M. Night Shyamalan - The Visit

0:02 Brad, I need to ask your opinion about something. So scary movies have several subgenres, and one of the ones that kind of became dominant in the late nineties, nineteen ninety nine to be precise, Yeah, and on was the found footage scary movie. Do you happen to have a favorite in that subgenre. With me? I think you have to go with the original, kind of with player Witch Project. You know, it did kind of spark a, you know, a very easy way to make movies for a very little amount of money and make a huge profit.

0:45 Well, you know, it's the cool thing is everyone assumes that the Blair Witch Project is the one that started at all in nineteen ninety nine, but it was actually nineteen eighty a little known horror film called Cannibal Holocaust. That's the actual that's the first found footage scary movie. But dame, I know canniballl Hall. We gotta look that one up. I think that's gotta be good. Yeah, But today I want to talk about a different found footage movie. I want to talk about a film by m Night Shyamalan, his twenty fifteen thriller The Visit. Okay, welcome back, to the film by podcast. I am Jeff Johnson with me is Brad Kozo, Brad? How are you doing today?

1:59 Man doing great? Uh? M night, he's uh, he's having a big week. Yeah, the movie listen, movies are back, the theaters are open, and we just so happened to get ourselves an m Night Shamalan movie coming out this Friday. His new thriller Old is debuting on Friday. I can't wait to see it myself. What about you? This could be the first movie that I actually go back to the theater to see. Yeah, because you haven't. I mean, there's been a couple movies, but you still you've not. You've yet to venture back. I have yet to be in a theater post covid. Brad. Can m Night bring you back? I think he could because one thing that he does fantastic is he makes the best trailers.

2:44 Oh yeah, he absolutely does. Uh. So we're talking about his twenty fifteen movie, The Visit I Got. I'm gonna go ahead and ask because I know you didn't see this before we had talked about it, So right off the bat, let's let's talk about your thoughts, Like, what did you think? Well? First off, I'd say this is the only a film of his that I do not remember coming out. Yeah, every one of his films had a big opening, but this one, I feel like, you know, didn't come out. But I think with this movie what I liked is that it didn't play it as serious as some of those other ones that you see where they're really really trying to convince you that, remember, you're you're watching this really happening. He kind of steps back a little bit and plays a little bit with the humor and keeps reminding you you're watching a movie. He even has Becka spouting out you know film you know, uh terms like messe scene and the elixir and stuff. And I love how when kids are in movies and they respond to scary situations with a comment about another movie because that would actually happen, and that's exactly what the audience is thinking at the same time.

4:01 So I like it. It is a world where they do have horror movies that exist and things like that, you know. And he doesn't take this one too seriously like a lot of other found footage films have done. To death no pun intent. Yeah, now you made the comment you didn't remember this coming out in twenty fifteen, not at all. I think there's a reason though, So you know, what was it ninety I think it was ninety eight when The Sixth Sense came out, right, ninety nine, Okay, you would know he came on the scene and just hit home run after home run after home run. Now he gets into you know, it's like twenty twelve, twenty thirteen, somewhere on those lines. I know he did The Last Airbender. Yeah, and then right after that it wasn't that big of a hit. I know it's based off of a cartoon.

4:49 Or no, it's not. It's not. I mean, if it is. I looked up. He is the only credited screenwriter on that. I thought it was an adaptation of a young adult you know, series or something. It looks like this is his brainchild. I thought. I thought it was based off the as did I either way. But you also got to think, you know, he has three children. You know, if you were a filmmaker and you could make a film for your kids, wouldn't you want to do it? Oh? Absolutely? Yeah, But this didn't really connect with audiences. After that, he does After Earth with Will Smith. Which didn't connect with anyone. Yeah, you know, and you know, sadly it just it wasn't a hit. You think M. Knight, and you think Will Smith, and you think summer blockbuster. That's that's a guaranteed home run, right.

5:34 Yeah, but it was. I was the formula for years. Yeah, so back to back what some could say we were critical failures. He kind of fell off a little bit. So the reason why the visit was such a small, you know film that like, hey, what is that? Or and I think what a lot of people today, like a lot of people listening might right now might not have heard of it or seen it. Now. That's one of the reasons we're talking about it. Him Knight actually to get back out there, he borrows five million dollars, you know, basically puts his house up as collateral to finance this movie because you know, he writes it, he directs it, and after he even you know, he shot it, you know, he shops it around Hollywood. Everyone's turning their nose up at it until finally Universal gets to it and after a couple of revisions, you know, after kind of finding out the flow of the movie, they pick it up with with Jason Blumhouse from uh Blumhouse Pictures.

6:34 And you know, you said the thing about the comedy, because there are This is a scary movie. It's a thriller, but there are some there's some funny moments, right, maybe maybe maybe they're supposed to be unintentional, Maybe he wants them to be unintentional. But he he's on record as saying he struggled with his cut because he made his first movie. He kind of his first cut. He kind of said, hey, this is it's more of an hour house movie. Yeah. Then he does a second cut and it's a it's a total comedy, and he says, this isn't right. So the end result is he wants that comedy, but he wants the scares, and what he ends up with is what we see on the screen, which I think is an excellent balance of you know, there's there's moments where you laugh because you're like, what the hell you know?

7:16 And you have to laugh about some of the stuff you're seeing. But then there's some there are some genuine jumps in this, would you. Agree, Yeah, And of course not when you're expecting it at all. No, No, let let's talk about this cast, because we've got the great Catherine Hahn playing the mom right well, right now, Yeah, she's well, she's huge right now, I guess, you know. But before we do that, let's let's get let's briefly, you know what we're talking about. There's a divorced mom has two teenage kids, you know, boy or girl. She has been estranged from her parents for the past fifteen years, and the grandparents kind of reach out connect with the grandkids, and then they decide, hey, come come up for a visit to grandma and Grandpa's house. And this gives her a chance to kind of you know, uh, start her life you know, fresh with like her boyfriend.

8:10 They're gonna go on a cruise so conveniently they're conveniently way away. Right. Yeah, she's she's getting her life back together, she's making amends, she's she's ready to move on. Yeah, Catherine Hahn playing playing playing the mom, who's just she's the fun mom. She made a mistake when. She was what is she like that nineteen Yeah, you know, when she left home, you know, years ago, to the man that they did not want her to marry, and you know, a big blowout happened and they hadn't spoken since. And now that man she you know, left her parents for is now leaving her for another woman. Absolutely so, Catherine Han. Uh, you said it. You know she's she's huge right now, right, Yeah, Uh, she's she's actually she's filming Knives Out Part two currently. Uh. Just came off hot off of Wanda.

8:58 Vision for them disiness nomination. I believe immy nomination for WandaVision Parks and Rec. A lot of people assume Wanda Vision is her first foray into the superhero movies. A lot of people forget she actually does a lot of good voice work. She plays doc oc uh for the film Into the Spider Verse. Oh yeah, yeah, and she and it's a it's a fun doc oc you know. So I'll ask you real quick because you've watched you've watched a lot of her stuff, and you've seen both series, which Katherine Han, do you prefer? Do you like the WandaVision Katherine Han or do you like the Parks and Rec Katherine Hahn. I think she's kind of always a combination of all those. She brings her her personality to every part. You know, there's always a little bit of her in whatever she's playing, you know, main bad guy or a completely messed up, crazy girl, and like step brothers, it's her kind of comedy and personality that always stands out.

9:53 I think. Okay, so she's she's a very good actress, beautiful, she's sexy and above all she very funny. Yeah. I think she's the goldiehun of her generation. Yeah, she's really good. She's the next she's the new Goldie hon Right. Okay, so she's playing the mom. We've got relative newcomers playing her kids. So you've got Olivia de Jong and playing Becca, who is the fifteen year old aspiring filmmaker. Yes, and then you've got ed Oxenbold who plays her thirteen year old brother, Tyler, who is a who is an aspiring rapper. Yes, you know, because he's his most thirteen year old you know boys want to do.

10:34 Yeah, he's a thirteen year old white kid who has nothing, knows nothing about the hood. But yeah, he could be a he can be a rapper. I think it's you know, and again, these these kids have done a lot of TV, I think, but they're relatively unknown because they're both Australian. Oh really, I didn't know that. I had no idea because you would you would think like a young actor, it would be difficult for them to pull off accents. There's not a hint of OSSI in their in their dialogue, so I. Think they just seem like regular little brats. Yeah, they're fun. Now I'll tell you who's really fun. Let's talk about the other, uh, the last two people. So you've got Deanna Dunnagan playing Nana, Nana Nana, and then you've got Peter McRobbie playing Pop Pop of course, innocent, innocent, they're sweet, they're sweet grandparents. Uh, I got a I got a quick eighty six moment for you, Brad, because we love every other episode we're talking about nineteen and six movies a little uh doing a little digging. These two, uh, you know, have been featured on our episodes before. Deanna Dunagan, Uh, she actually plays sister Rebecca in Running Scared. You know we talked about Running Scared a couple months back.

11:51 Oh yeah, poor sister Rebecca, Poor sister Rebecca. Yeah, so that's that's her. Uh. Peter McRobbie, he's actually in The Manhattan Project, which I know we haven't done yet, but it's on the I know we've got that on the schedule for coming up later or early next year, I think is what we got that. But yeah, we got some eighty six veterans house and. We found a way to get a shout out to Scott Hoffman even when he's not on the show. Even with Scott's not here, we're still gonna have to know what episodes he's on. We're still gonna call out one of his episodes. Uh. Now, Deanna Dunnagan, aside from sister Rebecca, I don't really know a lot about her. I know she's got like seven, like sixty seventy film credits, but a lot of TV. Uh. Same thing with Peter McRobbie.

12:32 Uh Now, I recognized him from the Dare Did you watch the Daredevil series on Netflix? I believe it? Yeah, Okay, so he played he plays the priest that that Matt goes to see. Oh okay, I mean when he's cleaned up and talking you know intelligently. You would never Yeah, he's not empty depends. Yeah, he is not pop pop in in Daredevil at all. But yeah, and and again he's got like over one hundred acting credits a of television. I was looking at I was looking at his IMDb. If you've watched the TV show. Chances are he was on it. YEP. So this is a it's a it's a small it's a very small cast here, very intimate, and it's one of those things where you don't need a lot of outside characters.

13:16 No, this is a five million dollar movie. Yeah, you don't have time for other characters, and you want to stick with these with these uh, these five really, I mean you could say these four because Catherine Hahn, you know, they they're doing the skype visits with their mom while she's out on the boat. But it's few and far between. So yeah, And and the thing is, yeah, there's there's a maybe not so famous cast in this movie, but even in there when there is a star and a list star. You were going to see these movies because they're m Knight's movies. He is the star of these movies. You know, you didn't go see Signs because mel Gibson was in it. You saw it because M knight was doing it. Same with you know, Mark Wahlberg in The Happening.

13:58 He he is the star of all of his films. I could not agree more. Even even when Unbreakable was his second one. I didn't go see it because it was Bruce Willis. I went and saw it because yeah, it was the guy that gave us the sixth sense, and yeah, oh my god, what's he gonna do with this one? Right? So again, you so you liked it, you didn't like it. I mean, I what I did is what I I had assumed what you had actually now just told me that I think with the you know, box office failure of films like The Last Airbender and after Earth, he wanted to get his feet wet, you know, back into the suspense world again. You know that's you know, uh, cover old ground is the best way to do it, get your feet wet. And you know, and he did, you know, is it his best effort? I definitely not.

14:46 I I kind of wanted a little bit more of his kind of touch to it, especially when we came to that you know, famous always m night twist. But you know, I saw what it was and I and I'm glad that he didn't like I said, take it too seriously. It was a fun movie, but you know, it is one of those things where the found footage movie had been kind of done to death. So it was another found footage movie. But I wasn't upset when you know, it's like you usually say in a found footage film, put down the camera and just run. There are some genuine, you know, genuine great scares and some things that I don't know if you want to touch on it on this episode that really make me cringe.

15:31 And I think I know what you're talking about, and we could definitely get into them. Uh, let's let's be fair to our listeners though, because you know, you see a lot of movies and you know who m Night is, and you hadn't seen this, and you just talked about that that Shyamalan twist, you know that that he's famous for. Do you want to agree right now that we don't give away the twist? Yeah, okay, we could, we can, we can talk around it. But the thing is, he quickly became known for that, so everyone's expecting it, right, and then it becomes a thing where maybe it was built up too much, so, you know, the thing with the Last Airbender and even after Earth, there is no twist right because he didn't he wanted to get away from that. He didn't want to be known just for that, but it's what audiences were expecting from him. It's what the audience has wanted from him. So the visit, it's like the first film in years for his career where he went back to that giving you that that twist.

16:31 So at this point people are like, well, they're not expecting it. You know, he had he had caniven you not to expect it. Then you're like you, okay, it's a found footage movie. And to your point, Brad, yeah, he's maybe he's a little late to the game with the the sub genre because it's been it's been happening for sixteen years. Yeah, but damn, I think he does it great. You know. Oh I like the way Yeah, well I'm talking about even like the found footage. You have to always be careful with the found footage movies and the the plot trope of how is the camera set up and why is the camera set up? Yes, and I totally dig that, you know, the the young girls making her own documentary film about reconnecting with her grandparents and m Knight. He does such a great thing.

17:20 He's a he's a he's one of these directors that's a great visual storyteller. Think about some of his shots in the sixth sense, they think about his shots in Unbreakable, for example, you know he likes to use reflective lenses. He likes to use those. Those He likes to make things look not winter cold. Just cold. Yeah, well he looks cold and bitter. He does what I think you could call comic book framing. You know, he's not gonna show he's not gonna point the camera straight at the actor. He's gonna point he's coming from an angle. He's gonna be above him, he's gonna be below him, he might be behind him. He gives you really dynamic shots. Yeah, and to do that inside of a found footage movie where two of the characters are constantly carrying the camera and moving the camera, I think that's pretty damn difficult, And he succeeds.

18:12 In my mind, and I think, is I think that I did. It's not that I didn't like the twist. The twist I like, but usually he gives you the twist and gives you the full on, like backwards map of explanation about it. I thought there was maybe a little too many questions Dan, like, Okay, well tell me a little bit more about that twist. But other than that, the twist itself is fantastic. Well, now I'm gonna I'm gonna slightly disagree to your point as far as the twist, because you're right, the sixth sense unbreakable. There's that quick, there's flash, there's yeah, those recuts of like he's showing you stuff that he already showed you, yes, and kind of letting you sum it up. I appreciate that in this one he expects you to put it together. He doesn't get he doesn't spoonfeed it to you. Now, don't you's me wrong. I love I love the way he does it in his his earlier work. But it's one of those things where when you do get to the twist of this movie, at least for me, it started firing off in my head some of the scenes that I've seen before that I thought, well, that's kind of odd dialogue or that's that's an odd thing to show. Yeah, and and I I added it up myself, and I like. I like that he he gives you that that opportunity because I'll tell you on a second the second like when you go back and do a second viewing, because this was I watched this recently, probably my my third or fourth time I've seen it, and I'll tell you when you

19:43 know the ending, you are. I mean it's like, uh, it's like your neo looking in the matrix. You can see everything coming that. That's that's spelling out what what's the ending is going to be for you? And it's in front of your face the whole time, and I. Dig it and it doesn't ruin your experience. It's for it either. You still have an enjoyable experience watching it too. Yeah, oh absolutely. And the thing is and then I can also understand of not giving me a full explanation. You know, if we're doing a found footage movie, we can't just switch the frame and say like, okay, now we're doing HD thing and I'm going to show you the back footage like how I would do in all my other movies. I don't really show it. So they might have thought, well, we might want to just not really do that, because how do we do it and not make it look forced through found footage? So you know I can see that.

20:37 I just I think I always like to see what he's going to give me. You know, you talked about you know this doesn't feel like your standard m night movie. No, but I think what we have to remember is Yes, it is a found footage movie, which is not something he's done before. And I think a big piece that makes this movie feel like it isn't an m Night movie is not only is it the absence of the film score, but it's the absence of a James Newton Howard film score. Yeah, because they are. They're great collaborators. That guy does amazing music for his movies, and here's an opportunity, here's a situation where it's not there. Yeah, you know, and it kind of lets you know, like, Hey, I think music, to an extent, it's almost like a cheat. Sometimes the music tells you how to feel, or it tells you what to expect. And in this movie, I think some of the reasons why the thrills really work and some of those scares really work is because we don't have the music cues to tell us to be scared or to prepare us for it.

21:42 Would you agree, Yeah, because you are literally jumping, even though it might not be scary, you are jumping. See. I think m Night, like Steven Spielberg, really must hate children and just loves terrifying children in movies as much as possible, just giving them nightmares. For the rest of their lives. But but but I enjoy that. And I also like the fact that, yeah, they're doing the documentary about mom's life on the farm, but a quarter into the movie they even they just turn chords and go, no, we're gonna film what these weird grandparents are doing instead, And then the camera makes more. Sense, you know, Like you said, the jumps are good.

22:25 I like the jumps. Let's take a quick break and then we'll jump back into it. Brad. Yeah, okay, Brad, So let's talk a little bit more about m night. I think, you know, we we can talk a little bit more about the movie here, but before we get too too far into it, let's do a little bit of his background. Yes, so again and again, not not a lot, not a big body of work. He's he does a lot of writing. He's done directing, obviously, he's done acting. What do you what do you think? What's uh? What are what are some of his movies that stand out to you? Well, here's the thing that makes him stand out with everyone else. He first of all, he writes and directs all of his movies. No comic book adaptations, no novel adaptations, no TV series, turning in a movie all him, all the time, and he's been offered three Harry Potter films, a Batman film, I believe, a Marvel film, a Superman film, and has said no to all of them. And he is the only director that has made a career out of marketing his own name better than anyone in Hollywood.

23:35 Since nineteen ninety nine, when The Sixth Sense came out, his name was everywhere and ever since them. Like I said before, he's the star of the movie. You were going to see his movie, and you know, like I said, when you're watching a trailer and the first thing it comes up, it says, you know from m Night Shamalan, you know, Okay, this is going to be unique. This is going to be something completely different. And as many movies as you see of his that you may enjoy, may not enjoy, you keep wanting to go back to him. You will constantly see And I don't know any other directory to do that. Maybe Christopher Nolan, but I feel like it kind of started with him, and like I said, he basically gave us, right from the get go, one of the most perfect screenplays of all time with The Sixth Sense. And I heard this story about him from a professor. I hope it's true that there were so many revisions, because obviously, you know, saying of editing this film and trying to find out which version works the best, so many revisions of that screenplay that the stack stood about four feet feet high, and he has it in his office in a glass case of all the revisions of The Sixth Sense and does Unbreakable one year after that.

24:55 But really it was the year nineteen ninety nine where he took all those blockbusters, Episode One, the Matrix Player, Witch Project, and he made those movies Is Bitch, and he basically ruled that year. I like that, though, that you're going to see a movie based on a writer director, not a good looking girl, not a good looking guy, just because you like that guy's way he writes and directs. And I think that's really great, even if you don't like all of his films, and I can say even I don't, but you gotta respect that. I think it's a bold move when the creator, whether you're talking writer director, when they put their name up on the marquee, they're introducing the movie as their name, you know, you know, basically showing it this is the brand, right.

25:50 I think anytime I see something that says Stephen King's such and such or John Carpenter's such and such, you know, right, I know what to expect, and I'm going to expect a good time. I feel that he's definitely earned that that that clout to have his name up there. Yeah, Shamalan's the visit because when I see his name, I I know I'm in for a good ride. Yeah. You know, you're like, wait, pay attention, pay attention to this, to this trailer, because you're gonna miss something, because you know, when you watch his movies, you got you gotta pay attention to him. So let's talk. Let's do Let's do this because uh, I think a lot of people have seen the majority of his work.

26:34 I know we have, uh, with exception to the visit, you know, uh in this case, but let's talk. Let's do this because we could talk for an hour about his filmography. I want to challenge you this way, Brad. Let's let's let me ask you this. Your favorite m Night movie, your least favorite, and one that you haven't seen that you want to or maybe one that you've seen but maybe you should. You should revisit no pund so favorite movie, B favorite favorite m Night movie. Unbreakable, because that movie just showed up about ten years or too early. If it would have showed up twenty ten or beyond, it would have been the biggest movie, you know, just as big as Marvel movies, DC movies.

27:19 Least favorite, I'm probably gonna have to say The Village I wasn't a big fan of, because I don't want to say a movie that I hadn't seen, but The Village I always be a big fan of one. I guess I would like to revisit would be split. I wasn't a big fan of it first, but I just recently watched The Glass for the first time and I really enjoyed it. And I like that it took what nineteen years for that whole story to come together, and I thought he he fitted together really well. And like I said, you know, he this is his world, this is the m Night world. So like I said, doesn't have to worry about staying true to any adaptations or anything.

28:03 He makes all of his rules and I really like that. All Right, Well, I gotta challenge you a little bit, so I'm gonna first off, I will agree with you. My favorite M Night film, unquestionably is Unbreakable. I actually I put Unbreakable. I put that my top five of all time. You know, I don't care what anyone says. What do you mean, m Knights in your top five of all time? Yeah, Unbreakable is up there. I don't care what anyone says. It's that good. Now you say it was ten years too early. I say it was right on time. And I say that because it avoided the superhero juggernaut, you know, machine of the Don't get me wrong. I love the MCU, I love the DC stuff.

28:52 I love superhero movies. But I feel like if his would have came out around that time, studio pressures would have pushed him to cut it and form it and shape it into more of a superhero movie. Yeah, which it is in my opinion, it truly is. But it's a superhero's origin story, much like Split and Glass. You know. I like to refer to those three as like a hero's origin story because each one of them get their chance to shine. Yeah, so I kind of I agree with you. That's my favorite. I disagree with you about it being early least favorite. I like the Village I thought it was fun again that twist. You know, I'm assuming to see some crazy monster stalking these people, and then you find out it's just this weird cult like group that just wants to be left to themselves, kept to themselves, and they use a spooky story to keep the kids at bay.

29:49 I like that. For me, I would say least favorite probably would be The Happening. Now. I saw The Happening when it first came out, and I was a lot younger, obviously, and I don't think I was ready for The Happening. I wanted more of an action movie. I wanted more, I wanted a better explanation. I wanted a better villain, yeah, aside from just plants. Yeah. But I have to be honest. Watching it last week, a little older, a little wiser, I really enjoyed it. Not so much that I think it's a better film than some of his other stuff, but I still watch it thinking this is a this Actually, this is a damn good movie. It's got a great message, which sometimes he doesn't. He's not the guy that gives us the message movie often, but I think he succeeded with that one.

30:47 And I don't care what anyone says, the first thirty minutes of that movie are terrifying, absolutely terrifying. You know, the construction workers just just nose diving off the top of the building, and yeah, cops just you know grab you know, the seasons only movie. Yeah, it's absolutely terrifying. Anytime John Loquizamo shows up, I'm a huge fan. I think this is one of Liquizamo's cooler. Roles from Revenge. Johnny lags from Revenge. Uh, the little girl that plays his daughter, I don't remember her name, amazing little actress. So and Mark Wahlberg, Yeah, he's he's He's Mark Wahlberg in most things. But he's also to me, like watching it again, I believed him as a science teacher. I believe I believe him as a guy that could maybe give us some answer.

31:36 So, but I also feel like, once again, you could put anybody in that in those parts. It doesn't matter. You're there to see m Night Shams movie. You're absolutely right. Now as far as the movie, I need to revisit or see, Uh, there are there's just a few things that I haven't seen that I've got on my list, especially you know lately, because you know, we're getting ready for old to come out. Uh, yeah, I've been, we've been. We've both been on a big m night kick. I myself, I've never seen Lady in the Water, which I know is kind of his foray into the fairy tale story. Yeah, and I'm thinking, I like, I love him night. Paul Giamatti is amazing, and Bryce Alice Howard, she's she's great and everything she does. So I again, I know that's not one of his bigger hits, but I feel like I have to. I have to see that one next.

32:26 Well, I didn't see that happening per your review. Now you're telling me see the happening per your review. Listen. Uh yeah, thirty thirty year old Jeff told you. I remember. I remember, I remember being in the theater, and once you find out what the big twist is and that happening, I be honest, I remember, I was a little pissed. I was like, yeah, are you serious that we're fighting plants? Yes? I was. I was not happy. But and you know, you should have listened to thirty year old Jeff. But I'm telling you, uh, now listen, listen to listen to forty year old Jeff, because I think you'd like it. Okay, see see it for just the fact that it's m night. See it because John Loquizamo, Johnny Legs is in there. Uh, just see it, is what I say.

33:15 Now, there are a couple of things in the visit that I would want to say cringe worthy. Did you find it comical or just unnecessary that, uh Pop Pop the way he treated poor Tyler? Uh? Okay, So let's I don't even know if I want to say it. So let's let's set it up a little bit for the listeners that haven't seen the movie. The kids arrive to the grandparents' house and they're there for five days. So this is one of those classic tropes of you know, giant title cards of the screen Monday morning. Yeah, you're gonna get to Tuesday. You know, they're they're counting it down. Basically, it does didn't take more than a day for Nana and Pop Pop to start exhibiting some strange behaviors. Yes, and at first you're like, whoa, that's a little weird, but things are explained away in a sense that you're like, yeah, that that makes perfect sense. So I think one of the first reveals, you know, because they The grandparents are very strict in the sense that you know, they say, hey, we're old world fashion, so bedtime, bedtime at nine thirty nine.

34:31 Stay best to stay in your rooms from then on and then and they also warn them there's mold in the basement. Don't go in the basement. Yes, so you get that creepy vibright from the get go, because they're kind of setting it up like, hey, don't go in there, don't go out of your room after nine thirty, don't go in the shed. You know, there's a lot of that kind of stuff. Yeah, And you know, like Becca, she's like, hey, it's ten, it's like ten something, ten thirty. She got some cookies I want to snack. She opens the door and Nana is in her nighty downstairs just projectile vomiting, just on the floor. Not just like not not in a sense like you know, we've all seen that that family member or that friend who get you know, gets sick, and you immediately it's it's in it's our it's our nature to say, you want to go help them, like are they Nana's doing it in a way that is terrifying because she's kind of in that trance and she just you know, just like Linda Blair projectile unhing, you know, for a brief second, and then she walks and then she does it again. So these kids are freaked out. Yeah, and Pop, you know, Pop Pop the next day is like, oh, she has a touch of the flu one of the twenty four hour bugs. Yeah, no big deal. Yeah they're old. Yeah they're old.

35:52 That was that's the excuse for everything. They're old. Yeah, they keep explaining. Yeah, they're explaining it away. They're old, you know. Next to you, Pop Pop keeps the shed locked up, and Tyler, you know, he's gonna go, he's gonna investigate. You know, he's like, maybe there's dead bodies in there. He's being a kid, you know. Yeah, and worse than a dead body, there is a pile I gotta be fifty sixty maybe one hundred adult diapers, used adult diapers that he discovers and freaks out as anybody would. And again, a kid who has a major phobia. Yeah, he's extremely germophobic. It's one of those things like it was like on set when his father left, right, that was like his coping mechanism. But again, Nana explains it away. Hey, Pop, pop has something called incontinents. He can't control himself. And because he's he's of a generation, he's proud and he's a little shamed. He hides it.

36:53 He hides what he does in the shed. Then he burns it later in the field. Yeah, and you're like, okay, yeah, they're old. That's creepy, but it's also it's it's a little sad, right, and we don't think nothing of it. But that's when Nana starts getting really creepy at night, doing the you know, crawling around and scratching at the door and she's missing her clothes sometimes. Talk about night terrors. Man, Oh god, I mean I'm terrified. Deanna Dunn again in this role, is legitimately terrifying. And hats off to her because in the moments where she's lucid, you know, baking cookies and being sweet, I have to be honest, and you know, you know, you might be like, what, but I'm gonna say it. She's she's a very attractive older woman, has a very classic beauty, especially when she's got her hair done and she's in her her nice clothes and looking sweet, you know, but cookie, she's she's she's a classic beauty in that Yeah at night, absolutely terrifying looks like looks like like some kind of creature.

38:02 She looks like the beast. Yeah she I mean, hats off to him for the way he lit the scenes and how he shoots her, because she's terrifying looking. And again it's explained away Pop Pop's like, Nana has this condition. It's it's called sundowning, you know, which is it's a real thing. It's something that you know, sadly older older people. It's a it's like a dementia thing. It you know, you know the little girl looks it up. You know, she's like, well I checked it out. Yeah, you know. It just you know, paranoia, aggravation, agitation, confusion and you're you're not acting like yourself, and it's it's a terrible thing. It's a terrible, terrible, sad thing that that the a lot of a lot of people struggle with, you know. So in this movie, yeah, it's it's the mechan it's used as a as a fearsome mechanism.

38:55 But at the same time, when pop Pop kind of explains it, you again you go back to it's maybe it's a little sad. Yeah, So m Knight does a great. And then they just get creepier and creepier. YEAHM Knight does a great job of bouncing you back. He like, he scares you with their behavior. Then he explains it, he justifies it where you're you almost feel guilty, like, Okay, I shouldn't feel you know, I shouldn't be creeped out. That's yeah, it's sad. Yeah, but didn't we get closer and closer to the you know, it's almost the end of the week and we're getting closer and closer to the big twist and it's all justified. Yeah. So if Jaws made you not want to go in the water and Psycho made you afraid of taking the shower, this movie will make your thirteen year olds never wanting to stay with their grandparents ever again.

39:44 I think any kid that sees this is gonna say, I'm never going to Pop Pop and Nan, Yeah, Mamma and Papa's it's it's that's off the table. Yeah, it's gone. Yeah, you know, I gotta be honest. What Pop Pop does to young Tyler, that that that u that psychological terror that he does at the end. Yeah, let's let's just leave that unsaid that. We've told you what's involved. We told you what the kid has a phobia of use your imagination. You're dead on. Yeah, I think we've I think we've I think we've done an m night version of putting the breadcrumbs out there. They can draw their own conclusions if they don't want to see the movie. But uh, what did you think of one last thing at the end of the film. This is something we never imagined from this kind of movie from him.

40:31 I loved it. I thought it was fun. Yes, it was once again takes us back to remember this is a fun movie. Yeah, it's It's one of those things where you you've gone so long in the film with with either dialogue or silence, and for that to just explode into your ear drums. I love it. Yeah, I think I think. I think it works. I think it's brilliant. Honestly, definitely loved it. Definitely loved it. So we got old coming up this Friday. This Friday, I know where I'm going to be. I'm going to I'm going to see it. He's in pre production of another film. It's a looks like a love story. What do you see? What do you want to see next from Every Night.

41:12 Let me tell you about what's next, because you said, he's it looks like an old a love story. Yeah, but what would you like? Well, hold on, let me let me just talk about let me talk about this soul. Uh So yeah, Old's coming out this Friday, up next written in director, he's directing it. He wrote it called labor Labor of Love. Okay. I did a little digging on this because I saw that title and I thought, huh, that does not sound like an m Night film. So I don't know if you know what do you know what labor love is? Have you heard about it? That this film? No? I didn't know whether he was working on this till very recently. So dig this Labor Love is about a widower who goes on a cross country journey on foot to prove his love for his late wife. Now. It was written in nineteen ninety two, picked up by Fox in ninety three.

42:07 Back then, Harrison Ford was attached to star as the main as the main character, and none other than uh, the director of the Yakuza, Sidney Pollock was attached to direct. Wow, Now, why did it? Why did it fall apart? You're gonna you're this is here's a here's a Shamalan twist for you. The movie falls apart, uh Luke goes out of production because at the same time, Eric Roth's script for Forrest Gumped Gump is out there, and the whole the whole concept of Gump, you know, going on this cross country journey running to prove his love for Jenny. They basically said, way too similar plot points. Sorry, we're not doing labor of love. So it gets shelved, it goes into development hell, and is never heard from again until now. Okay, So again, is there gonna be a Shyamalan twist? I don't know, but or is he gonna do something new and try a romantic movie or a drama you know, who knows, But we're gonna find out that's his next movie. As far as what's what I would like to see him do.

43:21 I think he's one of the better story storytellers that that's out there right now, and I would like to see him do what he's continuing to do. You know, he jumps here and there from genre to genre. Yeah. I want to see an m Night Shyamalan movie that's a Western. Yeah. Yeah, it's just something that doesn't need a twist. Yeah, maybe there's a twist. Maybe there's not a twist. I don't Honestly, I don't care because I don't watch his movies for the twist. I watch him because they're just damn good movies. But I'd like to see what he does with a period piece, a true period piece. Yes, you know, we know the Village was we were, it was set up to make a singler watching a period piece when when we weren't. I would love to see him do a true period piece and see see what he can come up with. I think that'd be kind of cool. What about you?

44:11 What do you? What do you want? I agree with that totally because he does have a a great eye. But like you said, the village, it's it's more contained with the village. So I'd like to see him his eye branch out with something like, yeah, I give him a big app epic. You know, I mean, this guy, this guy needs his uh he needs his oscar. You know, he he didn't get it yet, but uh, he still needs it. I don't understand that. I mean, he's and I'm not talking about just for directing, but he's written some of the coolest stuff any directs, So I think he I think I think he's overdue, honestly. But you know, and I think it is time to kind of make that switch. And like I said, not give what the studios are always asking for. Where where's your suspenseful twist? Well, maybe I don't.

44:57 Have to do that this time, can I I want to pick on you for minute, because we just talked about Oscar Noms and going back to you said you'd want to revisit Split. The first time you watched it, you didn't really care for it. Now I think it's it's criminal that James McAvoy wasn't nominated for any kind of award for his performance in Split, because the guy did like twenty three different roles, yeah, across two movies playing, and he's he's incredible. It's by far my favorite James McAvoy performance. I can't believe you didn't. You didn't care for that, You didn't like that?

45:42 Well, I think it's just at the time, not knowing where it was going to lead with Glass, And like I said, I just watched Glass like two nights ago. Now knowing that that there's literally one film about a hero, one film about a villain, and then the third film is where it all comes together. I'm like, wow, I didn't really see it like that before. But now when you when you see it as a whole, when you really look at it as a whole, it's one. You know, it's one big adventure. And I really look at it that So now I would like to watch it like all the way through, from Unbreakable to Split to Glass, all the way. Through and see I told you, I said, hey, if you're going to watch this, you need when Glass came out.

46:23 So if you're going to watch it, you need to watch Unbreakable and Split. And you're like, ah, I've seen them. I'm ready. I'm like, no, you go back to the world. But and I felt with something like Glass, he even did step into territory that he hadn't really stepped into. You know. There was there's a lot of action in Glass, you know, and more you don't see action sequences except in his last Airbender movie, but modern violence or modern you know fighting, you know, not in a science fiction world with After Earth, you know. So this was kind of a new new thing for him. A lot of kind of street fighting in Glass. I'll say one more thing, about Split. Before we split, there are significant moments, at least for me as a as a lover of cinema, as a filmgoer. In my life, there's been significant moments in movies that have made such a profound impact on me that I remember the other.

47:16 I remember the theater I saw it, I remember where I was, I remember what I was doing. And for me, like I said, Unbreakable one of my favorites of all time, one of my favorite pieces of music by James Newton Howard. And you know, he had given interviews over the years that he had toyed around with the notion of doing a sequel to Unbreakable, and you know, five years or ten years, you give up. After a while it becomes like, well, that would have been nice, but it's too late. So at the end of Split, when when Kevin Crumb makes his escape and that that music that James Newton Howard music started creeping in, I immediately, like like dog gears my I was. I perked up and I thought, I'm sitting in the theater and I thought, oh my god, that's the Unbreakable music. And I thought, Okay, I got real excited. I got real happy. But then I thought, it's not uncommon for composers to go back and revisit some of their other stuff.

48:16 Yeah, Tony Scott did that all the time. Tony Scott did it a lot. But when they're in the diner and they're watching on the news about the beast and that woman has that throwaway line about, oh my god, it's like that crazy guy in the wheelchair from like a decade ago that killed all those people on the train, my heart just kind of stopped for a second, and then it pull. He rolls past her and you see Bruce Willis sitting there with the done security patch on his on his on his shirt. Yeah, and he says, because she's like, what was his name again? And then they they he moves into Bruce Willis and he just says, mister Glass. I freaked out because I immediately I was like, oh my god, I could not to get out of that theater and call several people that I knew were major fans of Unbreakable and to beg them to go see to go see split. You were one of them, Yeah, David Burns, who does the eighty six stuff with us a lot. He was one of the first people I called I said, go see Split tomorrow. Maybe I will. Maybe I'm like, no, go see Split tomorrow. I can't tell you why, but you gotta go see Split. I mean, it was killing me not to be able to talk about it with someone. Yeah, and it was And like everyone I knew that loved Unbreakable just was not in a big herd to see Split.

49:31 And I'm like, please just just go see it. So I think Split is the movie that kind of brought him out of that funk. You know it was it was after this film, and it really you know, you had the happening which they said you didn't like, you had the Lady in the Water, the Last Airbender, after Earth, he wasn't finding his niche Split brought him back, It said, all right, he wouldn't have been able to do Old without the success of Split. Well, I think more to the point, I think, honestly, the visit you know, five million dollar movie ends up grossing ninety eight million dollars. Yeah, and again underrated, maybe not by finances, but again this is one of those situations where it got a lot of good critical reviews. Yeah, but then it got it didn't get a lot and what bothers me going back on it. Even the even a lot of people, a lot of critics that gave him good reviews, they were like those those backhanded compliments because it was like, you know, he's finally back to form, or he's finally doing something that we want. They were kind of in a sense, they were a little cruel, I feel like, you know, and then you've got other people that you know, we were like, ah, this is this movie's terrible, and I'm thinking, what movie did you watch?

50:52 Because the visit is a very creepy, very tense thriller which succeeds in giving you a couple of good laughs when you expect it, but more importantly when you need it. Yeah, all right, Brad, Well, it's about time for us to split. We've had a good time talking about M Night Shyamalan. If you want to reach out to us, check us out the website www dot a film by podcast dot com. Uh. You can get all your streaming information there. It doesn't matter which platform you like. I promise you it's there and all the episodes are there free to stream download at your convenience. And if you want to reach out to us, you've got some suggestions you want to talk about.

51:36 Which director you'd like to hear about, we'll get to them. Yeah, just some fanmail for Brad. You can contact us at a film by podcast at gmail dot com. See you next time.