Well, this director has consciously chosen a downward career. He said Umbreakable was a box-office failure because it was bad, and from there on he lowered the level. Umbreakable is his peak, I agree on that, after a little known film and a promising but not-so-brillianr cashmaker as the Sixth Sense Was.

Signs was plain, though it had its moments. The Village... is awful. The only good thing to be said about it is that it was NOT directed by Lars Von Trier. The actors are awful, the characters are unsimpathetic... only two moments of the film were vaguely brilliant (guess which are), and the ending is horrid.

It´s not a problem to continue on a genre, Hitchcock did it with outstanding results, but... every film with a surprising ending... we saw that! more entertaining, more brilliantly... Rod Serling and his Twilight Zone. You don´t need 90+ minutes to tell stories so simple as ALL Shyamalan films are.

All in all, a promising, not outstanding director, in my humble opinion.

A sea nymph? LOL that sounds dreadful enough.

that does not affect the overall movie

Er... if anything, the twist in The Village undermined the entire film and made a total nonsense of everything that had gone before.

Frankly I think he needs to get away from fantasy-themed stories and take a *real* different tack.

*Yawn* I hate this man's movies. All of them. Boring, trite and predictable. Been there, seen that. But that's not even the thing that bugs me the most, it's the never-ending hype. I have yet to see anything from this man that has me interested or riveted. I just don't understand why people go on and on about him. I think his movies are a snorefest, to be honest. I would rather have a root canal done with a rusty spork.

I think that M. Night Shyamalan is evolving, i really like his work, and I agree that Umbrakeable is his best work.

Since Sixth sense people have specific expectations and they want to compare this movie with the rest, so most of the people dont realize the new fields that the director is exploring.

Sorry for my english, i speak spanish...Great site!

I havn't liked any of this man's film. I figured out 6th sense in the first five minutes. [Edited out blatant unfun ruin it for those who don't know spoiler].

Unbreakable was just boring (and very stupid).

I didn't bother with "The Village"

I'm really surprised at all the negative feedback. I think M. Night is a fantastic director and I always thought I was alone in thinking Unbreakable was his best film. Night has a flair for the dramatic and the blatant, as well as a touch for the subtle and tender that I find extremely rare and refreshing. I can choose to enjoy his movies on so many levels whether I just want to "veg" and take it all in, or really explore and read into the subtext of it. I loved the village as well mainly due to the journey, exactly as John says, and Bryce Howard's wonderful performance.

yay, i love shyamlan, i think he should do a vampire movie

I read this report in another site and I was actually thinking, now how in the world will he tell that story? I am actually glad to hear that he is doing another film,

I am one of Shyamalan's admirers.

I too was under the impression that his films were meant to scare you to death, but there was more to it than that. I must admit when I first saw the "Signs", I wasnt very impressed, I was looking for aliens and later realised it wasnt an alien movie but about redemption. His films are indeed more character driven, like Rich I think "Unbreakable" was his best film, and as for "The Village", how would we know the brilliance of actress Bryce Dallas Howard if not for that movie?

Bring it on Manoj!

Having seen all of Shymalan's films to date, apart from Sixth Sense (it seems like it wouldn't be very enjoyable once you know the ending, which I do) I agree that Unbreakable is the best. Although I think, as someone was saying, the hype, and audience expectations account for a lot of the negative feedback. For example, The Village was marketed as a chiller, (all the jumpy moments in the trailer, "Don't let them in" etc etc) So one of my friends was really annoyed that the film didn't pan out like that at all, it's not a bad film, it's just not a horror.

Shyamalan has moved away from the Sixth Sense style twist ending, and his films are still entertaing in their own right.

I'm really glad that some of you know what I'm talking about, and I'm not going to rehash what you've said because domdunc, Darth, Simone and Mantis have said it just fine.

I actually think that Sixth Sense was probably his weakest, why? Well because of the hype that was generated for and by the movie. It's ruined the film for me now.

Oh, I saw Sense knowing the ending, which some prat on a discussion board spoiled for me. However, I still totally appreciated what it did.

I am a huge M. Night Shyamalan fan. Anyone who finds his movies dull or boring needs to check their pulse. The common complaint that he has fallen off as a writer can at least be partially attributed to his overwhelming success with Sixth Sense. Up to that point he was an unknown talent, and that movie put him on a list of some of the best story tellers in recent years. The problem associated with that is now that everyone knows who he is they expect so much more from him. People go to his movies and expect the twist at the end which completely ruins the experience. The first time people watched the Sixth Sense you were completely blown away by the ending because it appeared that it was a story about a psychiatrist trying to help a child overcome what he perceivs as an irrational fear. When you find out at the end that it was the child helping him all along you never expected it and it throws you through a loop. That moment set a precedent in all future Shyamalan movies. Now he gets bashed because his twist ending "is completely predictable". If he didn't attach his name to a movie people would not be waiting for the twist and when it finally came they would be genuinely surprised. However not attaching his name to the movie runs him the risk of the movie doing poorly at the Box Office and so we may never know. Bottom line nothing is ever as good as it is hyped up to be. When this movie comes out ignore the hype and go into the theater with a clear and open mind. Don't try to figure out the ending, just enjoy the experience of the story.

"However not attaching his name to the movie runs him the risk of the movie doing poorly at the Box Office..."

I beg to differ. Any movie worth its salt will do fine at the box office, if not really well. By word of mouth alone, movies are made or broken. This is why we have professional critics and movie reviewers roaming the Earth. However, never underestimate the people's choice. If they like it, they will tell two friends, and those two friends will hopefully tell two friends, and in the end you will have a very sucessful hair product commerical in your midst.

I also had Sixth Sense ruined for me and this was after watching "50 First Dates" where Drew Barrymore's character gave away the twisr in the film, and I was planning to watch it that week! Crumbs. Nevertheless regardless of knowing how it will turn out, I still enjoyed "Sixth Sense".

JD says, "Don't try to figure out the ending, just enjoy the experience of the story." I think this is the key to all his films, just sit back and let the story take you.

I thought the dialogue between Phoenix and Bryce on the porch in "The Village" was very powerful.

Maybe I'm alone in this thought....but do you think that any of the back lash against M. Night has anything to do with view of Minorities of Arab decent by the general American Public since 9/11? In typical low brow US fashion.....we love to lump everyone with a similar dialect and facial look. Just a thought....maybe I'm wrong.

In my personal case, you're wrong, Jason. What he looks like never occured to me. It's about the work not the man's DNA or origin.

Darth Booker, welcome to the community of spanish cinema aficionados.

A vampire film by Shyamalan? I prefer Terence Fisher, honestly.

Just a thought.....might have something to do with the SCI-FI Docu-Fake he did....but I got the feeling he was getting back lash before that.

You all bow at the alter of Shyamalan!!! Stop trying to be "cooler then thou" by saying that you find his movies "predictable". There isn't a person in here that didn't shit their pants when Willis' wife dropped that ring in Sixth Sense!!! I'm a little pissed about this announcement though. What happened to Life of Pi being his next movie??

I was far from pissing my pants about the ring or any other surprise endings, which are a double blade weapons. Shyamalan shines at his best in his atmospheric treatment of the environment, and on his hugely original technique of filmmaking. He COULD direct excellent movies, but he betrayed himself after Umbreakable.

Seems, though, we both agree this idea of a siren is, to say the least, weird. No matter how innovative u are with chamera, if the story is bullshit, the result is a bullshit. Yesterday I saw The Majestic (not great, but nice movie), and I thought on the importance of the script in classic movies and...

STOP!!!

Adam says, "What happened to Life of Pi being his next movie??"

Hang on, there were plans for him to do a film adaptation of that novel??? OMG! I so love that book, and I think if he works on the project it will be great!

@jason:

I thought Shamalot is of Indian heritage, not Middle Eastern.

He kind of is a one-trick pony. With the exception of Signs, all his movies have twist endings. Twist ends are in themselves not bad, but if most of the movies you write and direct have them, it does become predictable and expected whenever you produce a new movie. The moviegoer spends more of their energy trying to figure out the twist end (even if there is none), rather than enjoying the story itself. Twist ends are a storytelling device/tool that shouldn't be overused.

It's like if a director constantly featured, say for example, midgets in his movies. So when news breaks that he's about to do a new movie, people will naturally wonder what he's going to have a midget do now in his new movie, even if it won't feature one.

If the director doesn't want to keep getting criticism for doing the same thing repeatedly, then perhaps he should stop doing the same thing again and again?

Lets call it as it is: We expect a twist in his movies. He caused it....now he painted himself into a corner....kinda like the actor that plays the same role.....its hard to un do the perception. He is going to have to do a movie that is like by the majority(makes money would help) that is diffrent from the other movies he has done.....liken him to Michael Jordan when he tried to make a come back....everyone compared him to himself....good but not perfect. And god help him if he does another "twist" movie and it does make money....we will expect it ever time. When The Village came out....we ALL had pre concived ideas abotu what the twist would be and most ignored the bulk of the movie waiting for the end.....but like i said....that is his and Touchstone's fault...thats how the Hype his films. I would go as far to say.....he should leave his name off the credits of the next film to NOT battle his own Film Credits.

Case in point: I didnt even know that Weaver and Hurt were in the film....they put M.Night all over it....because we would know what we were getting.

I always admire M.Night's works (Unbreakable is my persnal favorite). Come on, at least he wrote his own movie stories.

Can anyone recall great movies that are NOT based on novels, comics, video games or old TV series?

Yes there's one: STAR WARS saga. It is purely G.Lucas' own fantasy, and that's why I always respect him even though his last 2 S.T. episodes were disappointing.

I think Night Shyalaman's movies are all boring besides maybe unbreakable.

I walked out after 30min watching THE SIXTH SENSE. Later i was told the end then i thought obviously it was a smart twist and regretted a bit not having the patience to put up with the rest of the movie.

I watched UNBREAKABLE, it wasn't bad. The twist at the end was smart but i thought once again the movie was boring.

I watched SIGNS and i found it SO boring ! It could easily have summarized to a 30min episode of the Twilight Zone just like a previous poster said.

I watched THE VILLAGE, i was expecting something very scary even though someone who had seen the movie previously had told me that it was lame and the twist at the end was not that clever.
I still went to see it and once again walked out after 30minutes. I talked to the cinema staff and they said that at every showing a dozen of people were walking out as well !

I will never go and see any other movies from him. I think he should go write animated movies for kids.

Hi,

I totally agree that M. Night Shyamalan is an awesome, kick ass director. And a lot of people unfortunately want the same old stuff from him like The Sixth Sense, and often underappreciates him if he does something different. I think that is what makes M. Night Shyamalan more talented and gifted as a director: his ability to do different things rather than make ten billion sequels of his first hit movie like most of Hollywood is doing. That creates a huge starvation for the audience and even downplays their intelligence as movie goers. Its like feeding a bunch of mindless zombies the same old thing, and that is NOT entertaining. I think that movies should not just be mere eat-ur-buttery-popcorn-and-be-entertained-for-two-hours. I think it should entertain us and create an experience that will stay with us for a long time, not just the two and so many hours that we sit in the theater watch the movie. That is what a good story teller does and that is what M. Night Shyamalan an awesome storyteller and movie maker. Ofcourse, he did make a mistake for making "The Village" because 1) it is way ahead of our times, and also 2) most of the movie going audience of today just want their brains to be drained and look at some cgi special effect film passively. They don't give a damn about character development or following the story of the film through the characters or even try to understand the underlying metaphors a story teller has to offer. That is scary. Hopefully, it will change soon... but inspite of being side tracked, I believe that M. Night Shyamalan is one of the greatest directors of our times and times to come. And the people who bitch about his movies, well, I want to see a brilliant film, one brilliant film, come out of you and create it with simplicity and see if you can delve inside the hearts of all types of audiences.

Heey Rapunzel, slow down! You fall in that typical, growing trend of satanize those who don´t agree. "If they don´t like what I like, they don´t like cinema". That´s a bit unfair ain´t it?

Ultimately, every movie goes to each one of us. Probably The Village told u many things that I was unsensitive to, as the contrary could happen with other films.

I think, though, I am on my perfect right to say Shyamalan is not a genius, and that has nothing to do with doing cinema. Personally, I wouldn´t like to direct movies: I prefer to see them.

And that attitide of "Oh I appreciate this director, so I am more sensitive, intelligent than the rest" is plainly ridiculous unless u want to create a stupid polemic discussion about a man who earns more money than u will in all ur life. Nobody deserves as much, don´t you think?

I think cinema is, above all, entertainment. And I also think nobody who pays a ticket, whatever he/she chooses to see, deserves the calification of "mindless zombie".

If you pay hard earned money...you should be entertained.....and in the case of movies you have to pay 1st before you know if you got your monies worth. $10 for a ticket is worth it if you got more than $10 worth of entertainment....I just didnt get my $10 bucks worth with The Village....sorry.

I think Shyamalan has a way with taking classic horror/science fiction premises and refreshing them. I personally can't wait to see what he does with this new film; it's a little bit of a deviation from the mermaid premise.

i agree with rapunzel, becuase i'm am a really big fan of shyamalan, but i understand peter as well. But a lot of people arnt so optomistically spoken when it comes to decideing wether they like someone or not. i work at a video store so i get a lot of reviews and i found that with the village, more females enjoyed the village than the males. and if i ask the males why they didnt like it all they say is "it sucked, it wasnt scary at all!" it frustrates me, becuase its not an intelligent answer. and pessimistic people suck at living, obviously those who hated it saw the movie with the only mind set of that this movie will be scary and not being able to take in the great story that was presented to us instead. and the "mindeless zombie" thing, i believe it is a large part of society...well at least in the city that i live in (i need out!!) can u really say that they are a walking body of geniousness when they come in and rent harold and kumar go to white castle every week. i wish it wasnt true (being as i'm a straight single female) but it is the fat older men that wear short sleeved colared work shirts from initech that come in and rent movies like harold and kumar (and then find it appropriate to hit on poor innocent me IN A VIDEO STORE) i've totally gotten off topic and maybe i'm a little biased but i think i have the right to be. i just dont understand how people dont like shyamaln becuase he makes his characters and surroundings so realistic and everyday, its creepy by itself. one day i'll be in one of his movies:)

Hi om from Denmark..
My english isen't that good so i'll make it short.

I think that M.N.S. is one of the best thing that has happen to the movie industrie in many years..

why.. well he gives the actors a chance to show what they are worth, in a way you could say that he is oldschool.. I mean that he is making movies like they used to.. good story, good actors, good movie.. when people say that they dont like hes movies I get the felling they don't understand them.. people saw "signs" and where like.. " i thought it was about aliens.. buhuuu where are the aliens.. buhuuu this is a shitty movie.. where are all the spaceships and specialeffect" but that is not what the movie is about.. it's about a family man trying to keep hes family together through some hard time". I think he is one of the best movie makers in a long long time.

and hes movies are getting better and better.. cant wait to see hes next movie.

C.

all his films are crap and saying that im going light on the guy.None on his films will ever make it into my top 100 because they dont have that pulling power to make me go back and watch them.
Some of them are fine to watch once and thats saying something but twice - nope rather have toothache.

Im a shyam's admirer too.

The people who say he sucks are just expecting another hitchcock, as one of them said. He's in another level, he's trying to show his view and that's all, and I like it a lot. It's not just the horror pushed by a moment of surprise, it's the story itself and the imagination he brings into it. Nobody in the industry matches him in that.

The horror pushed by a moment of surprise as I referred to, it's the kind of stuff that has made films like The Ring and The Grudge successful, and of course helped by special effects.

I forgot this aspect. And Shyam uses almost nothing of special effects; only the alien at the end in Signs could be an exception.

FUCK U ALL. M NIGHT RULES! THE VILLAGE WAS AWESOME!

in one word i think the man is brilliant! people who do not understand his movies do not have the sensitivity nor the intelligence to do so.too bad!they should not bad-mouth something they do not comprehend.

I must say, I am always astonished by M. Nights work. Most people go into his movies to expect something horrific, and all of this was created by the 6th sense, which was a very good movie, but being his first and as popular as it was, it gave people expectations of M. Night. I must agree that his stories have beome more about the journey the characters take, and I love that. Personally I beleive that The Village was M. Nights best work because although not as scary as people wanted it to be, It was wonderfully shot, and had a touching storyline, that wasn't all about creatures in the woods. And on top of that, it had world class actors, all doing world class acting. That was Bryce Dallas Howard's (Ive Walker) first movie, now don't tell me she didn't do an awesome job!

I love Shyamlan movies. There is always a subtle spiritual layer in his movies for those who get past the outer (horror/sci-fi/mystery)layer of his movies.

what th hell is wrong wit everyone here . stupid people . M rulz

I've watched "The Village" three times. I am in awe of the way Night handled a number of the scenes, i.e., Lucius Hunt hiding at the side of the house as we see the creature for the first time move toward the door in the background, and when he's stabbed by Noah, and more. I also liked the saturation, closeups and focus jumps. M. Night's minimum use of dialogue is one of my favorites among his styles. He knows how to show more emotion and plot movement with acting and clever use of the camera than by telling with dialogue. (as a matter of fact, he had to coerce Mel Gibson in "Signs" to "act" more without the aid of dialogue). In "The Village" I was glad to have what many have called the "let-down ending." To me it brought a pushed aspect to the film that was at first just a love story regarding a blind woman fighting her fears for the man she loves, by bringing in this revelation of the controlled society from a group that's trying to avoid the world's violence, but still is unable to keep it out of their lives, made the movie all the more interesting. I believe the movie was cleverly handled, full of metaphors, a real treat to watch, supporting my belief that M. Night is a film-maker who is doing more with a film than simply trying to get box office numbers. I hope M. Night stays around for a long time.

Even if people hate the endings or twists, or even storylines of Night's movies, they are far from being "bad." The quality of his directing, cinematography and cast and crew keeps his movies right there with the best of them.

Night is a breath of fresh air in todays unoriginal movie industry. How dare anyone bad talk someone for actually making an original movie from a story they made up instead of doing a stupid remake (War of the Worlds) or a movie based on someone elses book. If we had more people like M working in the movie industry, financially the industry wouldnt be having a down year.

Dear all,

Greetings from India

Does anybody know the studio address of Mr Night Shyamalan if so Please mail me.

Thank you,

Regards
Harsh

Yes it's always good to have so many people dispise a director that they clearly know very well from viewing all his movies.

I especially love those of you who mentioned that you love Hitchcock and hate this man in the same breath. Little heads up, in his day Hitchcock was also despised by the critics and was told his work was trite and boring.

This man brings something to cinema that we have not had in a long time, the promise of change and something interesting.

There was a person here that said his films are too long for themes that are so simple. The most interesting and complex themes are the ones that have a simple root. Go back to your over protentious films that over anaylise everything, I'm sticking to this guy.

Another comment I like was the guy that said that his films suck, I've seen them all and I don't get the hype. HE creates the hype. His trailers and marketing are the best out there, again go back to your films where the trailer gives away everything or at least the best part. This guy gives you a tiny bit to get your brain activated and then leaves you to stew until the final scene.

I think M Night is a leap in the evolutionary film chain and would be very suprised if all his criticisers do NOT rush out and see his next film.

Are you all insane...how can you not love his movies. The thing about his movies is you may be able to guess what the next turn is going to be, but you never know how M. Night is going to reveal it or bring it to face. He is one of the absolute best directors there are because he puts time and effort into his actors and script...he takes the time to make sure the plot is there. Signs was his best movie in my opinion because he took a touchy subject, faith, and made a scary thriller out of it. In the Village he uses the importance of sacrifice to tell an awesome story...and you all think that was his worst movie? That movie was one of his best too. He adds an edge to his movies that I havent seen any other director do...he can take a touchy subject and make a movie in which not only is the message brought out but is goes in sinc with the plot...how many other directors out there can do that. If you are just seeing his movies for entertainment or you just cannot grasp the message he is trying to bring to light then I can see how you may not like his movies...he is a director that doesnt make movies for entertainment purporses...he tries to convey a message and he does it extremely well.

My view on Night was skewed by The Village. I had become a Night hater. Reading these messages however reminded me that I did like his other films. Sixth Sense absolutely blew me away. I have the ability to shut down my ego and allow a movie to present to me. What I mean is people are always trying to figure out the answers. The director will give you the answer when its time, stop trying so hard to ruin the story for yourselves and enjoy it as the director means you to. Anyway I was reminded that I also really enjoyed Unbreakable. It's slow and quiet but I liked that. I think of it as a good comic book movie. Signs was fun. Mel Gibson was ideal in it. Then The Village came along. I don't know if the director missed what he was aiming at or if I just didn't see what he was trying to show me. He had built up so much hype with documentaries and behind the scenes stuff that I think I expected greatness and only got minor moments of entertainment. I felt cheated and that set me against him but thanks to all the positive comments here I will no longer hate Night. I just don't expect much from him. Sometimes a great story teller only has a few great stories to tell and he may have run his coarse. If I could recomend anything to him I would say tone down the hype for the next one. Surprise us again. Stop telling the world I have the best story ever and then tell us a mediocre story. Tell us I have a decent story and then give us greatness. Its always better to expect less and recieve more than to expect more and recieve less.

I SIMPLY LOVE M. MIGHT MOVIES, THE SUSPENSE, SCENERY, CHARACTERS, PLOT, etc. I HOPE HE WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE MOVIES FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE SO WE CAN ALL BE ENTERTAINED.

FOR THOSE WHO FEEL OTHERWISE, IT IS SO OBVIOUSLY TRANSPARENT YOU HAVEN'T A CLUE WHAT GOOD MOVIE MAKING IS ALL ABOUT, WE FEEL SORRY FOR YOU LIKE WE DO A BLIND MAN WHO CAN'T SEE COLORS IN SPRING. :-( MY ADVISE, AVIOD HIS MOVIES AND INSTEAD GO WRITE, DIRECT AND CREATE A GREAT MOVIE AND LET US KNOW WHAT GOOD MOVIE MAKING IS ALL ABOUT AS IT COULD VERY WELL BE US THAT ARE BLIND :-)

M. Night Shyamalan is cool. If anyone here that was "hating on him" new anything about movies they'd love him. I can tell those who think his movies are boring are most likely the kind that obsess over Hollywood crapola such as xXx, Fast and the Furious, y'know, the kind of stupid plotless shit that Vin Deisel's in.
I'd also like to point out that the movie is called "Unbreakable". Not "Umbrakeable", not "Umbreakable". It's "Unbreakable".