RANKING M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN

Top Films + A Preview of the New: OLD

image above: split; cover image: the sixth sense

BY: Tony Brown

Love him or hate him M. Night Shyamalan is a Hollywood survivor, much like Bruce Willis’ Unbreakable character. Whether a movie is a hit or a flop, he lives to film another day. Despite haters, he will always make another movie (which may, in turn, be a hit or a flop), all the while holding on to what he holds dear re: maintaining his artistic and filmic integrity and grand cinematic vision.

The reoccurring pre-production conversation we imagine MNS having with the audience in his head:

You don’t like dramatic twists in every movie? I respect your opinion, which I will politely ignore.
You hate that I want to be Hitchcock so badly that I shoehorn a cameo into every movie? I’m not a Psycho; I think limiting oneself is for The Birds.
You can’t stomach any more Shyamalan? Sure, sure, until the next season of The Servant.

In anticipation of the July release of Old, the cinephiles here at PROVOKR have revisited Shyamalan’s catalog…the great, the meh, and the ugly. Don’t get it twisted; there are very few of the latter. After careful consideration, we have ranked his films. If you agree with our choices…great! If you beg to differ, please opine. Provokrs, we can take it. No matter what, like M. Night, we will keep keeping on.