(no subject)

[proximoception]

I forgot The Happening. Shyamalan actually has a knack for making movies but a) the role he's chosen forces him to come up with such overelaborate premises that large swathes of stupid, esp. near the climax, are probably inevitable and b) totally sabotaged whatever he was going for here by casting Marky Mark as a science teacher. Most unintentionally hilarious acting I've seen since Keanu Reeves in The Lake House--people have apparently been mocking him for his Earth Stood Still job, but I thought he was great for the part. It's when he plays someone who is supposed to be at home in a human body that he's ridiculous.

Comments

[grashupfer.livejournal.com]

This gave me a chuckle that felt good, which is impressive since I didn't sleep last night. I've found that if you watch Shyamalan with the idea in mind that he's making bad movies intentionally, they're more enjoyable. Thinking along these same lines has rescued the latter seasons of The Simpsons for me since they've been making bad shows with full intent for years now. Also, re: Keanu... I think the same thing about DiCaprio. Best actor in the world in scenes that don't require speaking. He can hide the fact that he has no soul if he's not asked to speak to another human.

[proximoception.livejournal.com]

He does have no soul! Never been able to put my finger on what's wrong with that guy. Julie's theory re. The Simpsons used to be that the best writers went over to Futurama, but I think she's abandoned it since Futurama came back awful.

[thelican.livejournal.com]

Very true, about this impossible role he's chosen for himself. Curiously, while I wouldn't miss his other movies (the tempting premise of a twisty reveal aside), something about The Village kept fascinating me - I think it was the peripheral story of how certain mythologies are born. (Oh, and I enjoyed The Lady in the Water; at the time, it seemed like such a nice story-teller's story to me.) But, yeah, I have no desire to see The Happening; it just looks way too didactic.

Excellent point about Keanu, too.

[proximoception.livejournal.com]

Lady in the Water we haven't seen yet (The Happening is priceless, don't miss it!). There was definitely something to The Village, it was just mangled by the absurd guessability and absurd everything else of the plot. Julie and I doubled over at the end when that security guard, was that the director himself?, expositronically volunteered his superbly silly, further-questions-raising explanation about why no planes were ever visible.

[thelican.livejournal.com]

Oh, you have yet to persuade me to see The Happening, but perhaps someday I will be in one of those situations when one finds oneself, regardless of all the movies one really wants to see, watching The Happening. And I will remember your remarks.

I think it's definitely hard for him to escape those expositronically (excellent coinage, btw) volunteered explanations when the twists and reveals become required components.