{"id":1937,"date":"2018-10-26T20:10:19","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T20:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=1937"},"modified":"2018-11-10T02:01:15","modified_gmt":"2018-11-10T02:01:15","slug":"m-night-shyamalans-movies-ranked-kristen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/m-night-shyamalans-movies-ranked-kristen\/","title":{"rendered":"All Of M. Night Shyamalan&#8217;s Movies Ranked"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As an Indian-American director who\u2019s\u00a0found\u00a0widespread\u00a0success, M. Night Shyamalan has made a name for himself as a visionary who knows how to deliver a twist. Although he has been collectively praised as an auteur, he has also endured a fair share of critical and commercial setbacks. Currently, he&#8217;s on an upswing with audiences hotly anticipating the release of his superhero sequel, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/glass\/240900\"><em>Glass<\/em><\/a>, but where do the rest of his movies rank now? Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n<p>(Note: I\u2019m not including Shyamalan\u2019s 1992 debut PRAYING WITH ANGER as the film never received a mainstream release or distribution.)<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">11.\u00a0<\/span>AFTER EARTH (2013)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sEmWdkov9WI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Shyamalan is passionate about his films, and he always commits to his vision. You have to respect a director who isn&#8217;t afraid to go all-in on an idea.\u00a0Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn&#8217;t quite land. Unfortunately, <em>After Earth<\/em> falls into the latter. It mixes <em>Planet of the Apes<\/em> with monsters which, in theory, sounds fun. In fact, much of <em>After Earth<\/em> sounds interesting on the surface, right down to casting Will Smith in the lead role of Cypher\u00a0Raige. I mean, how awesome a movie\u00a0character\u00a0name is that?<\/p>\n<p>As we all know, movies need more than a cool hero name. <em>After Earth<\/em> has some\u00a0neat\u00a0creature effects, but it\u2019s hampered by a complicated script and its leading man is\u00a0technically\u00a0not\u00a0Will Smith. Nope, Smith\u2019s character\u00a0gets sidelined early in the movie, leaving his son, Kitai (played by Smith\u2019s actual son, Jaden Smith) to be the hero.\u00a0Jaden\u00a0Smith was a young performer, untested in film, and shouldering an ambitious Shyamalan film is a big ask to make of any actor, let alone one with little acting experience to his name.<\/p>\n<h2><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">10.\u00a0<\/span>THE VISIT (2015)<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1957\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1957\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1957\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/the-visit.jpg\" alt=\"Ed Oxenbould, Olivia DeJonge, and Kathryn Hahn in 'The Visit' \" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/the-visit.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/the-visit-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/the-visit-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/the-visit-500x282.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1957\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ed Oxenbould, Olivia DeJonge, and Kathryn Hahn in &#8216;The Visit&#8217; (Credit: Universal)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>The Visit<\/em>, for many people, was a return to form for Shyamalan. Unfortunately, I wasn&#8217;t personally in that group. <em>The Visit<\/em> is Shyamalan\u2019s take on \u201csundowning,\u201d a recognized condition usually seen in the elderly where their behavior changes after dark, a form of dementia and cognitive deterioration. The film follows two kids visiting their estranged grandparents only to start questioning the old couple\u2019s bizarre behavior.<\/p>\n<p>The trailers for this were certainly effective, reminding us how frightening the very old can be when you&#8217;re very young, and both Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie, who play the grandparents, are aces. The challenge lies in the story itself. Are the grandparents controlled by something? Or is this a movie about the paranoia young kids experience around strangers, especially those who come in an advanced age? Unfortunately, it\u2019s easy to deduce the ending. &#8220;A&#8221; for effort, but overall it leaves you wanting more.<\/p>\n<h2><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">9.\u00a0<\/span>THE LAST AIRBENDER (2010)<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1958\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1958\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1958\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/the-last-airbender-movie-1024x553.jpg\" alt=\"Noah Ringer in 'The Last Airbender' \" width=\"1024\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/the-last-airbender-movie-1024x553.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/the-last-airbender-movie-300x162.jpg 300w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/the-last-airbender-movie-768x415.jpg 768w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/the-last-airbender-movie-500x270.jpg 500w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/the-last-airbender-movie-1080x584.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/the-last-airbender-movie.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1958\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Noah Ringer in &#8216;The Last Airbender&#8217; (Credit: Paramount)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As someone who had never watched an episode of <em>Avatar: The Last Airbender<\/em> even I knew fans were going to have a hard time embracing this adaptation. The series has an incredibly rich history and a complex backstory\u00a0that was never going to fully translate into a movie that\u2019s under two hours. Sadly, the story of\u00a0Aang\u00a0(played by Noah Ringer) was destined to be underdeveloped from the start.<\/p>\n<h2><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">8. <\/span>WIDE AWAKE (1998)<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1959\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1959\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1959\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/wide-awake-1024x533.jpeg\" alt=\"Joseph Cross and Rosie O'Donnell in 'Wide Awake' \" width=\"1024\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/wide-awake-1024x533.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/wide-awake-300x156.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/wide-awake-768x400.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/wide-awake-500x260.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/wide-awake-1080x563.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/wide-awake.jpeg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1959\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joseph Cross and Rosie O&#8217;Donnell in &#8216;Wide Awake&#8217; (Credit: Miramax)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Remember that time M. Night Shyamalan directed a family dramedy about a kid\u2019s quest to find God? Don\u2019t fret if you said no. This was released via Miramax\u2019s family label back in 1998. Yes, Miramax had an arm of their studio aimed at creating family fare at one point.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Wide Awake<\/em> follows\u00a0Josh Beal (Joseph Cross),\u00a0whose grandfather dies,\u00a0plunging the boy into an existential crisis. The movie is pretty sweet if not somewhat paint-by-numbers. If you didn\u2019t tell me this was just Shyamalan\u2019s second feature, and the first to receive a wide distribution, I likely still would have been able to tell. The characters all come from central casting;\u00a0Rosie O\u2019Donnell plays a nun who loves baseball. It\u2019s also his first feature set in Shyamalan\u2019s beloved Philadelphia. Compared to his later movies, it\u2019s little more than a novelty; that time the director of <em>The Sixth Sense<\/em> made a religious family drama. It\u2019s a prime example of a young director not yet finding his niche.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">7. <\/span>LADY IN THE WATER (2006)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lady In The Water Trailer [HD]\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cT8qbVVU4HI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Lady in the Water<\/em> was billed as Shyamalan\u2019s take on a fairytale for the modern era, which is interesting. Fairytales started as morality tales for young girls with hosts of colorful characters meant to caricature the worst virtues of humanity. Shyamalan takes that idea and turns it on its head, providing insight into how he perceives the world more than anything else.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The film follows dour apartment manager Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) who finds a mysterious woman (played by Bryce Dallas Howard) in the complex swimming pool. He soon discovers that the woman, named Story, is a magical mermaid-esque\u00a0figure trying to get back home.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Borrowing elements from The Little Mermaid and <em>E.T.<\/em>, <em>Lady in the Water<\/em> is a mix of ideas that seem sweet but come off as eccentric. The characters in Heep\u2019s apartment complex range from the utterly bizarre &#8211; Reggie (Freddie Rodriguez) who only works out one half of his body to the meta; Bob Balaban plays a jerky critic\u2026wonder what that means? Howard and Giamatti are great, of course, and the out-there plot points keep you morbidly enthralled.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">6. <\/span>THE HAPPENING (2008)<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1961\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1961\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1961\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/The-Happening-1024x512.jpg\" alt=\"M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Happening'\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/The-Happening-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/The-Happening-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/The-Happening-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/The-Happening-1000x500.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/The-Happening-500x250.jpg 500w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/The-Happening-1080x540.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/The-Happening.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1961\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">M. Night Shyamalan&#8217;s &#8216;The Happening&#8217; (Credit: 20th Century Fox)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I fully admit and embrace that I find this movie wildly entertaining. <em>The Happening<\/em> starts out strong; a mysterious force starts compelling people to commit suicide. Commence several minutes of watching people come up with very ingenious ways to inflict pain on themselves. Cut to our hero, Mark Wahlberg\u2019s Elliot Moore. Elliot is a science teacher who knows the proper distinction between \u201cwho\u201d and \u201cwhom,\u201d which already makes him cool in my book.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Shyamalan really enjoys looking at how we respond, collectively, in a crisis and <em>The Happening<\/em> is a film about how severe nihilism can really be our undoing. Or, at least I think that\u2019s the point before the twist turns the whole thing into an environmental allegory.<\/p>\n<h2><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">5. <\/span>UNBREAKABLE (2000)<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1962\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1962\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1962\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-l-jackson-unbreakable-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Samuel L. Jackson in 'Unbreakable'\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-l-jackson-unbreakable-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-l-jackson-unbreakable-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-l-jackson-unbreakable-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-l-jackson-unbreakable-500x281.jpg 500w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-l-jackson-unbreakable-1080x608.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-l-jackson-unbreakable.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1962\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Samuel L. Jackson in &#8216;Unbreakable&#8217; (Credit: Buena Vista)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Okay, I have to add a disclaimer to this one: I didn\u2019t watch <em>Unbreakable<\/em> until recently, more out of personal choice than anything else. See, when this movie first hit theaters I had tons of people asking me about it because Samuel L. Jackson\u2019s character, Mr. Glass, has brittle bone disease like I do. So, for a solid year, I was the girl with the \u201c<em>Unbreakable<\/em> disease.\u201d It really colored me against ever wanting to see the movie, understandably.<\/p>\n<p>But once I found out <em>Split<\/em> was a sequel to it, I had no choice but to bite the bullet and watch it. Shyamalan\u2019s take on the superhero genre follows Bruce Willis as David Dunn, a man who survives a massive train crash and discovers he has superpowers. It\u2019s Bruce Willis playing a reluctant hero and he&#8217;s very solid in the role, but the real standout is Jackson\u2019s\u00a0Elijah Price, a.k.a. Mr.\u00a0Glass.\u00a0Speaking purely in terms of a\u00a0portrayal of disability, the movie\u00a0does a better job of handling it than\u00a0most\u00a0other films, as does Jackson. There\u2019s a moment when Glass falls down the stairs that makes me squirm because I feel that on a whole other level. But Jackson is the perfect supervillain and I\u2019m hoping <em>Glass<\/em>\u00a0really gives him a chance to shine.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">4. <\/span>SPLIT (2016)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The beast is born (Split) Incredible Scene\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n6nvSI-fbsc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In nearly all the movies listed here there are only two you could say are anchored by a female lead, and one of them is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/split\/221332\"><em>Split<\/em><\/a>. Anya Taylor-Joy plays Casey, a troubled young girl who, along with two classmates, is kidnapped and held hostage by a man named with 23 distinct personalities, all of them played by James McAvoy. The girls must figure out a way to escape before\u00a0the\u00a0brutal\u00a024th personality, referred to\u00a0only\u00a0as The Beast, emerges.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Shelve the fact that this fleshes out the world of heroes and villains started with <em>Unbreakable<\/em>, and <em>Split<\/em> becomes a horror movie for women. Casey and her friends have been raised in an environment where they understand what happens to the woman in the basement. Watching them band together to find a means of escape\u00a0was\u00a0relatable, if not in specific scenario, then at least in the spirit of their situation. The threat of sexual violence is touched on in several different ways, always with a reminder that this is\u00a0something women deal with in their lives.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Taylor-Joy and Betty Buckley as McAvoy\u2019s therapist are fantastic, but it\u2019s hard to beat what McAvoy does playing a\u00a0gamut of completely distinct\u00a0characters. We watch him play, among a handful of brief others,\u00a0a cultured fashion designer\u00a0(Barry), a\u00a0tightly-wound enforcer (Dennis), an unstable\u00a0British\u00a0woman\u00a0(Patricia), a\u00a0rambunctious\u00a0little\u00a0kid (Hedwig),\u00a0and, finally, the Beast. Though you know it\u2019s McAvoy playing them all, he creates characters that are completely separate from each other, with their own quirks, speech patterns, and little tics. It\u2019s a masterful performance in a movie that\u2019s\u00a0already\u00a0terrifying because it starts from a real place.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">3. <\/span>THE VILLAGE (2004)<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1964\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1964\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1964\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/bryce-dallas-howard-the-village-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Bryce Dallas Howard in 'The Village'\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/bryce-dallas-howard-the-village-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/bryce-dallas-howard-the-village-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/bryce-dallas-howard-the-village-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/bryce-dallas-howard-the-village-500x281.jpg 500w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/bryce-dallas-howard-the-village-1080x608.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/bryce-dallas-howard-the-village.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1964\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bryce Dallas Howard in &#8216;The Village&#8217; (Credit: Buena Vista)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I have a severe soft spot for <em>The Village<\/em>, even after having the ending spoiled for me by a pre-Twitter internet critic. The film follows a group of people living in a 19th-century village who fear unseen creatures in the woods referred to only as \u201cThose We Don\u2019t Speak Of.\u201d Shyamalan\u2019s writing has never been prettier, the score has never been more ethereal, and Bryce Dallas Howard made a film debut that left me crying.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The cast assembled here consists of nothing but heavy hitters: the aforementioned Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Adrien Brody\u2013I could go on. But what makes the film truly work is the world-building. Shyamalan takes the themes he\u2019d focused on in prior films: societal violence, religion, nihilism, and puts them on a small town trying to create and maintain Utopia. When something terrible happens it\u2019s up to Howard\u2019s Ivy, a woman constantly underestimated because she\u2019s blind, to save the day. Able to relate to her challenges, I appreciated making Ivy the lead. She\u2019s strong, but never supernaturally strong, she\u2019s not played as a victim, and she ultimately succeeds. It\u2019s not flawless, and the movie\u2019s twist is a bit overt but everything about this movie works. <span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">2. <\/span>SIGNS (2002)<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1966\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1966\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1966\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/joaquin-phoenix-signs-1024x545.jpg\" alt=\"Rory Culkin, Joaquin Phoenix, Abigail Breslin in 'Signs' \" width=\"1024\" height=\"545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/joaquin-phoenix-signs-1024x545.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/joaquin-phoenix-signs-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/joaquin-phoenix-signs-768x409.jpg 768w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/joaquin-phoenix-signs-500x266.jpg 500w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/joaquin-phoenix-signs-1080x575.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/joaquin-phoenix-signs.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1966\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rory Culkin, Joaquin Phoenix, Abigail Breslin in &#8216;Signs&#8217; (Credit: Buena Vista)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Signs<\/em> is another great example of how Shyamalan could create a world both familiar and extraordinary. The story of an alien invasion takes the time to show how we\u2019d react to it &#8211; being pulled to the television, everyone\u00a0discussing\u00a0the aliens showing up, understandable human reactions. There\u2019s no grand exploration of why the aliens are here.\u00a0All we know is that they are, and they don\u2019t come in peace.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But, like <em>The Village<\/em>, Shyamalan\u00a0focuses\u00a0on faith and how we reconcile that when things go\u00a0wrong\u00a0in our lives. For better or worse this is Mel Gibson at\u00a0his most empathetic. He has a great camaraderie with Abigail Breslin and Rory Culkin,\u00a0who play his kids. A post-<em>Gladiator<\/em> Joaquin Phoenix is charming and sweet as shy Uncle Merrill. It\u2019s\u00a0proof that the director knows\u00a0how to bridge the gap between fantasy\/sci-fi and family drama.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>1. THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559740&quot;:276,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1967\" style=\"width: 978px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1967\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1967\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/haley-joel-osment-the-sixth-sense.jpg\" alt=\"Haley Joel Osment in 'The Sixth Sense' \" width=\"968\" height=\"524\" srcset=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/haley-joel-osment-the-sixth-sense.jpg 968w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/haley-joel-osment-the-sixth-sense-300x162.jpg 300w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/haley-joel-osment-the-sixth-sense-768x416.jpg 768w, https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/haley-joel-osment-the-sixth-sense-500x271.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 968px) 100vw, 968px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1967\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Haley Joel Osment in &#8216;The Sixth Sense&#8217; (Credit: Buena Vista)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The movie that made us all, for a brief moment, absolutely love M. Night Shyamalan, the tantalizing hint of a brilliant and quirky filmmaking career to come. It gave us superlative performances from Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, and Toni Collette (QUEEN!). It terrified us with Shyamalan\u2019s meme-worthy \u201cI see dead people,\u201d and it made us cry while existentially contemplating the nature of life and death\u2013all from a movie about a little boy who sees ghosts. That\u2019s way too much to handle! There\u2019s been a ton written about <em>The Sixth Sense<\/em> already, but\u00a0even\u00a0with it\u00a0approaching its twentieth anniversary it still works as Shyamalan\u2019s masterpiece.<\/p>\n<p>Will any of his movies ever top <em>The Sixth Sense<\/em>? Who\u00a0knows? But there&#8217;s a good chance that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/glass\/240900\"><em>Glass<\/em><\/a> is the answer.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr style=\"color: #000; width: 95%; margin-left: 0;\" \/>\n<h2>FEATURED<\/h2>\n<hr style=\"color: #000; width: 95%; margin-left: 0;\" \/>\n<!-- The Grid Plugin Version 2.7.4 --><div class=\"tg-error-msg\" data-grid-name=\"Home Featured\">No post was found with your current grid settings.&#xa;You should verify if you have posts inside the current selected post type(s) and if the meta key filter is not too much restrictive.<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As an Indian-American director who\u2019s\u00a0found\u00a0widespread\u00a0success, M. Night Shyamalan has made a name for himself as a visionary who knows how to deliver a twist. Although he has been collectively praised as an auteur, he has also endured a fair share of critical and commercial setbacks. Currently, he&#8217;s on an upswing with audiences hotly anticipating the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[33,40],"class_list":["post-1937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial","tag-featured","tag-featuredpage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1937"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3071,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1937\/revisions\/3071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}