MOVIE: Old (2021)

OldYear: 2021Rating: PG-13Length: 108 minutes / 1.80 hours Say what you will about M. Night Shyamalan's films, but I think he's truly returned to form since 2016's Split. And while Glass (2019)—the conclusion of the Unbreakable trilogy—was a little unsatisfactory, his latest film, Old (2021), is another win in my book. I appreciate when filmmakers fully explore an idea in their movies, and Old is precisely that. Shyamalan imagines all the different permutations of the concept of rapid aging and fits them into a scenario and his trademark plot twist that works incredibly well. Part of the fun of Old is how the characters slowly discover that they are trapped on a beach where time moves much more rapidly than they are used to. The problem-solving and conflicts that arise from this unsuspecting group of victims are fun to watch as they realize that their lifespans are a ticking clock that limits how long they can stay there. I appreciate that most...
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MOVIE: Glass (2019)

Glass Year: 2019 Rating: PG-13 Length: 129 minutes / 2.15 hours Much like Incredibles 2 (2018) felt like a movie that came out far too late, Glass (2019) caps a trilogy of films that technically started with Unbreakable (2000). Both the original Incredibles (2004) and Unbreakable were genre-defining movies for the practically non-existent superhero films that are all but ubiquitous today. The fact that they took more than a decade to capitalize on this phenomenon is part of the reason why both sequels feel somewhat dated. Sure, they recapture a bit of the charm of the originals, but that’s not enough to overcome what superhero films have evolved into since then. If anything, Glass owes a debt of gratitude to its predecessor, Split (2016). If it weren’t for James McAvoy’s expert transitions between a dozen different personalities, I wouldn’t have been particularly interested in this final chapter of the trilogy. While Split was a return to form for Shyamalan, Glass seems like a bit of a regression. Perhaps this is due to the heavy burden placed upon Glass to combine two tonally different movies...
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MOVIE: Split (2016)

Split Year: 2016 Rating: PG-13 Length: 117 minutes / 1.95 hours For many years, M. Night Shyamalan’s directing career has been in continual decline. Many people, myself included, felt his groundbreaking work with The Sixth Sense (1999) was the peak of what he had to offer. Sure, Unbreakable (2000) and Signs (2002) were good movies that had their moments, but from that point onward, the films he made just got worse and worse. Although I have not seen it, 2015’s The Visit seemed to be a return to form for Shyamalan, indicating that his directing was no longer washed up. In Split (2017), we see that Shyamalan has been able to recapture the magic that made his previous films so memorable. The first thing I noticed in Split was the cinematography. The camera lets the audience see just enough to let them know that something is amiss, often preparing the viewer for an occasional jump scare. Secondly, James McAvoy’s performance was impeccable. Taking on the...
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