reader input: m. night shyamalan / the happening
February 8, 2008 by Cash
There was a time when M. Night Shyamalan could do not wrong in my scary movie loving eyes. The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs are all classics for me. Then came The Village. Unnerving trailer, excellent concept, great cast: completely pissed away by the most ridiculous ending perhaps ever.
Totally bewildered at his sudden decline, I skipped “Lady in the Water” entirely.
Now we have a trailer for his next film, and I’m equal parts ecstatic and horrified.
“The Happening”, set to star Mark Wahlberg, revolves around some sort of environmental ‘event’ that causes people to start killing themselves en masse. The preview offered by the trailer promises shock and horror in equal doses (never again will I look at a knitting needle the same way). I want to believe it will be a return to form for MNS.
Sadly though, the set up (great premise/trailer..followed by an absolute shite film?) feels eerily like The Village.
So what do you think loyal readers? Will “The Happening” be worth my $9.50 at the box office?
Update: Trailer Here
I know someone with a Kitchen Aide Mixer… It’s real nice.
Well, I think that his movies have gone from great (6th sense) and progressively gotten worse. I have to disagree with you and say that Signs was horrible. Aliens whose weakness is water invade Earth, the blue planet. It is so plentiful here, it falls from the sky… just stupid. The Village was even worse, and then even the spoiler of Lady In the Water was boring, so I would have to assume this would suck as well. The only upside is that Mark Wahlberg tends to pick pretty decent movies.
I didn’t see Lady in the Water.. but I agree that The Village and Signs both had really lame endings. Brian mentioned that our earth has a lot of water in the form of rain.. but what about all of the moisture in the atmosphere?
Might as well call it War of the Worlds II: Aliens Still Haven’t Learned Their Lesson.
I meant to comment the other day that the trailer was no longer available. I just tried again in case it was back up, but it’s just gone ‘at the request of publisher’, or something along that line. I’ve always liked his movies, but you’re right, lately he’s been ‘resting on his laurels’, and hasn’t done anything superlative for a while. I always have hope, though. Anyway, I’ll check YouTube and see if the trailer’s there. Or…maybe the movie’s gone TU already?
WOW!! I just checked YouTube, and got the following message: This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Twentieth Century Fox. Wonder what that’s about?
Caroline; updated link above. I think Fox Searchlight must be trying to keep the trailer on the down low. Idiots. Publicity is the last thing you want for your movie, right?
Jess & Brian; I hadn’t even thought about the ‘blue planet’ angle on Signs. For me I enjoyed the first half with the dark settings, home video clips, etc. Once things started happening in daylight (especially the last scene in the house) it definitely took a turn for the worse.
MNS? Is that the guy who violates one of the core laws of entertainment by making every single person watching his movies feel like an idiot and an asshole for not figuring out the trick ending he *always* puts in?
Try this: say his name when you are with a group of people - a large percentage of them will immediately roll their eyes. Not a good sign.
Chris, you’re right on about that, at least post village/lady in the water.
I finally saw the trailer. Having finally made it through Cloverfield, I think I’m more than ready for some light comedy next. Maybe I’ll be in the mood when it finally comes out, but I don’t know…there’s enough real-life crap happening right now. I think escapism will be in my future for a while.