Yet another good call! Okay, it didn't start that well -- 7 admissions within an hour, 3 hours of non-stop clerking and passive work, followed by a hurried dinner and a review round with the registrar-on-call. But at least both of us got to rest after midnight, 'cos believe it or not, the cases suddenly stopped coming in. Who knows how much longer this anomaly will last? :)

Next up, a really loooong piece about Signs, which I watched yesterday. Get ready for a tirade, actually, because I'm really PO-ed by the lousy review from a local movie critic in Life! a few days ago.

First of all, I'm a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan. "The Sixth Sense" ranks among my top 5 favourite films -- the others being "Swimming With Sharks", "Dead Poets' Society", "The English Patient" and "Gladiator". I also loved "Unbreakable", which didn't sit well with a lot of people, but retained the distinctive style that is Shyamalan's alone.

So far, he hasn't been quite able to reproduce the phenomenon that "The Sixth Sense" became. But through no fault of his own, Shyamalan had the misfortune of making his mark with such an exceptional film, and now has to live up to that standard, or be branded a fluke. This isn't helped by the marketing ploys used by major studios -- "Signs" is currently being touted as a thriller cum horror movie about crop circles and aliens, when in truth, those aren't its main themes at all.

Spoilers ahead, so proceed at your own risk!

The plot is simple: a priest (Mel Gibson) loses his wife in a terrible car accident, loses his faith, and retreats to an isolated farm with his two young children and his younger brother ( Joaquin Phoenix ). While ensconced in the middle of acres of wheatfields, they suddenly come face to face with crop circles outside their doorstep, and are later terrorized by alien beings ( rather crudely depicted though, in this age of computer-generated effects ).

The abovementioned film critic panned its bad ending, and felt "cheated" thereafter. My take? If you walk into the cinema expecting to be scared out of your wits, or to see a "War of the Worlds" type of thing, then don't even bother, 'cos you will end up hating the movie.

As evidenced by his 2 previous works, Shyamalan is a very special breed of film-maker. Unlike most other directors/writers, he prefers quiet to rowdy, understated to flashy, and excels at delving deep into human nature -- notably that of children -- and exploring our perceptions of life and death. I particularly like his uncanny ability to write insightful and touching dialogue for his various young stars -- Haley Joel Osment ("I see dead people") in "The Sixth Sense", Spencer Treat Clark in "Unbreakable", and Rory Culkin in "Signs". In Shyamalan's world, children aren't spoilt or stupid. They are intelligent, mature beyond their years, and best of all, not predisposed to yelling or throwing tantrums.

Another trademark he retains is that of intimacy. He is truly one of the few in Hollywood -- despite his relatively young age and inexperience -- who can stage a scene with 1 adult and 1 child, make it last 10 minutes, and still keep you completely engrossed. He did it in his previous films, and does it just as well here. My favourite scene takes place in the kitchen during their "last meal" before an alien invasion, which ends in a tearful group hug where even Joaquin Phoenix is forcibly yanked into.

Mel Gibson, who's made a name for himself playing mentally unbalanced ("Lethal Weapon"), angry/revengeful ("The Patriot", "Braveheart") and lustful characters ("What Women Want", "Bird On A Wire"), goes against type and gives a muted yet poignant performance this time round. Phoenix demonstrates an affinity for acting with child stars, while the young ones almost steal the show from the adults with their witty one-liners.

Which brings us to the pet peeve of critics -- what exactly is "Signs" about? I can tell you this: it has little to do with the mystery of crop circles or aliens, and I doubt that Shyamalan ever intended it to be. In my opinion, he just wanted to make a film about a family, and to tell their story. The bigger story is purely secondary, and sadly, he's being criticized for it.

Major spoiler below. Stop now if you haven't seen the movie!

In the climactic finale, the message conveyed is that of how coincidence is actually a sign that someone up there is watching over you. Though not the type of ending one would expect in a story like this, it should strike a cord in anyone who's ever had any profoundly life-changing event in their lives.

I am an atheist, and anyone who knows me will tesify that nothing short of Christ coming to Earth and shaking my hand can make me believe. However, I subscribe to Shyamalan's message, and though contradictory to my atheism, I believe in life after death, and how strokes of good luck are indications of protection from spirits that watch over us. My own experience in this is recent. In May this year, I was involved in a bad car accident on the CTE turnoff to Ang Mo Kio Ave. 1. A young whippersnapper of a probation driver rammed into me at the traffic junction and sent my vehicle spinning. As I was the only car at the front, the force would've naturally propelled me forward into the middle of a very busy intersection. I managed to avert this disaster because moments before the car hit me, for some strange reason, I looked into my rear view mirror ( something I never do at a traffic light ), and spotted the guy charging at me a split second before impact. As a result, I stepped hard on the brake and instinctively swerved to the right, hitting the traffic light instead and coming to a stop at the side of the road.
Nothing unusual? Then I should mention that a few days prior to this incident, I felt a presence sitting at the foot of my bed every night -- not a sinister one, but one I felt I knew. I suspect it was either my late uncle ( who passed away from a stroke last year ), or grandmother ( who died this year ). Interestingly, after the accident, the presence did not return.

My tirade will end shortly :) Bottomline? Obviously, not everybody will like "Signs". Of all his 3 films so far, it may be the least satisfying. But for me, it brought back memories of loved ones, and reinforced my belief of how coincidence really isn't coincidence at all. And for that, I think Shyamalan is one of the best writers/directors Hollywood has ever had the good fortune of acquiring, and will remain so for many years to come.