Not “drivel” at all. However I don’t recall Shyamalan ever referring to The Happening as a B-movie until everyone else started calling it that.

Vic

But I like his film style and his choice of topics. I’m a movie-phile and have deliberately watched many of the greatest movies throughout history to gain a more complete understanding of the trade. Unbreakable is my all-time favorite movie. It speaks to me as a middle-aged man and many other men I know who have seen it have had their lives changed by its message: We are here for a purpose, we knew that purpose at one time and we lost it along the way somewhere amongst the duties and expectations of life. This movie lends hope to the idea that we can recover that purpose.

MNS has said that he doesn’t make one scene of a movie without a message behind it. Just to comment on The Happening: he said he and his crew set about making a “B” camp horror movie. Once I read that, I felt I knew where he was going with it: he was not making an “environmental film,” he was making fun of radical environmentalists and the media’s penchant to accept their message at face-value without any scrutiny. He was also poking fun at the conventions of HW horror. So he set up a ridiculous premise and threw in a lot of ridiculous scenes and sat back and laughed when the media praised his efforts to “raise awareness” of ecological genocide. I read many other reviews by pros who truly thought it was scary, or at least billed it as such to get people to set a supposed eco-friendly movie. So the whole concept was poking fun at conventional wisdom, just as Lady in the Water was as well.

So I could appreciate The Happening for that reason, but I hope he’s gotten that out of his system so he can move on to projects that return to subjects he cares about. I truly don’t understand his desire to undertake a project like “The Last Airbender” as it was astoundingly bad in many respects, both in film-making and story-telling. I’ll have to think about his motivations there for a while, if there are any hidden behind it.

Hope you at least enjoy reading my take on it all, even if you think its drivel.

“Sell crazy someplace else. We’re all stocked up here!”

The “fallen once”? At first I thought to myself; “myself, surely, this is a typo” to which I responded “yes, and don’t call me Shirley”.

But then, you wrote “the fallen once” once again… (hey, THAT felt like a typo on my part!).

I ask of you: what about those who have fallen TWICE? are they safe?

Or those who have fallen THRICE? (hey I don’t get to use that word often in an internet thread!)

Or did you mean “fallen ones”? which, quite frankly, is more boring than your .

Oh, and I’m not an atheist… but dammit, I’m horribly embarrassed by loony fundamentalists like you. And remember, you can’t write fundamentalist without “mental”.

I now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.

/walks away, sloooowly….

Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, and Lady in the Water are all utterly unique, fascinating films. Signs is my personal favorite; it’s hilarious, and I love redemption stories. Sixth Sense was a crowd-pleaser, and it’s undoubtedly very creative, but it’s my least favorite of those four.

Lady in the Water is one of the most underrated films ever made, in my opinion. Paul Giamatti’s performance was amazing; I tear up every time I watch the healing scene, when he starts talking to his family.

The Village and The Happening were misfires. The Village was predictable, and The Happening was just awful. The only thing I’m still able to appreciate about The Happening is Shyamalan’s ability to create a tense situation using pretty much anything. A crazed old woman walking around outside a cabin shouldn’t be frightening, especially when we know she’s about to be killed by trees, but somehow, it’s still an intense scene.

I’m curious to see what other directors will do with a Shyamalan script; his directing style is so unique. My only fear is the film will lose that edgy Shyamalan touch under different directors, but I’ll see the film regardless.

Sounds like you and your friends should get together and wait… wait by “Heaven’s Gate,” if you will…

And the world was created in 7 days, and the Earth is only 10,000 years old, and we are all decended from Adam & Eve.

Can’t wait for another M.N.S. movie. Hope it’s a good one.

Wake up because it’s going to be too late if you all waiting for the rapture, there is no rapture, only cleansing of the fallen once and their minions and followers.
Don’t fall into the trap of the fallen once, they are dammed for eternity.
May peace be with all of you, you re fallen as victims that you don’t deserv.Light is shining strong, and the light is going to triumph over the dark, the dark is loosing their last battle for supremacy on Earth.
There is so many of us here and we will help are Beloved Creator to restore balance and harmony once again as it was envisioned by Heaven.
Heaven is coming soon to bring peace, mercy, balance and harmony to beloved Mother Earth,
The whole host of Legions of Light is coming very soon, lead by Michael Christ

SO BE IT , IT’S DONE!

My personal M Night favorite “The Happening”

The guy is a fantastic visual director. He knows how to frame his shots and set the mood. Even The Happening is not without it’s redeeming qualities, for instance, the scene where the camera is focused on the feet of several pedestrians, and in one long take they each pick up the same gun and shoot themselves in the head.

And he certainly has great ideas for stories. The Happening, again, had an interesting idea behind it, as did Lady in the Water and The Village (though I actually enjoyed that one).

But the guy honestly can’t write. He has no skill whatsoever in getting his ideas on to paper. Sixth Sense and Unbreakable were arguably flukes. He lucked out and was able to effectively tell a story.

That’s part of the reason why I’m worried about Last Airbender (it’s not his idea, but it IS his script), while I’m actually intrigued by this Devil (which is his idea, but NOT his script).

Oh, and he should never, ever be allowed a speaking part in any film ever again.

The man IS a “film maker”.

But then, he can’t please everyone.

I don’t care. I would use his films in a film class as examples of things to DO. I already use the scores of his films in classes on film music.