M. Night Shyamalan likes his films 'that have maintained that quirky nature' more than 'Sixth Sense'

The Sixth Sense was nominated for six Oscars after rocking box offices in late 1999, but M. Night Shyamalan doesn't automatically hold the thriller in higher regard than the rest of his filmography.

"The ones I have most affinity for are the ones that have maintained that quirky nature," Shyamalan, who was nominated for best director and best writing (screenplay written directly for the screen) at the 72nd Academy Awards for Sixth Sense, told GQ. "Unbreakable, and Lady in the Water, and The Visit, and [Old]...the ones that are poky."

"What about Sixth Sense?" writer Mallika Rao continued. "We agree that there's a decorum, a dignity to that movie, that makes it almost too neat—a 'suit and tie quality,' he offered. Whereas a film like Lady In The Water— roundly mocked by critics yet mysteriously appealing, with its enormous Vedic bird, and the prickliness of Paul Giammati’s presence—does convey the weirdness, the poky appeal of Shyamalan himself."

Old debuted in theaters last Friday (July 23). Adapted by Shyamalan from graphic novel Sandcastle, the plot follows "a family on a tropical holiday that discovers that the secluded beach where they are relaxing for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly reducing their entire lives into a single day" (h/t IMDb). Shyamalan also directed.