Worst M. Night Shyamalan Movie (Poll)

[The Ü™]

Lol. I wish MNS had stuck with alien reflections in "Signs." It would have been better for the movie.

I would have loved Signs if it weren't for how freaking dumb the aliens looked. Few movies/shows that show their usually-obscured Big Bad pull it off well. (Cloverfield and LOST come to mind as exceptions -- but the risk generally isn't worth it.)

I didn't mind how the aliens looked, but for CG aliens, they should've done more with them, like have them do some neat alien-like stuff besides barely noticeable camouflage. It would've been a more satisfying pay-off for the suspenseful build-up the movie had going for it.

 

[Totenkindly]

I would have loved Signs if it weren't for how freaking dumb the aliens looked. Few movies/shows that show their usually-obscured Big Bad pull it off well. (Cloverfield and LOST come to mind as exceptions -- but the risk generally isn't worth it.)

Alien got away with it first, years ago, when they realized the alien was much scarier shown only in pieces. Cloverfield also typically obscures its alien in darkness and dust until the endgame, I'm still not quite sure what it looks like altogether... but even when it shows the alien, the alien is still typically in motion and shot in a larger-than-life way (the only clear shot is looking up right so that it towers over the camera). The Signs alien is shot face-on at the end for a prolonged time not doing anything active... after so much of the movie beautifully handling it with small glimpses at most. Alas.

I didn't mind how the aliens looked, but for CG aliens, they should've done more with them, like have them do some neat alien-like stuff besides barely noticeable camouflage. It would've been a more satisfying pay-off for the suspenseful build-up the movie had going for it.

Yeah. I think the capital was squandered too.

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

I generally think creatures in movies like this are best shown fleetingly until the very end. Unlike The U, I think seeing glimpses, reflections, and stuff in the deep BG are way scarier than seeing something full on. I remember a shot I LOVED from the "updated" The Exorcist where you just saw a fleeting glimpse of a demon's head on the range hood. It couldn't have lasted more than a few frames and it was terrifying.

Unfortunately, too many directors adopt this style only when forced to by malfunctioning equipment (most notably Alien and Jaws, which are oddly enough the two best examples of this done right that I can think of.) I think MNS was smart enough to do this even in CGI (the shot of the alien on the TV is my favorite shot in the movie), but his payoff wasn't good enough. I didn't have a problem with the design of the alien (I think that's overblown most of the time) but we saw it for too long and it was too static. It doesn't really affect whether the story works or not, and it doesn't affect my opinion of the movie in a significant way, but it could have been done better.

 

[Totenkindly]

Just.... ...?

Sigh.

----

EDIT: Okay, so this is interesting. Compare that crappy American trailer to the Europoean/UK trailer and let me know what you think. Any better?

 

[Totenkindly]

ran across this spoof trailer of Shyamalan... lol....

 

[Frosty]

I will feel really sad if anyone picks the Sixth Sense

 

[miss fortune]

the list forgot one of his movies... devil... which was less horrible than some of his others, though not fantastic

I fell asleep twice while trying to watch Signs and didn't bother with most of his later ones because... what's the point?

 

[Totenkindly]

Yeah, Devil was marginally okay. Someone else scripted Shyamalan's story, though -- it was his idea, but actually assembled by others; he didn't write or direct it.

Starred Chris Messina (Six Feet Under) and Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus).

 

[Eluded_One]

I will feel really sad if anyone picks the Sixth Sense

If M. Night Shyamalan were a musician, the Sixth Sense would have been his one hit wonder.

 

[violet_crown]

So much easier to pick a "best" as there was only one: The Sixth Sense.

Boom. Done.

That was your daily dose of Te efficiency. (You're welcome)

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

So much easier to pick a "best" as there was only one: The Sixth Sense.

Boom. Done.

That was your daily dose of Te efficiency. (You're welcome)

Funny story:

I grew up and still live in Philadelphia. I was discussing with my girlfriend about how one of the public parks/squares used to be a potter's field, and she cheerfully remarked that the bodies are probably still there, underneath the grass where people talk and relax. (Nobody knows because most people don't read the plaques.)

It reminded me of to that scene where Cole pointed out "they used to hang people here."

I just thought it was a funny coincidence.

 

[Totenkindly]

Probably wasn't a coincidence, he grew up in Philadelphia and I think all of his movies are set in PA. I wouldn't be surprised if he knows of that rich heritage. (Kind of like King sets his stories in Maine, typically, since that's where he's from and lives... except King has actually compiled a body of decent material despite some duds.)

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Probably wasn't a coincidence, he grew up in Philadelphia and I think all of his movies are set in PA. I wouldn't be surprised if he knows of that rich heritage. (Kind of like King sets his stories in Maine, typically, since that's where he's from and lives... except King has actually compiled a body of decent material despite some duds.)

Oh, almost certainly. I used to delight in seeing his movies because I could always recognize settings and references. They also contain one of the rare examples of someone getting a Philadelphia accent right. Note to Hollywood: It's not a Brooklyn accent.

 

[swordpath]

This thread should have been titled "the only good Shyamalan movie."

The Sixth Sense

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

So much easier to pick a "best" as there was only one: The Sixth Sense.

Boom. Done.

That was your daily dose of Te efficiency. (You're welcome)

Eh, I don't know. The Sixth Sense was so good and some of the others so bad that people tend to discount that there is a middle ground. I think Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village are excellent.

They also contain one of the rare examples of someone getting a Philadelphia accent right. Note to Hollywood: It's not a Brooklyn accent.

SO MUCH YES.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

I actually thought that Unbreakable was a good movie. And Signs could have survived right up until that ending.

I think people forget that Signs was actually really, really well received when it came out. Unbreakable was in between, and it wasn't a big hit, but it was reasonably liked. I don't deny that most of Shyamalan's work is shit and he's just not a great director, and a pretty terrible writer, but I've also noticed a definite 20/20 hindsight effect going on with his work.

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

I've also noticed a definite 20/20 hindsight effect going on with his work.

I agree. The perfect is often the enemy of the good, and lots of good things have been declared terrible because they don't measure up to something nearly perfect. In this case it's that these things are not as good as The Sixth Sense, but I've also noticed it regarding The Simpsons, where seasons 2-10 or so are regarded as the golden age, and everything else is deemed shit because it's not as good as that.

I think in general, the discussion of culture has polarized into things that are awesome and things that suck. I don't think that's productive or fair.

 

[Totenkindly]

I agree that Unbreakable was decent (although the carded ending felt tacked on -- I think he was actually supposed to have a sequel but then wasn't), and after I rewatched Signs the last time we had this discussion, I found it pretty decent except for the last five minutes (which I hated). After that point, things got progressively worse.

So yeah, it's just become fashionable to hate him.

I posted the trailers for the new movie at first because the American trailer made "The Visit" look terrible -- but when I then watched the International Trailer, I found myself more annoyed with the trailer folks, who in my opinion did a TERRIBLE trailer for the United States market in comparison. So what does that say about what they think about American audiences? Why did they think that trailer would be more effective here? I mean, I actually laughed while watching it, versus feeling scared. Weird.

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

I posted the trailers for the new movie at first because the American trailer made "The Visit" look terrible -- but when I then watched the International Trailer, I found myself more annoyed with the trailer folks, who in my opinion did a TERRIBLE trailer for the United States market in comparison. So what does that say about what they think about American audiences? Why did they think that trailer would be more effective here? I mean, I actually laughed while watching it, versus feeling scared. Weird.

I agree, the second trailer was much better. I think it was just more expertly put together. It told you more without giving as much away. The American trailer had too much of the grandparents turning on the kids instead of just being weird. The second one stayed away from that until the very last shot (which they should have left out...the question about the oven was plenty.) The music was also MUCH more effective in the second trailer.

 

[Crabs]

i thought unbreakable and the village were both underrated. unbreakable is certainly more interesting than most of the rehashed, rebooted, superhero sequels and remakes plaguing hollywood right now. i'd rather watch a movie about a goat who's having a midlife crisis than another flying mutant/alien shooting fire out of his ass.

i also really liked the idea behind the village, a false utopian society away from society kinda thing.