This is not a hate or bait post. M. Night was, at one point (until Lady in the Water), one of my favorite directors.

I was discussing favorite directors last night and made this startling (but not exactly earth-shattering) realization - with one possible exception*, every movie M. Night has made since Sixth Sense was inferior to the ones before it.

I think most people would agree that Sixth Sense was his best movie, and the one that "made" him.

Unbreakable was a great movie as well; some people didn't dig it but IMO it's arguably his second best.

Signs was entertaining but deeply flawed. Clearly a big step down from his previous two movies.

* The Village is a love it or hate it movie, it seems. Personally, I liked The Village a LOT more than Signs, probably even more than Unbreakable (I need to see The Village again - it's been awhile). However, I know many people who did not dig it at all, so it doesn't necessarily break the pattern (though surely it's considered better than Signs).

I think most people agree that Lady in the Water was a piece of shit, and arguably his worst movie (I haven't seen The Happening). I'm sure it has some fans (though I'm not sure how), but it was honestly one of the worst movies I've seen in recent years. Note that I'm not a hater - until this movie, M. Night was still my dude, and I would have gone to see any movie he made. This was the movie that made me realize some serious flaws.

I haven't seen The Happening (and probably won't). From what I've heard, it's not good. At all. This means his last two movies have been his worst two movies. Not a good look.

So, plotting his movies over time, you end up with a serious negative slope. As I said, with the possible exception of The Village, every movie was worse than the one before it. Yikes.

Any thoughts?

Again, this is not a hate or bait post, I'm just curious what happened to someone who used to be one of my favorite directors and someone I was really checking for.