#60-E: THE VISIT (2015)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

9.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, once, a while ago (but not when it came out)

BEST SEQUENCE

When Becca gets locked in the bedroom with Nana

BEST LINE

"You have to laugh to keep the deep darkies in a cave"

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

68%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"The Visit provides horror fans with a satisfying blend of thrills and laughs -- and also signals a welcome return to form for writer-director M. Night Shyamalan."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"Two siblings become increasingly frightened by their grandparents' disturbing behavior while visiting them on vacation."

DIRECTOR

M. Night Shyamalan

MAIN CAST

Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, Kathryn Hahn

THOUGHTS

• It's another found footage movie, full of jump scares, and it works for me. I remember liking it the first time I saw it a few years ago, and I liked it just as much this time, maybe even more than I expected to. There's a smart ramping up of tension throughout, and I forgot how intense the ending gets. As in similar movies, the logic behind the found footage style can be distracting, and even the whole concept strains credulity at times, but it really is a darkly fun little movie, and The Visit doesn't take itself too seriously so I won't either
• Having said all that, 9.5 on the thrill scale feels a tad generous, but I do also think it's scarier than Signs, so here it sits. I would maybe bump Signs down by .5 and give The Visit a 9/10 instead, but I'm not going back to change it; a card laid is a card played, I say
• Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie give two of my favourite performances in an M. Night Shyamalan movie, two extremely well established and accomplished actors having an absolute blast and chewing up the scenery. Incidentally, Deanna Dunagan has won a Tony in the past (for August: Osage County)
• Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould are also pretty good, although they do have to grapple with some of that classic M. Night Shyamalan clunky dialogue (the worst line of the movie is delivered by Becca to Tyler - "I'm telling you it's OK. I downloaded the definition of "Sundowning." You wouldn't understand half the words I'm reading, the word "YOLO" isn't in it.")
• And really, that's about all I have to say about The Visit! A fun little thriller that gets pretty dark and doesn't pull its punches. In fact, there were a few more good sequences worth mentioning that made it hard to choose a best one! Hide-and-seek under the house, Nana walking around puking everywhere, the scratching on the walls and Nana finding the hidden camera, even the climactic Yahtzee game, lots of great moments to choose from!

Up next: Into each life some rain must fall. We've gone through some of the Shyamalan movies that are considered the best; it's time for the worst. Winning (or losing) the readers' poll on Facebook for M. Night Shyamalan's worst film, by a fair margin, it's a movie that I have not seen - The Last Airbender, from 2010

#60-D: THE VILLAGE (2004)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

3

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, several times

BEST SEQUENCE

The scariest part is when Ivy runs into a "Those We Don't Speak Of" in the woods, but this is largely thanks to some effective camerawork. The actual tension is almost entirely deflated due to one of the movie's plot twists

BEST LINE

There aren't any. So instead, you get a Worst Line:

"Um, I'll cry quarts."

- To the best of my knowledge, this has not ever been an expression used in any country or any time period. So why would you write that, M. Night?!    

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

44%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"The Village is appropriately creepy, but Shyamalan's signature twist ending disappoints."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"A series of events tests the beliefs of a small isolated countryside village."

DIRECTOR

M. Night Shyamalan

MAIN CAST

Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver

THOUGHTS

• You'll have to take me at my word, I did not go into this viewing predisposed to hate The Village as much as I did. I've seen it several times before, including relatively recently, and I don't remember ever reacting so negatively to this movie's ridiculous contrivances. In fact, The Village even holds a small place in my heart as I believe it's the first horror movie I ever saw in the theatre, which is somewhat of a unique experience, being scared communally
• From here on out spoilers follow, as this was also one of the few times I was able to guess the twist ending during the movie - I surmised that it was actually taking place during present day, and not olden times. But it's telling of M. Night Shyamalan's reputation at that point in his career that I didn't make this conclusion based on any clues on the screen or deductions of logic; I just knew to expect a twist, and that was the only one I could think of
• However, it was also this twist that, on this viewing, drove me up the goddamn wall. So the village elders decided to establish a remote village, cut off from the rest of the world, to escape the violence and evil of modern society. Sure, I'm with you so far. In doing so, they decided to live in a simpler, less advanced way, similar to how people lived in the previous century? I'm fine with that too! Perhaps they saw technology or capitalism as contributing to the evils they were trying to escape from, and this way of living would also be necessary to stay isolated. But why, oh why, did the village elders think it was so important to not only pretend they were living in a different century, but to also (and this was what REALLY stuck in my craw) make the deliberate and conscious decision to change their style of speaking?! There was no one in the movie that needed to be deceived in this way, the elders all knew the truth, and everyone else was born and raised in the village. No, in fact, the only people being deceived were us, the audience. And frankly, M. Night, in a twist movie that's not playing fair. It also meant that Shyamalan, who's not a great writer of dialogue on the best days, was hamstringing himself even further with his abysmal attempts to make everything sound antiquated
• But that's not even the only twist that has a negative impact on the movie as a whole! Whatever scary moments there are to be found in this movie come from the appearances of "Those We Don't Speak Of," the creatures that keep the villagers out of the woods and confined to their community. On rewatch, though, the monsters are much less scary if we know they're just the elders wearing costumes. As mentioned above, there are still some effective shots which make good use of the camera's perspective and what we can see in the background (the early sequence in which "Those We Don't Speak Of" enter the village is also pretty effective), but this is definitely a movie that makes the biggest impact on first watch and doesn't really hold up to subsequent viewings
• Last logistical thing I'll gripe about: William Hurt allows (nay, encourages) his daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard, to venture into the woods to fetch medicine in order to save Joaquin Phoenix. The other elders are not on board because she may learn the truth about the world, or the world may learn the truth about them. You know how you avoid this dilemma, William Hurt? You either go yourself, or you send someone who a) already knows the truth and b) CAN SEE
• Speaking of Bryce, she manages to give the best performance. M. Night's terrible stilted dialogue sounds the least stilted coming out of her. On the other hand, the less said about Adrien Brody (fresh off of his Oscar win), the better
• Looking forward, I feel like I'm still going to have conflicted feelings about this movie. There are glimmers of goodness, memories of enjoyable viewing experiences, still lurking in my mind! But something about this viewing broke all of that apart and I yelled at the TV a few times. I leave you with a quote from my wife, which I think sums it all up pretty well: "It is a good twist, regardless of how stupid it is"

Up next: If The Village was the beginning of his spiral, The Visit can probably be considered the start of his resurgence. It's The Visit, from 2015

#60-C: UNBREAKABLE (2000)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

7.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, but only once and pretty recently; I think I may have seen Split before Unbreakable

BEST SEQUENCE

There's something effectively understated about the weightlifting scene, and also the gun scene

BEST LINE

"You didn't break one bone. You don't have a scratch on you."

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

70%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"With a weaker ending, Unbreakable is not as a good as The Sixth Sense. However, it is a quietly suspenseful film that intrigues and engages, taking the audience through unpredictable twists and turns along the way."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"A man learns something extraordinary about himself after a devastating accident."

DIRECTOR

M. Night Shyamalan

MAIN CAST

Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard

THOUGHTS

• Unbreakable is a better movie than my score of 7.5 might suggest, but it's really not actually all that thrilling. It's methodical and it's patient, and one might even call it slow. It's more interested in exploring the ideas it puts forth rather than using those ideas to justify some whiz-bang action sequences
• In fact, Unbreakable might be of most interest for some people as a very early, somewhat alternative superhero movie (because yes, spoiler alert, Bruce Willis's David Dunn has superpowers). Compared to more mainstream superhero movies, especially what we've been seeing for the last 15 years, the stakes in Unbreakable are much smaller; more intimate, in a way. David Dunn isn't trying to save the world, or even the city of Philadelphia. Once he knows how to use his powers we really just see him save one family. However, this gives his climactic mission an effective realness, a grim relatability that makes us care more about whether or not he succeeds. He's putting himself up against real, authentic evil in humanity, not megalomaniacal grandstanding as seen in so many other superhero movies
• David is also effectively humanized; he's not outwardly or obviously heroic. The first thing we see him do is take off his wedding ring to flirt with a woman, at which he strikes out. His marriage is on the rocks, and he's concerned about a job interview not going well - pretty standard, unexciting issues for a person to have. In fact, as the protagonist of the movie his greatest victory might be the rekindling of his marriage and gaining the admiration of his son
• Again Bruce Willis is quite good in this, giving a very natural performance. This feels like a good time to say, after the announcement of his recent health problems (and likely end to his career), I'm a big fan. We'll be talking about him two more times I believe, and the next time isn't too far away (Pulp Fiction, movie #53), but even just his performances in the Die Hard franchise would firmly place him in the action movie pantheon
• Also to be talked about again soon, Samuel L. Jackson is good in this, but he's mostly used as a plot device and a way for M. Night to explain things. He does manage to give a pretty good performance despite getting some of the clunkier lines in the script
• Lastly, as mentioned above, I have seen Split and I've also seen Glass. Saw them both in the theatre, and not again since. I won't be reviewing either of them, but for what it's worth, Split I liked a lot and I thought James McAvoy was tremendous. Glass, on the other hand, I found disappointing. Feel free to sound off in the comments if you want to make a case for or against either of these movies (and Unbreakable too, of course)

Up next: I think it's safe to say that, for many, this was when M. Night started to wobble, if not jumped the rails outright. But hey, The Village still has its defenders, so we'll be talking about it!

#60-B: SIGNS (2002)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

9

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, a few times

BEST SEQUENCE

It's gotta be the Brazilian birthday party video

BEST LINE

"Merrill, swing away." - it's not really a great line, and that whole ending really doesn't come together for me, but it's the only line that comes to mind

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

75%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"With Signs, Shyamalan proves once again an expert at building suspense and giving audiences the chills."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"A widowed former reverend living with his children and brother on a Pennsylvania farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields, which suggests something more frightening to come."

DIRECTOR

M. Night Shyamalan

MAIN CAST

Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones, M. Night Shyamalan

THOUGHTS

• The first time I saw Signs must have been shortly after it was released (although I can't remember exactly where or when), and I've seen it a few more times since then. Despite this fact, I was going into this viewing not expecting to give it such a high thrill score. However, while I remembered some of the big moments and scares, a lot of them had faded from my memory so they still got me good. The alien's hand reaching under the pantry door, the leg in the cornfield, the hand grabbing Rory Culkin in the cellar, all of these moments made me jump and then some (apparently my weakness is appendages)
• And let's not beat around the bush, let's talk about the ending. Is it stupid that the aliens are vulnerable to water? Yes. Is it even stupider that they would invade Earth, a planet with not just an abundance of water, but where this dangerous substance often falls from the sky? Of course. Is it contrived that Merrill's baseball bat hanging on the wall is such a key plot point when he could have just, say, picked up the glasses of water and thrown them at the alien? Yes, it's all pretty silly (although I feel like the first time I saw it I found the ending effective)
• In my last review I came down hard on some of Shyamalan's twist endings, saying that they diminished the impact of their respective movies, and Signs was definitely on my mind when I said that. But, while the whole water vulnerability thing did make the aliens less intimidating as a long-term threat, in my mind I kind of glossed over their scariness in the short-term. On the one hand the villains may seem less intimidating if they can be taken down with a Super Soaker, but if you don't know this fact and the aliens mean to cause you immediate harm, it's still pretty scary for the characters involved, and that's what led Signs to be more heart-pounding than I remembered
• It's a pretty potent idea for a horror movie, the small-scale alien invasion concept focused on one family in a farmhouse, so it surprised me that I couldn't really think of any other movies quite like this aside from some parts of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (movie #31 on the AFI list). War of the Worlds and parts of Independence Day also, perhaps, but I haven't seen any film version of War of the Worlds so I can't speak from experience
• I thought Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix were pretty good here as (just like Bruce Willis) they managed to make the dialogue sound a little more natural than written. The kids, played by Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin, didn't fare quite so well with their lines, but I think that's more on Shyamalan's writing/directing than the performances. Also worth shouting out that this was Breslin's first movie, and she must have been around 5 years old when it was filmed
• So, Signs, I can admit when I was a little premature with my judgments. I think your ending is pretty dumb, but in hindsight you've still got some good thrills in you that aren't as negatively impacted by the ending as I would have thought. Before we go, is there anyone out there who wants to make a case for the ending's effectiveness being greater than my assessment?

Up next: Unbreakable, from 2000

#60: THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)

 TW: Suicide

THRILL SCALE 1-10

10

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, several times, the first time shortly after it was released on home video in March of 2000

BEST SEQUENCE

For scares it's probably the first appearance of Kyra (Mischa Barton), the little girl ghost, in Cole's (Haley Joel Osment's) tent; the ghost woman in the kitchen is also terrifying, including when she walks by the open bathroom door. And while it's not really scary, that final scene still packs a punch

BEST LINE

"I see dead people" - obviously

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

86%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"M Night Shayamalan's The Sixth Sense is a twisty ghost story with all the style of a classical Hollywood picture, but all the chills of a modern horror flick."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, starts treating a young boy, Cole, who encounters dead people and convinces him to help them. In turn, Cole helps Malcolm reconcile with his estranged wife."

DIRECTOR

M. Night Shyamalan

MAIN CAST

Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Mischa Barton, Olivia Williams, Donnie Wahlberg

THOUGHTS

• This was the first real horror movie I ever saw, and it scared the ever-loving piss out of me. I slept with the lights on for a few nights after seeing it. I would lie on my side in bed, afraid to turn over to the other side just in case there was a little girl just standing there, looking at me and vomiting. And by the way, I was born in 1986, so you do the math and decide how embarrassed I should be by all of the above
• All these years later, and even after having seen it several more times, The Sixth Sense is still a pretty terrifying movie. What really gets me is the suddenness and the unpredictability of when Cole is going to run into ghosts, even if it may be a bit of a horror movie cheat. When Cole can be walking down his own hallway, in the middle of the day, only to see a ghost appear, that's when we know that he's never truly safe
• I forgot how patient this movie is with getting to the supernatural, really scary stuff. We don't hear "I see dead people" until 50 minutes into the movie, and before that point we don't see any dead people either (with one obvious exception). There's some creepy stuff in the first half of the movie, like all the kitchen cupboards suddenly opening (reminiscent of a similar scene in Poltergeist), but the first truly scary scene is when Cole gets shoved into a closet with a ghost, whose voice we hear but who we do not see, which is some nice restraint from Shyamalan that makes the scene all the more terrifying
• After this point it's all ghosts all the time with barely any time to catch one's breath. I also feel like this is a good time to mention, I hope it should be pretty obvious at this point that I wouldn't consider myself squeamish when it comes to movies - a movie can do whatever it needs to in order to scare or shock me. However, it is also worth commending The Sixth Sense for still being one of the scariest movies I've ever seen, and with only a PG-13 rating
• Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment are both excellent in this, if for no other reason than the fact that they can take Shyamalan's dialogue, which can be pretty clunky and expository at times, and make it sound natural. Toni Collette is also excellent as Cole's mother (and Collette and Osment were both nominated for Best Supporting Oscars). And, even Donnie Wahlberg is pretty memorable in the small but important role as Malcolm's former student
• And so, let's talk about the man behind it all, M. Night Shyamalan himself. The Sixth Sense was an absolute sensation, and while it wasn't actually his first movie it still set a precedent for everything that would follow, usually detrimentally so. We'll be talking about some more Shyamalan movies after this one, so I won't get too deep into comparisons, but I will say that The Sixth Sense is my favourite movie of his by a long shot. At this point I'm not totally sure what second place would even be, but whatever it is it's not a close race. And, largely, this boils down to the way the twist hits in The Sixth Sense. Firstly, since this was the movie that put Shyamalan on the map and made his name synonymous with a twist ending, as the first "Shyamalan-esque" movie it had that added element of surprise. But, even more importantly, the twist ending in The Sixth Sense does not diminish any part of the movie that comes before it. It doesn't make anything less scary and it's not overly distracting - at no point is Bruce Willis's Malcolm the source of any of the movie's frightening scenes, so considering the twist ending is entirely related to Malcolm, it doesn't have any impact on how terrifying all the scary stuff is
• And finally, all cards on the table, and spoiler warning (although if ever there was a review that didn't need a spoiler warning, it's this one). Does the twist work? I say yes. In ways this is somewhat of a puzzle movie, something to watch and try to catch the director slipping. And there are definitely nits that could be picked, but at least as far as Malcolm's story goes, I basically have no complaints, largely due to Cole's statement that the ghosts don't know that they're dead and they only see what they want to see - as far as Malcolm goes, a lot can be brushed under the rug with that explanation. However....this does open up some inconsistencies in other parts of the movie. For example, when Cole sees people hanging in his school - how does that fit into the movie's ghost logic? Or, even more so, immediately after "I see dead people" when Cole sees the woman in the kitchen, she shows him her slit wrists. Surely this ghost must know she's dead, no? The same goes for Mischa Barton's Kyra, for that matter, whose unfinished business entirely revolves around the fact that she was poisoned. But, like I said, these are nitpicks and, for me, at least, they don't make the movie any less effective

Up next: As mentioned above, The Sixth Sense was certainly Shyamalan's breakthrough movie, but it was also just the beginning of a decades-long career. So, we'll be spending some more time with Shyamalan, movies selected based on a reader poll. Up next, with a decisive number of votes from the readers, Signs from 2002

READERS' CHOICE #31: ROBOCOP (1987)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

9.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, but only once, and within the last few years

BEST SEQUENCE

RoboCop's first night on the beat; our introduction to ED-209 is also pretty memorable

BEST LINE

"I'd buy that for a dollar"

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

92%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"While over-the-top and gory, Robocop is also a surprisingly smart sci-fi flick that uses ultraviolence to disguise its satire of American culture."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories."

DIRECTOR

Paul Verhoeven

MAIN CAST

Peter Weller, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Nancy Allen, Miguel Ferrer, Daniel O'Herlihy

THOUGHTS

• Man, this is such an entertaining movie
• The violence is indeed extremely graphic, but it's also pretty absurd in both style and amount, letting us know that we shouldn't take it too seriously. Scenes like ED-209 pumping a guy full of lead in a board meeting, or a bad guy driving into a tank of toxic waste, only for his disintegrating body to then explode on a car's windshield after getting run over, in a different movie they might make us recoil in horror or disgust; in RoboCop they're so over-the-top that you can't help but laugh along with the movie. In fact, for level of violence it's not that far removed from something like Ichi the Killer, but RoboCop does more that I like with it
• The ridiculousness of the movie also leads to a lot of affection for the somewhat janky special effects. For example, I love that RoboCop's robotic motions are pretty much shown just through Peter Weller (very capably) popping and locking. I haven't seen the 2014 remake, so I could be wrong, but I would imagine that a more modern movie would lean into CGI or actual robotics in the costuming to make the lead character more believable as a machine. But then you watch this movie, and you realize - who cares if he's not always 100% believable as a robot? It really doesn't matter how convincing it is, because everyone onscreen sells it
• The same could be said about ED-209, very charmingly depicted through stop motion or just by pushing a model down some stairs (one of the funniest parts of the movie). But when people scream and flee from an attacking ED-209, we believe it completely
• As an example of a legitimately impressive and convincing special effect, I'll mention when RoboCop takes off his helmet and we see Peter Weller's face on a robotic head. Although, to balance things out, it's only fair to then mention the least convincing special effect of the movie, the hilariously elongated limbs on the Dick Jones model when he gets shot out of a window (but it's also completely unforgettable and I wouldn't change it for the world)
  
  
• The special effects team was led by Rob Bottin, whose fantastic work we've talked about before (The Thing) and we will again (Se7en)
• Clarence Boddicker and Dick Jones are unbeatable bad guy names, backed up by delightfully villainous performances by Kurtwood Smith and Ronny Cox
• It was really hard to choose a favourite line for this one, as the script is eminently quotable. Also in the running: "Can you fly, Bobby?"; "Your move, creep"; Dead or alive, you're coming with me"; and, of course, "I used to call the Old Man funny names - Iron Butt. Boner. Once, I even called him...asshole."
• Finally, so many components work together so well in this movie, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the man who brought them all together, Paul Verhoeven. It will be his only appearance in these reviews (unless I decide to add another one on a whim), but what a great showing it is. I especially loved all his little directorial flourishes, things like the newscasts and commercials and bad TV shows that interrupt the action onscreen (the commercial for Nukem is probably my favourite), or the POV shots, like RoboCop booting up after Murphy is brought back to life. I haven't seen all of Verhoeven's movies, but I've liked everything I've seen; even Showgirls, which as a movie is completely abysmal, but as a viewing experience is sublime. Am I right to think that RoboCop is Verhoeven's best movie? Or would anyone like to make a case for another contender in his filmography?

Up next: And with that, we've finished another block of Readers' Choice movies, so it's back into the AFI list with The Sixth Sense! And after that we'll be spending a bit more time with M. Night Shyamalan. He may not have the most consistent body of work, but you can't call him a quitter. So we'll be watching a few more Shyamalan movies as well, to be decided by readers' votes

READERS' CHOICE #32: GONE GIRL (2014)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

6

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, once, in the theatre

BEST SEQUENCE

The midway point of the movie when we learn what happened on the day of Amy's disappearance

BEST LINE

"When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. I picture cracking her lovely skull, unspooling her brains, trying to get answers. The primal questions of any marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? What have we done to each other?"

- First line of the movie, voiceover by Nick (Ben Affleck)

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

88%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Dark, intelligent, and stylish to a fault, Gone Girl plays to director David Fincher's sick strengths while bringing the best out of stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent."

DIRECTOR

David Fincher

MAIN CAST

Rosamund Pike, Ben Affleck, Carrie Coon, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Kim Dickens

THOUGHTS

• As has happened a few times before, 6 might seem like a low score but even if Gone Girl isn't as thrilling as some of the other movies we've talked about, it's still an undeniably excellent, entertaining movie and I liked the experience of watching it quite a lot more than the 6 might imply
• As has also happened before, a lot of the thrill value comes from the way the movie's plot twists and turns and it's entirely possible I'd be giving this a higher score if I hadn't seen it already, just based on shock value. Which is also a good time to give a spoiler warning for what follows, and if you haven't seen Gone Girl, stop reading and watch it
• David Fincher is certainly well-represented on the Readers' Choice list - we've already talked about The Game, and eventually we'll talk about Se7en, and I believe this gives him the most movies on the Readers' Choice list (but there are a number of directors with two films each)
• On the other hand I do believe this is the first and only appearance of Ben Affleck (also of Rosamund Pike, but Affleck has been in more movies which might be included on a "thrilling movie" list). Affleck and Pike are both really excellent in this, showing just enough to the audience so that we know there's more going on than they're letting on, but they're also still cagey enough that we're treated to some genuine, shocking surprises
• As mentioned above, my pick for the best sequence is when we learn what actually happened on the day that Amy disappeared, and we see exactly how much planning and plotting went into the events of that day, all perfectly explained by Pike's voiceover
• Just as intriguing is when Amy's plan starts to unravel and we see her need to pivot and think on her feet, but still with the same cunning, calculated methodology. I also liked this section of the movie for the parallel stories, almost a cat-and-mouse between Nick and Amy
• And this part of the movie culminates in the actual most thrilling scene, at least for me - the death of Neil Patrick Harris's Desi. Shocking and brutal, but also pretty satisfying because he was a terrible person in his own way
• Along with Harris, the rest of the supporting cast is also great. I especially liked Carrie Coon in her film debut as Nick's sister, and Kim Dickens as the lead investigator on the case
• Finally, a bit of a tangent. I first saw Gone Girl in the theatre in 2014 and it shall forever remain in my memory as the absolute worst I've ever had to pee during a movie, and I hope it never has a contender. I was feeling it for probably the last 3/4 of the movie, starting with mild discomfort and turning into outright agony towards the end. AND YET, I just couldn't allow myself to leave the theatre and potentially miss something huge so I just gritted my teeth and sat there, bladder close to bursting. Ever since then I've made it a habit to use the washroom before the movie starts, which anyone could tell you is a good idea anyway, but I do give Gone Girl bonus points for grabbing my attention to such an extent that I don't think I'll ever forget it (although on this rewatch I did make use of the pause button with 20 minutes left to go)

Up next: The last Readers' Choice movie of this group, and it's a big one. Robocop, from 1987