Last night I was hogtied and dragged to the (gasp) Valley to watch M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening." For those who haven't seen it yet, I will not give out any spoilers. It's on DVD now. I'm not recommending it if you're a fan of M. Night and loved his other movies and expect this to be much of the same (re: creepy, plot twist, etc). However, I will recommend it if you love a good B-movie with lousy dialogue and gratuitous violence. A friend watched it in the theater and told me "it's hilariously bad." I questioned, "you mean YOU found it hilariously bad?"
"No, " she countered, "he MEANT it to be that way." I was unconvinced. I thought surely Shyamalan would not intentionally make a bad movie--bad dialogue, bad acting, etc. Surely it was just her. No, it had to be intentional, for we know he can actually write a good screenplay and direct.
As I said, I won't go into spoilers, but fans of my "Office" rant know where I'm going here.
Dear Mr. Shyamalan--If you're going to use an actual place, one in which you reside no less, know that people who live there (or have lived there) will only point and laugh at your geographical inaccuracies. Such as a train from Philadelphia to Harrisburg ending up in Filbert. Or a man leaving Filbert and making it to Princeton before his friends make it to the non-existent Arundell County, which conveniently can only be found on local maps and certainly not on any maps belonging to military personnel (an entire COUNTY, people, not a town). Okay, so tiny little spoilers--trust me, it won't hurt your viewing enjoyment. As always, here is a map for illustration of said inaccuracies. Click to Enlarge. The A pin is Filbert, PA.
Tune in tomorrow for (maybe not so) Scientific research.
"No, " she countered, "he MEANT it to be that way." I was unconvinced. I thought surely Shyamalan would not intentionally make a bad movie--bad dialogue, bad acting, etc. Surely it was just her. No, it had to be intentional, for we know he can actually write a good screenplay and direct.
As I said, I won't go into spoilers, but fans of my "Office" rant know where I'm going here.
Dear Mr. Shyamalan--If you're going to use an actual place, one in which you reside no less, know that people who live there (or have lived there) will only point and laugh at your geographical inaccuracies. Such as a train from Philadelphia to Harrisburg ending up in Filbert. Or a man leaving Filbert and making it to Princeton before his friends make it to the non-existent Arundell County, which conveniently can only be found on local maps and certainly not on any maps belonging to military personnel (an entire COUNTY, people, not a town). Okay, so tiny little spoilers--trust me, it won't hurt your viewing enjoyment. As always, here is a map for illustration of said inaccuracies. Click to Enlarge. The A pin is Filbert, PA.
Tune in tomorrow for (maybe not so) Scientific research. 
1 comment:
Thank you for the review. I think I am going to pass on this one. Unless Marky Mark takes off his shirt. Then I will consider it.
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