Movie Review: The Happening

Sorry Andrew, I know you started doing movie reviews as well, and Im not trying to steal your idea, but I HAD to give my review on this one before anyone else (or at least, anyone who reads my blog, I guess that would be you Andrew) wastes their money watching this drivel. So here it is:

BEWARE - THIS MAY SPOIL THE MOVIE FOR YOU

Wow, with all the hype and build-up, all the trailers and big names, I expected The Happening to be much better than this. Totally let down after all is said and done. I walked out of the theatre thinking, "I just wasted $9 on this?" Really dissapointing overall.

The acting was pretty good, and Mark Whalberg is oddly funny throughout the entire movie, his performance makes it worth watching. And Zooey Deschanel seems as if in a trance the entire movie, which is really odd considering what is going on in the movie. But wait until its out on dvd, dont waste $9 on it in the theatre.

The story starts out good, captures your attention right away, people commiting suicide for no apparant reason, and in some VERY gruesome ways. People panic, they run, but they cant hide, the "happening" is happening all over the East coast, but no one knows why, no one knows what is causing it, is it terrorists, maybe the government or possibly the plants? Once the stars of the movie get out of town and into the middle of nowhere the movie slows down to a crawl right to the end, and then..... its over. Huh? What? Seriously, its ending like this? Terrible! The master of the suprise ending gives you another suprise, there is no suprise, no closure, it just ends.

I think if the ending had been better, the whole movie might not be such a flop, but.... most people remember how a movie ends, good endings can make up for somewhat bad movies, but a bad ending will KILL an otherwise good movie. Thats what happened to The Happening.

Over all grade: D

Congratulations, youre a slime ball.

Oh the lengths people will go to get a job...

An Indian man, frustrated at failing to find employment, ordered the murder of
his father to get his government job...

What? (side note, why do I feel like I am saying "What?" a lot lately? Not your typical what, but a dumbfounded completely unable to understand why someone would do something, what.) Congratulations, you are now officially a slime ball. But wait! The story gets worse...

a day before the victim was to retire.

Thats right, his father was set to retire the next day. I know I want to put in 50+ years in a job then get whacked the day before I retire, by my own son! Idiot!

But lets not stop there...

The son had paid a relative about $2,500 to carry out the crime which was
committed at the weekend...

Thats right, he paid his cousin or uncle or maybe his brother, who knows, to kill his dad. Not some hood rat off the street, but a family member! Dont know what to get dad for Fathers day? Just have your cousin kill him! Are you kidding me? You are now lower than slime, not sure what that is, but you are now it!

Oh and his reason for killing his dad?

he planned to claim his father's job on the grounds that he died while still at
work

Full story here: http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN0335766120080603?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

From Bad to Verse?

Ok... is this really the message we want to send to teenagers? A bunch of kids in Vermont decided to throw a "party" at the old home of Robert Frost. There was beer and drugs and teenagers. That lead to broken furniture, vomit and urine on the floor and general trashing of the old farmhome.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080602/ap_on_re_us/poetic_justice

"I guess I was thinking that if these teens had a better understanding of who
Robert Frost was and his contribution to our society, that they would be more
respectful of other people's property in the future and would also learn
something from the experience," said prosecutor John Quinn.

What? They dont care who Robert Frost is. You think they wouldnt have done the same thing in Ben Franklin or Bill Shakesphere's house? Uh... Right... Im sure one of the kids that got invited didnt go because they figured it wouldnt be right to party and then trash Bob Frost's crib. I bet it went down like this:

Party thrower "dude wanna get drunk at my party this weekend?"
Smart Kid "of course! Where is the party?"
Party thrower "At that old farm house at the end of that road. You know the one, its empty, we can trash it when we get good and drunk."
Smart Kid "dude dont you know that Robert Frost used to live there? We cant trash Robert Frost's house!"
Party thrower "Robert who?"

Right... I bet it went down just like that. And to top it all off, their punishment? They are "being required to take classes in his poetry as part of their punishment." Seriously? Because Im sure thats going to make a difference.


Said one kid after the first poetry punishment session: "After this, I'm thinking about staying out of trouble, because this is my last chance." I'm thinking about staying out of trouble... didnt quite convince the poor kid, he/she is only "thinking" about it. I'm sure most of these kids are "thinking" that if this is the punishement they get for trashing a museum of Robert Frost's old house, then why stop breaking the law? Why not go straight into bank robbery? As punishment maybe they will have to work at the mint, because im sure if they knew how money was made they wouldnt want to steal it! Idiots!