49 replies to this topic

[Judo chop]

Trying to steer back onto topic , I wonder who the obligatory hold-over cast member will be for this one. For Unbreakable it was Bruce. For The Village, Joaquin. For Lady, Bryce Dallas.

Hmm...Paul Giamatti? Please?

Heck yeah. As long as it doesn't conflict with Paul Giamatti as the new disgruntled Q in Bond 22!!!

[Qwerty]

If there will indeed be someone was previously saw in Lady, I'd probably pick Giamatti as well.

[Athena007]

No more M. Night Shyamalan! I can't stand his movies (well, except for SIGNS). To me they're all so predictable within the first 15 minutes. It drives me bonkers that he's still being giving millions to make his narcissistic films. *rant*

[Safari Suit]

When "The Sixth Sense" came out, everyone was going on about the "amazing twist" at the end. This obviously subconsciously forced me to try and work out the twist, and as such I actually figured it out early on. Did anyone else have a similar experience?

[Judo chop]

When "The Sixth Sense" came out, everyone was going on about the "amazing twist" at the end. This obviously subconsciously forced me to try and work out the twist, and as such I actually figured it out early on. Did anyone else have a similar experience?

Nope. I was blind-sided completely. Glad about it too.

Still, as amazing as the twist was for me, the whole film is about the twist. I have no desire to watch it again for that reason. The box is opened, the mystery spilled, and now it's just a box.

[Athena007]

When "The Sixth Sense" came out, everyone was going on about the "amazing twist" at the end. This obviously subconsciously forced me to try and work out the twist, and as such I actually figured it out early on. Did anyone else have a similar experience?

I know exactly what you mean, Safari. I've been able to figure out the "amazing twist" for every one of his films. "The Sixth Sense" I actually figured it out off the pre-views before the film even came out (how bad is that!). SIGNS I actually really liked and enjoyed though despite knowing what was going on.

[trs007]

Personally, out of the lot of MNS Movies, I liked 6th Sense the best. Signs was OK. The others were not. Lady in Water sucked. I have no sense of excitement over anything new coming out from this man and have reduced the MNS Experience from Theatre to DVD.

[Qwerty]

Looks like Mark Wahlberg will be the leading man this time: http://movies.about....ening040707.htm

[Qwerty]

And we've got some poster artwork:

[The Dove]

When "The Sixth Sense" came out, everyone was going on about the "amazing twist" at the end. This obviously subconsciously forced me to try and work out the twist, and as such I actually figured it out early on. Did anyone else have a similar experience?

Exactly Safari.. I had the same experience with The Sixth Sense (which I've only seen once). I figured out the surprise ending half way through.. Sorry to say I find M. Night Shyamalan's films very overrated..

[Judo chop]

Cool poster.

Not so enthusiastic about the casting of Whaleberg, the second coming of Matt Damon, for whom I struggle to find a reason for a first coming.

And I'm not sure about that tag "We've Seen The Signs". Seems a little unoriginal in light of having already made Signs.

Oh, and premiering on Friday the 13th? I have no problem with Shamy and his films - I enjoy his style on the whole - but isn't this getting a little heavy?

[Arbogast777]

And I'm not sure about that tag "We've Seen The Signs". Seems a little unoriginal in light of having already made Signs.

I think it's just supposed to be a play on Night's earlier movies...

We've sensed it...

We've seen the signs...

[Judo chop]

And I'm not sure about that tag "We've Seen The Signs". Seems a little unoriginal in light of having already made Signs.

I think it's just supposed to be a play on Night's earlier movies...

We've sensed it...

We've seen the signs...

Well, that is in fact exactly what I was getting at, except somehow I didn't even catch his use of sense, as you just pointed out Arbo! These are the kind of arrogant antics that get the anti-shamy folk all frothing at the mouth and mobbing for his head. It'd be to his benefit I think to go a little lighter on the self-indulgence.

[Professor Dent]

The poster is cool. I liked The Sixth Sense & Unbreakable. I didn't think The Lady In The Water was very good. Hopefully, he can redeem himself on this one.

[Qwerty]

Well, that is in fact exactly what I was getting at, except somehow I didn't even catch his use of sense, as you just pointed out Arbo! These are the kind of arrogant antics that get the anti-shamy folk all frothing at the mouth and mobbing for his head. It'd be to his benefit I think to go a little lighter on the self-indulgence.

Yeah, I am kind of surpised at the tagline since I recall him mentioning around the time of Signs that he didn't want the "From the director of The Sixth Sense!!!" plastered all over his new film. Perhaps he didn't have a say in this tagline though.

Never been a huge Wahlberg fan, but we'll see. I'm hoping for another winner (since Lady in the Water was a letdown for me).

[Qwerty]

I headed out tonight for this year's dose of M. Night Shyamalan. Despite being let down a bit with 2006's Lady in the Water, M. Night's films more often than not strike the right chord for me, whether it be suspense (The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village) or his unique take on drama with some hints of menace (Unbreakable).

The Happening generally works, but definitely isn't the film that's going to brings him right back to the golden light that Sense shined. I think one critic review I read described the boxoffice appeal perfectly when he predicted The Happening to fall somewhere between the reasonably successful The Village and the flop that is Lady in the Water.

The trailers and TV spots were definitely shoving the "HIS FIRST R-RATED MOVIE EVER!" line down the viewer's throats and the numerous killings here definitely warrant it. Coupled with some nice slam-the-piano-keys jump moments early on, it all makes for a relatively interesting opening to the film. The problem is that the backbone of what exactly is happening--

[DKelly]

Personally, after seeing it this afternoon and giving it some thought, I've come to the conclusion that, IMO, this film is brilliant and on the same level as The Sixth Sense and Signs in overall quality, with those two films being my all-time favorite Shyamalan films. The storytelling was, in my mind, the closest Shyamalan has ever come to delivering a totally Hitchcockian film, the direction was incredible, and the suspense was unbelievable.

*SPOILERS*

Now, as far as the acting and script goes, I think I have an explanation as to why they may have come off a bit on the clunky side. After I watched Signs the first time, I realized that the aliens weren't the main plot of the film; Mel Gibson's character's regaining of the faith he had lost was, and the aliens were just a subplot that was used to cover it up.

I think The Happening followed a very similar direction. The plants, the toxins, and how and why the situation started is just a subplot to cover the main plot. Personally, I believe the main plot deals with Shyamalan conveying to his audience a basic flaw in human nature; our rather common inability to effectively communicate with each other, and the characters portrayed that beautifully. A big example is even though Elliot and Alma are together for most of the film, they have an extremely difficult time communicating their differences to each other, until the end when they are separated and then brave the obvious danger so they can be together, thus completing their character arcs. Another one off the top of my head is the fact that Alma and Jess tend to stop speaking when frightened. I could probably list more, but unless someone wants more examples, I'm not going to.

*SPOILERS*


So, when you take that into consideration, you can see that the actors did a fantastic job at portraying the characters the way they did.

Edited by DKelly, 16 June 2008 - 05:13 AM.

[The Dove]

So far it looks like The Happening is getting poor reviews from fans and critics.. rottentomatoes.com is giving it a 20% approval rating.. (not that I really care much as I'm not a M. Night Shyamalan fan..) LOL

[Qwerty]

So far it looks like The Happening is getting poor reviews from fans and critics.. rottentomatoes.com is giving it a 20% approval rating.. (not that I really care much as I'm not a M. Night Shyamalan fan..) LOL

I find that overall rating a bit surprising since I expected this to at the least rank above Lady in the Water.

[Matt_13]

Saw it last night and I found it to be appalling. The acting was horrendous and the whole "First R Rated Movie Ever" thing just turned out to be code for "a lot of people die and it can get depressing". The only frightening thing about THE HAPPENING is the premise, which if you toss the idea around in your mind as something separate from the movie (considering it a real possibility), it has the weight to stay with you and haunt you for a few hours. When thinking about the actual movie though, I just laugh.

"YOU JUST CAME HERE TO KILL ME!"
"What? No!"

lmao