Signs
Impossible to separate my enjoyment of this movie from my nostalgia. Blew my mind when I was 15, and more than that really opened up my understanding of the purpose of movies. The realization that movies could (should) have thematic meaning beyond good vs. evil and basic narrative storytelling dramatically shifted the way I approached films in high school, college and beyond.
This is Shayamalan going full Spielberg, and beyond just the family-focus and the easily accessible entertainment of it - we get so many of those close-up wide-eyes reaction shots that Spielberg is famous for.
The story works for me. Some of the tense moments are still fantastic (the nighttime cornfield scene and the Mexican birthday party are standouts). James Newton Howard’s three-note leitmotif is one that has stuck with me since I first heard it.
And the humor is really solid! I wonder where that went for Shayamalan? His later features have virtually no humor. Why did he start taking himself too seriously?
And my primary complain about this film over the past few years has been about the theme itself - the whole “everything happens for a reason” thing. And although i truly don’t believe that sentiment at this stage of life, it still works well in the context of the film.
Really fun to watch this with Millie, who has been asking for scarier movies. Good first step for her!