Oh, don't get me wrong, I LOVE M. Night. Him and Christopher Nolan and a few others are the best new filmmakers out there. I just don't want to see him become a type-cast director like some many before him. However, it is nice to see his stamp on all of his films. For example, all of Tarantino's movies have his stamp, his style is intact, yet they are all different. M. Night's films are different thematically but stylistically they are starting to look too similar. With Nolan, he started doing thrillers like Following, Memento and Insomnia (which were all pretty different) and now he's doing the superhero film "Batman Begins", he is branching out. I have no doubt that The VIllage will be great and M. Night will continue to be a great director. But what if Scorsese had only done Mafia flicks. No matter how good they were, people would begin to lose interest if his films were so similar. You know what I mean? Hopefully, M. Night's next film after The Village may be a step out of the box he has put himself in. I had lost all hope in Spike Lee until he put out the 25th Hour, so anything is possible.

BTW, Unbreakable ROCKS. It was supposed to be a trilogy or a series but the commpany deemed that it wasn't successful enough to justify a franchise. Perhaps that is why it seems that the story is unfinished??? Signs is my fave M. Night film, and Sixth Sense is very good but not as phenomenal and groundbreaking as some have said.

Not to sound confrontational or anything, but my question would be, if you don't like the guy's style, and only like 1 or two of his movies, then why go see "The Village" or anything else Shyamalan has to offer? I mean, I might sound like a bit of a hypocrite here being that I'm a bit pissed at Paul Anderson making a PG-13 AVP, and I'm still going to go see that, but then again, I'm a fan of both the Alien & Predator franchises. I have to go see the movie from the fan perspective. I'm still ticked at the PG-13 thing, but who knows? It might wind up being well done.

Shyamalan may have a "type cast" (as TGP put it) now, and he might seem arrogant with his comment that he's "figured out the formula to making a successful movie". But then... prove him wrong! Since making that comment, he's made "Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable", and "Signs". ALL of which were the top grossing "opening weekend" releases!! People obviously love his movies. The numbers don't lie folks. One thing I will say conversely is that Shyamalan may need to switch things up a bit. Now that everyone is expecting a "twist" ending in his films, people may not flock to see them (after "The Village") the way they did with his past successes. Maybe it will take him seeing a degradation in box office sales to figure that out? I don't know. As it stands though (having not seen "The Village" yet) Shyamalan is still in good standing with me.

- Josh ;):)

Good point Josh, all I'm really saying is the guy is extremely talented, but why is he sticking to the same formula all the time? I know his films are sucessful, I just want to see him tackle other things, until I start praising him as one of the modern greats. I this point I just want to see "The Village" because I want to know if the original ending is still there.

TGP,
You didnt like 25th Hour? I loved it...

Josh,
I dont want even want to think about AVP having a "PG-13." It pisses me off to much.

Tony

Tim,

Winning or being nominated for Oscars is swell, but golly, do you know what beat "Raging Bull" for Best Picture? "Ordinary People", which isn't a bad movie but is far from great. Remember, members of the AMPAS are jut ordinary people like you and me. They simply happen to make movies, a profession that is no worse or better than any other.

I'm not really trying to be a snob; it's just that my tolerance level has gotten really, really low.

Besides, I'm not bagging on Shyamalan for being commercially successful. My favorite director is Spielberg, and he's about as commercially successful as one can get, lol.

Eddie

TWill,
No, I LOVED 25th Hour. I menat that Spike Lee's films were beginning to be very similar and then he released 25th Hour and blew me away. It's a great film.

Nachtkriechen,
To me, Shymalan is a fabulous director. He could continue to make twisty thrillers forever and I'd probably keep seeing them because he's so good at it. I just hope that that isn't all he ever does, and it probably won't be. I've heard lots of crap about the ending to The Village on the net, but they're reading a script. If you read a script to a lot of good movies it seems like crap because you can't see what it's going to look like. It's all in the presentation, and Shyamalan is very good at that. I think he will develop into one of the great directors of our time and I think he's great.

Posters5,
You're very right about Oscars. The past few years, the films I love either are nominated and don't win or aren't nominated at all. I thought Gangs of New York, Mystic River, As Good As It Gets, Lord of the Rings 1 and 2, etc. deserved more. But opinions differ, and peopel shouldn't make the awful mistake of thinking that the Academy is always right. There are lots of politics involved with their decision. For example, I highly doubt that The Passion of the Christ would get nominated or win for anything, not because of the quality of the movie but because of the public outcry if it did win. Some view it as a propaganda film or a "pornographically violent" (whatever that means) movie. Same with a Michael Moore movie.

"Pornographically violent" simply means that violence is being presented in a lurid manner. I would say that the "The Matrix" series are pornographically violent, as are most Bruckheimer and Bay movies. I wouldn't place "The Passion of the Christ" in that category, though, as it's really a different kind of movie.

I saw this movie this morning and I thought it was pretty good. Not the best of the M. Night films but worthy. I enjoyed watching it and thats pretty much all you need from going to the theatre. I can see why some people wouldnt be pleased with this movie, most of the common folks at the theatre would probably feel cheated with the ending, but if you are a movie buff (which I am assuming most of you in here are) you will have quite an opposite response. I would say this is my 3rd favorite out of the 4. I am already thinking of the DVD. Do you think it will be a Vista Series like the other 3 films he made?

Ebert couldn't have been more right...

Before the plot twists came around I was amazed at the visual style and atmosphere created. But after the twists begin there are almost no redeeming qualities. You are left with that "that's it" feeling by the time the credits come up.

He has such potential as a director but here his dependence on twist endings has really wore out it's welcome.

Tony,

LOL... no, it's no big deal. As I said before, I try not to listen to critics anymore, because more often than not their opinions don't match my own on films. I'll be interested in what you all have to say tonight, but PLEASE if you're going to give away anything about the film, post "SPOILERS AHEAD" or something of that nature.

Thanks much.

- Josh

Josh,

I just meant that sometimes after hearing so many bad things about a film it might skew you enjoyment of it while you are watching it. I have to say though, Ebert said it best about the Village. "Critics were enjoined after the screening to avoid revealing the plot secrets. That is not because we would spoil the movie for you. It's because if you knew them, you wouldn't want to go." Anyway, I'll stop insulting it until I see it, I'm starting to annoy myself. haha