Page 1 of M. Night`s The Happening...

Wow, just... wow!

I like The Sixth Sense, I love Unbreakable, I like Signs. The Village was his first blunder, but I thought it was enjoyable enough for the most part if you ignored the terrible twists and the meaning behind it all. Lady in the Water was something a bit different and it doesn`t really work as a whole but it was entertaining enough. I think Shyamalan is a good filmmaker but he is clearly too self-absorbed with what a Shyamalan film should be rather than just writing something that has its own identity. The Happening is the first of his films that is just downright awful.

The Happening feels like a spoof of a much better film. The acting is awful, the script is terrible and the direction is laughable. Its like he decided that channeling Hitchcock isn`t enough, lets throw in some Tarkovsky shots as well because that`ll be cool. Mark Wahlberg strikes me as an actor that needs good direction and here he just feels wrong, almost as if he has been told this is a comedy or something. I don`t think it will damage his career, but it will damage Shyamalan`s that`s for sure.

I`d say avoid this, but it definitely has a curiosity factor. It really is so tonally off the mark that it has to be seen to be believed. To be fair, it has quite a chilling opening, but after that its downhill and it goes NOWHERE! Its annoying because it is quite a good premise and one that I`ve read up on before (from a spiritual point of view, not scientific). A wasted opportunity and the first dud of the summer.

I`ve heard nothing but bad things about this film, and your review pretty much sums it all up succinctly.

I, too, liked the village, but I guessed the twist on that one the second I heard the plot. Mainly because night loves himself so much he always has a cameo in his movies, and you didn`t get indian guys wholly accepted into pre-victorian middle-american fledgeling socities. Might sound a bit off, that statement, but turned out to be true. Truth be told, didn`t really rate 6th that much, my favourite of his has to be unbreakable

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Curse this infernal alcohol...


Writer`s Release
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This item was edited on Saturday, 14th June 2008, 22:20

I`m really interested in seeing this, purely just to see how bad it is. I like most of Shyalaman`s stuff, and think Unbreakable is a great film (and could have had a fantastic sequel). I even liked Lady in the Water, especially the daring static camerawork.

But he reallys need to start collaborating with other minds, else he`s going to destroy his career. Maybe he should have a go at directing something written by someone else for a change?

There are rumblings that the UK version is cut in a number of places...

Apparently the red band trailer showed gorier versions of some scenes, such as the Lion attack... any truth to that?

I`m kind of curious about this one (although until a few weeks ago I was dying to see it)... there`s something about this kind of car crash cinema makes me want to see it.

This item was edited on Sunday, 15th June 2008, 00:30

Gareth, in case you want to know what it is before you go in to add to the hilarity by knowing all along...

SPOILER:
KILLER TREES




www.soundalikes.com ~*~ glitterkat.stumbleupon.com

If the ended had have made more sense to me I may have liked it better!



Magictracker External Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/Magic_ians/MagiciansSmiley.jpg"> http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/Magic_ians/MagiciansSmiley.jpg Just Watched!

It doesn`t say on the BBFC website or on Melon Farmers to say that the film has been cut in the UK.

From the BBFC website.

THE HAPPENING is a thriller about a couple and a young girl trying to escape a mysterious toxin causing people to commit suicide and murder. The work was passed `15` for frequent images of suicide and moderate bloody injury.

Besides references to terrorism, and a sustained menace from an unseen and uncontrollable threat, the film also features a series of suicides by different methods, including SPOILER:
a policeman shooting himself with sight of blood trickling from a bullet wound in his head, sight of another man lying in a pool of blood having shot himself off-screen, a jump moment where several bodies are seen hanging from trees, a scene where a man slits his wrist at a small distance and another scene where two young teenage boys are shot.

In each case sight of blood and injury is fairly brief. However the treatment of the suicide theme and the frequency and nature of the injury detail went beyond the bounds of a `12A`, but met the BBFC`s `15` Guidelines which allow `strong threat and menace`, and state that `no theme is prohibited, provided that treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds`, `violence may be strong but not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury` and `dangerous techniques (e.g. combat, hanging, suicide, and self-harming) should not dwell on imitable detail`.

The work also contains moderate language including uses of `bitch`

floyd

Quote:
The work was passed `15` for frequent images of suicide and moderate bloody injury.

The work also contains moderate language including uses of `bitch`

Hmmmm...

Quote:
Remember what the MPAA says; Horrific, Deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don`t say any naughty woids! - Sheila Broflovski

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Curse this infernal alcohol...


Writer`s Release
My Collection

i liked the sixth sense, unbreakable was pretty good (only because of the comic obsession for me tho ;) ) signs was average, but the comedy alien was awfull, the village was a waste of time (imo) but i actually like the look of the happening, tho, i liked the look of all his movies, but a good trailer doesn`t allways pan out to a good movie :)

xfg... now I have to see it! :D

Also, this is what I was talking about with the cuts...

IMDB

Just wondering if anybody who`d seen it in the UK could confirm.