Sup everyone,
I am going to try and start posting a regular blog with my thoughts on new releases etc. Well, I was browsing through the web just now and I stumbled upon the R-RATED trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's new film, "THE HAPPENING." Now, there is something you don't see everyday; an MPAA rating of R and the director M. NIGHT in the same film or sentence. The guy has been making PG-13 horror films since 1996, when he broke out with "The Sixth Sense." If I meet one more person that tells me they saw that twist coming, I am going to punch you in the face. There is absolutely no way you could see that twist coming if you didn't know there was a twist to begin with. Now, if you were someone that knew going into the film that there was a big twist, then you might be searching for it and be able to figure that out. But if you went into that movie expecting nothing, there is no chance.
M. Night, at least to me, is a modern day/poor-man's Alfred Hitchcock. The guy is doing what he loves and is very successful at that. He is Hitchcock for a lot of reasons; 1) that he puts himself in all of his movies 2) he just has this undying love for the thriller/horror genre. Now, am I saying that Shyamalan is on par with Hitchcock. NO CHANCE. I think if someone told M. Night that, he would even think you are crazy. Hitchcock created some of the greatest films of all time, with my personal favorite being a little movie called "ROPE" with Jimmy Stewart. This movie had 8 CUTS the entire 80 minutes of the film. Only two of these cuts were visible. The way he did that was by zooming into blackness or someone's coat and then coming back out. The audience never knows he cut the camera. He was just so innovative. The "Vertigo" shot is one of the most innovative shots of all time. Anytime Jimmy Stewart would look over the ledge in that film, you would get that really eerie camera notion. Hitchcock would zoom in the camera as fast as he could and then pull it back at the same exact time, creating this crazy foreground stay/background leave effect. It is so f-ing trippy.
Getting back to M. Night Shyamalan, the point of the blog, I really like the dude. I have actually enjoyed all of his films, with "Signs" being my least favorite. Everyone slept on "Lady in the Water" because they didn't understand what he was trying to do. He was mocking HIMSELF!!! He didn't give you the twist ending that everyone expected. HE FOOLED THE AUDIENCE. It was hilarious and amazing to see people just walking out of the movie theatre all pissed off because they didn't get their twist ending. You can call me stupid, but I liked "The Village" as well.
All things said, I dig the guy. I think it's a genius move on his part to go for the R-Rated film here with "The Happening." The initial trailers for the movie freaked the hell out of me. When those people are falling from the buildings, so helplessly, it just sent shivers through my spine. It looks insane and the best part is that no one knows what it's about. All we know is that it stars Mark Whalberg and something is happening, no pun intended. People are starting to oddly off themselves, like some kind of disease that makes you commit suicide. Some of the death scenes you see in the trailer below are a bit of a show. Especially the one where the freaking dude just puts himself under a riding lawn mower. GEEZUS!!! Chad was telling me about that and I couldn't believe him until I saw it with my own eyes.
Anyways, I found this RED BAND trailer online (meaning that the trailer itself is R-RATED) and if you want to see the sort of antics that M. Night has up his sleeve, check this shit out. It looks amazing and I cannot wait till text week to see it. Check back for my review next Thursday night at 12am at www.bdkreviews.com
Feel free to comment back on your thoughts about his movies in general and what you think this movie will do for him. Alot of people out there hate his films because it is the cool thing to do. "Oh dude, did you see the Village. The ending sucked and I could see the twist coming from a mile away." Well, that has become common tongue when talking about any of his movies past "The Sixth Sense." People just build up the twist too much in their minds. I hope he doesn't put a twist at the end of "The Happening."
His movies in order of my liking:
1) "The Sixth Sense"
2) "Unbreakable"
3) "The Village"
4) "Lady in the Water"
5) "Signs"
ENJOY!
-BDK - Movie Reviewer on the Junkies 106.7 WJFK-FM, FOX 5 TV, www.rottentomatoes.com
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