Saturday, June 21, 2008

Not Happening


This is not a review, this is just a disheartened fan's rantings.

'There are forces at work beyond our understanding,'
So says Mark Wahlberg’s character Elliot Moore, a science teacher. Exactly my thought as I was watching The Happening. Nothing else can explain this dud of a film. What was M. Night Shyamalan thinking?? Or was he at all?? As it is with most of us, I am forever torn with my feelings for his work between absolute love to downright dismay. When he burst into the big arena with The Sixth Sense (no, I didn’t see his earlier films, Wide Awake and Praying With Anger), I absolutely loved it. I loved his approach to films, taking a B-grade genre and turning it into an A-grade film. Since then I have followed all his films, of which ‘Unbreakable’ is the one I love the most. But about that, maybe some other time.

Back to The Happening, Shyamalan’s new apocalyptic offering. Shyamalan’s film have forever been a big source for the Scary Movie makers. He gives them the moment they relish to rip. All the overt melodrama, all the bad acting is just ready dough for them. But The Happening, my friends, is in itself your next installment in scary movie series. I mean, they need not change nothing at all, all the jokes, all the situation are there for the tailormade, the entire film is a spoof. I tried to be serious through the movie but I just couldn’t help myself wondering in each and every scene that the scary movie people must be grinning ear-to-ear watching this stuff. Scary Movie folks never needed a script much, now they do have a script in their hand. I even think that Zooey Dechanel looks a lot like the girl who plays the central character in all the Scary Movies. And Mark Wahlberg has never acted so bad. All said and done, this installment from Shyamalan is so not happening.

5 comments:

41 pairs of shoes said...

I've never really understood the whole purpose pf blogging- never been into it and never read anything on it. However, some three and a half years ago, i got my first taste of it. Endless forwards with links would find their way into my inbox each morning, and i would ruthlessly assign each one to the trash can- till one day Vimal came up to me and said, 'Ladiz, you must read this one, it's about the cinema of Mithun Da'...Hard as it was to get myself to do it, I just couldn't say no to a pair of twinkly chinky eyes, the enthusiasm dripping from them like melted wax. So I read, and I laughed and I laughed my head off.
Three and a half years from then, my blog initiator has started his own, and needless to say a sense of pride fills me as i read through and try and comment on his work. It's a herculean task to even think of commenting on Vimal's work. I think of him as one of the most talented writers I Have ever come across, by profession however Vimal is an art director. Through the years of my working with him, I've learnt a lot from Vimal, he always pushed me to write, pushed me to push my own self- and often when i would get stuck with the proverbial writers block, he'd sit next to me with a fork lift.
To him, I owe Aadhar- our creation that won us both the gold lion. If not for him, I would never have sat down to write. Thank you Vimal- for being my favourite art partner, my best friend and the writer I will always wish I can be.

namchu said...

wah, motaaaay!
should have hired u as a writer instead.

Kaushik said...

Someday you might better Greatbong. Keep it up.

Unknown said...

Abey...you can write.

vimsical said...

@Anshumani: That's the best reward i got for doing something honest like the 'aadhar'. Thanks Ladiz. Hugs!

@Nima: :D

@Kaushik da: Yeah, maybe someday :)

@Uddipta: Thanks brother