Nightfall

[Proverbial Jon]

When I watched The Happening I honestly couldn't believe it was taking itself seriously. It's such a bloody stupid movie with some terribly hammy acting. I swear no one told the cast that it wasn't a comedy.

The Village was intriguing right up to the twist which went and sucked everything out of the whole movie. Pro tip: Never write a story based entirely around a single twist when said twist is weak and less interesting than the actual mystery preceding it.

Unbreakable was quite enjoyable, as was The Sixth Sense even if someone had spoiled the twist for me before I saw it. Actually that "someone" was Doctor Cox from Scrubs... bastard.

 

[saintdane05]

Whoa, you're old videos are shit... man...

Anyway, how could you use this title and NOT use the badass song to go with it?
<youtube=hFqVWvPr2yE>

 

[gjkbgt]

It doesn't suprise me in the least the MBob likes M. Night.
One of the things M. Night does is he really likes showing you things.
A lot of the M. Night shots are one person doing one thing shown in almost clinical detail with little other sound.
Even the dialog is normally on person talking with a fixed camera where everyone else is just part of the set.

It seems almost fetishistic to me like the act of showing is somehow greater then the act or the meaning itself.
I never liked that even in the "good" films.

 

[Product Placement]

I just want to say, in the defense of The Happening:

If viewed as as a Raimi-esque Evil Dead 2-ish Comedy-Horror, it is absolutely fantastic. You will laugh yourself silly. Though that could be because I was kinda high when I saw it in theaters with my friends. Either way, I recommend it to people on account of how hilarious it can be. When that lawnmower runs a dude over? I was in stitches.

Eh... I get what you're saying but even then it's like watching someone telling you the same joke over and over again for an hour and half. Yeah, I get it... it's the plants... stopped being funny halfway through the film.

Granted, the part with the lawnmower and that scene that immediately caused me to think of the song "It's raining men", were pretty damn funny.

 

[UberNoodle]

You know, his films have not really had that many 'twists', in the truest sense of the word.

* Sixth Sense = had a twist in the true sense of the word, in that it turned the story on its head.

* Unbreakable = had a twist, but it was much more of simply a 'reveal'.

* Signs = again, the 'twist' is more of a 'reveal'.

* The Village = it had a twist, but a subtle one, and when you consider inspiration by real isolationist, closed communities in the USA, again, it is more of a 'reveal'. I think, if the Village had had a more sensational and direct climax and denoument, it would have appealed to the masses more.

* The Happening = more of a reveal, especially considering the inspiration of various 'mind control' predation and defense techniques already in nature today. EG, some bacteria drive caterpillars to suicidal behaviour, so that the caterpillar is eaten by birds and the bacteria can grow and travel. IF the film had shown some kind of CGI 'fungus chest explosion' or something, film goers would have probably accepted it.

My theory is that after Sixth Sense, a lot of film goers felt a bit miffed, that rather than THEY being the ones picking holes in the story, THIS TIME the movie picked holes in THEM. We have fostered a film going culture which revels in being 'better and smarter' than the film makers. Finding the 'errors' and generally watching films as if in competition for it. It is an attitude which resists immersion quite stubbornly.

Perhaps we have been spoiled. Perhaps modern culture has made us far too cynical and literal. I think we have far less patience for the metaphorical, and there's clear HOSTILITY towards intellectualism and so-called 'pretentiousness'. The latter being the go-to accusation for films which challenge expectations or dare to explore the medium.

Regardless, there are tall poppies in film today, and they are the targets of vilification and ridicule entirely ill-proportionate to how objectively 'bad' they may be. Often, the negativity is unwarranted, or it is negativity which is obviously applied quite inconsistently. If you a film maker who toes the line and makes competent but otherwise unadventurous, derivative product, you'll be liked, even loved. Yet if you a film maker who takes creative risks, you will face incredible resistance from film goers.

 

[MrBaskerville]

I really like Signs, though the water thing is stupid i don´t really think it´s big enough to destroy the film, mostly because i don´t see the actual Aliens as a big part of the movie. It´s more about the unknown threat and how the family copes with the whole situation and hysteria, i find that very interesting and kind of unique.

I have a minor petpeeve about the whole pantry door thing, mostly because it only became a problem because Nostalgic Critic chose to rant about it for comedic value by presenting it wrongly. They are capable of opening doors, they only have a problem with barricaded doors.
I think The Happening is the first Shyamalan movie that i utterly hated, i kind of like all the prior movies, though i do think that people in his films tend to act very odd and inhuman. Another good thing about Signs, it actually had some humour which helped make it a little less uncanny. There´s also the movie Devil, which he claims he didn´t direct even though it reeks of Shyamalan, not as bad as the Happening, but defineately not a good movie.

 

[Penguin_Factory]

I've never seen The Village, but it sticks out in my mind due to the fact that one of the photos on the movie's website spoiled the twist. I've always wondered how a mistake that glaringly obvious got made.

 

[Soxafloppin]

Unbreakable is one of my favourite movies, its great seeing Samuel L. Jackson actually play a less OTT character for once, Lady in the Water sounds so bad I actually really want to watch it.

 

[Nuxxy]

Back when I was a kid, and to this day, that one scene in Signs scares me - gives me complete chills. We all know which scene I'm talking about, don't even pretend it didn't creep you out too. It's one of those movie moments, like the girl in The Ring crawling out of the TV, or the girl from The Grudge making that croaking sounds. It just sticks with you, and every time I think of it I do a quick look back to make sure there's nothing behind me. :S

He he...made a young friend of mine watch Signs for the first time, and then took him home and dropped him at the bottom of his driveway on a windy and dark night. Next to a lot of the driveway is a hedge. When I spoke to him the next day, he said he ran up in the dark.

 

[Mr Fist]

While I will say that The Village is one of my all time favourite films, that is the one where Manoj started to slip through the cracks. Lady in the Water is incredibly ridiculous. Forget the whole messiah thing, what I find bonkers is the scene where the kid reads a prophecy through cereal packets...

I didn't like The Happening when I saw it in theatres. Ever since then, though, my appreciation for that film grows more and more whenever I rewatch it. As for The Last Airbender, when I heard that Shyamalan was making it, it's what actually got me to watch the entire series. Sure the movie was balls, but at least it got me into something I wouldn't have seen under usual circumstances.

After Earth isn't out in Australia here until next week. I still plan on seeing it, despite all this hubbabubaloo.

 

[Sir Christopher McFarlane]

I have avoided watching Lady in the Water and The Happening, which may have contributed to me never having watched a film by Night that I truly despised. His movies usually have this atmosphere as if the people in it are afraid of speaking too loud and waking the Wind Fish, who's been dreaming their world all along and it will disappear when it wakes up. I like that. It's also not as if I'm allergic to big egos. I watch the Jimquisition regularly.