First Trailer for M.Night's HAPPENING

Well, I'll be damned. Call me intrigued. After Lady in the Water and The Village I was ready to give up on good ole Night. But I have to say he caught my attention. I wonder if the people are killing each other or themselves though. Hmm.

I might just see this as it marks the first time some one talked M. Night into, you know, go back to the drawing board to fix whatever glaring problem his script had the first time around. Maybe this will be his first film that is consistently good from beginning through to the end.

And I'm not ragging on the guy, so much as I am commenting that his flicks are usually decent for the first two acts. But then he tries too hard to be clever, or just loses interest, and things fall apart from then on.

Maybe he is finally gotten away from his Disney/ Stewart Little roots... in short... the kid gloves are now off...

Well the guys three wins, two losses for me, I loved the Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs, but I really did not like The Village and no one I talked to really had anything good to say about Lady in the Water so I never saw it.

I hope it has a little more originality put into it than the editing of the trailer did. Is there some sort of Action-Movie-Trailer-o-Matic out there in Hollywood now?

As to the content under the editing cliche, it might be interesting, but as rudewordsmith notes, M. Night tries too hard to be clever. I immediately thought, "probably another cool premise that never satisfies."

I think most people judge M’s movies because they don’t understand them fully. His movies have a content that has to be discerned closely. Most movies are form based, not very original. Most movies have no real purpose or point. M’s movies have a content that is very deep. M uses the form to show us a deeper content. If we go looking for form, then that is what we will get. Let me explain the content of the village. M is telling us the content of the problem is within us. The desire to hurt another (for what ever reason – jealousy, revenge, money etc.) cannot be solved by controlling form (changing the location of where we live, living simply, or with holding secrets etc.)The problem of society is not in society, it’s within us. We take the problem with us, no matter where we go, even if we attempt to keep our past a secret and even if we teach our young nothing but perfect values. M is telling us this problem will always manifest no matter how we attempt to control the form. M is showing us we have to solve the problem by being honest and open with ourselves. We will not solve the problem by controlling the form.

Moviewatcher...A directors objective should be to entertain and not make us think, that's what documentaries are for, now I know that sounds simplistic but it's the truth...I know allot of people would argue against that thought process and that some movies by certain directors ask you too put some thought into what they are trying to say but the medium in the past and why it was created in the first place was to entertain us...Don't get me wrong I understand what you are saying and I have walked out of a theater after watching M's movies and had to think about it for awhile but what it all comes down to is, were you entertained and did you enjoy the subject matter to some degree...I don't debate what a director is trying to say to an audience because I don't get that deep into the sub text or underlying meaning although I do to get a better understanding to what the story is trying to tell me if I clue myself into it...I guess my point however vague it may be is to enjoy a movie and let your everyday thought process settle into a comfortable sleep, if people are trying to figure out the meaning of life based on a movie then they are in deep trouble...I can walk away from a movie and think to myself that means something and I want to know more but more often than not I walk away knowing I was entertained...I am simple and find that works for me and what I am trying to say and get across to others... Having said that, to each his or hers own...
P.S. I can't watch the damn trailer! Oh well...

mlaforcer…… Being entertained isn’t good or bad but there is a consequence if we want to be entertained. I was simply showing that there is a content in M’s movies that is usually never seen. In response to your comment “I guess my point however vague it may be is to enjoy a movie and let your everyday thought process settle into a comfortable sleep.” The problem is that the everyday thought process is sleepy. M uses the movie medium for a purpose of showing people that they are sleeping. Most people are sleeping their lives away. Let me make a point. We go to movies to be entertained, sometimes we go in to a movie and we come out very excited, sometimes we come out angry or even upset at the movie. The movie itself is neutral it’s just a dam movie, a bunch of images being projected through a machine. One person can be sitting there all excited; another two seats down can get up and walk out because it’s too boring. We give all the images the meaning it has for us, its all relative. Here are a few questions: Who is feeling for us? Does the image tell us how to feel? Or do we tell ourselves a story through our sleepy thought process?

My point is we make ourselves sleepy by projecting meaning on the screen. We give our peace, our sanity away to a screen filled with images. We also do this in our day to day life. The screen of the theater is no different than the world; it’s all images. Only the sleepy would get upset at an image on a screen. Only the sleepy would allow a movie to dictate its emotional response. We are never upset for the reason we think. The problem is our expectation, our want; we go into the movie or life wanting something. And if we don’t get what we want we get upset, just like a child gets upset if it doesn’t get what it wants. We never really grow up; we just become more sophisticated at trying to get what we think we want (movies, entertainment). Isn’t this sleepy? We tell ourselves a story, I want to forget about the world, I want to be entertained. But entertainment has a consequence, if I don’t get what I want then I will loose my peace of mind. I am not advocating analyzing movies either, it takes no analysis to see content; it can be automatic if we choose to see content.

why then, if we are to just be entertained, did the matrix have such appeal.

i for one was more than entertained by the matrix. for me it and the sequels have a deeper meaning.

i think that m.night has some great movies and although i think that he is entertaining, i agree that there is a message in what he puts on screen.

out of all of the messages that he puts out my favorite was in signs. we never know why things happen, and at times things that seem random can come together and have a crystal clear focus.

i believe that all of my favorite movies are ones that make me think.

i say good for mnight putting in some deep thought.

although if i were him i would leave the kids stories at home...

Moviewatcher...Point taken to heart...Since you put it that way I revoke my initial statement, and now that I have thought about it I have walked away from a movie with feelings of wanting to know more about the subject matter and not just walk away feeling that was an entertaining movie...I sometimes write before thinking about what is really being said and then someone like you puts me in place and makes me think, ya there is more to this than I had originally thought and I must confess I do like a movie that makes me think about the bigger picture, like Into the Wild or There will be blood...Thanks for tuning me into the obvious because I need a kick in the ass to show me there is more than just entertainment...
Mahalo and take care...