Post Your Reviews Of L.I.T.W.

I've seen the movie twice now and still feel that I haven't wrapped my brain around everything it has to say. It was interesting how certain elements struck me differently the second time around. (I also knew when to cover my eyes for the scary parts! ) I think the movie is a lot like a good painting, in that people will take away from it what they bring in; interpretations will depend on the individual and his or her own life experience.

For me, the family elements were the heart(-breaking) core of the movie. But, then, that's me. Someone else might be taken by the connectedness of the tenants' lives, or the way that complete strangers can come together and fight off evil. (Anyone seen United 93?) I really appreciated the fact that Shyamalan left the story accessible in that fashion. It was pretty brave, actually, because Hollywood relies so much on formulas. I can't help wondering if he's the kind of guy who would go out on a limb like that with no problem at all, or if he spent a lot of time barfing up lunch and taking antacids by the truckload. (Actually, that's kind of a joke; I've seen his interviews, and he comes across as being pretty self-confident. )

I'm curious to know what other people's favorite scenes were, mostly because mine is kind of off the wall. For some reason, the scene where (oh, crap, forgot the characters' names) Shyamalan's character and his sister are in the hallway talking to Cleveland, and MSN keeps taking the clothes out of the basket and throwing them on the floor struck me as very, very funny. I don't know why. Maybe it's the way the actors played it. They came across as nine-year-olds. I mean, you could see what they must have been like when they were little kids...As I said, I dunno why that scene strikes me as funny. It just does. (Probably has something to do with the fact that I hate doing laundry, and my daughter is forever throwing her laundry ON THE FLOOR!!!! ARGH!!!!)

One other thing: I'm really surprised at how ferocious and nasty some critics have been. Sheesh. What's up with THAT? I don't get it.

p.s. that scrunt thing scared the poop outta me.

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"You smell that? Do you smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory."

-Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore

here is my reveiw of this wonderful movie. please forgive mis-spellings

first of all : OMG this is the best M.knight movie ever

however is was not meant to be a horror , twist movies like his others. Some people in the theater did not get that. But some really did. My mom and i clapped very loudly at the end. I was in tears and so was my mom. This is a beautiful , charming story and very relevant to what is going on in our culture our world today. (and yes there is some creepy parts)

M.Knight is a genius storyteller whether you are liberal or conservative this movie should speak to you. (unless you are a dense brain-dead person , which some are which is scary).
One brat at the end of the movie was telling people not to clap because he thought it was a bad movie with no real scary parts. I said " Look CHILD i think you have completely missed the point of the film."

GO SEE THIS MOVIE , M knights characters in this movie are so lovable and wonderful i cant say it enough. He gives it to mainstream Hollywood idiots , with one character who is a film critic, YAY Knight. Again there is NO SEX OR CRUDE LANGUAGE. Just a real story with incredible writing and wonderful dialouge.

Spread the word and tell people so see this movie , dont listen to the mainstream reveiws , they have no idea what this movie is about and have missed the point alltogether.

Thank you M.Knight for not giving into the crap that hollywood is pushing on people today. Your movies mean alot to me. Thank you for not giving in to mainstream culture.

~Naga

I'm new to this site...not big into M. Night Shyamalan...or any particular director for that matter...but this movie was like watching the New Age Book of Revelation! To borrow from the Monkees..."Now I'm a Believer"!
The messages I got were so synchronistic, so "A-HA!".
I loved that he had Bob Dylan do so much of the soundtrack. "The Times They Are a-Changing" indeed! We all are in for some seriously difficult times ahead...times that will invoke a great fear in the hearts of all...wars, climate changes, terror attacks....all of this propagated by a culture of fear. M. Night as the writer in LITW, has, in fact, sown the seeds for change through this film, just as his character was destined to.
How cleverly he portrays the all important insights that those who are "tuned in" will pick up on! The insights that all of us, especially those who feel they're "no one special", each have a purpose, a part to play, in the transformation of the earth from this culture of fear to a culture of Hope and Love. The only way through this transformation is by finding strength, courage, and inspiration in the interconnectedness of Each Other! We each have a role...be it Guardian, Healer, Guild Member, Symbologist...and we are each of us ESSENTIAL in this undertaking. "Don't lose faith", Night seems to be saying as each of the characters wonder in frustration and fear why things don't seem to be going as they should, despite their best efforts. "Work together, Unite your Hearts....combine your talents, see and acknowledge eachother's strengths and gifts, joys and sorrows... use them as a source of Communal Vitality and Spirit that in itself has the power to Resurrect the Collective 'Story' of our innate goodness, thus leading our Global Village to its Transfiguration and Triumph "on eagle's wings".
This is the 'Story' of our time! For those who are called to it, it can illuminate a path through the darkness of violence and despair. Thank you, Mr. Shyamalan, for having the courage to be a prophetic Voice in the Wilderness of Fear!

I have seen LITW.

I'm going to compare M Night's creative genius to Hayao Miyazaki.

Both are highly unusual and imaginative. Both write stories with meaning and depth. And both create works that are not always understood by the masses.

As a storywriter, I "get" this film. It spoke to me as a writer, someone struggling to create art in written form.

I enjoyed it. What is more, my family, all very tough critics, enjoyed it,too.

I will see it again.

Me, too. I literally tossed, but fortunately caught, my bag of popcorn in fright at one of the scrunt scenes. I think I even screamed out loud, which I've never done in a movie theater, ever. I felt like a real wussie and a discredit to my gender.

Just watched this movie. It was ok, and rated above The Village but no higher than that. Still prefer his other 3 over this one. Even though there were no big names in this film, I thought Cleveland Heep played by Paul Giamatti did an outstanding job playing this studdering lonely sad man. And it wasnt so much the finding out how to solve this puzzle that kept me entertained but the corky characters that flourished the appartment complex. Loved the guy who only worked out one side of his body.


I was irritated by the last scene though.

I think Giamatti's Cleveland Heep may be my new favorite character from a Night movie, barely overtaking Jackson's Mr. Glass from Unbreakable. It was really a great job.

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"See, what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky?" - M. Night Shyamalan

Yes very true though I'd have to add Joaquin Phoenix from 'Signs' in there too.

Giamatti reminded me of a younger Richard Dreyfuss. Again, awesome at the studdering thing. Cant say enough about that.

"somewhere out there..someone..is thinking of me and loving me"

lol..great song...first thing that popped into my head when i read that post.

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Δύο άτομα. Μια μάχη. Κανένας συμβιβασμός.

Amen to Leo21's review. Glad i'm not the only 15-year-old in here. I loved the movie. It was great. That one scene with the scrunt scared me too.

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"'How many more of you are there?'" - M. Night Shyamalan

I have loved all of his movies. This was no exception. They all have such a depth. None rely on Gore, language, nudity, etc. to make it a popular movie. Not that I have a problem with those things...I just really respect the fact that ANYONE can go and see the film.
The casting was impecable and the story was original as ALWAYS. The "twist" that people are always looking for (and some can't figure out) seems to me to be the way the movie is done and the plot itself..the message and the symbols. This movie didn't have a HUGE, blatant twist. It was a wonderfully done fairy tale!! It doesn't have to always be as obvious as it was in the Village and Six Sense. I hated to hear all of the critics complaining about the lack of a twist. It is as if he isn't allowed to make a movie unless it has some crazy, blatant twist at the end....can't the movie just be terrific??? Well....critics aren't exactly known for being trustworthy. They are, after-all, PAID for what they do and who knows what they get for slamming an M. Night movie by Disney! But....good thing for these types of websites.....because you can read for yourself that the public enjoys the film!

Oh no spoilers!!!


JA Cambece
JA Cambece Law Office

I was a little hard on him, and people may have taken it to mean I didn't like the film. I enjoyed it. I just hope he stops casting himself. OK, onto the voting-hehe

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Shyamalan is Brilliant

My husband and I saw this last night - he helped me become a huge Shyamalan fan. We both liked it, but like so many others have said, have yet to fully "get" it - which we love about his films. We like that, days later, something will click and make sense, and make us want to see it again.

I think that too many people go to see his movies, fully expecting to see the new "Sixth Sense", and when they don't get that shocker once again, they're disappointed. Which is sad, because he's such a great storyteller, if only you'll open your mind to hear the story he is telling.

I know what you mean. One particular element suddenly clicked for me last night, while I was doing house work. Funny how that happens. ... Also, the first time I saw the film, I didn't care for the ending. It seemed abrupt. But the second time I saw it, the ending came across as very peaceful.

I saw it for the first time today. I do think the ending was abrupt. Maybe I'll change my mind upon a later viewing then.

Also, was it just me, or was anyone else semi-annoyed by how much the opening cartoon-drawing sequence thing pretty much laid out way too much prep for the story. My feeling was that Night ended up telling (retelling) a lot of the story via the Korean mother/daughter anyway. Even upon this one viewing, that beginning annoyed me as I watched it. I think because it reminded me of Disney's Beauty and the Beast opening or something.

I kept thinking, "Yeah, yeah, I get it...."

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Linda's Author Website
Linda's Amazon Author page

Something about the opening sequence bothered me, too, but I haven't quite put my finger on it yet. I think some sort of intro was needed, but I'm not sure the one he ended up with was the right one.

I also thought there was too much exposition from the Korean mother/daughter. I can sympathize with the need to get a lot of information across in a fixed amount of time, but I think that part of the film needed some fine tuning.

I can see what he was doing, though. I remember reading that George Lucas made Yoda a tiny little green guy so that he could get away with having Yoda do lots of talking. I assume that's why MNS made the Korean mom/daughter so colorful. But I still think they did too much straight exposition. (Critiquing another person's work is sooo easy, isn't it?
)

dang i had a huge review written out and the stupid board ate it!!!! anyways Hello to all and nice to meet you. watched litw last night, first mns film, after that i watched signs and the village and througly enjoyed all of the movies..... so i am here.... here to post my voice.

well that start botherd me a little to, whenever an important part in the film came up those stupid sticks kept flashing through me head. when the eagle came, when story got dragged into the woods. etc. the ending was a bit cut and dry i could have stood to see the eagle take her to heaven or what not and see her people great her. thou the village was like that cut and dry, did the people in the animal reserve leave to the city? did adrian broodey get punnished? did noah get better? there is plenty of room for village 2.

anyway great movie, i really like how everyone united for a common cause, a good cause and accomplised it successfully. The hair on my arms honestly stood up the whole time. (im a guy fyi) i liked that mns bashed on some of the critics. thou i didnt like how he played the inspiring writer whos story changes people thoughts on culture war etc in the future. night dont get to full of your self or you'll start to suck.

well i am a noobie here so feel free to pick over this injured post until the bones show.

i am tired i am going to bed.

"so i am here.... here to post my voice."

Not sure if you can post your voice, but you sure can post your thoughts and ideas.




Though I was able to understand your post through that "gubla" of words you typed, I'll trust that you were just tired when you typed that.

Anyway, most of the questions you asked, brings me to a point I discussed in another thread. Most of the great stories are the ones that let you use your imagination. If the storyteller takes that away from you, then they are not being respectul to the audience.

You notice a good example of using your imagination, in the film Signs. It would be easy for a filmmaker to show alien spaceships landing and many alien lifeforms invading earth. What Night does is much more thoughtful and more powerful than just showing the carnage of the aliens. What Night does, is shows how the aliens presence is affecting the people, before and after they have arrived. By using sounds and suspense he gives us the feeling of the aliens presence and letting us imagine what may be happening around the world. He lets us use our minds to decide what happened and what might happen.

This is by far more interesting than just showing us that "Yeah the aliens blew up a building."


"did the people in the animal reserve leave to the city? did adrian broodey get punnished? did noah get better? there is plenty of room for village 2."



Well, instead of making another film to answer these questions, why not imagine what would happen. At the end they voted to keep running the village. That was a given answer there.

Adrien Brody's character "Noah" was said to be killed by Ivy. That was also a given answer.

Stories are meant to be filled in by your imagination. If not, it wouldn't be able to be told in around two hours. It would take days to tell that story. Most people don't have that kind of time and patience in their lives to watch a 72 hour film.

Our imagination is one of the greatest things we have. If we aren't allowed to use it, then we're being deprived of a precious gift. If a story told us everything that happens, did happen, and will happen, that would be one boring and selfish story.

Sorry about your review. I've had a few of my typed posts "eaten" before I posted them. I suggest you copy your full post before sending, just in case.

It's also better if you type your review when your not so tired.