M. Night Shyamalan Movies

Old

**** Glass (2019) our three superheroes, Glass (Samuel Jackson), David Dunn (Bruce Willis) and Split (James McAvoy)

*** Split (2016)  A bit too intense but James McAvoy does great portraying multiple personalities

**** The Last Airbender. (2010)  Great fantasy show

***^ Lady in the Water (2006) Bryce Dallas Howard and Paul Giamatti

***^ The Village (2004) Bryce Dallas Howard and Joaquin Phoenix

**** Signs (2002). Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix, excellent alien invasion movie

**** Unbreakable (2000)  Again Bruce Willis, superhero, Samuel Jackson super villain

 ****^ The Sixth Sense (1999) Bruce Willis and Joel Osment, terrific ghost story

In Theaters: ***^ A Dog’s Way Home (2019)

***^ A Dog’s Way Home (2019)  I was really looking forward to this movie, but must admit some where along the way, with the long journey home, it became a bit boring.  The journey took more than two years and allowed our puppy hero to raise a mountain lion, and then be saved by the same mountain lion.  Big Kitty he was called.  Denver must have some pretty restrictive dog regulations, and any three people can certify a dog as a pit bull whether it is or not.  A pit bull cannot be on the streets.  Bryce Dallas Howard voices the dog, Bella.  Her person is Lucas (Jonah Hauer-King).  Bella is loved by the veterans where Lucas works, but is forced to New Mexico by the Denver laws.  From there she makes her long journey.  Wes Studi plays a cameo as a police captain who intervenes in the arrest of a dog.

Movie Review: **^Pete's Dragon (2016)

I just don't like this version of Pete's Dragon as much as the original, although the special effects are much better, and the dragon is much more realistic.  The story is almost totally different, other then a boy, lost in the woods is taken in by a dragon.  However when civilization encroaches, bad things are going to happen and things are going to change.  Pete (Oakes Fegley) is lost in the woods when his parents die in a car accident.  The dragon rescues him from wolves.
Meacham (Robert Redford) tells the story to the local kids of when he saw the dragon.  He is not believed.  Pete and the dragon have a nice life together for several years.  It isn't until the loggers reach their forest that things change.  A forest ranger, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) discovers Pete, and takes him home.  Now the dragon is looking for Pete everywhere, and makes it to the village.  The loggers however are after the dragon, and eventually capture him.  So who is going to rescue the dragon in the end.
This is a movie of goodbye, which is hard sometimes.  However Pete does find a family, and so does the dragon.

Movie Review: ***^The Help

This movie was very enjoyable, during the Kennedy years, and start of the civil rights movement.  It took a lot of courage in those days to confront your environment, especially in the South under Jim Crow laws. When segregation is the law, it is hard to stand up.  This move has Emma Stone as a young author, writing about the injustices she sees, and through time recruits a group of "Help" to tell her stories; positive stories and stories of injustices.  Viola Davis and Octovia Spencer are "The Help" first help with the book.  Bryce Dallas Howard portrays the worse of the racists.  She is just evil, wanting to pass a law requiring extra bathrooms for "Black Help."  It is fun how the book comes out, and how they are able to do just enough so they can publish the book without being arrested.

Movie Review: ***^Lady in the Water

A janitor, apartment complex manager, discovers someone has been in the pool after hours.  It turns out that this is a mystical creature of the water, a nymph, who is trying to return to her own world, while avoiding being attacked by some strange wolf like creatures.  The janitor realizes that there are certain characters needed in this story, to facilitate the safe return of the nymph.  He explores the apartment complex, discovering different of these characters among his neighbors, a guardian, guild and healer.  He makes some mistakes in his identifications, but he does put together a team.  However the team needs to be correct to work.  This movie has some intense monsters, wolfmen that are made of plants.  Bryce Dallas Howard is the Lady in the Water, Paul Giamatti the janitor.  This movie was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan.  This story is enjoyable, but some of the story does not make sense.  You have to suspend logic.

Movie Review: ***^The Village

This movie is directed by M. Night Shyamalan.  Again this movie has twists.  What makes this movie eerie is the use of colors--yellow for the Villagers and red for the monsters.  The community is manipulated into red areas and yellow areas.  It is very isolated.  The villagers are not to go into the red area.  However, some of the young people are wanting to challenge this tradition.  Ivy Walker, who is blind, (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) have a love interest.  However this leaves out a third friend, Noah Percy (Adrien Brody) who becomes jealous, and stabs Lucius with a knife.  It falls upon Ivy to save him by going for medicine.  It is a long journey for a blind girl, especially with monsters around.  Sigourney Weaver plays Lucius' mother, and William Hurt Ivy's father.
I enjoyed this movie very much.  It does not keep its scariness on subsequent viewings, but the first watch is very creepy.  This is not geared as a children's movie, and the red blood is a bit graphic for children.

Movie Review: ****^Spider Man III

In this were are introduced to the Sand Man, who actually shot Uncle Ben.  Spider Man also faces his dark side, as he comes in contact with an alien symbiotic organism. Peter is then faced with a darker alter ego.  He becomes mean to those around him, but finally beats the symbiode off, and the symbiode attaches to Peter's rival photographer at the Bugle, making Carnage who becomes Spider Man's other rival.  They gang up on him.  In the mean time Harry has become the Green Goblin, and had run ins with Spider Man.  However the Green Goblin comes to Spidey's rescue in the end.  I really dislike the reporters when Spider Man is getting beat up.  They detract from the action rather than adding to it.
Tony loves Spider Man and talking about the symbiode that crashed from outer space and made Black Spider Man and Carnage.