Fuck M night Shamalan first of all. I fell for it again and sat through another one of his horrible movies. At least I've learned to never see them in the theaters and rented the terribleness that is the Happening instead. Why I didn't download it I do not know, it's my own fault for supporting him and for that I curse myself every day. But anyways I have a problem with this movie for more than just the obvious reasons, my problem was with the nursery owner, this guy, Frank Collison... Between the way he was acting and his appearance I at first thought it might have been the The Hitchhiker from Texas Chainsaw Massacre Ed Neil, this guy.... Then he went on to talk about hot dogs for no good reason and even said and I quote, "You like hot dogs" At this point all doubts were out the window and I thought wow, maybe M night Shamalyn isn't such a douchebag and he put Ed Neil in this movie and they threw in a nod to the classic Head Cheese dialogue. So I watched the credits only to find out of course that the actor was Frank Collison. Now I want to know what the fuck that was all about then?! Was there no reference being made? All coincidence? Am I crazy?! The only barely understandable reason I could possibly see for doing this would be that Frank Collison actually looks more like the Hitchhiker now than Ed Neil does and thought it would be funny. And while I'm at it I thought this girl... was this girl... through the whole movie do to there identicalness in looks and strange awkward shitty acting styles. WTF!!!!!!!!!! Hate.
actually, i've seen some pretty shitty movies she's been a part of, and as much of a fan of her music and films (like winter passing) as i am, i honestly can't say i'd sit through any of them shitty ones again. and i've always hated that shamalan guy more than i've like deschanel. so the odds are i won't watch this film...
Yeah. It's funny how the movies always look like they are gonna be good (and you think maybe the guy will redeem himself)..... but then he shits all over them with his crappy movie making and weak ass plot twists.
I thought she SUCKED so bad in "The Happening" I didn't even realize it was the same person as in Weeds. I loved her in that. The best and worst part of the Happening was that crazy old lady. What was up with her????? Yeah, but the movie was pretty much shit!!
I absolutely LOVED The Happening, but for all of the wrong reasons. The movie was unintentionally hilarious. After the first five minutes I was laughing at the performances, the dialogue, even the camerawork, but then when the big revelation about what's "happening" comes along, it made it even funnier. Seriously, everybody should go see it but don't prepare your mind for a horror film. Instead, pretend you're seeing Scary Movie 5 or something and you will truly enjoy the experience.
I'm ashamed to admit I always like (for non-ironic reasons) M. Night's stuff. I don't care about "figuring it out" or twists, I just sit back and like what I watch. I haven't seen this though, I'm super weary, I hate Marky Mark. I thought "The Mist" was unintentionally good though, speaking of movies we like for the wrong reasons. I laughed the whole time!
M Night Shamalama Ding Dong has the world duped it seems. Ever since he made that flick with Bruce Willis, Hollywood seemingly will hand him a blank check to make a movie. I LOATHE his films. To call them films is an affront to actual films. Pointless jibberish is what they should be called. The fact that he thinks he's so clever and hitchcock-like makes me mad. I walked out of Signs and never looked back. I think a party I attended once showed another flick and it was the same boring dribble. He totally loses the plot of his own writing and his films derail (and not for the better) every single time.
Hasn't "duped" me. Know what it is? I know they're junk movies, like junk food, but still enjoy them. Watching his stuff is like eating a Twinkie. I enjoy it, generally, but I know I'm getting nothing much out of them and they're not that great. I also think a lot of people hate him/his stuff unfairly. No one here from what you're saying, but I've heard arguments against him that are really just "I hate hype, he's hyped, I hate him" which isn't fair. I get how one can be upset, though, when people think he's a genius. He's not. I'm someone who can KNOW something is garbage and still enjoy it though. Just gotta be honest with yourself. Plus no one else, currently, is making stuff like he does. Not to say he's an original in anyway, but no one else is. Overacting, LOVE IT, ridiculous and obvious twists, LOVE IT, crappy sci-fi feel, LOVE IT. It's all so fun. That's just where I stand on it though. It's called a GUILTY pleasure for a reason.
I know that with the last few movies (maybe all of them) that he tries to mimic Hitchcock a lot. Signs was the most blatant especially with camera angles and even some of the delivery of the dialogue. That being said I actually liked Unbreakable but as a whole...his last few films were unwatchable. He really needs to stop thinking he's a horror master, stop putting himself in films and move onto a different genre. I think he suffers from an inflated ego.
Really he needs to sign a contract with the sci fi channel to exclusively make made for TV movies for them that I will never even know exist and will never watch. But seriously, TCM vs the Happening, am I the only person who thought this???
My hate for him comes from the fact that I thought he made two good movies, and then everything since his first two have been absolute garbage. At one point he had the ability to make something worth watching, and that's what's infuriating. Make something good, or don't make anything at all. I'm fine with "junk food" movies - but his don't even qualify as such. If his intention was to make a junk food movie then that'd be one thing, but he has honest intentions of making a good movie. I loved "Shoot 'Em Up" as a junk food movie because that's what it was made to be. I can't enjoy watching someone's work when they take themselves so seriously and churn out garbage - it's like Beck after "Mellow Gold". I highly doubt I'll watch another MNS movie again. I skipped the last two and wished I had also skipped "Signs" and "The Village".
I can understand that, I've felt that way about artists in the past. You KNOW they can do better, but don't (Tim Burton, I'm looking your way.) I liked "Sixth Sense" loved "Unbreakable" and just kind of liked everything else. "Lady in the Water" actually entertained me more than most people I think, I dunno why, it's ridiculous! I think this new one will be the worst though, like I said I generally enjoy his crap, but this seems too much. I hate Marky Mark.
IMHO: Sixth Sense - Never saw it, was accidentally told about the twist and I decided it sounded too much like Jacob's Ladder (which is now probably spoiled for you if you haven't seen it ;p), so I avoided it. Unbreakable - Loved it. Signs - Loved it. The Village - Loved it. Lady In The Water - Thought it was atrocious and cruel to the audience. The Happening - Unintentionally hilarious. I was really hoping that The Happening would turn into a Rocky Horror Picture Show kind of thing, with people showing up at the theater and acting the lines out at the front, etc. It might still happen.
6th sense: cool Unbreakable: bad-ass. this one is my favorite. Lady in the Water: cool cool. Signs: wtf? water? really??? the happening: sucked balls. john leguizamo(sp?) was the best thing about that movie--and the only mutha-effer that could act. once he died, i knew I was in trouble.
I rented this movie hoping it'd be "so bad it's good," and felt that it only half-delivered in that way. It's really just so bad, it's abysmal. Like, 1975 TV Movie of the Week abysmal, except without Karen Black to keep it weirdly fascinating. What I found funniest were the agitated emotive scenes between supposed friends Wahlberg and Leguizamo. They both ham it up like high school actors, with looks on their faces that seem to say "get me the hell out of this horrible movie, I don't need the money this badly!" The amazing thing about this flick is that it's bad on every level. Even the opening titles are bad. At several points I thought the Director of Photography was utterly clueless. Normally, you don't really notice poorly composed shots. They're just there, unspectacular and routine. In "The Happening," several shots are so poorly filmed as to call attention to themselves. Then there's the hilarity of the soundtrack, the incidental music implying "something really big is happening!" when nothing is happening at all. Don't even bother trying to figure things out based on simple logic. If you ask yourself "if all this is caused by an undetectable gas emanating from plants, where does the wind that blows it around, specifically at larger groups of people come from, and how does that work?" you'll just drive yourself to further annoyance. You have to seriously shut your brain down to get through this waste of time. There was a very telling clue that this was going to be a turkey. At the pre-opening press conferences, Mike Shamalama ranted on and on about his proposed next three movies, a fantasy trilogy that sounds overly ambitious and dreary, and which probably won't find funding, now that Shamu is considered a liability. "Pay no attention to that Happening behind the curtain ... The Great and Powerful "Night" wants your venture capital for his next self-indulgent pseudo-mystical atrocity!" Bleh. I'll have to watch "Boogie Nights" or "The Departed" to remind myself that Marky actually is a great actor in the right role, or with a more competent director. Good night, bad Night.
the more this rant goes on, the more i want to see it. it's got all the things i like in a movie: bad acting, poorly put together scenes, shitty photography, random pointlessness and loose ends...
Yeah, the one question you keep asking yourself through the movie is, "HOW did this happen?" I actually saw Lady in the Water after The Happening, and my question morphed into, "How did they let him do anything after THIS?"
No kidding, it's ridiculous, but people still pay to go to or rent his movies, even us who hate them, and you can't argue with dollars. It's all our fault, we have created a monster.
