Devil

[Lightbeard]

Someone once told me the villain in the Happening was the wind. I thought they were joking >.>.

[ulushnar]

I didn't like how his LitW character was actually a major plot point. But I did like his self insertion in The Sixth Sense where he was just some random jeweler or something.

Author/director cameo isn't quite the same as a true Author-insertion. He's had cameos in most of his films I think. But LitW felt like him ranting at critics for savaging The Village or something.

[Lightbeard]

I didn't like how his LitW character was actually a major plot point. But I did like his self insertion in The Sixth Sense where he was just some random jeweler or something.

Author/director cameo isn't quite the same as a true Author-insertion. He's had cameos in most of his films I think. But LitW felt like him ranting at critics for savaging The Village or something.

Nthing wrong with a cameo from the creator. Stan Lee is in nearly all the Marvel films.

[Brekkie]

At least it isn't randomly in 3d for no reason.

[ulushnar]

I didn't like how his LitW character was actually a major plot point. But I did like his self insertion in The Sixth Sense where he was just some random jeweler or something.

Author/director cameo isn't quite the same as a true Author-insertion. He's had cameos in most of his films I think. But LitW felt like him ranting at critics for savaging The Village or something.

Nthing wrong with a cameo from the creator. Stan Lee is in nearly all the Marvel films.

That's what I was saying...

[jaeldech]

Steven King was pulling that creator insertion stunt off way before Shyamalan and Stan Lee even thought it up. In movies and books, yo.

[wantpizza]

His cameo was the doctor that accused the mother of abusing her son in The Sixth Sense.

He's had some good movies but The Happening and The Last Airbender were steaming loads of monkey crap.

The Devil looks interesting.

[Shoju]

After what M. Night Shamalamahackjob did with The Last Airbender? Yes. I hate him. He was a mediocre writer with interesting stories before that, that could be hit or miss. But, even before TLA, he was bordering on inanity with his "IGOTTAPUTATWEESTINMAHMOOVEE" BS. It is there, in every stupid movie since the 6th sense. Then, he took one of the most awesome American Animation properties in recent memory and butchered it. Sorry, He is bad. I don't like him. 6th sense was cool, Unbreakable was kind of cool, Signs was.... 'eh', LitW was dreadful, the happening was abysmal.

He is as overrated as Quentin Tarantino.

[Nikachelle]

He is as overrated as Quentin Tarantino.

While I don't share in the M. Night hatred (and yet haven't seen his later work), can I just express my extreme dislike for Quentin Tarrantino? That guy is probably my very definition of repulsive. :shudder:

[Melathys]

Steven King was pulling that creator insertion stunt off way before Shyamalan and Stan Lee even thought it up. In movies and books, yo.

Hitchcock was doing it long before King.

[Belloc]

After what M. Night Shamalamahackjob did with The Last Airbender?

Well, along those lines... then Peter Jackson is a piece of crap after what he did to The Lovely Bones. Does that apply? I didn't really think so.

And The Last Airbender was a great movie... if you hadn't already been deeply invested in the series. I thought it was great and I'm very happy that it introduced me to such an amazing show. Adaptations rarely turn out anywhere near as well as the source.

I just don't like how his movies all have to have some sort of twist, and usually you can see them coming from ten miles away. He's also not that good at building suspense, at least in my opinion anyway.

Generally I consider his movies a waste of a perfectly good movie ticket.

What was the twist in The Happening? That the plants did it? That was obvious almost from the start -- not exactly a twist. The ending? Not a twist when they make it obvious, as well. I don't think Lady in the Water had much of a twist, either. Wrong guys filling the wrong roles? That's... not a twist.

M. Night's problem is that the first movie of his that anyone actually watched was a fantastic film with a great twist. His second movie was great, too, which only added to the problem. No filmmaker is perfect and you cannot expect every movie they make to be good. M. Night has a better record than most, and anyone who argues that simply doesn't pay any attention to film.

edit: Oh, and don't try to tell me that you saw the twists coming in The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs... because I will not buy that. The Village, yes -- anyone who saw the trailer for that movie could've guessed what the twist was.

[ulushnar]

Steven King was pulling that creator insertion stunt off way before Shyamalan and Stan Lee even thought it up. In movies and books, yo.

And Hitchcock was doing it before him. But like I said, there's a difference between an innocuous little cameo by the writer/director/creator as a bus driver or shop clerk and writing yourself as a misunderstood visionary who will one day make the world better. Putting a Mary Sue character into your movie is bad enough, playing that Mary Sue is a whole 'nother level of ego.

[Shoju]

After what M. Night Shamalamahackjob did with The Last Airbender?

Well, along those lines... then Peter Jackson is a piece of crap after what he did to The Lovely Bones. Does that apply? I didn't really think so.

If he butchered the source material, made changes just to make changes, and can't even get the blessing of the source materials creator, then yes. IMO, it applies.

And The Last Airbender was a great movie... if you hadn't already been deeply invested in the series. I thought it was great and I'm very happy that it introduced me to such an amazing show. Adaptations rarely turn out anywhere near as well as the source.

I'm glad that you enjoyed it, and that it was an introduction for you. It was still an awful story, with awful acting, and idiotic changes that didn't need to be made.

What was the twist in The Happening? That the plants did it? That was obvious almost from the start -- not exactly a twist. The ending? Not a twist when they make it obvious, as well. I don't think Lady in the Water had much of a twist, either. Wrong guys filling the wrong roles? That's... not a twist.

Twist is a poor choice of words probably. His reveal during the climaz of his movies are supposed to be shocking and provide a 'gotcha' element.

M. Night's problem is that the first movie of his that anyone actually watched was a fantastic film with a great twist. His second movie was great, too, which only added to the problem. No filmmaker is perfect and you cannot expect every movie they make to be good. M. Night has a better record than most, and anyone who argues that simply doesn't pay any attention to film.

edit: Oh, and don't try to tell me that you saw the twists coming in The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs... because I will not buy that. The Village, yes -- anyone who saw the trailer for that movie could've guessed what the twist was.

Warning. If you haven't seen the movies that M night has released, and want to be surprised by the end, stop reading here



















Movies of M. Night to make a large 'splash in the market'

1.) The Sixth Sense - Yes. I figured out when H.J.O. came home from school, and Bruce Willis and his mother were sitting motionless and silent in the living room that he was dead. Still a good flick, and still a surprise. I will say that it was obvious that I was in the minority of people in the theater that figured it out.

2.) Unbreakable - Hard to say. I never thought that S.L.J. was on the up and up through the whole movie, but I didn't expect what happened, no. I liked the flick, and thought it was a very interesting take on the superhero/villian type of thing.

3.) Signs - Swing Away. Well... Did I know that him swinging away and his dead wife being clairvoyant were the twist? No, but I did think it was odd that "It felt wrong not to" was talked about as often as it was. It wasn't that he struck out a lot, it was the fact that everyone brought it up in the same way. I kept waiting for it to come back into play. I thought the movie was ok, but nothing I was buying to keep around and watch over and over.

4.) The Village - I had this figured out pretty early on. This movie was so god awful atrocious, I actually walked out when it was revealed that they were a commune. Terrible movie. Terrible terrible terrible.

5.) The Lady in the water - I was still fuming about The Village, and didn't go to see this in the theatre. I was incredibly dissapointed that I wasted $4.95 to get this movie on demand. I didn't like anything about this movie.

6.) The Happening - My wife convinced me to go see this in the theater. I didn't want to, but I went, because my wife really thought it looked interesting. The movie itself didn't hold me in suspense / interest enough to figure out what was going on.

7.) The Last Airbender. I promise you, the only reason I stayed to the end of this movie is because I had my children with me, and they liked it because it was Aang and Kitara, and Sokka, and Zuko. I will say, that even my children (13, 7, and 5), who just like watching the show, picked up on, and did not like the changes to appearances, and pronunciations. If the movie was truly supposed to be a kids movie, you shouldn't have to explain artistic interpretations to a 5 and 7 year old.

So yes. I think that he is a hack. He had 2.5 movies that didn't make me walk out/ wish I could walk out/ regret purchasing the on demand of.

[Fivelives]

I guessed Unbreakable as soon as it occurred to me that "guy in wheelchair that likes superheroes is probably the bad guy". It's been so long since I watched it that I can't give any details or even memorable moments from it other than the basic synopsis.

"guy survives train wreck, figures out he has supapowahz, gets in a fight with a supervillain"

Other than 6th sense, M Night hasn't made any movie that I remember anything from at all, and I caught that twist fairly early, too.

I stopped watching M Night movies after the Village, but I do catch them occasionally. LitW needs to die painfully. I hate that movie with the burning fire of ten thousand suns.

[Brutalicus]

Someone see this movie and summarize the plot on Wikipedia! I love reading the plots to movies I know I'll never see when I'm bored.

Also, Signs was awesome. Never saw any of Shyamamlalayayanan's other movies though.