the wife's words without explanation or simply ending with a water hose and the fact that we were focusing on one family amidst all the conflict with no twist whatsepver - something I think Spielberg did better with War of the Worlds.

My point was that the conclusion was pretty well explained even if I didn't care for it

I agree with this though I don't think he's ever been a terrific writer. He had some cool ideas early on and I think he's just moved off into crazy land at this point. He's still a very talented director.

I agree with this to an extent. I think if you like twist endings, M. Night was a pro at it for a time. If he never writes again, it wouldn't make much difference. However, I love his directing style. A lot of his movies would have been much better without his writing them.