M. Night Shamalamadingdong

akiratubo · June 13, 2008, 06:36:36 PM

I won't be seeing it, nor any other Shayamalan movie. Perhaps I shouldn't blame him for how much I didn't like The Sixth Sense, seeing as how it was billed as a horror movie when it was absolutely NOT.

I remember sitting there thinking, "What the hell? There's not even anything to be afraid of here. Aww, the poor widdle ghosties just want a friend."

But Unbreakable was incredibly crappy while The Village was just good enough at the beginning to make me hate it all the more when the monsters turned out to be fake.

Yes, yes, we're supposed to dig beneath the surface to see his movies' true Messages because he's just that brilliant. Feh, I say to that.

Three strikes, yer out.

ghouck · June 13, 2008, 07:12:07 PM

Quote from: Shadow on June 13, 2008, 06:30:38 PM
Today on the radio, someone who saw the sneak preview the other night revealed what the twist was in this film (the reason people start killing themselves) and I have to say, it sounds like one of the most asinine things ever. The mere idea seems like something out of some cheesy old 50's or 60's film. I cannot imagine how the idea can be executed without coming off as...well, as flat out stupid.

Can you spoil it for me?

indianasmith · June 13, 2008, 07:23:56 PM

Now it sounds so bad I want to see it!!!

BTW, I actually liked THE VILLAGE.

I guess there's no hope for me.

CheezeFlixz · June 13, 2008, 08:27:07 PM

QuoteM. Night Shamalamadingdong

You get karma just for the title of this thread .. it caught me off guard and I busted up ... thanks! I almost spit my drink all over my screen.

Torgo · June 13, 2008, 08:28:06 PM

Quote from: indianasmith on June 13, 2008, 07:23:56 PM
Now it sounds so bad I want to see it!!!

BTW, I actually liked THE VILLAGE.

I guess there's no hope for me.

Did you have the twist for the Village figured out prior to seeing the movie?

I just took a wild guess on what the twist was going to be and ended up being right. I always hate when that happens.

AnubisVonMojo · June 13, 2008, 08:43:38 PM

Quote from: Torgo on June 13, 2008, 08:28:06 PM
Quote from: indianasmith on June 13, 2008, 07:23:56 PM
Now it sounds so bad I want to see it!!!

BTW, I actually liked THE VILLAGE.

I guess there's no hope for me.

Did you have the twist for the Village figured out prior to seeing the movie?

I just took a wild guess on what the twist was going to be and ended up being right. I always hate when that happens.

The same thing happened to me. Some friends of mine had a bootleg the night it was released and invited me over to watch it. Not even 20 minutes in I said, "I bet they're actually living in seclusion in modern times and that's gonna be the whole twist". Everybody looked at me like I was full of crap, but by the time it was over they were positive I'd been reading spoilers beforehand. What a pile.

Torgo · June 13, 2008, 09:01:47 PM

Quote from: AnubisVonMojo on June 13, 2008, 08:43:38 PM
The same thing happened to me. Some friends of mine had a bootleg the night it was released and invited me over to watch it. Not even 20 minutes in I said, "I bet they're actually living in seclusion in modern times and that's gonna be the whole twist". Everybody looked at me like I was full of crap, but by the time it was over they were positive I'd been reading spoilers beforehand. What a pile.

Yeah, people accused me of reading about the twist on the internet prior to making up my opinion on my own, but the way that 1st big trailer for it was done, I told my friends that that was the only twist I could think of that would work with a story like that.

Of course, M. Night pigeonholed himself as a twist type storyteller and it really bit him hard on that one.

AndyC · June 13, 2008, 09:38:46 PM

When the village elders were so quick to discourage any curiosity about what was beyond the forest, there could be no doubt for me as to the twist ending. M. Night was a little heavy handed with the clues on that one. But it was the fake monsters that really disappointed me.

Shadow · June 13, 2008, 09:59:15 PM

Quote from: ghouck on June 13, 2008, 07:12:07 PM
Can you spoil it for me?

Sure. PM sent.

ulthar · June 13, 2008, 10:45:37 PM

Quote from: Shadow on June 13, 2008, 09:59:15 PM
Quote from: ghouck on June 13, 2008, 07:12:07 PM
Can you spoil it for me?

Sure. PM sent.

Hey, Shadow...if you don't mind, would you PM the spoilage also?

This thread is more entertaining than I think the movie will be.

Shadow · June 13, 2008, 10:49:49 PM

Sent.

I actually found a review of the script from about a year back which confirmed the basic premise.

Inferno · June 13, 2008, 10:54:41 PM

Without giving too much away, it's basically a psychological thing nature throws out.

When you find out the rest, you will either laugh or go WTF?!

Also, is it just me or does anyone else find the trailer kind of funny? Especially the shot where the guys are falling from the construction site. That reminded me of Monty Python when, in one episode, they tosses mannequins from windows and acted like they were actual people.

Zapranoth · June 14, 2008, 12:55:11 AM

I can't take credit for the thread name -- a guy I knew in school called him that once, and I laughed hard and the memory stuck.
But -- I've seen that perversion of his name re-created independently by multiple sources, and I don't think internet-meme accounts for it. I think the name just begs for the treatment. =) Or the man does.

I liked the Village. I think there were some truly quality performances in it, and as such I can't relegate it to the crap pile. The twist was somewhat annoying, yeah.

Didn't watch the woman in the water movie, did watch Unbreakable (it was pretty forgettable to me), didn't watch Signs.

Won't be watching the Happening. Though I hope everyone who knows the director keeps asking him, "hey... wus' happening?" ;)

SynapticBoomstick · June 14, 2008, 02:21:43 AM

I thought the scares were pretty good and the violence was cool- what can I say, I like violence in movies

- but the overall effect was a bit odd. I don't think there was even a twist to this one, it was just something that happened with no real explanation other than what the characters could guess. Not his best film, but certainly not the worst. It was an enjoyable theater experience but I missed the "out of place" feeling that the other films had; this one just felt like a survival movie. There's nothing wrong with that, there's just not anything extra special about it. Still, I'm a fan of his work so that might have rambled without any solid opinion ^^;

quabrot · June 14, 2008, 04:50:38 AM

All I can say is that I preferred Day of the Animals. Replace suicides with animal attacks, remove the post 9-11 paranoia, and throw in Leslie Nelsen fighting a bear, and you have a much more fun movie.

The main problem with The Happening is that it takes itself too seriously. The movie has a great setup for a B-grade disaster movie, but it attempts to show us what would realistically happen if, for some reason, the entire northeast was compelled to kill themselves. The first conclusion, of course, is that it's a terrorist attack. People try to flee, not really knowing where to go, or if anywhere is safe. Some people lock themselves up and point shotguns at anyone who comes near their home. We are supposed to be horrified by the mass suicides, but then we have little bits of dark humor (that I'm sure is purely coincidental), such as the landscapers who have hung themselves using garden hoses. Many of the suicides are to complex to be taken seriously. The commercials have already shown the guy who lays down in front front of the mower. There is also a "terrifying" scene where a zookeeper gets himself torn apart by lions. Actually, I think I wasn't the only one in the audience laughing at that one.

I think Shyamalan should have help writing his next movie. The Happening seemed very simple in it's story and dialogue. I'll let somebody else rip on the painful dialogue, but I swear I was starting to cringe every time I heard the word "happening".

As for twists, there really isn't one. No big revelation that the suicide victims were all actually Martian invaders posing as humans reacting to Earth's bacteria. Just the standard for its kind of movie.