THE HAPPENING - Holy mother of Christ, it's unwatchable.

I just finished watching it - what an ordeal.

I knew it'd be bad going into it, given the reviews, but I rationalized my decision based on the fact that it's only 90 minutes long.

I immensely regret my decision.

I can't express in words how astonishingly stupid this film is. It's almost impossible to believe that the man who made the fantastic SIXTH SENSE made this mind-numbingly ridiculous movie.

If I missed the memo and Shyamalan actually intended this film to be a joke, it's not fucking funny.


I'm posting this thread in a Quixotic attempt at some sort of catharsis for the darkness and suffering I've experienced for the past ninety minutes.


And I'm also using this thread to warn my fellow TBBS friends - when this film arrives on DVD - do NOT give in to curiosity.

 

I paid a buck to see it, and that was too much.

"There are some things that science just can't explain."

Which is blank check to make a stupid movie with an absurd premise.

I'd rather watch Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals.

 

You beat me to the punch.

The best thing about this film is that it is unintentionally funny in some parts.

What I laugh at is people seem to tend to say that they can't believe that this is from the same director as "the sixth sense" - that was 5 movies ago people.

How many flops does it take to prove that Shyamalan is a one hit wonder and not some sort of Indian film wunderkind that deserves to have name billing on his films?

The thing is that the premise of the film could have yielded a good environmental themed story and it was totally wasted on random pointless crap.

 

^^Two-hit wonder. Unbreakable was great too.

 

I would vote for watchable but certainly short of great - but then again it's in the eye of the beholder I guess.

 

I was told that too, which was one of the reasons I watched it - but I only laughed at one unintentionally funny part (where Mark Wahlberg is standing in the field using "science" to figure out the nature of the menace - and then having them run from the wind - that was so ridiculous it was funny).

But the rest of the "unintentionally funny" parts were simply too stupid for me to find them funny - so I don't even find the film worthy of anyone's time on an MST3K type level.

 

Shamalyn (sp?) gave an embarassing interview with NPR's weekly science program (I forget the name), where he reveals how little he knows about science and how little he even understands the history of science. After hearing that, I was pretty sure what I would get out of The Happening. Which is why I haven't bothered yet.

 

Please - PLEASE - take the "yet" out of your last sentence.

The only thing you're missing out on by NOT watching the film is boredom and misery.

 

The only redeeming aspect of this film was seeing Zooey Deschanel's eyes on the big screen.

 

I've avoided his films like the plague since The Village. My God, THAT was an unwatchable piece of crap. I figured the twist out about half an hour into it, and for the next hour, I was praying I was wrong. Boy, was I pissed off when I left the theater.

 

Well, I'm not saying I'm going to get to it. I'm saying either my friend Matt will buy it for the bad factor, or my parents will rent it when I'm back home because...well, Blockbuster doesn't exactly have a lot of choice in store. And then I'll be in the room, and that's when mistakes are made.

 

We have a Professor in our department who loves this movie. He has the poster hanging in his office and its signed by Mark Wahlberg. All I can do is laugh every time I see it.

 

Please tell me it's not a film department. Please.

 

Ah, those googly, emotionless, lapis lazuli marbles....

 

MNS shoulda quit after signs

 

Her sister that stars on Bones is hotter.

 

No she isn't.

I loved it that it was all about bees right at about the same time Doctor Who and Jerry Seinfeld were also going on about bees. I wondered who would be stupid enough not to pick up on that right at the beginning?

Unexplainable my ass.

 

"...some sort of Indian film wunderkind" above: Not really a fair characterization for someone who grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs (and still works there).

NOTE: Although I've read many entertaining things about Shyamalan and his movies, I've never seen one (except for the first 5-6 minutes of a TV cut of The Sixth Sense, and that was only 2 weeks ago.)

 

I had the extreme misfortune of watching the excreble 'Lady in the Water' recently. I'm glad I passed on 'The Happening'.

MNS has never been all that, in my eyes. Sixth Sense wasn't bad, but when you've seen the 'twist', there's no need to rewatch the movie. 'Unwatchable' was like watching paint dry. 'Signs' was too annoyingly ham-fisted in its religious message for my liking, and 'The Village' was a pile of drivel.

Oh, but Zooey's eyes are indeed very pleasing. I think she's hotter than her sister, Dream!

 

Glad I avoided that one. Opinion on when his previous films became unwatchable seams to be divided (personally I liked The Village more than Signs) but I don't think I've ever heard of anyone actually enjoying 'Lady in the Water'. After that, I thought it wise to pass on 'The Happening'. A pity, since it bodes ill for the Avatar movie. In other hands that might have been a good film.