THE WHA???

[thehefner]

Man, I actually feel kinda bad for M. Night Shyamalan. I've been following the reviews of THE HAPPENING*, and more than once have I read someone say, "This is the sort of film that ends careers."

Honestly, I think the exact moment Shyamalan went wrong was when he buckled to negative pressure and abandoned his plans to do UNBREAKABLE as a trilogy. I mean, I've never seen SIGNS nor most of THE VILLAGE, and I know those films have their defenders, but it's pretty clear that it's generally been a downhill progression. Without ignoring nor excusing its flaws--pretentious, overly serious, the "whatta tweest!" moment, to name a few--I still consider UNBREAKABLE to be his peak, and deeply wish he could have seen that vision come to life. As such, it sort of feels like my own FIREFLY: a great start with such potential, cut down and dicked over too soon.

Then again, so many people hate UNBREAKABLE as well that it's easy for me to start doubting my own feelings. I need to give it a reviewing sometime, see how well it holds up on snotty snobby 2008 John Hefner. Especially as Shyamalan--who it seems has a reputation for being an egotistical asshole--gets served a hearty slice of humble pie ala mode.

I will say this, though: I feel damn sorry for his cast. Especially my hero John Leguizamo, but hell, it'd hardly be the worst thing he's done (y halo thar, SPAWN). Also, I may have newfound respect for Mark Wahlberg, as when he was asked if there was any chance for a Funky Bunch reunion, he responded, "not a fucking chance." He went on to say: “Part of me would love to run around and act like a freaking asshole again but I can’t do that. I’ve got two kids. I saw something on VH1 or something about me in the 90s and I thought, oh my God, how am I going to explain this to my kids? I have a few years to think about how to finesse it but I do think about it on a daily basis.”

By the way, while we're talking about the poor cast, this is as good a time as any to discuss Zooey Deschanel. I know everyone finds her incredible adorable and wonderful, so I'm fairly certain I'm the only person who finds her incredibly off-putting. Maybe it's because my first exposure to her was THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, where I did not believe for one second why Arthur Dent would ever, ever, ever possibly be pining after this cold airhead who was unfriendly to him and far more interested in the exciting asshole with the bread laser knife. Then again, I might have gotten it if they had cast, say, Elizabeth Banks as Trillian.

Ever since, I've always felt like Zooey Deschanel was the kind of girl who would constantly be giving me the "what's your problem?" look. The kind of girl who would push me to sell my comic collection, or at least move them to the basement. Which I can't, obviously, because Dad's down there.



BLITEOTW




*I'm rather fond of the nickname one critic gave it: THE WHA???

Comments

[disc-sophist.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there are other choices, but she's the right type, definitely.

I refer to both posts. The fact that you're using your father is... unsettling. It's so simple, and maybe you weren't even thinking that much about it, but it somehow manages to make me feel both upset and impressed. The former is always worth it to get the latter. I'm not often impressed. I hope that doesn't come out sounding too horrible. *hugs*

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Once I learned that it was bliteotw, it was the first thing that popped into my head, especially considering what I wrote for last year's, which was honestly a very cathartic experience for me at the time. Any other time, I would have just gone ahead and written a Johnny Go type post or something, but that was the very day I learned that his cancer wasn't going into remission, and so I just... ran with it.

This time around, I actually went back and forth for about ten minutes wondering whether or not to actually do this. If nothing else, for fear that some people would consider it too crass and tasteless. Not that it isn't crass and tasteless, but I'm deeply gratified to see you at least know there's more going on there.

In any case, I don't think you have to worry about being the one who comes off sounding too horrible. *hugs back*

[angrylemur.livejournal.com]

I think there comes a point when you're allowed to use your family - especially your parents - for crass, tasteless jokes. I mean, after putting up with so much crap, if you're not allowed a cheap laugh here and there, what's the point?

That sounds REALLY terrible. But fuck it, you know what I mean.

And I think Zooey Deschanel is cute. But mostly because I saw her in Weeds before I saw her in The Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy, and in Weeds the writers take everything that makes her off-putting and use it perfectly to create a brilliantly crazy character.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

That's the spirit! Welp, at least I know I'll be in good company in Hell.

I probably will get to WEEDS one of these days, once I catch up with LOST, BATTLESTAR GALACTACA, THE SHIELD, THE WIRE, and DEXTER, and I will see if that can finally show me her appeal.