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*** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread - Page 2

post #31 of 171
6/13/08 at 1:01pm

Re: M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening

Quote:
Originally Posted by Radioman970
... Now, Ebert didn't seem to mention the acting (that looks horrid in the trailer)...but I mainly scanned his review since he usually gives too many details than I'd like to know about.
...
He does tend to inadvertently drop spoilers from time to time.
I read the whole thing and he does say "The performances by Wahlberg and Deschanel bring a quiet dignity to their characters."
So yeah, he did at least address what looks to be strange performances from them.
I can't wait to see this movie. I trust Ebert.
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post #32 of 171
6/13/08 at 1:40pm

Re: M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening

Well I'll be darned! I hope I see it that way as well. He usually steers me in the right direction (War of the Worlds being an exception since he didn't care for it much and I loved it). He's intro'd me to some real winners, like Totoro.

Anyway, I'm kind of excited too. I just got me some cash for the cinema visit tomorrow. Can't beat mattinees for stuff like this. $4.50 isn't a lot to drop on a relaxing cinema experience. This should at least be kind of strange...maybe some laughs at the movie's expense. I predict I walk out scratching my head.
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post #33 of 171
6/13/08 at 1:44pm

Re: M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening

Quote:
Originally Posted by Van594
I'm still going...All I have to do is see what tops the box office charts week to week or for the hundreth time get into a new TV show and see it canceled because of bad ratings to realize that the majority of the world as we know it has no taste or a sense of imagination whatsoever.

These type of movies are ripe for bashing and on top of that directed by a director is who ripe for bashing. It may not be great but it won't be as bad as many say either. I would rather see something off beat like this that may miss the mark than another superhero flick.
Right on, brother!

It's taken me a while to appreciate the filmmaker. I'm only just now catching on. I'll definitely see Lady in the Water someday just to form my own opinion.
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post #34 of 171
6/13/08 at 1:52pm

*** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

This thread is now designated the Official Discussion Thread for "The Happening". Please, post all comments, links to outside reviews, film and box office discussion items to this thread.

All HTF member film reviews of "The Happening" should be posted to the Official Review Thread.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.


Crawdaddy
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post #35 of 171
6/13/08 at 7:36pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

just got back from seeing this mess. WORST MOVIE ever. the crowd boo'd and rightfully so. terrible dialogue and acting by walberg and his wife
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post #36 of 171
6/13/08 at 7:43pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by todd stone
WORST MOVIE ever.

Ever? Wow.. worse than a Uwe Boll film?
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post #37 of 171
6/13/08 at 9:26pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

The film is pretty bad. All the laughs garnered by this film were of the "we're laughing at you" variety. But then again, the last laugh is on the audience who paid to see this crapfest. Night did have a role in this film, he was "Joey", so you only heard him. I'm off the Night train, and unless his next projects get sparkling reviews, I'm done with his films.

Even with the R rating, it just gave Night an excuse to be more graphic in depicting deaths, with no true purpose, except to get cheap laughs from the audience. This is a film that demands audience participation, almost like a Rocky Horror Picture Show experience. My typical refrain of the film would have been "Are you F'in kidding me?" over and over again.
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post #38 of 171
6/13/08 at 11:05pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Im still on "the Night Train" if you will.

I maybe in the minority here but I loved it! I didnt think Whalberg and Zooey gave bad performaces; they were subtle. I had a good time.

(Helluva lot better than Indiana Jones)
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post #39 of 171
6/14/08 at 5:28am

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidPla
Ever? Wow.. worse than a Uwe Boll film?
...and Manos? And this....?



Well, I'm going to see this not knowing what in the hell to expect. I actually think it IS worth the money to make up your own mind about it. But I certainly agree that if this isn't a fun film to watch this director won't get any more of my money unless the next one gets glowing reviews. Although, reguardless, I do plan to catch LitW sometime. But this film will definitely decide if I'm in a hurry about it.
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post #40 of 171
6/14/08 at 10:33am

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

people at the end of the movie said "who the hell directed this? Uwe Boll?!?!"

garbage. O and let's not forget the OBVIOUS and out of place i-phone plug.
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post #41 of 171
6/14/08 at 11:36am

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Not counting the Avatar movie, Shyamalan is going to have a hard time looking for work after this one. At least Uwe Boll has a government funding his movies.
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post #42 of 171
6/14/08 at 1:01pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dome Vongvises
Not counting the Avatar movie, Shyamalan is going to have a hard time looking for work after this one. At least Uwe Boll has a government funding his movies.

Considering it's had a 13 M Friday, Studios at least know he can still OPEN a picture so I doubt this will sink him just yet.
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post #43 of 171
6/14/08 at 1:14pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

The comments about this movie have confirmed, to me, that Shyamalan started at the top and has been going downhill ever since.

I've seen three of his films: Sixth Sense, Signs, and The Village. Each has been worse than the last, with only the Sixth Sense being a film that I thought was good.

I would like to thank Patrick Sun for saving me 10 dollars, as I was thinking of trying one last time to see if Shyamalan had anything good left in him. Judging by the comments, I can surmise the answer is no.
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post #44 of 171
6/14/08 at 1:24pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

The beginning om the movie was brilliant, with the setup and all, but when they started hinting what the cause was I was really uncomfortable.. Come on! That´s so "This Island Earth"! Don´t please. Then the parts at the end with the woman was seriously creepy but.. I dunno. Wahlbergs acting was not up to par. Downright embarrasing from time to time. Especially in the beginning of the movie..

I don´t wanna call this horrible as the beginning was downright brilliant. I just wish Shamalamadingdong would´ve held in the "explanation" until the end.. bacause that kinda let the movie go downhill from the point the explanation was given.
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post #45 of 171
6/14/08 at 1:36pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Niko Nykanen
Wahlbergs acting was not up to par. Downright embarrasing from time to time.
I thought Mark Wahlberg looked like Alec Guiness compared to Zooey Deschannel. She was awful from beginning to end. I said it in the review thread but I enjoy unusual or odd acting choices but with this movie, it's like Shyamalan got his actors to deliver B movie performances but the rest of the movie wasn't a B movie so the actors all stand out as terrible.
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post #46 of 171
6/14/08 at 2:15pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Yikes. Die hard Shyamalan fan but I will be giving this one a pass. Everyone misfires at some point I guess, and the panning of this one is just universal (including by many solid fans) to dismiss.

--
H
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post #47 of 171
6/14/08 at 2:25pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Edwin-S
The comments about this movie have confirmed, to me, that Shyamalan started at the top and has been going downhill ever since.

I've seen three of his films: Sixth Sense, Signs, and The Village. Each has been worse than the last, with only the Sixth Sense being a film that I thought was good.

I would like to thank Patrick Sun for saving me 10 dollars, as I was thinking of trying one last time to see if Shyamalan had anything good left in him. Judging by the comments, I can surmise the answer is no.
I actually think Signs was better than Sixth Sense. It was more thought provoking for me and in a good way.
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post #48 of 171
6/14/08 at 2:25pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Just one question...Were some people NOT affected by the toxin? In the first scene we see the one women on the bench be unaffected while EVERYONE around her is. And at the end the French guy also was unaffected while everyone else was.
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post #49 of 171
6/14/08 at 2:59pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by todd s
Just one question...Were some people NOT affected by the toxin? In the first scene we see the one women on the bench be unaffected while EVERYONE around her is. And at the end the French guy also was unaffected while everyone else was.
Well, I just thought that everyone wasn´t affected at the same exact time..
(saved you there Shama-lama-ding-dong!)
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post #50 of 171
6/14/08 at 3:51pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by todd s
Just one question...Were some people NOT affected by the toxin? In the first scene we see the one women on the bench be unaffected while EVERYONE around her is. And at the end the French guy also was unaffected while everyone else was.
another reason why this movie made no sense
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post #51 of 171
6/14/08 at 4:44pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Holadem
Yikes. Die hard Shyamalan fan but I will be giving this one a pass. Everyone misfires at some point I guess, and the panning of this one is just universal (including by many solid fans) to dismiss.
Yeah. Except for Lady In The Water, I've loved his stuff but like you said, everyone misfires at some point. I'm still looking forward to his next movie because the guy is definitely a talent.
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post #52 of 171
6/14/08 at 6:19pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Crawford
I actually think Signs was better than Sixth Sense. It was more thought provoking for me and in a good way.

Eh?

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post #53 of 171
6/14/08 at 6:57pm

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Zooey Deschanel has the weirdest blue eyes, they are truly spooky.
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post #54 of 171
6/15/08 at 4:07am

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Quote:
I've seen three of his films: Sixth Sense, Signs, and The Village. Each has been worse than the last, with only the Sixth Sense being a film that I thought was good.

I agree, although I did like Unbreakable...Well until the cheesy ending. Signs was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It was the first time I ever went out of my way to post a long negative review about a movie. Shaymalan seems to be in a movie making world of his own. He puts in scenes in which he thinks the audience is going to stand up and cheer but instead they just back fire. I think he would have done better if he directed movies in the 80's.

Quote:
did anyone see the clip Letterman showed last night. it was um, silly out of context of the film.

Studios seem to go out of their way of selecting bad clips for talk shows. If I based my movie watching on the clips I see, I probably wouldn't see anything.
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post #55 of 171
6/15/08 at 7:29am

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Thanks to the reviews I contributed to the box office of this movie without seeing it!
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post #56 of 171
6/15/08 at 8:20am

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Might just be the worst movie I've seen in a very long, long time. Makes something from Michael Bay look like like a Scorcese film.

Dumb...acting was bad. Screenplay was dowright silly. I even thought to myself: 'was this on purpose or did MNS try and make a stupid B film?'.


Where have you gone M. Night Shyamalan?
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post #57 of 171
6/15/08 at 9:29am

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Well, wasn't as bad as all that. I grew up on Tales from the Darkside and stuff like that. Reminded one of one of those episodes. Pretty fun film actually. Yeah, some of the criticisms are true, but the acting wasn't 100% horrible, just a few lines here and there. It's a fantasy film...I'm able to suspend my disbelieve and reframe from nitpicking. Sure makes a lot of films other people dislike okay with with me. One thing I remember reading is that the "gore was placed in the movie for no reason"...meaning random. Which really isn't how I saw it...an event like this would have random moments of gore, it's just the nature of how it gets played out.

With that said, this certainly isn't the filmmaker's best film. I'd say it's the worst, although I have yet to see LitW. Peters out at the end. What the hell was that? Some in the audience at my showing "laughed at" certain bits but they laughed at the intentional humor too. I got the impression they thought it was okay.

@todd s
About some being effected and some not...this concept really isn't that difficult to believe. People are different and some perhaps have a certain amount of immunity. A film like this deals with a lot of unknowns in its story. Everything isn't going to be spelled out. Eventually the other woman on the park bench would be effected.
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post #58 of 171
6/15/08 at 9:32am

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Glover
....
Where have you gone M. Night Shyamalan?
Not picking on you..but I'm reading a lot of stuff like this. REally, he's gone nowhere. He's still making movies that look like movies he has made. It's just the pieces don't add up to something you like. I actually felt it was a good looking film. I'm partial to woodsy scenes anyway.
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post #59 of 171
6/15/08 at 10:09am

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff
Signs was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

..and for me it was one of the best. I love that film.

When it comes to Shyamalan, people really "love" or "hate" his work. There´s rarely "in-between" (="it was okay, but not great by any means", "Solid film and moody, but eventually not very interesting", etc).

edit: Btw. "The Happening" did $30.5M (US) on the first weekend. Since the (estimated) budget is around $57, this is not all that bad.. "The Incredible Hulk" did $54.5M.
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post #60 of 171
6/15/08 at 11:25am

Re: *** Official THE HAPPENING Discussion Thread

Radioman, I respect your point. For me personally, as someone who has loved the majority of MNS films. (especially 6th Sense, Unbreakable, & Signs)...his last offerings just look and feel different. I suppose they are similar in a technical MNS way in some respects...but the quality of the screenplays have really, really gone downhill. And fast. I'm not a hater though. Big fan of his and have re-purchased his films on Blu-ray.

Everyone reacts different but I had higher hopes for The Happening. I think alot of people did and are coming away very disappointed.

Jari, opening weekends aren't a good barometer really...word of mouth will most likely kill this one though.
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