Just Asking A Question Here....

What is the deal with M. Night Shyamalan, anyway? (and I have a follow-up....)

First of all, he came onto the scene and blew most everybody away with films that had out-of-nowhere twists that kept the viewer wondering and guessing, making it so you had to see his films more than once just to get all the clues, references and such.

He made it big with The Sixth Sense, agreed? Okay, and he also had success with films like Signs and Unbreakable....

Then he went and made The Village; a movie I've seen and appreciate for what he was trying to do. But let's face it: we're talking about the same guy who has the ability to shock and bewilder with the use of camera as well as word processor - what happened to make him write and direct a film in which not only could you more or less guess what the "big twist" was, but when you get to it...you just didn't care?

Mind you, this is saying something about Shyamalan, who has it in him to be entertaining and mysterious - the images are there and the mood is creepy enough - but he just doesn't seem to put any extra effort into it. It's just a sad thing to witness.

Now we have The Lady In The Water to consider. Think about this, though: remember all the hype for Sixth Sense? All the discussions, debates and TV specials talking about every aspect of the film (leaving out, of course, the denouement) and marvelling about its expert craftsmanship and so on.

Has anyone seen any such a thing for Lady In The Water?

The only thing that's being said about it, basically, is, "Gee, I hope it doesn't suck as bad as Village did".

Is he just slacking off because he doesn't have any more ideas? Was The Sixth Sense his big explosion onto the scene, leaving only pops and hisses to follow? Will his future films even try to be as good as they once started out?

Who knows? Hey, even Hitchcock bombed once in awhile.

Debate it amongst yourselves. In the meantime, here's a video to add fuel to the fire, (and hopefully some more depth to your own M. Night Shyamalan debates):



Oh, and my follow-up: what is it about new up-and-coming director/writers who have this brilliant idea and burst onto the scene on the strength of that one idea alone and try to make a career out of that one idea?? How many of them have we seen come and go in the past few decades? And how many more have more than ONE great idea to work with?

Someone? Anyone? Bueller?

Fine, debate amongst yourselves. Dope out.

-TGWD