"The Happening"

[achiro]

Ok so the previews for this movie freak me the hell out! Anyone know what the happening is? I'm sure there is a book out there somewhere that one of you geeks have read. ;)

[mdklatt]

M. ****e Shamalamadingdong!

[yermom]

i don't know much about it, and i've already seen to much :D

i dig all of his stuff so far

[badger]

"From the director of The Sixth Sense and Signs..."

...and the Lady in the Water, The Village and other commercial failures that we won't mention here because they were so incredibly abysmal...

[soonermix]

Ok so the previews for this movie freak me the hell out! Anyone know what the happening is? I'm sure there is a book out there somewhere that one of you geeks have read. ;)

the happening is that they announce a new star wars movie
Star Wars Episode 7: Jar Jar Binks takes a Dump

[12]

Marky Mark is still alive.

[yermom]

i liked Lady in the Water. i had to watch that and Clerks II the same day, i couldn't choose :D

i really don't care if they are commercially successful. Fight Club flopped too... i didn't realize that until the other day

[soonerinabilene]

i really don't care if they are commercially successful. Fight Club flopped too... i didn't realize that until the other day

I think the reason why fight club flopped at the theatre is because you have to watch it twice to really get what it is. The first time I saw I thought the last 1/4 of the movie was stupid, but then my friend convinced me to watch it again right after it ended the first time. Doing that made it an instant classic to me two hours after I thought it was pretty dumb.

[yermom]

i saw it at least twice in the theater, and was dragging new friends to see it

everyone i know just about loved that movie, i had no idea it was a flop commercially. i'd imagine the DVD sales are a lot better than the theatrical numbers

[NormanPride]

In before "What a twist!"

[soonerbrat]

In before "What a twist!"

http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/movies/b/brokeback_mountain/jake/180x180.jpg

[badger]

In before "What a twist!"

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TPoMjineGS0&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TPoMjineGS0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[12]

xhcepEBI03M

[crawfish]

"a weapon with a twist!"

3HLx5u9kaWw

[achiro]

So I guess what you are saying is that you don't know anything either?:(

[mdklatt]

So I guess what you are saying is that you don't know anything either?:(

In the end, it turns out that the dead aliens are just village elders in suits.

[soonerinabilene]

In the end, it turns out that the dead aliens are just village elders in suits, with really bad osteoperosis, except one dude that cant be killed because he is unbreakable and dead at the same time

fixed for better accuracy.;)

[NormanPride]

It's a disease created by the Russians which gets out of control.

[crawfish]

"I see crappy movies"

[12]

It's a disease created by the Russians which gets out of control.

...and then turtles DO IT.

[LosAngelesSooner]

Okay...here's the scuttlebutt out here.

This is the movie that MAY...MAY...FINALLY end M. Knight's career. (so many of us are just PRAYING that it happens soon)

The screening feedback is so GAWD AWFUL that the studio is preparing to take a huge bath on this one. Also, Marky Mark is getting reviews that say that this is his WORST ACTING PERFORMANCE in his career. Yes. INCLUDING Planet of the Apes.

The studios were so worried about how bad that it is, that they changed their entire marketing approach to emphasize two things: 1) that it's M. Knight's FIRST RATED 'R' MOVIE and 2) that it comes out on *gasp* Friday the 13th!!!

It is gonna suck mega-donkey-bawls.

Remember...this is the guy who brought you such celluoid stink-gems as The Village, Signs, Unbreakable and Lady in the Stupid Freakin' Water of Bad Self-Indulgent Movie Makers. (full title)

This is something I found online. I don't agree with this guy on everything, but it might give you guys a little info.

http://www.collider.com/entertainment/reviews/article.asp?aid=7903&tcid=1
SPOILER ALERT BELOW!!

Steve here. Frosty. Whatever you want to call me. Someone I know managed to see M. Night Shyamalan's new movie “The Happening” and has sent in a review. And as a fan of M. Night’s, it pains me to report he didn’t like the movie.

I really wanted “The Happening” to be a return to form as I love "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable". While many of you didn’t like “The Village,” and a lot of people were unhappy with “Signs,” I actually like both of them. Granted, “The Village” isn’t a perfect film, but I like it. Sue me.

However, like all of you, I hated “Lady in the Water.” It’s not just bad…it’s terrible. It’s the only film in his catalogue I can’t stand and I think it’s a huge mess of a film. That being said, I figured he’d learned his lesson and was sharpening his knives for an assault this summer on audiences with his new movie “The Happening.” But after reading what was sent in, I’m scared he’s come off the rails and M. Night needs a serious intervention.

Also, just so you don’t think this is the only person who feels this way, I made a call and someone else told me pretty much the same thing that’s written below. The film doesn’t work. And as a fan of M. Night that only wishes him success, it really sucks to report this news.

With the release a month away, perhaps things are going to change…but if they don’t….this could be another mistake for someone I consider to be a very talented filmmaker.

http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Happening_The/the_happening_movie_poster_m._night_shyamalan.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:newWindow%28%27/uploads/imageGallery/Happening_The/the_happening_movie_poster_m._night_shyamalan_l.jp g%27,%271760%27,%272606%27%29)
Hey Steve, since I haven't seen reviews anywhere yet, thought you might be interested in my thoughts on M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening".

A little background: I'm one of the many that were blown away by "The Sixth Sense" back in 1999. Shyamalan's work on-screen was stylish and beautiful and was a grand return to elegant horror after the wave of cynical "Scream" imitators. I can remember sitting in a theater - before the word got out - and being hit by the twist in exactly the right way. What's more, the film isn't just its twist and repeated viewings have only made me admire "The Sixth Sense" all the more.

Two years later, "Unbreakable" hit and I thought it was a near-perfect follow-up. It was similarly toned without being redundant and carried a twist that validated rather than explained. If you go into "Sixth Sense" knowing there's a twist, you may very well figure it out. In "Unbreakable", the twist makes sense but there's very little foreshadowing of it or other "of course!" moments in repeat viewings.

"Signs" was ultimately my first experience with Shyamalan let-down, though I'll admit that he had set his own bar pretty high. I think there are moments of genius to "Signs" but, while I've grown to like it more and more, the ending is so illogical and downright silly that it ruins the movie. For the first time, the "twist" (and I hesitate to call it that; it's not, really) felt forced. Couple that with the first case of Shyamalan casting himself in a role that he shouldn't and I left the theater thinking that he made his first sub-par film but not really losing any respect for him as an artist.

And then "The Village" came along and had so much incredible promise that the letdown was almost tangible. Performances (from proven actors) fell apart on-screen and the twist was so tacked-on for twists' sake that the director literally had to sit down in front of the camera and explain it to the audience. At a time when Shyamalan was already starting to be mocked for his one-trick-ponyism, he offered up the silliest parody of himself he could. Why couldn't he just have made a movie about monsters in the woods? Who wouldn't have preferred that?
http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Happening_The/mark_wahlberg__zooey_deschanel_the_happening_movie _image.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:newWindow%28%27/uploads/imageGallery/Happening_The/mark_wahlberg__zooey_deschanel_the_happening_movie _image_l.jpg%27,%272420%27,%271619%27%29)
"Lady in the Water", though, felt like Shyamalan had hit rock bottom. He publicly decried Disney for not wanting his script and proceeded to make what very well be the most ego-centric film ever made. I've since become fascinated with the sheer audacity of "Lady" but that's a far, far cry from calling it a good film.

A year or so ago, the script for "The Happening" (then titled "The Green Effect") came across my desk and, while it inspired a mixed reaction, I really thought it was step up from both "The Village" and "Lady in the Water" and more in-tone with "Signs". A straight-forward disaster epic on a human scale, "The Happening" seemed to be, from the script, exactly what Shyamalan needed to win back an audience and redeem himself. And on the positive side, I thought he couldn't get much worse.

I was wrong.

"The Happening" is a terrible, terrible movie. I mean, it's bad on an epic scale. It's so bad that I can't possibly tell you how bad it is without understating the point or making it sound like I'm picking on the film. But let me stress: this is not pent-up Shyamalan aggression or a desire to see him fail. This is bad in a jaw-dropping "they can't really be serious, can they?" kind of way. The closest comparison I can draw is to Neil LaBute's "Wicker Man" and, like that film, the only consolation I can offer potential theater-goers is that you might want to see it just to be in on the ground floor when the film gets its *** handed back to it.
http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Happening_The/mark_wahlberg__zooey_deschanel_the_happening_movie _image__1_.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:newWindow%28%27/uploads/imageGallery/Happening_The/mark_wahlberg__zooey_deschanel_the_happening_movie _image__1_l.jpg%27,%272420%27,%271614%27%29)
I can also throw out that I'm not certain if the version I saw was the final version. It certainly felt rough but compared pretty dead-on with what I remembered from the script. The score, certainly, was missing and while that can really work wonders in the final form, I can't imagine it coming close to saving "The Happening".

The story is relatively simple and I don't want to venture too far into spoiler territory. Picture "The Birds" without any birds, and that should give you a good idea of what Shyamalan seems to be going for. Suddenly and for seemingly no reason a neuro-toxin is released in the Northeastern United States that causes people to murder themselves in terrible ways. The effect sweeps through different towns and everyone races to escape, unsure of what's really going on. The lead, Mark Wahlberg, is a schoolteacher who is on the outs with wife Zooey Deschanel. They flee together with a few other strangers and try to figure out what has caused the deadly outbreak.

The most obvious fault in "The Happening" is the acting -- in particular Wahlberg's performance. I'm saying this with no hyperbole, but Wahlberg might very well give the worst performance I've ever seen in anything. He's that bad. His character is a passive aggressive high-school teacher and each line in delivered with nasally whines that sound like some strange parody. As bad as the rest of the movie is, Wahlberg is the part that the internet is going to eat alive. But is it really his fault? Wahlberg's proven himself with "I (Heart) Huckabees" and his amazing turn in "The Departed". I can't help but feel that Shyamalan -- intentionally or otherwise -- is ultimately to blame for forcing some truly awful line readings.
http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Happening_The/zooey_deschanel_the_happening_movie_image.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:newWindow%28%27/uploads/imageGallery/Happening_The/zooey_deschanel_the_happening_movie_image_l.jpg%27 ,%272420%27,%271619%27%29)
The rest of the cast is passable but nothing special. Zooey Deschanel is extremely cute but never really does anything that matters. She's very similar to a lot of female Shyamalan characters: the recent-love-that-didn't-work-out. John Leguizamo probably does the best job of maneuvering around clunky, awkward dialogue as another schoolteacher and friend to Wahlberg but he's also barely in the film and only really serves the purpose of, fairly early on, having Wahlberg and Deschanel watch after his little girl for the duration of the film.

I bring the acting up first only because it's the most damning aspect of "The Happening", but the pacing is issue number two. The film moves at a ridiculous speed and bits that seemed, on the page, like they'd be perfect for Shyamalan's slow, long-running shots are rushed through and made laughable. The opening -- which consists of a couple different scenes of people hurting themselves -- almost flashes by and instead of being genuinely disturbing, they're overly melodramatic and come off as fake. There's something scary about someone not realizing they're hurting themselves -- as we do see at one point through a cell-phone video of a man walking casually into a lion cage and being torn apart -- and something just plain stupid about forced shock like we get in a long, choreographed steadicam of people one by one shooting themselves, dropping the gun and letting the next person pick it up.

But this all just flashes by. There's a problem and we cut to a school where the students take unrealistically in stride that the world is pretty much ending. The characters are so far removed from reality that, when news of the disaster hits, it makes you wonder if Shyamalan ever stepped outside his house on 9/11. There's no panic or disorder and everyone freely accepts their information from the high school itself and goes home. No one's getting texts or making phone calls or demanding that someone explain what's happening.
http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Happening_The/zooey_deschanel_the_happening_movie_image__1_.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:newWindow%28%27/uploads/imageGallery/Happening_The/zooey_deschanel_the_happening_movie_image__1_l.jpg %27,%271619%27,%272420%27%29)
Wahlberg and Deschanel take in Leguizamo's little girl while he goes off to look for his wife. There's all kinds of Spielberg "War of the Worlds" on the road bits, but they're segmented and awkward. They're on a train for a bit. They're in a diner for a bit. They meet a soldier for a bit. They come to a farmhouse with a trigger-happy farmer. Nothing really sticks out as interesting or meaningful and all the while Wahlberg makes up crazy, crazy theories about how the neurotoxin works without any real evidence or logic. And, of course, he's right.

Here's the bit that I'm honestly not sure if it's a spoiler or not so consider yourself warned: (highlight to read)

It's plants that are responsible. They've decided to wipe out humanity and release the neuro-toxin as their natural weapon. This was far, far more clear in the script (and even the title "The Green Effect") and I'm really of the opinion that it's a pretty neat idea, though. What Shyamalan quickly finds, though, is that it's very, very hard to menacingly cut to an evil-looking tree. That doesn't stop him from trying, though, and he inexplicably adds wind as a way of livening up the scenes. When the leaves of a tree start to blow, evil's afoot. It's really, really hard not to laugh at and there's even a real groaner of a gag-scene wherein Wahlberg timidly apologizes to a houseplant only to find that it's made of rubber. Really.

After moving way, way too fast over the interesting parts, there's an incredibly long and slow period where Mark, Zooey and little girl run afoul of a friendly old lady who instantly and for no particular reason explains that her house is of a bizarre architectural design (built for hiding slaves). She just sort of tells them this right off the bat and, believe it or not, it soon comes into play as a plot device.

If you're dreading the Shyamalan trademark twist-ending, you can breathe a sigh of relief. There's no twist whatsoever. But there's also no ending. I won't ruin it any further by talking about what's not there, but prepare to feel very, very cheated and figure out in advance what consultation you can offer when the person next you confusedly asks, "Is that it?"

Seeing a Shyamalan has become this horrifically abusive relationship where I desperately cling to the belief that if I keep loving him, he'll stop hitting me. I'm already telling myself that "The Last Airbender" will be fascinating because its an adaptation rather than an original creation. That'll help, right? Because "The Happening" just makes me want to cry.

[12]

Well, since your an industry guy, I trust your fellow Sooner advice.

Do you think a ****ed-off horny turtle could have saved it?

I really can't think of a movie that wouldn't save.

[LosAngelesSooner]

Well, since your an industry guy, I trust your fellow Sooner advice.

Do you think a ****ed-off horny turtle could have saved it?
Yes. As long as it made an appearance in every scene.


I really can't think of a movie that wouldn't save.
Stallone's Get Carter.

Even the turtle couldn't have saved it.

UnLESS...it was humping Stallone.

[crawfish]

Remember...this is the guy who brought you such celluoid stink-gems as The Village, Signs, Unbreakable and Lady in the Stupid Freakin' Water of Bad Self-Indulgent Movie Makers. (full title)


I think Unbreakable was an exceptional movie. The others...meh.

[soonerbrat]

I liked The Sixth Sense - it was a surprise ending...the rest you know there's gonna be something hokey at the end

[Frozen Sooner]

Yeah, I liked Unbreakable as well. Sixth Sense was good. The rest of his oeuvre is awful.

[LosAngelesSooner]

I think Unbreakable was an exceptional movie. The others...meh.Exceptionally S L O W !

Look, I own Unbreakable on DVD. I enjoyed parts of Unbreakable. But the pacing was so slow that they could have cut the story down to ONE HOUR using editing alone and it would have been a far superior movie.

Anytime I want to go to bed, all I have to do is put that in the DVD player. SNOOZE MACHINE...

[NormanPride]

He's not doing The Last Airbender. **** no. That's not FAIR. Aang deserves better! [/nerd rage]

[soonerboomer93]

i liked unbreakable, but i do agree it was slow, Sixth sense was pretty good

lady in the water made for nice sleepy time on one of my transpacific flights

[crawfish]

Exceptionally S L O W !

Look, I own Unbreakable on DVD. I enjoyed parts of Unbreakable. But the pacing was so slow that they could have cut the story down to ONE HOUR using editing alone and it would have been a far superior movie.

Anytime I want to go to bed, all I have to do is put that in the DVD player. SNOOZE MACHINE...

Fortunately, we all know you have exceptionally bad taste. ;)

[LosAngelesSooner]

Oh, without QUESTION!

;)

[soonerhubs]

I skipped the spoiler, but it disappoints me that M Knight is failing again. I really enjoyed Signs, and I thought he did ok on those previous, but, as of late, I'm looking elsewhere for my smart psychological thrillers.

[TheUnnamedSooner]

I kinda liked Signs

[colleyvillesooner]

Me too

[LosAngelesSooner]

A supremely advanced race of locust like aliens travel across the infinite measures of space to a distant galaxy so they can feed upon the resources of one small planet which is approximately 75% water on the surface...and this alien race's ONLY weakness? The thing that kills them ON CONTACT?

WATER.

In "The Biz" we refer to this as "a plothole."

In the audience we refer to this as RE-TAHDEDLY STUPID.

[LosAngelesSooner]

A couple MORE problems with the movie Signs.

1) A "preacher who has lost his faith" after the director/writer/producer of the film cut her body in half with a car suddenly FINDS his faith in God when...ALIEN LIFEFORMS FROM ANOTHER PLANET INVADE EARTH.

2) Aliens who are able to travel through interstellar space who could use some type of electronic beacon or global mapping system beacons, rely on carving patterns into grass instead.

3) The star-traveling aliens have no advanced weaponry such as neutron bombs or viruses, and must instead rely on hand-to-hand combat to subdue earthlings.

4) A super intelligent alien race, in existence longer than humanity, that's so advanced that they fly in spaceships across the galaxy to re-visit Earth, which they visited more than two thousand years ago. At that time of their first visit, the alien race discovered that there is a substance which is toxic if it comes into contact with your skin and that more than 70% of the planet's surface is made up of that substance. The supremely intelligent race has now had 2000 years to prepare and develop some sort of protection against this substance in the event that they should ever need to return to the planet and now they are doing just that. So what do you do? Do you stay inside your impressive ships to shield yourself from this overwhelming exposure? Nope. You decide to mosey around outside. Do they put on a pair of shoes or some intergalactic equivilent of footwear first? Nope. They barefoot it. Do they throw on a jacket, at least? Nope. They walk around butt naked.

5) These aliens also thought that once the time came to throw us into their human food shopping cart we would all just stand around outside waiting to be harvested like a bunch of little carrots or something. Because once again these morons neglected to bring anything with them to help them grab a few humans in the event we decided to pull some clever trick like.....LOCKING THE DOOR. That's right...doorknob lock Pwn3d.

6) "Swing away Merrill. Merrill... swing away."

[Vaevictis]

Not to be difficult, but is there a reason we think the aliens in Signs are super-intelligent?

Keep in mind that just because a species has interstellar travel at its disposal, that doesn't mean it's super-advanced -- read Footfall for a classic example of how this can happen.

[mdklatt]

Keep in mind that just because a species has interstellar travel at its disposal, that doesn't mean it's super-advanced

Like how rednecks are good at NASCAR?

:D

[birddog]

A couple MORE problems with the movie Signs.

1) A "preacher who has lost his faith" after the director/writer/producer of the film cut her body in half with a car suddenly FINDS his faith in God when...ALIEN LIFEFORMS FROM ANOTHER PLANET INVADE EARTH.

2) Aliens who are able to travel through interstellar space who could use some type of electronic beacon or global mapping system beacons, rely on carving patterns into grass instead.

3) The star-traveling aliens have no advanced weaponry such as neutron bombs or viruses, and must instead rely on hand-to-hand combat to subdue earthlings.

4) A super intelligent alien race, in existence longer than humanity, that's so advanced that they fly in spaceships across the galaxy to re-visit Earth, which they visited more than two thousand years ago. At that time of their first visit, the alien race discovered that there is a substance which is toxic if it comes into contact with your skin and that more than 70% of the planet's surface is made up of that substance. The supremely intelligent race has now had 2000 years to prepare and develop some sort of protection against this substance in the event that they should ever need to return to the planet and now they are doing just that. So what do you do? Do you stay inside your impressive ships to shield yourself from this overwhelming exposure? Nope. You decide to mosey around outside. Do they put on a pair of shoes or some intergalactic equivilent of footwear first? Nope. They barefoot it. Do they throw on a jacket, at least? Nope. They walk around butt naked.

5) These aliens also thought that once the time came to throw us into their human food shopping cart we would all just stand around outside waiting to be harvested like a bunch of little carrots or something. Because once again these morons neglected to bring anything with them to help them grab a few humans in the event we decided to pull some clever trick like.....LOCKING THE DOOR. That's right...doorknob lock Pwn3d.

6) "Swing away Merrill. Merrill... swing away."

you and comic book guy need to team up.:D

[Frozen Sooner]

A supremely advanced race of locust like aliens travel across the infinite measures of space to a distant galaxy so they can feed upon the resources of one small planet which is approximately 75% water on the surface...and this alien race's ONLY weakness? The thing that kills them ON CONTACT?

WATER.

In "The Biz" we refer to this as "a plothole."

In the audience we refer to this as RE-TAHDEDLY STUPID.

Not to mention they wanted to eat something which is more than 90% water.

[OU-HSV]

I'm a fan of his movies, and I'm looking forward to seeing this flick as well.
However, Lady in the Water sucked major azz IMO

[badger]

$30,517,109

That's how much it raked in last weekend.

21 percent

That's how rotten it at rottentomatoes.com (and wow, are those tomatoes rotting with salmonella right about now, lolz).

$60 million

That's it's budget. It probably doesn't include the marketing budget.

$30 million

That's how much it needs to rake in during its shelf life to break even, not including other costs including the theatres cut of ticket sales.

Past M. Nighty Nite movies include...
Lady in the Water: $42,285,169 total, $18,044,396 opening.
The Village: $114,197,520 total, $50,746,142 opening.
Signs: $227,966,634 total, $60,117,080 opening.
Unbreakable: $95,011,339 total, $30,330,771 opening
The Sixth Sense: $293,506,292 total, $26,681,262 opening

He had a $70 mil budget for Lady, $60 for Village, $60 for Signs, $75 for Unbreakable and $40 for Sixth Sense.

Based on these numbers, I don't think this is the end for M. Night. Llamayawn. He's had about the same budgets for all his flicks and he had a pretty solid third place opening against a kiddie flick (Kung Fu Panda) and a superhero flick (Hulk smash). And his movie's an R rated flick.

He's had far better and bigger openings, but so long as he continues to break even and better, he's still going to get green lighted in Hollywood. Thoughts?

Btw, I didn't go see it and don't plan to. However, it's good to see that not everyone in Hollywood is relying on old ideas and remakes. We need more creativity out there :)

[Harry Beanbag]

Saw it today, it was good.

[yermom]

i liked it, but thought it was a bit preachy

[yermom]

and i think i'd like anything with Zooey Deschanel in it

Marky Mark too

[Harry Beanbag]

Yeah, Marky Mark has become one my favorite actors these days. Not that he's Tom Hanks or Robert Deniro or anything, he's just good, believable, and comfortable in every role.

[mdklatt]

and i think i'd like anything with Zooey Deschanel in it




Mmmmm.... :hot:

[OUbones]

Planned to see it yesterday...... Everyone I've talked to that's seen it says don't waste your time or money. So as we're buying tickets, one of the few movies that no one in my family has seen, my brother ask the agent if it was any good. She pauses then says it was horrible and pointless. She goes on to say that since we've asked her she refuses to sell us tickets to it. I start laughing, then we asked her about The Strangers, she says that only marginally better. Mom ends up choosing Narnia II, since it was her birthday. I was actually in the area in Slovenia when they were filming the movie, beautiful country. I figure I'll end up seeing The Happening someday. The real questions are, is it possible for M Night Shyamalan to make another movie as good as The Sixth Sense? and Are people really expecting to much out of his movies?

[Harry Beanbag]

It's not as good as The Sixth Sense, but I thought it was good. I think it was a little better than The Village, haven't seen any of the others ones though.

[Sooner_Havok]

It's not as good as The Sixth Sense, but I thought it was good. I think it was a little better than The Village, haven't seen any of the others ones though.

Was it better than Kung Fu Panda, cause that movie was well worth my $7

[Harry Beanbag]

Was it better than Kung Fu Panda, cause that movie was well worth my $7


No idea. The boy is still too young for me to have to spend box office fees for those kind of movies. :)

[Harry Beanbag]

The trailer for Traitor looked interesting.

[Sooner_Havok]

No idea. The boy is still too young for me to have to spend box office fees for those kind of movies. :)

There were more people w/o kids in the theater than there were with em. I found that odd, but it was a decent flick.


The trailer for Traitor looked interesting.

You want to see an awesome trailer, check out Quarantine :gary:

[OU-HSV]

Planned to see it yesterday...... Everyone I've talked to that's seen it says don't waste your time or money. So as we're buying tickets, one of the few movies that no one in my family has seen, my brother ask the agent if it was any good. She pauses then says it was horrible and pointless. She goes on to say that since we've asked her she refuses to sell us tickets to it. I start laughing, then we asked her about The Strangers, she says that only marginally better. Mom ends up choosing Narnia II, since it was her birthday. I was actually in the area in Slovenia when they were filming the movie, beautiful country. I figure I'll end up seeing The Happening someday. The real questions are, is it possible for M Night Shyamalan to make another movie as good as The Sixth Sense? and Are people really expecting to much out of his movies?

Interesting.
My wife went and saw "Strangers" and liked it. She and the gal she went with thought it was probably the scariest movie they'd ever seen.
Said it was "believable/realistic" scary.

[OUbones]

Yeah, I've talked to some people and they said The Strangers was pretty good. I actually want to see both just so I can judge for myself. I bet I'll sort of think both will be ok, especially since I sort of liked The Mist.

[yermom]

it's based on a true story, right?

[proud gonzo]

might see this movie tomorrow night. dunno.

[OU-HSV]

Yeah, I've talked to some people and they said The Strangers was pretty good. I actually want to see both just so I can judge for myself. I bet I'll sort of think both will be ok, especially since I sort of liked The Mist.
I'd like to see both as well.
Is the Mist that newer movie where the people get stuck in a grocery store??
If so, that movie sucked IMO..we should be talking about it on the other thread "Awful movies".

[LosAngelesSooner]

I walked out of Strangers.

Totally pointless, unrealistic movie. Gah...

Kung Fu Panda, on the other hand, was pretty derned good.

[def_lazer_fc]

i saw it at least twice in the theater, and was dragging new friends to see it

everyone i know just about loved that movie, i had no idea it was a flop commercially. i'd imagine the DVD sales are a lot better than the theatrical numbers

i remember watching a pirated copy of that in the commons area of my old dorm at ou. ahh, memories.

[def_lazer_fc]

I walked out of Strangers.

Totally pointless, unrealistic movie. Gah...



i could have told you that from the previews. ;)

side note: just going off this thread and the worst movie thread, a lot of people see a lot of dumb ****ing movies. and then complain when they keep being made. theres a reason why Saw turned into a franchise. theres a reason why meet the spartans earned a profit. people go see dumb ****, plain and simple. i mean, i recall someone complaining about how awful some movie starring stone cold steve austin was in the worst movie thread. what did you expect? and why did you even waste your time/money?

[TexasLidig8r]

Ratings of M. Night Shamalamadingdong films...

1. The Sixth Sense

2. Signs

3. The Happening

Major suckitude for the remaining three.

[soonerhubs]

Dear M. Knight,
It is now time to hang it up. It's official that you are presently incapable of producing an original thought. Ripping off ideas from War of the Worlds and an Inconvenient Truth in the same story line? Are you kidding me? I've developed clearer, more compelling story lines, in my dreams. Your creativity took a sabbatical since Signs, and you've lost a fan who toughed it out through three hack movies to give you the benefit of the doubt. Enough kicking against the pricks. LASOONER, I shall never doubt you again.

[Blue]

And LAS, tell them punks out in Hollywood to start making some good flicks. The best picture nominees the last 5-10 years have been crap.

Are they rnning out of ideas? Do big budget crappy movies get the nod over low budget good scripts due to marketability? What's going on?

[OU-HSV]

I walked out of Strangers.

Totally pointless, unrealistic movie. Gah...

Kung Fu Panda, on the other hand, was pretty derned good.

Guess I'll have to smack the wife for misleading us all w/her "It's realistic/believable scary" statement after she saw it. :D

So would Kung Fu Panda keep a 3+ year old kid still for the whole movie?

[Harry Beanbag]

So Kung Fu Panda is realistic?

[OU-HSV]

So Kung Fu Panda is realistic?

Ha, that was my next question.

[StoopTroup]

I don't have time to read this whole thread....

Que pasa? :D

[DBrown]

To finish it off......"The Happening" is also a title of a hit song
by The Supremes.

[yermom]

it keeps making me think of The Simpsons and "The Bloodening"

[LosAngelesSooner]

Guess I'll have to smack the wife for misleading us all w/her "It's realistic/believable scary" statement after she saw it.
Dude...it was just my opinion. Nothing against your wife at all. Maybe she loved it. Maybe you will too. Don't take my personal opinion regarding a movie personally or as some kind of attack. Remember, this is the business I'm in, so I'm a bit more critical.


So would Kung Fu Panda keep a 3+ year old kid still for the whole movie?Totally. It's a very fun, well made, flick.

[OU-HSV]

Dude...it was just my opinion. Nothing against your wife at all. Maybe she loved it. Maybe you will too. Don't take my personal opinion regarding a movie personally or as some kind of attack. Remember, this is the business I'm in, so I'm a bit more critical.

Totally. It's a very fun, well made, flick.

Whoa, haha. My earlier post was kidding around anyways, I didn't take anything personal, so don't worry about that at all. And for the record I wouldn't smack my wife anyways. :D

Edit: I just looked back at my earlier post, I initially forgot to put that smilie in there to let ya know I was joking around. My bad.

[LosAngelesSooner]

It's totally cool then. Just didn't want you to think I was being a d!ck.

[RacerX]

My 6+ year old loved Kung Fu Panda. My 3+ year old doesn't sit through movies yet.

The trailer for Clone Wars looked good.

[OU-HSV]

My 6+ year old loved Kung Fu Panda. My 3+ year old doesn't sit through movies yet.

The trailer for Clone Wars looked good.

We haven't really tried the movie theater w/my son yet. But we'll probably take him to the Kung Fu Panda soon and see if he can stay still.

[OU-HSV]

It's totally cool then. Just didn't want you to think I was being a d!ck.

not at all

[TopDawg]

Okay...here's the scuttlebutt out here.

This is the movie that MAY...MAY...FINALLY end M. Knight's career. (so many of us are just PRAYING that it happens soon)

The screening feedback is so GAWD AWFUL that the studio is preparing to take a huge bath on this one. Also, Marky Mark is getting reviews that say that this is his WORST ACTING PERFORMANCE in his career. Yes. INCLUDING Planet of the Apes.

The studios were so worried about how bad that it is, that they changed their entire marketing approach to emphasize two things: 1) that it's M. Knight's FIRST RATED 'R' MOVIE and 2) that it comes out on *gasp* Friday the 13th!!!

It is gonna suck mega-donkey-bawls.

Remember...this is the guy who brought you such celluoid stink-gems as The Village, Signs, Unbreakable and Lady in the Stupid Freakin' Water of Bad Self-Indulgent Movie Makers. (full title)


I found this post hilarious. I agree with the critique of Marky Mark. I'm not normally someone who looks for or even notices really good or really bad acting. However...Marky's performance was terrible. Absolutely terrible. (Funny enough, I did catch just a few minutes of his performance on Planet of the Apes yesterday. It was on TV. I didn't even know they had remade it.)

My ranking of MNS movies is:

Sixth Sense
Unbreakable
Signs and Lady
Happening
Village

I like Happening more than Village because I thought the story was interesting. Kinda hard to believe and not executed very well...but interesting. The Village is at the bottom of my list because it seemed very slow to me and I figured out the "surprise" ending...and I actively try NOT to figure out surprise endings. I think The Village suffers mostly from falling SO short of my expectations for it.

[yermom]

see, i liked The Village. probably 2nd to Sixth Sense

this one has made money though, apparently, so you guys will have to suffer through seeing more movies you hate ;)

[TopDawg]

I wouldn't go so far as to say I didn't like it...it's just at the bottom of the list. If I was flipping through the channels and it came on TV, I'd probably watch it. It's also got the most room for movement. If I watched Unbreakable again, there's a decent chance it could drop on the list. If I watched The Village again, there's a good chance it could move up.

[dolemitesooner]

I enjoyed it.

The ending was preachy like yermom said, but it is kinda true.

We are not doing much to help our envirmoment.

other than that multiple times I was on the edge of my seat. He is very Alfred hitcockesqe in my opinon.

[NormanPride]

I haven't enjoyed any of his movies. Terrible, wooden acting, completely unrealistic writing, forced conflict between characters that has no reason to be there (I'm mad at you! Why? Because I am!).

The "twists" are gimmicky and stupid. The only remotely good one was the Sixth Sense, but even then it was just an "Oh... huh." not an "OMGWTFBBQ!!1". I still think I read the plot for the Village somewhere as a short story, which would make him an idiot AND a plagiarist.

[dolemitesooner]

I haven't enjoyed any of his movies. Terrible, wooden acting, completely unrealistic writing, forced conflict between characters that has no reason to be there (I'm mad at you! Why? Because I am!).

The "twists" are gimmicky and stupid. The only remotely good one was the Sixth Sense, but even then it was just an "Oh... huh." not an "OMGWTFBBQ!!1". I still think I read the plot for the Village somewhere as a short story, which would make him an idiot AND a plagiarist.
Your so SMERT mmkay

[NormanPride]

Hey, I'm not the one falling for water-soluble aliens.

[badger]

Happening took in another $10 mil to bring it up to $50 mil (remember, it had a $60 million budget)

Something tells me the Fourth of July crowd won't be in for a scare session, so it is still not a given that this is going to make money.

However, this is not as disturbing as this stat off boxofficemojo.com:

Prince Caspian Budget: $200 mil
Prince Caspian revenue so far: $135,467,000

Caspian is not going to make money, this is a bad sign for the series. I loved the way they made the book into more than what it was around CS Lewis' time, but I worry that this might frighten Disney into backing off on future Narnia movies.

I think M. Night's future in movies is still strong, because he has what it takes to come up with great plots. However, he could probably use a few consultants to make a good script a phenomenal one.

[TexasLidig8r]

other than that multiple times I was on the edge of my seat. He is very Alfred hitcockesqe in my opinon.

M. Night Shamalamdingdong = Baylor
Alfred Hitchcock = USC

[NormanPride]

Yeah, comparing him to a revolutionary in film is disgusting.

[badger]

M. Night Shamalamdingdong = Baylor
Alfred Hitchcock = USC

Rosie O'Donnell=Texas

[dolemitesooner]

Yeah, comparing him to a revolutionary in film is disgusting.

I said esqe

Disgusting. LoL.

you probably have not even scene the happening.

You talk about M. nights movies saying he has "completely unrealistic writing"

Have you ever watched Hitchcock, because last time I checked ****ing birds were not attacking everyone.

You have no clue what your talking about.

I never said he was I said he has some of his qualitys. He has a real feal fo suspense. I am sorry that you dont have much of an imagination.

If you don't like him fine. I can understand why people don't like his movies.

Go get Bad boys, or Independence Day and put the on repeat and make yourself happy

[The Maestro]

Well, I have been an M. Knight fan, but this one sucked for me. The last two have, big time. Lady and this one. Why?

First of all, the plot. Really? In a brainstorming session this is the best he could do? The plants revolt? Okay, fine...Gore would love it, but why do they revolt to make people want to have arms bitten off, lay down in front of mowers, jump off buildings and stab themselves with hair pinner-uppers? That was just gross stuff for the sake of being gross. No real reasoning.

Secondly, the acting was brutal. I am a Wahlberg fan in many movies, but this was over the top intensity. And him trying to work up a good cry towards the end was bad. That chick (his wife) is the John Candy of actresses...same character every time. Mrs. Dingbat. Not sure why anyone finds her attractive. Guess you enjoy vanilla ice cream. Why the semi-retarded military guy? Why the overplayed intensity?

When the two boys were shot...that was the end all for me. And the crazy lady smacking the girls hand. Purpose? Reason? And the mood ring...it meant nothing!!! They had it appearing to be a meaningful prop!

M. Knight was doing too much crack the night he came up with this one and wrote it. Seemed like it was done in a week. Just compared to "Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable"(movies with "GOTCHA!" endings) and "Signs" (a movie that was not about aliens and if you think that then you need to re-watch the scene with Gibson talking to Phoenix on the couch as they watched the alien spacecraft in the sky...which reveals the movies true meaning)...it was very lame.

Just glad it was only 90 minutes long.

[sooner_born_1960]

Vanilla ice cream is good.

[LosAngelesSooner]

other than that multiple times I was on the edge of my seat. He is very Alfred hitcockesqe in my opinon.
Except that he sucks ballz and couldn't give Hitchcock's hicthcock a decent tongue bath when it comes to talent. ;)

[LosAngelesSooner]

Happening took in another $10 mil to bring it up to $50 mil (remember, it had a $60 million budget)

Something tells me the Fourth of July crowd won't be in for a scare session, so it is still not a given that this is going to make money.

However, this is not as disturbing as this stat off boxofficemojo.com:

Prince Caspian Budget: $200 mil
Prince Caspian revenue so far: $135,467,000

Caspian is not going to make money, this is a bad sign for the series. I loved the way they made the book into more than what it was around CS Lewis' time, but I worry that this might frighten Disney into backing off on future Narnia movies.

I think M. Night's future in movies is still strong, because he has what it takes to come up with great plots. However, he could probably use a few consultants to make a good script a phenomenal one.
Don't worry. Those are just domestic numbers. The interntaional numbers will put Prince Caspian over the edge.

That series will put out another one.

[LosAngelesSooner]

I said esqe

Disgusting. LoL.

you probably have not even scene the happening.

You talk about M. nights movies saying he has "completely unrealistic writing"

Have you ever watched Hitchcock, because last time I checked ****ing birds were not attacking everyone.

You have no clue what your talking about.

I never said he was I said he has some of his qualitys. He has a real feal fo suspense. I am sorry that you dont have much of an imagination.

If you don't like him fine. I can understand why people don't like his movies.

Go get Bad boys, or Independence Day and put the on repeat and make yourself happyOut of all the silly things in this post, this is the one that stuck out the most.

SLOW and OVERLY DRAMATIC does not equal SUSPENSE.

His movies haven't had any viable, visceral suspense since Unbreakable. Everything he's been doing is smoke and mirrors. It's not a question of imagination or not (though I think it's funny that you think you somehow have "special imagination" which allows you to get the movie while the rest of us "uncreative types" can't).

Shamalyan is a hack. A copycat. A trickster and fake. He hasn't made a GOOD movie since 6th Sense and hasn't made a WATCHABLE movie since Unbreakable (which is BARELY watchable).

And Hitchcock would have cleaned the floor with his "-esque" ***.

[NormanPride]

I said esqe

Disgusting. LoL.

you probably have not even scene the happening.

You talk about M. nights movies saying he has "completely unrealistic writing"

Have you ever watched Hitchcock, because last time I checked ****ing birds were not attacking everyone.

You have no clue what your talking about.

I never said he was I said he has some of his qualitys. He has a real feal fo suspense. I am sorry that you dont have much of an imagination.

If you don't like him fine. I can understand why people don't like his movies.

Go get Bad boys, or Independence Day and put the on repeat and make yourself happy

I'm not talking about the plot being unrealistic, that's why it's fiction. I'm talking about dialogue and characterization. Something Hitchcock was a master of, and which M. Night can never figure out. That's a big difference between the two, though I'll give you that they go after the same type of movie experience.

[badger]

I usually find that it is easier to just go domestic on movies that aren't international phenomenon stories to figure in the costs of marketing and theatre cuts of revenue.

As such, Caspian might be closer to breaking even, whereas the Happening, which had tons and tons of television ads (and still does) may not. Since Caspian is written by internationally-known writer CS Lewis, whereas The Happening is an original story for the movie, I think that international gross will offset marketing costs, whereas a story like Caspian would exceed those costs.

Fair enough?

[dolemitesooner]

Out of all the silly things in this post, this is the one that stuck out the most.

SLOW and OVERLY DRAMATIC does not equal SUSPENSE.

His movies haven't had any viable, visceral suspense since Unbreakable. Everything he's been doing is smoke and mirrors. It's not a question of imagination or not (though I think it's funny that you think you somehow have "special imagination" which allows you to get the movie while the rest of us "uncreative types" can't).

Shamalyan is a hack. A copycat. A trickster and fake. He hasn't made a GOOD movie since 6th Sense and hasn't made a WATCHABLE movie since Unbreakable (which is BARELY watchable).

And Hitchcock would have cleaned the floor with his "-esque" ***.Half the people on this planet are below average intelligence too.

:rolleyes: Many in this thread fall in that group:D

[dolemitesooner]

Ohh an **** all your couches

[LosAngelesSooner]

JCS what was your question?

[dolemitesooner]

I hope you die on that mountian :)

[shaun4411]

i didnt think it was terrible. but i wont be spending money to see it again. now, 'wanted' , that is a good movie. kinda cool. worth seeing again.

[badger]

Domestic Total as of Jun. 25, 2008: $54,215,547

It might just make it after all... :)

[shaun4411]

i wonder how much money studios would lose if terrorists suddenly started attacking movie theaters.

[mdklatt]

Domestic Total as of Jun. 25, 2008: $54,215,547


The box office take is a small part of the total revenue for a film. For a lot of movies (think anything starring Larry the Cable Guy), the theatrical release is just part of the marketing campaign for the DVD.

[Blue]

JCS what was your question?

Are they running out of ideas in Hollywood? Why a bunch of crappy movies lately? Do big budget crappy movies get the nod over low budget good scripts due to marketability? What's going on?


I'm not saying I want to see artsy fartsy crud but, "The Transformers? The Hulk?" What happened to original ideas?

[LosAngelesSooner]

I hope you die on that mountian :)
Ha!
You fail.
;)


i didnt think it was terrible. but i wont be spending money to see it again. now, 'wanted' , that is a good movie. kinda cool. worth seeing again.Really? I had NO desire to see it, but I may go see an early show. They really botched the marketing on that one...badly.

The part that made me NOT want to see it was the whole "curve the bullet" thingy. Physics, schmisics. ;) I hope the guy is some kind of superhero to be able to do that trick.

[LosAngelesSooner]

Are they running out of ideas in Hollywood? Why a bunch of crappy movies lately? Do big budget crappy movies get the nod over low budget good scripts due to marketability? What's going on?


I'm not saying I want to see artsy fartsy crud but, "The Transformers? The Hulk?" What happened to original ideas?To oversimplify? Mega corporations run by guys with MBAs bought all the studios and run them as businesses. A sequal, TV show adaptation, comic adaptation (ie: something with an established fan base), or remake is more of a "sure thing" to the business types than an original idea. They don't get the "art" side of movie going anymore than construction workers get the fine art of iron and stone sculpting or house painters get the fine art of oil on canvas painting.

That's why we are guaranteed 5 more Will Farrell/John C. Reilley "We're dumb guys in ridiculous jobs" movies and at least 2 more Ben Stiller wacky family comedies. Good, new original scripts are a risk to the suits. They rarely take risks. They enjoy their MASSIVE expense accounts and nice houses too much to risk it on some new script from some lowly writer. Very few buck the system (George Cloony is one who does. Support THAT guy. He's done a lot for the "art" of Hollywood)

You want them to stop making crap, stop going to see crap (like M. Knight Shamalongadingdong films) so they tank at the box office. Don't believe their hype and marketing. Listen to review sites like Rottentomatoes.com and ignore Roger Ebert since he's a paid shill. Go see arthouse pics and small indie pics on their opening weekend.

That's the ONLY way to communicate to these guys. Hit their pocketbooks. As it is, M. Knight will probably get at least 2 more greenlights before he's put out to pasture and can only make low budget B movies.

[OU-HSV]

I heard this past weekend from my wife's cousin that The Happening indeed sucked.

On a sidenote:
We watched "One Missed Call" last night and it was pretty lame as well. I wouldn't waste time with it.

[shaun4411]

here's the thing, one man's trash is another man's treasure. this applies to moviegoers. its too hard to determine what movie will really resonate with people. some tank at the box office and are cult classics on dvd. i find myself liking movies that many didnt like (i actually liked the happening because i expected so little from it), and disliking very popular movies (i hated napoleon dynamite and didnt like michael clayton). i think there are a lot of people that fit in my segment and that is why taking a bit giant sh*t at the box office doesnt really hurt for long.

to validate my point: There are people out there who actually dont like LOST

[OU-HSV]

here's the thing, one man's trash is another man's treasure. this applies to moviegoers. its too hard to determine what movie will really resonate with people. some tank at the box office and are cult classics on dvd. i find myself liking movies that many didnt like (i actually liked the happening because i expected so little from it), and disliking very popular movies (i hated napoleon dynamite and didnt like michael clayton). i think there are a lot of people that fit in my segment and that is why taking a bit giant sh*t at the box office doesnt really hurt for long.

to validate my point: There are people out there who actually dont like LOST

Oh I agree. But at least if a majority of people don't care for a movie, it gives you a better grasp of what to think about it. If nothing else, as you said, it makes you not expect much from some movies, yet surprisingly they'll end up better than you expected.

I didn't care for Napoleon dynamite the first time I watched it.
And every time after that, I thought it was hilarious.