M.Night Shyamalan is one of my favorite directors and i was shocked when i read a thread here dissing him as a hack,just what exactly do u have against this man?His three movies have been brilliant and unlike most directors he writes his own screenplays. His directing is amazing and even the weaker movie of the trio-unbreakable-features some stunning pieces of directing; The guy is brilliant,what axe do you have to grind with him?
I’m with you, I think he’s great. Maybe they’re jealous of his totally cool name?
With a resume like Signs, Unbreakable, and * The Sixth Sense*, I don’t know what there is to hate about him. Just out of curiousity, could you do me a favour and provide me a link to the thread? I’m curious to see what these people’s specific beefs are.
Incidentally, Unbreakable is my favorite of the three (that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the others because I did).
The Sixth Sense was quite a wonderful movie. It had an interesting development and wasn’t as predictable as most of the tripe out there. Overall an A+.
Unbreakable may as well been called unbearable. He suddenly started to pigeonhole himself into the supernatural vein of film-making. The movie stunk. It stunk like dirty ass. The direction was fine but the rest of the story lacked interest. It was boring, the characters were very wooden (even though the acting was fine), and extremely predictable. This movie may as well been straight to video it was so bad. Overall an F.
Signs was quite suspenseful but again now there is no way out of the pigeonhole. People expect to see Shyamalan make movies that have some sort of supernatural aspect to them. Not bad overall for a niche market. However, this made it more predictable. The bad guys were stupid (our weakness is water, so we will go to a planet that is mostly water) and the characters were wooden (even though the acting was fine), and was extremely predictable. Still he managed to keep it suspenseful. Overall a C+.
See the theme? He only does one thing. He keeps his movies in a similar vein without really expanding himself. If he started taking on other people’s scripts (doesn’t he write all of his own?) to direct he will likely start to overcome this pigeonhole, but as it is now it is just the same old thing with a different skin.
If that’s a pigeon hole, it’s a pretty darn big one. Those movies are very different from one another.
Some people really like movies of his like Unbreakable, that others think are utter crap. When there are such polar feelings, the discussion tends to get heated and everyone speaks in hyperbole and absolutes.
I have only seen Signs but I thought it was a pretty good film though the ending was rather sappy. I think the best bits of the film show that Shyamanlan has genuine skill as both a director and a screenwriter.
From the other threads some peole seemed to have problems with alleged plotholes but I could think of perfectly reasonable explanations for them and in any case they didn’t stop me from enjoying the film.
I too, thought Unbreakable was his best. Funny how you either love it or hate it. I loved 6th Sense also, and I liked Signs okay but thought it was the weakest.
I’m looking forward to what Shyamalan will do next. Another supernatural myster/thriller kind of thing? Or will he step out and do something different?
Unbreakable really stank. (Just so you know where this post is going. You’re welcome.) Long sequences of just nothing going on. It could have been cut to half it’s length with no change in story development. Of what’s left, hardly any is the least bit interesting. Plus a mega-absurd premise. He didn’t know he was a really healthy guy? Come on. Talk about insulting our intelligence. Poor acting. BTW, I have 200 Silver Age DC comics in the basement. I know about that stuff quite well. So that was Yet Another Letdown about the movie.
6th sense was only mildly okay. After all, the “big secret” was really clear by 5 minutes in. 10 if you’re slow on the pickup. So that really shot what little ending it was supposed to have. Good acting by the main women characters though.
Haven’t seen Signs. No hurry at all. Sounds like another “insult my intelligence with an idiotic premise” movie. We all know that crop circles are fake, right?
I’ll throw my vote in for Shyamalan as an excellent and interesting director. I liked The Sixth Sense very much. I didn’t find its “secret” to be quite so obvious; perhaps it is if you’re sitting there trying to “get the jump” on the film rather than simply letting the director tell you his story. I was less sold on Unbreakable at first, though upon further reflection I found I liked it more than I did immediately after viewing it; it’s sort of a “stealth” movie that sneaks up and has greater impact after you let it do its work and digest it. I haven’t seen Signs yet, though I intend to do so soon.
What I like about Shyamalan’s style is his willingness to hold a shot, to let a scene play out at a more thoughtful pace. It’s quite a contrast with today’s mostly frantic filmmaking. I think that’s why his talent stands out against the rest of the crop; it may also be why some people find his stuff “boring”–they’re so used to the quick edits and speeded up pacing of most of today’s films that they can’t adjust to something that’s slower and more reflective.
I really enjoyed The Sixth Sense, and I went knowing almost nothing about it (I deliberately didn’t read one review) but I thought Unbreakable was badly paced. Signs was fun and entertaining but just kind of silly and ultimately predictable. Big surprise that Mel found his faith again, huh.So in short I was let down by his second two films.
Count me as another who thinks he’s proven himself as a one-trick pony. Not a bad trick, I suppose: he can ratchet up suspense well, but you’re always waiting for the (a) twist, and (b) warm-fuzzy uplift resolution. And the people who seem most impressed by Sixth Sense are always the ones who never bring up Ambrose Bierce in the same conversation.
Also, he gave Newsweek a list of the “Greatest Movies Ever”, and you’d think the medium had been invented in 1970. :rolleyes:
The Sixth Sense was easily his best, but Unbreakable seemed like his shot at replacating that glory. It took two good actors and totally wasted thier talents on a predictable, dragging script. And Signs made me want to kill someone. I left thinking that I must have missed something, or blacked out for a short period in the theater, but after talking with everyone else, I realized I had actually seen the ENTIRE movie. I was dumbfounded at what everyone was going on about. Someone called it “Hitchcockian” and I almost slapped them, hopped in my car, drove to thier parents house, and slapped thier mom. It was boring, predictable, thoughtless, predictable, and most of all, predictable.
PS IMHO, the only shining point in the film was when it was revealed that people from the Middle East were the ones who figured out the aliens weakness. After September 11th, no less. I will give him credit for that.
The Sixth Sense was easily his best, but Unbreakable seemed like his shot at replacating that glory. It took two good actors and totally wasted thier talents on a predictable, dragging script. And Signs made me want to kill someone. I left thinking that I must have missed something, or blacked out for a short period in the theater, but after talking with everyone else, I realized I had actually seen the ENTIRE movie. I was dumbfounded at what everyone was going on about. Someone called it “Hitchcockian” and I almost slapped them, hopped in my car, drove to thier parents house, and slapped thier mom. It was boring, predictable, thoughtless, predictable, and most of all, predictable.
PS IMHO, the only shining point in the film was when it was revealed that people from the Middle East were the ones who figured out the aliens weakness. After September 11th, no less. I will give him credit for that.
Sorry for the double post. Also, did anyone else think that Unbreakable felt like Sixth Sense with superheros, and Signs felt like Sixth Sense with aliens? My girlfriend said the same thing after we came out of the theaters. It isn’t like he’s pigoenholed himself; I think he is really trying to make different movies, but this is all he is capable of.
I really liked The Sixth Sense, and as I’m (still) not familiar Ambrose Bierce, I didn’t see the ending coming (this from the guy who nailed The Usual Suspects right out of the gate).
Unbreakable was Unwatchable. The pacing was horrible, and it was combined with a weak script.
Signs should hit HBO soon. I’ll see it then. I don’t go to see many movies, and the reviews were not compelling enough to entice me to see this one.
Hovi, if Signs is closer to Unwatchable than to {i]The Sixth Sense*, then give that critic and his mother another slap for me, and one for Alfred also.
Ah, crap. Stupid hamsters! I won’t repeat my post, except to say that ftg is being mildly insulting to the vast number of intelligent people who were surprised by the Sixth Sense, and that I enjoy Shyamalan’s movies immensely.
Daniel
Shyamalan the Director is far superior to Syamalan the screenwriter. Sixth Sense was quite strong in both regards, but his storytelling is much sloppier in the latter two movies I think as a filmmaking craftsman he is in the upper echelon of active Directors, however.
One of my favorite directors. I lack ftg’s near-Godlike intelligence, so I was surprised by the ending of Sixth Sense, and since I have so little intelligence, I didn’t find the premise of Unbreakable at all implausible. Not quite as good as Sixth Sense, but I found it gripping and enthralling. The plot moved slowly, but the characters were hugely engaging. Signs was definetly the weakest of the three, but I still found it immensely entertaining, and even Hitchcockian. I’ll let Mom know about her impending bitch-slapping.