The Happening Discussion

octa writes, Can we get a discussion of this movie on the front page? I’m sure I’m not the only bureau-crat that wants to rant.

17 replies on “The Happening Discussion”

  1. Why?
    Is anyone here actually going to go see it? "Lady in the Water" was an interesting story destroyed by a child with a temper tantrum, nothing of "The Happening" has made me interested in paying money to see it.

    Damien

  2. The Crappening
    Some spoilers. Be warned.

    I hated Signs but liked the Village. I liked Sixth Sense but hated Lady in the Water. Unbreakable is in my top 10 movies of all time. What I’m trying to say is I like the Shyamalan twist. I look forward to it in his movies and am greatly dissapointed if he doesn’t deliver. So maybe I shouldn’t be surprised about how much I hated The Happening.

    I didn’t think anything could top the lame "chase scene" in A Day After Tomorrow "The cold is coming! run!" The Happening tops it with, get this, a chase scene involving the wind! Wahlberg’s performance was excruciating. The crappy dialogue takes some of the blame but overall he was uninspiring to say the least. Zooey Deschanel was horribly miscast, she should stick to romantic comedies. Leguizamo was the saving grace in the cast, it’s just too bad his character doesn’t last very long.

    I could of made a sandwich with the swiss cheese plot. It’s actually a pretty cool premise, his reasons for the cause of the happening were just plain stupid though. And the over-the-top gore was not enough to hide a sense that the movie didn’t have a good explanation for anything. Throw in a random scene with a crazy old lady and you pretty much lose all focus in this steaming pile.

    Truly an epic failure in my eyes. It’s hard to make a stationary tree look menacing in plain daylight but I’ll be damned if he didn’t try.

    • Re: The Crappening
      I haven’t seen the happening yet as I feel like I’ve been burned by the last few movies he’s made. Sixth Sense was good, mostly because I wasn’t expecting a twist. Unbreakable was misunderstood, but I liked it almost as much as 6th.

      Signs was probably the one I wish was better. It started out great, lots of suspense, great premise. Then it fell apart with MNS putting himself in as a key role when he shouldn’t have. That and the whole wife telling them what to do didn’t fit in at all. MNS could have kept the main focus of Mad Max regaining his faith and thus all ends well without having his wife tell him the answer years before.

      The Village was a HUGE let down. All the previews were great. I really wanted to see it. Then in the first 30-40 minutes, he let the twist, and thus the plot, out and ruined the whole thing. I never wanted to see it again.

      Lady in the water was too something. Campy? Light? Yeah it was a children’s story, but it didn’t satisfy. It was empty, good premise, but poorly executed.

      I think that is the problem with some of these director/writers/producers, they don’t execute on a good idea. The biggest reason is that they are given complete creative control, but never seem to look to outside help to balance their creative vision. Lucas, MNS, and even at time Speilburg have been guilty of doing this very thing. Get someone who knows dialog to help out. Get Joss Whedon to fill it in more often.

      Enough ranting.

      • Re: The Crappening

        I haven’t seen the happening yet as I feel like I’ve been burned by the last few movies he’s made. Sixth Sense was good, mostly because I wasn’t expecting a twist. Unbreakable was misunderstood, but I liked it almost as much as 6th.

        Signs was probably the one I wish was better. It started out great, lots of suspense, great premise. Then it fell apart with MNS putting himself in as a key role when he shouldn’t have. That and the whole wife telling them what to do didn’t fit in at all. MNS could have kept the main focus of Mad Max regaining his faith and thus all ends well without having his wife tell him the answer years before.

        The Village was a HUGE let down. All the previews were great. I really wanted to see it. Then in the first 30-40 minutes, he let the twist, and thus the plot, out and ruined the whole thing. I never wanted to see it again.

        Lady in the water was too something. Campy? Light? Yeah it was a children’s story, but it didn’t satisfy. It was empty, good premise, but poorly executed.

        I think that is the problem with some of these director/writers/producers, they don’t execute on a good idea. The biggest reason is that they are given complete creative control, but never seem to look to outside help to balance their creative vision. Lucas, MNS, and even at time Speilburg have been guilty of doing this very thing. Get someone who knows dialog to help out. Get Joss Whedon to fill it in more often.

        Enough ranting.

        I think I’m the only person who liked The Village. How do you figure the twist was let out so early in the movie?

        • Re: The Crappening
          I liked The Village a lot, I don’t remember the twist being given away that early. Didn’t it happen at the same time the girl was jumping the fence?

          I was floored when it was revealed. Loved it.

        • Re: The Crappening

          I think I’m the only person who liked The Village. How do you figure the twist was let out so early in the movie?

          What *really* pissed me off was that the only "factual" reference for the setting is the date on the tombstone, which reads 1897. Sure, the costumes and village give that impression, but there’s nothing to prevent people from living like that today. So, the "Ha ha, I fooled you" predictable ending is only the result of a lie told at the beginning.

          • Re: The Crappening

            I think I’m the only person who liked The Village. How do you figure the twist was let out so early in the movie?

            What *really* pissed me off was that the only "factual" reference for the setting is the date on the tombstone, which reads 1897. Sure, the costumes and village give that impression, but there’s nothing to prevent people from living like that today. So, the "Ha ha, I fooled you" predictable ending is only the result of a lie told at the beginning.

            As some reviewers noted, some version of The Village gets written at virtually every writer’s workshop in North America, or used to. I hadn’t suspected the twist in The Sixth Sense, but I honestly (if tentatively) guessed the twist of The Village based on the advertising.

            The real point is, is the movie worth seeing in its own right, separate of the twist? In the case of Sense— yes. I found The Village dull and obvious.

            I won’t be seeing The Happening until it comes out on DVD.

    • Re: The Crappening

      I could of made a sandwich

      Could’ve = "could have". Not "could of".
      (steps off soapbox)

      That being surprised, I thought going into the weekend that Happening was going to rock and Hulk suck. Who knew?

    • Re: The Crappening
      Yea, the Happening was garbage — from the laughable premise, to the contrived dialogue, to the flat characters, to the painful delivery. It was so bad, in fact, that I felt morally obligated to produce a parody. I give you, THE CRAPPENNG: THE HAPPENING PARODY:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx16epbyj9g

  3. Tripe
    M. Night did a couple of good movies, but it’s like watching Woody Allen, wallowing in his own self-importance now. Either he’s entirely lost his touch, or he’s at the bottom of his slump.

    The Happening is touted as his first ‘R’ rated movie, when it should have been marketed as his second ‘B’ movie. It’s obvious and preachy, and while I’d often blame the actors for poor performance, this time I have to blame the writer/director.

    I’ve pretty much told my friends to not bother, I’ve seen better quality movies from the Sci-Fi channel, or Roger Corman, or hell, Ed Wood. I’m not sure I would see it again, even if it was broadcast for free. I want my money back.

  4. ZZZzzzzzzzzz…….
    Markie Mark as a science teacher….umm….kind of over the top with the ‘teacher’ personality and dialogue. He could’ve been the church lady from SNL.
    Zooey was out of place here…close up shots of her gorgeous eyes simply do not make a great performance.
    The ending was extremely disappointing. It seems that the film is simply not quite polished. I expect more from MNS.

  5. M. Niteynite Schlockymon
    This guy is the Hollywood equivalent of a manufactured boy-band. Even the presentation of his name is contrived.

    • Re: M. Niteynite Schlockymon

      This guy is the Hollywood equivalent of a manufactured boy-band. Even the presentation of his name is contrived.

      Well, pretty much of Hollywood is that way, but MNS especially so. Nice analogy.

  6. the happening just so happens to be good
    I actually adored the happening. I have never been affected by a movie like I did this one, and I have seen A LOT of movies. I think its pretty obvious MNS was making a huge and purposefully graphic political statement. I think the fact that not only did this plant reactive virus kill people, but had them kill themselves was genius. Now, that seems pretty symbolic. What we are doing to the planet is suicide. Period. I know the casting was a bit off at time, there were unnecessary scenes, but the message was right on. I think everyone should see the happening, and with a wide open mind.

    • Re: the happening just so happens to be good

      I think the fact that not only did this plant reactive virus kill people, but had them kill themselves was genius. Now, that seems pretty symbolic. What we are doing to the planet is suicide.

      I don’t know if you meant "planet" instead of "plant". I haven’t seen (and won’t see) the movie. But, if you’re so interested, you should look up the Gaia hypothesis.

    • Re: the happening just so happens to be good

      I actually adored the happening. I have never been affected by a movie like I did this one, and I have seen A LOT of movies. I think its pretty obvious MNS was making a huge and purposefully graphic political statement. I think the fact that not only did this plant reactive virus kill people, but had them kill themselves was genius. Now, that seems pretty symbolic. What we are doing to the planet is suicide. Period. I know the casting was a bit off at time, there were unnecessary scenes, but the message was right on. I think everyone should see the happening, and with a wide open mind.

      I agree with you, everyone should see The Happening. No, wait. That’s not it… OH yea, NO ONE should see The Happening. Ever.

      Congrats, you are in an elite club. One of two people in the world that liked that garbage, the other is the M. Night Shamalamadingdong.

      • Re: the happening just so happens to be good
        I just wanted to say that having seen this movie I do see some good points about the movie, does make one think about the facts of how we are effecting the world and ultimately our very existence on this planet, however as for the story it self, while eerie at times, the overall impression of this film is its disappointing to say the least. The clever twists of his other movies, I don’t feel is present in this one.

        Perhaps MNS needs to step down off his pedestal and look for outside imput into is works…as previously said…great idea..poor follow through.

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