The Happening

[alwaysbrokenMX6]

Meh, I thought it was OK for a B list movie. The drama was there, just poorly executed by the actors. Some of these movies are better left to books anyway

[SixSick6]

None will be as good as Lady In The Water. If ur a fan, you go see them. You vote with your dollar. I like his movies.

[ragincanadian4]

The Sixth Sense was great, Unbreakable was cool, Signs was good, The Village [fizzle]ing ruined Shyamalan for me. I won't be seeing The Happening.

[Goatcrapp]

the problem is - it was presented like a horror flick, but it isn't. therein lies the problem. it was billed completely wrong...

I enjoyed it. It really had nothing to do with the plants, or the toxins, or any of that.. those were just a vehicle in which to present the story. Look at the breakdown of society, the individual vs. the mob, etc...

it was more of a hitchcockian human condition movie, with suspense thrown in.

The problem is - people don't want those types of movies.. they want fluff. they want action, and shock-terror, and things jumping out at them saying boo. they want mindless entertainment... and this is also the reason kubrick hates the commercial audience. almost all his movies were flops - yet cinematically, and creatively, he was way above the talent shown in just about every "blockbuster" i can think of. shyamalan is similar in this regard.. He's met with more commercial success but shyamalan's movies usually don't go over well with the masses. the masses want neat nice little packages presented to them, with a lot of handholding. i'll have a #7 to go, please.

Look at iron man for instance. a very good movie. entertaining as all hell. downright cool. I enjoyed it, and will own it in HD when it comes out.

but its certainly not cinema.

you either like shyamalan's movies or hate them. If you prefer fluff, you won't like him. I'm not saying he's a "thinkers" director - but his movies are rarely just fluff... and his movies are also very rarely about whatever the subject matter was, as presented on the surface.

if you went to this movie expecting a thriller or a horror flick, then no wonder you were disappointed. THIS is the fault of the PR campaign in my opinion. it was definitely advertised as if it were a horror film.

I thought this one was well done. Say whatever you want, but you won't deny that it kept you in suspense as the story unfolded itself. not scared, not shocked.. but just at that edge between seeing a movie and feeling a movie. you wanted the next scene, the next moment.

If you walked away and all you can say is a dismissal of it as it being utter [shizzle]... then perhaps movies like "scary movie" ; "little man"; or any of the "American Pie" movies might suit you better.

I have nothing against mindless entertainment... I enjoy quite a few such movies, quite often... but i also draw a very clear distinction between them.

Just like a book... sometimes you read just to be entertained (comics, porn, etc) - nothing wrong with that - but just recognize that comics aren't literature.

[Pirate_d00d]

I thought it was a really good movie. It has a good message, and I think that's seen with the old hermit woman. I felt she symbolized the plants, because she says something along the lines of "Why should I care about the world when it has done nothing for me?" and that people were always trying to take her home away, and how reluctant she was to provide food and shelter for the people. Overall, not his best in my opinion, but worth seeing.

[Scooby]

Originally Posted by Goatcrapp

the problem is - it was presented like a horror flick, but it isn't. therein lies the problem. it was billed completely wrong...

I enjoyed it. It really had nothing to do with the plants, or the toxins, or any of that.. those were just a vehicle in which to present the story. Look at the breakdown of society, the individual vs. the mob, etc...

it was more of a hitchcockian human condition movie, with suspense thrown in.

The problem is - people don't want those types of movies.. ....

I see your point, and I very much enjoy subtle psychological thrillers, but this isn't it.
I have to say that I very much enjoy the "tone" of Shyamalam's movies, but you pretty much have to turn your brain off to get past the ridiculous premise, illogical plot development and disregard for reality.
If you can't even explain the premise of a movie to someone else without them rolling their eyes then there is a problem.

"You see it was the trees, they were PISSED"..."no really it was good"..."and when the wind blew"..."seriously it was a good movie"...

Most of his movies have been a let-down for me. Great premise for most of them, but terrible follow-through.

Sixth Sense was great, great suspense, plot development and the "mystery" was significant and not revealed until the end.

Unbreakable, great premise, subtle tone, but terrible ending. Could have been a lot better, but I still enjoyed this movie.

Signs - horrible premise, worse follow through. I mean really, aliens who have traveled millions of light years to observed Earth for hundreds of years needing crop circles to communicate and navigate, landing naked in a world that is 2/3rds covered in POISON for them and having fingers the consistency of butter? "Swing Away" - most ridiculous crap I ever saw.

The Village - good premise, but the villains turn out to be the parents...ooo, very scary.. He seems to be becoming more self-indulgent as time goes on.

Lady in the Water - pretentious, overly dramatic crap.

The Happening - would have been better as a 30 minute Twilight Zone episode.

Im not saying that Shyamalm is not talented. He is very good at setting a mood, or tone but terrible at story-telling, worse at writing dialog. He should stick to directing and let someone else have some creative control.