I know, I know. His last name is Shyamalan, but if he has people call him Night instead of whatever the M. stands for, I can call him Shablamblam. Anyway, I think that he is probably my favorite movie writer/director. I used to like Stanley Kubrick, wich great movies like The Shining and Full Metal Jacket, but think that M. has moved to my favorite director spot. Probably because he writes all of his movies and they have all been pretty original. Plus, they usually have a shocking twist at the end.
The first movie by M was The Sixth Sense, with Bruce Willis, about a kid that sees dead people. Talk about your shocking twists. There was also Unbreakable, which was like a real live comic book, again staring Bruce Willis, who ends up having super strength. Signs was about an Alien invasion and The Village was about an old fashioned town plagued by monsters (that one had another suprise ending). The latest fillm by M is called Lady in the Water. This was probably the strangest of all of the films. It is based on a bed time story that M tells his kids. It amazes me that he just thinks up all of these stories on his own. All of them are so interesting to me. Like I said, Lady in the Water is about a sea nymph that ends up in a swimming pool of an apartment complex. She has to give a message to a specific person by a specific time so that she can go home to the sea. It sounds a bit out there because it is. Honestly though, it was a really good story. There are some scary parts and some funny parts. I got it through NetFlix, but think that I need to buy this film. I have all of M's other movies on either VHS or DVD. I watch them all several times. Well, except for maybe The Sixth Sense. Once you know the secret ending, there doesn't seem like much of a point watching it again. I really like the use of color in that movie. If you didn't notice, all of the hints and clues pointing to the suprise ending are all red. There is alot of red in Unbreakable too, if you know to look for it. Come to think of it, the 'bad color' in The Village is red too. I guess it's M's favorite color or something.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I just watched Lady in the Water and yes, it is a bit out there. I'm not surprised at the mixed reviews. Today's movie culture is one of fast food entertainment. Lady in the Water is definitely a story you have to pay attention to all the details and listen to the dialog to enjoy the payout at the end.
That's the deal with M.Night Shamalama ding dong....(couldn't resist)...his stories are fairly complex and his filmmaking engages the audience in a way that most "big budget" flicks don't...the big budget films only expect the audience to be present but more focused on the popcorn and coke than the actual content of the film. That's why there's honestly more crappy films made than honestly well put together stories.
Post a Comment