A Lesson in Listening to Feedback

Grab a Nacho Slurpee and your favorite Wu-Tang album--you're gonna need it. This Movies with Mikey takes a look at the career trajectory of M. Night Shyamalan from student films to The Sixth Sense to Split--with a twist, of course. Special thanks to Siddhant Adlakha on the assist, and be sure to check out the other entries in The Director Project!
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The Director's Cut playlist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6CoZqOXn5xjpdU
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Movies with Mikey is a positive look at film criticism through the eyes of someone who loves movies to an unhealthy degree.
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Opening Titles:
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[@Tobascodagama]

Sixth Sense -> Unbreakable -> Signs is a hell of a run no matter what you think of everything he's done since.

[@archangel1of7]

The Visit creeped me out thoroughly and I really liked Devil. Split was crazy. James McAvoy's acting in that was incredible to me.

[@onemorechris]

i think he had a rough ride at the time but history will and does look back much more fairly over these these films. I think it’s hard to appreciate the ridiculous hype around Sixth Sense; to the moon is an understatement and it continued with a 1-2-3 hit year ofter year for half a decade

[@sirtoby4939]

Unbreakable is honestly one of te best movies made that decade. Criminally underrated, ahead of it's time and easily his most cerebral work. Even more relevant today, than back then.

[@renegadedicebag1065]

Honestly he also had a solid comeback run with split, the visit and glass. The guy has mad talent and knows how to play into his strengths when hes not too full of himself.

[@camipco]

It is, although it also feels like the top of a roller coaster with a very slight downward trajectory...

[@lizzyrbits1283]

At this point I have an immediate pavlovian mood lift when the Movies with Mikey intro plays :)

[@ruthielalastor2209]

Same. I salivate, no fail.

[@scottrentz1]

So true. It's a strange rush. I've got to figure out the lyrics instead of power mumbling it all day in the world's worst falsetto.

[@lizzyrbits1283]

@@scottrentz1 haha! If you figure them out let us know!

[@classicwinger6]

@@scottrentz1 watch his “too many thoughts on Star Wars” video, Mikey gives us the first lines in that one: You don’t hold love, but you never set it free.

[@scottrentz1]

@@classicwinger6 saw that the other day. There's a link to full song in the description but, couldn't find more lyrics.

[@iggsolo]

I hope Wu-Tang songs with clips from The Last Airbender becomes a new genre of youtube videos

[@millennialacademy1087]

Wu Aang clan ain’t nothin to fuck with

[@jasonhunter2819]

it's for the children!

[@jwalden91lx]

This 1000 times.

[@blahanger4304]

@@jasonhunter2819 What about the children?

[@derekrose3328]

You’re one of the best people 🤣👏🏼🤝

[@FuriosoDrummer]

1) I do love Signs. That first reveal of the aliens is still one of the most well executed scares I've ever seen. It's brilliant. 2) My god, The Village as a period piece would have been so brilliant. Why didn't he just leave it at that? Why.

[@eversunnyguy]

Village is a nice movie and it is a puzzle why it bombed. Everyone says the twist is visible in the movie all along but I didn't feel that way.

[@vrucewayne]

@@eversunnyguy hinted at in this video, i think it was primarily marketed as a horror film

[@Pixlriffs]

Out of all of these, I've only ever watched The Sixth Sense - but watching this video, I realised I already knew the plot of every other movie Shyamalan has directed. Not because the plots are always predictable or whatever, but because these movies have been so broadly discussed and referenced and memed about that I've absorbed it all through conversations with friends, or other TV shows, or what-have-you. Whether you enjoy the movies or not, you've gotta respect a career that leaves such a strong impression on collective knowledge about popular culture.

[@Ddddddddddd381]

oh damn did not expect to see 1/2 of the hermitcraft recap here, big fan of your stuff!

[@dariuschernitskyhamd8102]

Wow, your Minecraft Survival Guide was the reason I started playing minecraft again. It is cool to see you on this channel!

[@darkmyro]

you just blew my mind a little XD

[@martialfantasy8772]

Hey pix!

[@hastobe303]

His run from The Sixth Sense up to The Village was really good. You should watch them for the themes they explore, not for the twists. I think Night himself would agree that he really painted himself into a corner with the whole twist niche. He is definitely a good writer and director and sometimes he actually strikes gold in his execution. In my opinion he just got better and better and then he fucking plummeted hard post-2004. It seems like he's picking himself up again but his decrease in quality in just those few years is really extraordinary.

[@Morbos1000]

When you talk about the 6th sense twist and how people weren't conditioned at that time you should also mention Fight Club which came out the exact same year. I think the one two punch of those movies is really what started changing things.

[@alalcoolj216]

There was also The Crying Game in 1992 and The Usual Suspects in 1995, so the trend didn't exactly come out of nowhere.

[@trashbasket11]

Fight club didnt perform great on release and was a novel first so you could argue that upon release its ending was already known and not as "shocking" as 6th sense. It's for sure a super influential film but the ending being known makes it less shocking for a portion of the audience.

[@jasonblalock4429]

@@alalcoolj216 I wouldn't characterize The Crying Game as a twist movie, though. "The twist" happens midway through the second act, and it's not even the focal point of the story. If you've never seen it, you might be surprised at how tangential the twist actually is. I'd say one hallmark of a "twist movie" like 6th Sense or Fight Club is that the twist recontextualizes the entire film in hindsight, and that's not the case with Crying Game. And yeah, The Usual Suspects arguably qualifies, but it was a pretty cheap twist without much in the way of foreshadowing, and the only recontextualization it provides is "Hey, the entire movie you just saw turned out to be bullshit."

[@alalcoolj216]

@@jasonblalock4429 Fair points. Although when I first watched Sixth Sense, I thought the twist was a terrible gimmick that completely undercut the whole movie. I found Usual Suspects to be a much more enjoyable and satisfying film.

[@robthequietoriginal]

The book came out in 1996. The movie came out in 1999.

[@CheezyTime]

OMG you brought back "No One Knows What They're Doing !!"

[@PogieJoe]

Cause we still don't!

[@p0rq]

@@PogieJoe I do

[@aRandomRobot]

This honestly explains why part of me inexplicably wants to like Shyamalan films that I know are supposed to be bad and that have not great dialogue and delivery. They are artistically really interesting to watch and like most things it’s more complicated than just “movie bad, director bad”

[@breadordecide]

Shyamalan is a stellar director. The man knows what he’s doing behind the camera. And the allegory of GLASS, where he questions his own skills because of the outside world, was a great exploration of what its like to be crowned king and then beaten down soon after.

[@mikesmith-gk6fy]

Yes but avatar: it may be shot very well from cinematography standpoint but suspension of disbelief is utterly irrevocably shattered cause the second “directed by” pops up on any movie I just remember the horrible animation, cringeworthy dialogue, and the raw disrespect it shows to a beloved franchise 🤷‍♂️, the two are inseparable in my mind

[@TheGprinziv]

@@mikesmith-gk6fy I think it's a hard sell that Last Airbender is well directed. Well shot, maybe, but definitely not well directed. I think he tried too hard to pander to what *moments* people liked about Avatar and wound up making a worse film for it. I also think he doesn't know how to direct for children because he assumes they won't understand any subtlelty. That's not to say his other works aren't much more well-done, directorially speaking. The Last Airbenfer just stands out as being bad in every way

[@aRandomRobot]

@@TheGprinziv yeah, Avatar is definitely one movie I have avoided watching because I hold the show too close to my heart and that’s going to make it harder to see the positives it does have to offer.

[@breadordecide]

@@busimagen I like Shyamalan’s dialogue. And the last airbender is pretty bad. Luckily thats the exception for Night, not the norm.

[@user-wf3oc6wy2b]

"The Last Airbender" and Wu-Tang got an audible laugh from me... followed by "shit, that's a great idea!" :D

[@GothVampiress]

Growing up in Southeastern PA, I've always held a special fondness for M. Night as a local guy who almost everyone I know has some kind of story about from filming the Village. Philly supports their own, you know? It's nice to see a deep dive that isn't ripping him to pieces.

[@BalthusHomewood]

I lived right by one of the places where they filmed some of the crop circle scenes! I Mikey handled Shyamalan's bad films with quite a bit of tact. They were bad, expensive, & Shyamalan got roasted, which led him to work smaller in a way that allowed him to make better films. But... I still hope Shyamalan never goes near the Last Airbender franchise again... that one hurt. It would be very interesting to see the FilmJoy crew take a swing at viewing it, when they can all get back together.

[@kaitlynbrady3017]

It's been 20 years, but my whole body tensed during that 5-second clip of the Brazilian birthday party. I jumped about three feet in the air when I saw it with my mom in the cinema. Also my favourite Shyamalan, because I'll never forget how much it scared me.

[@cbpd89]

The first time I saw that movie was as a kid at a sleepover, by the time that scene rolled around I was THE ONLY ONE STILL AWAKE. Just thinking about it still freaks me out!

[@AlecRozsa]

It's the music doing such a delicate and perfect dance with Joaquin Phoenix's fear that makes it so good. Also, he is a very well fleshed out character by this point, and very likeable. He is isolating in the closet, watching a TV out of a newly formed obsession, after trying to explain away all the phenomenon earlier. The closet provides a subtle brilliance because it accomplishes so many different things at once. It makes us feel like there could be imminent danger near or inside the home because it invites us to feel like he is not paying attention to his immediate surroundings. It also simply zeros in on his reactions well without distraction, bonding us with him. The music is looping a sequence that combines tension and resolve into one emotion, so you get this sense of completion (it's finally happening, alien confirmed) with a heavy dissonance layered over the top creating a sense of doom and dread. This is embodied through Joaquin's performance as he gives a simple but very believable human reaction to what he is seeing. The composer is hugely gifted, and there couldn't have been a better choice for who to do this film. He has that gift for the positive, hopeful and intimate character bonding music, in addition to retaining a sense of musical order/tangible lyrical patterns during the scares, creating concrete mental associations no matter what end of the spectrum the movie is on. Usually the scares in movie soundtracks are essentially pure musical chaos and totally abstract, not much to remember or make associations with. He however preserves the idea of recognizable lyrical themes during the height of tension and fear which is not done in thriller/horror soundtracks anymore these days.

[@AlecRozsa]

Also I think we are scared for Juaquin Phoenix's character partly because we are rooting for him by this point, too. He has already had the confrontation with Lionel Pritchard about having the strikeout record, which he responded by choosing not to let him get inside his head, and instead remarks "It felt wrong not to swing," which is one of the best lines of the movie. the music is swelling with a quiet subdued version of triumphant music at the end. We've begun to had our heart strings pulled by his and the family's journey and that elevates the scares

[@sarahhutchinson1644]

I maintain to this day the birthday party scene in Signs is the greatest monster reveal scene of all time! The Happening (as a plant biologist) is my favorite hate-watch film. And I kind of wish M. Night had done more original genre-critique movies.

[@samgardner8456]

That movie was the source of all my nightmares, and that scene in particular was the one that seared into my brain.

[@salvation122]

Watching the birthday party scene in theaters was the craziest fucking thing. Every teen girl in the theater saw the alien and screamed, which, okay. Then the film replays the exact same sequence, and *everyone screamed again.*

[@apocalypt_us7941]

Absolutely. I saw it in cinema at the time and remember at least a couple of people screaming out loud at the moment you see the alien

[@countrye3013]

@@samgardner8456 I watched it when I was 5 and to this day clicking sounds make me very uncomfortable

[@MarianFK]

I remember looking at the car because I expected a small criature coming out from behind the car; when the big alien crossed the scene I swear my heart stopped for a moment.

[@dmdany04]

I knew Mikey had knowledge of Clone High but I SO appreciate that finally we have a proper reference of the show as a clip.

[@elizabethashley42]

This is the second video about Shyamalan on my feed from the last couple of days. I had to Google him real quick to make sure he hadn't just died.

[@SecretFoxfire]

Please don't go back to your home planet, Mikey - we need you (and your INCREDIBLE hair) here! Fascinating video full of info I definitely didn't know. I'm so sorry you had to watch Avatar, though I am now tempted to go back and watch some of these films on mute...

[@allisont.6878]

^ ditto, to all of the above.

[@Ddddddddddd381]

Avatar: The Last Airbender fans were not upset that Night merely changed source material, we are upset because he DISRESPECTED the source material. the only redeeming factor from that movie is that the actress who played yue did a great job voicing asami in legend of korra

[@Malkmusianful]

no, I remember them being more mad about the live-action depiction of Princess Yue's hair, the strange pronounciation of the names, and the half-wonky bending battle scenes (with particular focus on the Earthbender prison battle). typical stuff that popped out really hard on first viewings and stuff that reviewers could easily snark on. otherwise it feels like I watched all of Book One on fast forward and on NyQuil.

[@MarianFK]

@@Malkmusianful there's a good, although long, video critique here in KZbin which is fairly objective on everything that was bad about that movie (ignoring that the title of the video is "the last airbender: the worst movie ever made" lol). It was not just nitpicks from the fans, there were real, filmmaking issues during the whole movie. It really doesn't feel like a director with M. Night Shyamalan's experience did it, and the video gives a possible reason for that: he was so invested in being so true to the source material, that he only managed to visually grasp key scenes, but not the story and emotion that was behind those scenes. It's sad, because that would mean that such a bad movie came from a very honest intention.

[@jblue1622]

I loved The Village, I think it works as a film about a cult and how parents manipulate their children to do what they want them to do and family can sometimes be the first cult we join

[@libRteedude]

That's actually a really good read of that movie. Particularly shines through in the sense that their disabled children (the blind girl and the mentally impaired boy), who would receive much better care with modern medicine, are instead subjected to this bizarre upbringing like their parents are religious fundamentalists who would rather hold onto their delusions and sense of power rather than give them a better life.

[@muticere]

I for one always remember looking at the superhero film boom through the lense of Unbreakable. That was such a perfect film to come out when it did, and it only got better and more important as the years went on and superhero films became what they are today. It's still my favorite film of his even if he kind of botched the attempted sequels in recent years.

[@thelonelyargonaut]

I'm not going to lie, I absolutely love The Happening. It's straight up Stephen King at his most bananas but still eminently readable. There's a reason he loves it, and Ebert liked it, and I'm happy to be in that company.

[@jasonhunter2819]

That's what's been tickling my brain forever about that movie, thank you! It's a flat out Stephen King story!

[@TTillman3]

Near masterpiece. A horror manifestation of climate change that makes us stand still, walk backward, and kill ourselves? No one talks about the poetry of that.

[@bbrbbr-on2gd]

Ikr, the unsettling and weird tonal shifts of the dialogue and stuff make it very entertaining.

[@eversunnyguy]

Yes, Ebert loved it and gave 3 stars and he did mention he will be in minority liking the movie.

[@MarianFK]

Tbh I loved the plot, and yes, I also thought of it being very Stephen King-sy. But oh Lord, that dialogue. The acting. What happened there?

[@erinprizant5542]

My friends actually dragged me to the theater on opening night for the Avatar movie and I was the only one who had seen like 0 of the show itself so I had little to compare it to. I still remember Katara's like... 2nd line of dialogue, whatever it was, was read in such a way that I immediately leaned over to my friend and went, "ooooh no, she can't act, that's gonna be rough." I wasn't upset about the inconsistencies with the show because I hadn't seen the show, but I remember my reaction with inexorably lukewarm.

[@Insan1tyW0lf]

"Inexorably lukewarm" is a fantastic way to put it. Thank you for that 😄

[@thais_cdm]

I didn't watch it in theaters, but I was active on Tumblr at the time, and there was *a lot* of discourse on the casting issues (racebending, cultural implications) and the care for the cultural issues in the film (eg how bending in the ATLA universe is based on real forms of martial arts, the written language in the show is Chinese, the costuming and architecture being able to be traced to particular Asian cultures and history, etc), none of which were present in the film.

[@Laecy]

I had that too. Never saw the show, had fairly low expectations for any non-Pixar kids’ movie. So I wasn’t bothered by casting or changes or even inconsistent presentations of the magic. The acting was cringy. I thought maybe they cast for martial arts training first and acting ability second. Not having any training myself, I can’t speak to the competence there. What’s really funny for me though, was a lot of what I thought were the worst parts of the movie came directly from the show - the tactical idiocy of attacking a stronghold of water wizards in an *armada*, letting a young girl who is not only the political heir of the monarchy but the living embodiment of their deity wander around with the yokel who’s been making puppy dog eyes at her since showing up three days ago, a nation of earth wizards being unable to free themselves from slavery in a *quarry*, etc etc. But when I finally got around to watching the show, the quality of the storytelling was so very much better that none of that bothered me. So the root of my irritation with the movie must have been something else I couldn’t pinpoint. I think there’s something about animation that extends our willing suspension of disbelief further than we can stretch with live action. It’s my theory that that’s why the Disney remakes have universally fallen flat. I also think Twilight would have been much better received as an animation - the absurd melodrama wouldn’t have seemed so clunky.

[@Girintina]

@@Laecy I also think some things in the show are just executed better, or given more time to be explained. The Fire Nation attacking the Northern Waterbenders makes sense because they stay at a distance and bombard them, while also overwhelming them with numbers. And even then Iroh recommends a retreat as the moon waxes. We see Sokka and Yue spend more time together and we see how honored Aang and his friends are when they arrive, so it's a bit easier to swallow that he'd be made her bodyguard. And the Earthbenders were being held on a ship surrounded by water, so they didn't have any earth to bend, unlike the movie. And we've seen how beaten down they are so it makes sense when they're reluctant to fight back even when given coal. A major reason the movie fails is that it rushes through an entire season's worth of material and doesn't slow down enough to let thing be built up or explained.

[@Duiker36]

@@Laecy The casting for Aang was, indeed, based on martial arts skill first. But yeah. The quality of storytelling is the difference-maker between the show and the movie, and it helps the show a lot that the first season was actually quite monster-of-the-week with actual character development in between. The martial arts of the show is also fundamentally different partly because animation can cut sequences and make it snappy and linked to the magic in a way that's much harder to execute in live-action. It's worth comparing it to HK and Korean cinema, where you have a glut of well-trained martial artists and people who know how to work with that kind of action, including with chi-based fireball VFX. It's the "Mr. Fantastic" problem: a superpower that makes complete sense and looks awesome in a cartoon becomes really, really bad in live-action.

[@jdhowell916]

Kinda sad this wasn't split up into 2 parts. I feel like the resurgence of M night since 2015 was barely mentioned in the last minutes of this video.

[@alvikay]

Pretty sure the twist of After Earth was that he directed it... I literally had no idea going in... and yeah... it was pretty good.

[@ElkiLG]

Ooh! I like Siddhant's writing, nice to see him appear on here. :)

[@tb112]

Thank you for this. Today is my dad’s b-day and the 2 year anniversary of when I last saw him before he passed away. M Night’s films were a big event for us all throughout the early 00’s, I have so many memories of watching these films with him. I’m gonna go watch Signs tonight.

[@Laerasyn]

I tried to stand up for The Village at the time. I always liked it. I think Shyamalan is just one of those creative people who have really good ideas but needs strong people around him to bounce them off of and refine them, but I always appreciated his willingness to take risks even when everyone around him says it's a bad idea. I just really wish he had stayed away from the Last Airbender.

[@AuspexAO]

After reading that last line, I had this image of protectively hiding Aang behind my back as Shyamalan enters the room looking for ideas for a movie, ha ha.

[@mattgilbert7347]

Keep him away from Jungian shit

[@zapprowsdoweer4020]

Ha I had totally forgotten about the Darkwing Duck thing.

[@CrashJakFan1994]

I thought something was up with that poster, so I looked up who actually starred in it. That was brilliant.

[@kdiebeucijdwhwu]

“he nailed at least one shot” made me laugh 😂

[@feanaro2712]

I didn't know a whole lot about Shyamalan going into this video, so it was really interesting seeing how his career has developed, and the highs and lows of it.

[@hcolli]

I had the pleasure of sharing The Sixth Sense with my thirteen year old son who had no idea what it was.. It blew his mind.

[@kildogery]

That sounds fun. Now make him watch The Happening.

[@bodhimind108]

Oooh!!! Now I have to do that with my 13yr old. It's time.

[@carlinparkin176]

I'm sure you hear this a lot Mikey but your sense of pacing as an editor is great. I came back to this video hoping to finish it and then remembered that I already finished it - meaning you had me watch a 37 minute video essay that left me wanting more. Not an easy feat!

[@sifatshams1113]

Even if he makes 20 more Last Airbenders, Happenings, or Lady In The Waters, I'll always have an insane amount of respect and admiration for the man who made my favourite film of all time: Unbreakable

[@KBTibbs]

Unbreakable doesn't get enough love.

[@martinwakeling8987]

Except for when he took a giant dump on Unbreakable (my fave Night film too) by making the horrendous Glass.

[@euansmith3699]

The scene with the kid wants to test the theory that his dad is bulletproof was terrifying.

[@mcarlisle3559]

i'm actually still rly drawn to the lady in the water, it's just so evocative, even if it doesn't strike home.

[@ALL_that_ENDS]

A 40 minute film joy video? Hell yes.

[@TTillman3]

The Village is Shyamalan’s masterpiece. It’s a commentary on his practice of deceiving audiences, while also weighing the merits and ethics of withholding information (or lying). It’s a movie that lies to its audience - so it makes sense that it would alienate so many - and it’s about deception. The scene where she encounters the monster we’ve been told is a farce is the equivalent to the Club Silencio and audition scenes in Mulholland Drive. We know it’s a lie but through the suspense and *cinema* of the moment we are momentary swept away from that knowledge. The Village is his grand statement on his cinematic approach.

[@MrJagermeister]

The Village was the first film to truly teach me that I should never again watch a movie preview - the entire world was sold this idea of a monster in the woods, terrifying these poor villagers, when what we actually got was a modern day folk tale in which the humans were the monsters, creating a monster in order to terrify their point home. For someone that didn’t go in expecting monsters, I quite liked what we got. It’s got a stellar cast and Roger Deakins kills it every time with the cinematography. I might just cue it up to Kid A but honestly, The Village is a film that I always felt didn’t get judged fairly based on what it actually was, but rather what people went in expecting it to be, and how they were let down more by their own hype and expectations than they were honestly judging the film before them. Sidenote - I had a great time binging Apple TV’s new M Night Shyamalan series, Servant. It’s got a great hook and is beautifully filmed, and the three actors in the lead roles are so expertly cast that I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing them. It’s an easy series to watch, with short episodes that fly by. If you’re gonna do a free trial of Apple TV, watch The Morning Show and then if you have any time left, check out Servant.

[@Vi_Vi_1]

I'll never forget watching Sixth Sense in the theater at 9 years old and whispering to my mom early on that I thought Bruce Willis was secretly dead. Some of the other adults with us thought I was confused and were completely blown away when I turned out to be right XD I don't call it on a lot of twists but I'll always fondly remember that one. And I still love Unbreakable; such a well done movie. Thank you for this very cool analysis :D

[@etherealclarity]

This is a fascinating take that I had never considered before. Though I have to say - sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who absolutely couldn't stand Unbreakable.

[@hugopinai2005]

the fact that the title sequences came right after She's All That is the real twist.

[@Vorfalath]

Your revelation about muting the dialogue has literally just completely shifted my entire idea of Shyamalan and his work. I loved Sixth Sense when I saw it originally, Unbreakable was also very good. Signs, for a long time was weirdly one of my comfort films for a few years? But I think I absolutely 100% fell off the wagon with The Village. I've seen that movie twice, and everytime I see parts of it used in anything else, I almost can't place them. What I remember from both of my viewings are two completely different films. I should give it another watch.

[@WilliamIcenrose]

I think it was opening night for The Avengers (I could be wrong) that I first saw the teaser trailer for After Earth. It was a packed theater, and everyone seemed pretty hype for the movie from the quiet chatter I heard around me - right up until Shyamalan's name appeared in giant letters at the end before the title drop. At that point the ENTIRE THEATER GROANED AS ONE, and after a brief pause everybody busted out laughing at the collective joke that his career had become by that point.

[@AlexIsModded]

20:00 Was my favorite moment in Lady in the Water. I'm not into fantasy, but that film (along with Unbreakable and its sequels) is my favorite of his. I loved that he put something in that, as hilarious as it is, is really grounding and reminds us that it is just a film. Even though the story falls into the realm of "magical realism" (think shows like Game of Thrones for a good example of this genre), it is borderline high fantasy, and sometimes the audience needs a bit of reality in a context like this. I thought it was so clever too, that he made the movie critic character oddly likeable, as though we would root for him, but his belief that he knows everything becomes his undoing. It's like M. Night was warning us to not be set in our ways.

[@monovision566]

I’ve always thought Lady In the Water was underrated. It’s a fairy tale. And Paul Giamatti is amazing in it.

[@Sean-ne3gx]

"... to write on Stuart Little...' "The most Shyamalan movie of all time." I know Mikey had to keep moving the conversation/interview but _I_ literally laughed out loud at that.

[@coburn8810]

Right when we needed him most - he returned!

[@jmalmsten]

The Happening is the only Shyamalan film I've bothered to buy on Bluray... And rewatch multiple times. I just love how goofy it is.

[@tyblazitar]

this was great, happy birthday thank you for cutting before the alien showed up in that clip from signs, i'm still reeling from the shock of that jumpscare from when i saw it in a theater at 12

[@Mindseas]

Fantastic essay as always, your love for movies and attention to detail is just beyond this world. And the way you deliver your thoughts is so calming and warm, I always feel more calm and happy after watching your work. Thank you Mikey, take care

[@abiyoyothefourth6492]

This is so cool. A great breakdown and analysis of style in a director's work that gives me a new perspective to consider. I have been checked out of Shyamalan for so long, but now I'm pretty interesting in giving them another watch without sound to take a closer look at that visual storytelling. Good stuff.

[@Necropuzo47]

Mikey, love your work! Thank you for your time and passion.

[@AssasinZorro]

It's so amazing that you have made a good long video essay instead of another experimental vlog-ish format

[@CplAnguadaEarth]

Interesting collaboration. I’m watching instead of sleeping, which may not be healthy but should indicate how much I support the channel! Happy birthday, Mikey!

[@jaschakutzky3169]

Dude, your passion is quite inspiring !!!

[@CJPV1701]

I'm getting here late Mikey, but I hope you had a great birthday! Thank you for all the great essays and the thoughtfulness you always bring us.

[@MrTables]

I’ve always loved Shyamalan’s work as he does feel like somebody with a truly distinct and unique vision trying to find new ways of telegraphing his ideas through the moviemaking system. Every movie I’ve seen of his has really left a great impact on me, even Lady in the Water minus all the self righteous career commentary. I truly do hope he continues to make movies that interest him and excite him, and that he doesn’t become discouraged by his naysayers, and I’m stupidly excited to see what he does with Old after having loved Split and Glass so much

[@ColbyPurcell]

Amazing analysis! I've always found something to enjoy in every M. Night movie because there are pockets of beautiful quietness in every one. That's something you don't see/feel that often.

[@digitaljanus]

Someone else appreciates After Earth! At the time, every other big budget SF film had similarly amazing production design but dull, save-the-world plots with uninteresting protagonists (Oblivion, Tron: Legacy). After Earth builds a crazy inventive space opera future to tell the intimate story of a father and son. I loved that.

[@TTillman3]

To act as though the twists started with The Sixth Sense is to ignore Praying With Anger and Wide Awake, which both have a metaphysical rug pull in their last ten minutes, as well as is as-of-yet unproduced 1993 script Labor of Love (available online and ends on one of his most beautiful and heart wrenching twists in its final scene).

[@cunt5000]

I like that Last Airbender exists, because it's a great counterpoint to Serenity in anwsering the question "What happens when you try to cram a full season of TV story arc into a single movie runtime?". Answer, a hot mess, but Serenity did it so much better.

[@murraynatkie7490]

You have no idea how long I've been waiting for the Nacho Slurpee.

[@Cuiasodo]

I un-ironically really like the Village, and part of what saved it for me was a thing my mom said about one of the key messages of the film: we make our own monsters. Everyone in the village is there because something terrible happened to them in the modern world, and the villagers quite literally make their own monsters to keep people in line. And then, through isolating themselves out in the woods and not providing a mentally unstable person the care he needs, they once again make another monster in the form of the pseudo-antagonist. I also kinda dig the super weirdness of Lady in the Water, even though there are some things in there (the reviewer, M. Night's casting of himself) that I absolutely can't defend.

[@ShannonAHiner]

Fantastic video! I know the longer videos are hard on you, but they’re some of my favorites. Get some well-deserved rest, Mikey & Team FilmJoy. 💛💛💛

[@movedmindpoRUSZonyUMYS]

Loved it. Your video. I also love a few Shyamalan movies, but I love all of your videos soooo...

[@MrrMechassult]

Two things about The Last Airbender I would like to comment on. First Jill Bearup did a great video on some of the editing and cause and effect in bending in that movie that I do recommend even if you didn't like the movie (which I didn't). Second it doesn't matter how Aang's name "would be pronounced" because the source material is a tv show that has pronunciations for how names should be pronounced, that was why people hated how they butchered names. If it was supposed to be pronounced like it is in the movie the original creators of that show, Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko, would have had them pronounce it that way. P.S. Mikey I love your videos even the ones on movies I don't like/haven't seen they are always amazing and well put together. It is also always cool to see you collaborate with to bring outside perspectives into your videos. Siddhant thank you for joining Mikey, sharing your perspectives on this amazing director's career and teaching us all that we can not pronounce M. Night Shyamalan's last name. P.P.S Mikey I hope you and your family are doing alright and are able to get your house fixed soon.

[@cristinar9447]

Happy birthday! Great video as always

[@JamesEdwardsism]

Happy birthday! Great video! Much Shyamalan!

[@BlaineTog]

Oh shit, I stumbled over the twist by accident like 10 years ago! Airbender came on the TV and my roommate and I muted it to listen to a song, then just didn't unmute and let the rest of the playlist run. It's actually kinda watchable on mute. "Eye of the Tiger" works great with the climactic fight scenes.

[@dehnewblack]

I literally said out loud, “OHHHH HELL YEA!!” when I heard the Conan reference. Not to detract from the message of the video, but I make that joke every now and then, and nobody ever gets it. Hahahaha awesome job dude!

[@Troggie42]

Thank you for another banger, Mikey, always a joy

[@BlancheNeigefan]

Happy birthday and thanks for this. I always wonder about him.

[@Shield-Theyden]

Great video! I hope the house gets sorted out soon!

[@eatower2]

Thank you for this Dive today, for I was in a bad sort of way, but thanks to you I laughed and cried, at this wonderful picture, you supplied.

[@stevesasaki2454]

Incredible content my dude, I didn’t think you could change my mind on shyamalan but you did. The wu tang bit was just perfect too

[@i_am_clockwork6490]

A really interesting piece on one of the first "DIRECTORS" I remember knowing by name. Thanks Mikey, great work as always!

[@ToastyJunebugs]

I like The Happening. You can really tell the actors don't want to be there much, so if you don't want to do a serious watch of it, it's a good 'get together with friends and have it on in the background while you're drinking/talking' movie. And its still an interesting premise.

[@11ChicaBomb]

Thanks for the new video! loved it

[@ashcloud5851]

Thanks for the video filmjoy💜💜 Also Happy Birthday Mikey🎆🎉🎉

[@tarrychenko]

awesome as always man!

[@SeanBoyce-gp]

Man. This was a good ride. And yeah, the dialog thing... That kind of makes sense. That said, i loved the scandanavian Olympian line when I was younger and I still love it to this day. I find it very funny.

[@NestorCustodio]

Despite their critical reception, I will always have an appreciation for the originality of the premise behind The Village and there will always be a special place in my heart for Lady In The Water.

[@boarhead6234]

Your intro gives me nostalgia and goosebumps :,)

[@heoniebee9566]

12:59 - THANK YOU. That’s a movie that it’s a favorite in my family and I have a lot of fond memories of watching it over and over with my dad, brother, and sister and I was always given so much shit for liking it. It’s such an enjoyable movie to watch, idc.

[@Razmatini]

considering the twist, The Village has the same premise as a YA book by Margaret Peterson Haddix called "Running Out of Time."

[@Leonkassab]

Thanks for the awesome video, as always. Hope you get your house back together soon. Love from the Scoops and Night Attack.

[@Mailianb]

I'm fucking livid right now, how did I never see the campy 1950s samurai movie vibe in Airbender? Mikey, you've salvaged the unsalvageable.

[@LittleFrankWorld]

Outstanding video!

[@paperbackwriter1111]

Yoooo, Siddhant Adlakha, great to see this dude on MvM.

[@reeddressler9042]

Really great video! Also Happy Birthday!

[@rudetuesday]

Dialogue is probably the most challenging part of writing a story. Each character has to have words that convey at least something of how they inhabit the story, in addition to personality and so on. I think dubbing a scene with replacement dialogue would be a good film writing exercise.

[@ShockArcl1te]

Welp! I know what I'm doing this weekend! That experiment sounds amazing.

[@Curiosity_Engaged]

This was so amazing to follow.

[@marchingham]

Great video as always! Really interested in grabbing some stock 1960's horror movie music and giving the happening another go.

[@MsCeruleanBlue]

when i watched the sixth sense for the first time in 2018, i had no idea that bruce willis was a ghost the whole time so i got my shit rocked just like it was 1999

[@ruskokollektiv5457]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that likes After Earth. It's not amazing, doesn't even reach great. But its pretty good and the visuals are awesome. The story has zero twists, but the worldbuilding is fantastic.

[@yoavrahm2748]

I love Shyamalan, even the movies I didn't like I appreciated for the artistry. Was very excited when you announced you'd be covering him. Am also one of those people that loved Lady in Water, and still do.

[@jsc315]

I have nothing but respect for the guy and love how ambitious he is and how much he loves film. What the final product is, is a whole other matter, but I absolutely love that he continues to try and make unique and interesting stories.

[@ThomasSexton]

Great video, Mikey!

[@razorboy251]

I went to see Lady in the Water in theaters, though not on the opening weekend because I was a big Shyamalan fan by then (Unbreakable and Village are definitely on my list of all-time favorite movies) and was a fan of Paul Giamatti. It was... not a good reception. Some people walked out half-way, some people were laughing at the lines or the delivery, those who stuck around walked out shaking heads. I remember definitely not liking it as a complete movie but still appreciating parts of it; however, it did sour me on Shyamalan as someone who was starting to be too full of himself and was having this 'tortured auteur' moment, though I did not know the background of that film's production at the time. Anyway, great video as always Mikey and I love your collaboration with Adlakha!

[@Littlestraincloud]

Siddhant has the most glorious beard I have ever seen. Great vid, Mikey.

[@jwalden91lx]

CinemaWins would agree.

[@TheRedVelvetScare]

The ending kind of sold me on not treating his work as derivative riffs on his better work, but as confused endeavors done by a film maker who was compromised by staggering success and his own story far too soon, but never the less makes visually interesting films. My main problem is that I love dialog, so I'll view him as "kind of okay" because he can't get people to say words good.

[@bettyreads222]

Such an interesting thing to see the way his journey starts and its like what turns can a career take! It's amazing that his name alone at this point means like we're in some wild shit here haha