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Title: The Happening
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Year: 2008
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Format Reviewed: Film

I hesitate to even give this film a genre, because Shyamalan doesn’t seem to follow genre’s anymore. Well it’s arguable if he ever did. Lets get it out of the way. His movies aren’t that scary. There are a few shockers, a few “wtf is going on?!” moments, and a lot of fantasy play. This goes for everything since The Sixth Sense, which I’m finding to be more and more the outcast, rather than the epitome of Shyamalan’s work.

So why go on about the director? Well, I just wanted to bust a few myth’s about him and his career (and inflame some of the internet, as if it needed to be done) before we move on to the movie. You see, a lot of people don’t understand his movies. Critics certainly don’t. Look no further than reviews of Lady in the Water. Shyamalan is often criticized of having dumb characters, plots, and just plain not making sense or being interesting. Harsh. But that’s only if you look at them with the narrow mind-set of comparing it to genre classics and mainstream blockbusters.

Sometime you have to take a movie a bit more light-heartedly and try to enjoy it as a dose of entertainment.  Here is a great example.  The plot and characters should not be taken so strictly into having dramatic, realistic performances, but rather as an emphasis on the role of the audience in moving the mystery of the plot forward. Shyamalan has done this from the very beginning: throw the audience a teaser trailer of what looks to be a captivating thriller with a number of scary moments, then at the release relax the film to unfold a mystery with a very simple plot with a several missing details. And so The Happening has very little to do with its image of a post-Apocalypse thriller.  In fact, there is a lot more comedy than thrills in the movie.

The Happening contains Shyamalan’s best attempt at a deeper message in a movie yet. Using very pop cultural references in nearly every non-action scene, and his usual style of dialogue, The Happening reveals both it’s superficial and deeper message at the same time. It’s one of those “if you get it,” then you will understand every little detail of the movie. If you don’t… well, it’s still a fun ride. The imagery and pace is as good as it has always been for him, so by the end of the runtime it feels fresh, compact, and lightly satisfying.

Although it is released as a mainstream movie, The Happening would be better off as an art house flick. It’s style is connected so much with it’s auteur that it shouldn’t be compared with other epics and polished classics. You can like this style or not, but there ought not to be an automatic demerit because of personal preferences. Unfortunately many will be disappointed as they were with The Village and Signs, but anyone who enjoyed those should appreciate The Happening for the story and message it quite successfully portrays.

Rating: 3 /5

Title: Planet B-Boy
Director: Benson Lee
Year: 2008
Genre: Documentary
Format Reviewed: Film

Planet B-Boy is a documentary about hip-hop inspired break dancing.  The film explores the phenomenon and how it spread throughout the world, how it is perceived, and how it is continued in the past few years, in a worldwide competition held in Germany.  Although it is nice to get an overall background on the subject (especially for those not familiar with it but have an interest, like myself), the real prize of this movie is seeing what b-boy’ing means to each country’s team, and more specifically to each b-boy themselves.  The story follows several top-ranking teams from around the world in a way that it shows the true unification power of what the dance can bring, as well as inspiring and empowering the viewer, as the b-boy’s have done themselves, to pursue their own dreams.

The poster for this movie may be a poor portrayal of b-boy’ing.  That is, you can’t really feel the music in a still picture like this.  B-boy dancing can only be truly felt with the motion picture and music going through your body.  This is surely the one thing the film must do without being a failure.  Even if the story was poor, the characters dumb, and run time too long… anyone going in to see this movie is wanting to see some good dancing.  Planet B-Boy does this well in many eye-candy shots of b-boy’ing in public places around the world, and performances from the world competition which serve as the climax of the film.

But the climax is not so just for pure enjoyment of the music and dancing.  There is an emotional intensity to the story, as we see the backgrounds of each team and their members.  They all seem to have different reasons to dance, and victory is a means to some other personal goal.  Even further, one can’t help but get caught up in watching another person work year-after-year to pursue what they love and find a way to express themselves.  It truly gives a perspective on life and begs the viewer to ask themselves: What are you doing to express yourself?  And are you working towards your personal goals in life?  There is nothing more empowering than seeing another human being reach this state of near-nirvana.

reviewer’s note: the film is “unrated,” but is safe for all ages.

Rating: 5 /5

Alright, another year of free, great Japanese cinema courtesy of yours truly’s alma mater. I’ve been going to these series (summer and fall) for several years, since I took a Japanese Cinema course at UofMichigan. I highly recommend viewing of any and all of these if you happen to be in the area. I’ve seen half of the films on the list for this summer, and will include my rating for them on the side.

I will really be looking forward to seeing the ones that I haven’t seen yet, and am always up for seeing Kairo again. Don’t be fooled… it’s not the junky American version of Pulse! Retribution was not bad, and Audition is a must-see for any serious fan of film, horror, or Japanese film.

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Summer 2008 Film Series: “Summer Chills: Japanese Horror Films”

Friday, July 18th ~ PULSE (KAIRO) – Rating: 5/5
Friday, July 25th ~ ONIBABA
Friday, August 1st ~ KWAIDAN (KAIDAN)
Friday, August 8th ~ HELL (JIGOKU)
Friday, August 15th ~ RETRIBUTION (SAKEBI) – Rating: 3/5
Friday, August 22nd ~ AUDITION (ODISHON) – Ratin: 5/5
Link: UofM Ann Arbor – Center for Japanese Studies

Title: Son of Rambow
Director: Garth Jennings
Year: 2007
Genre: Comedy
Format Reviewed: Film

I certainly went back and forth in whether or not I wanted to see Son of Rambow. In the end, I trusted some positive reviews and was bored enough to go check it out. Thankfully, I did. This is a great film. Very light-hearted and clever. If you want the bottom line: I didn’t find any flaws in it, at all.

So you follow the boy who appears on the poster to the left. He is the epitome of the term: protagonist. He grows up in a restrictive, religious household void of all electronics, in 1970s England. Rambo has just hit the theaters, and with the help of a trouble-maker become blood-brother, our boy grows a passion for the character Rambo. It is obvious that him and his new friend have a lot of talent, and it’s funny how they resemble a grown-up writer/director duo.

On our story of liberation, many quirky characters come into play, the best of which is a hilarious characterization in a French exchange student. With their help, the production becomes fairly complex, while the tensions arise between our two main characters. The acting of some “emotional” scenes aren’t the best, but you can’t blame them for not being child prodigy actors. I wouldn’t say the film is “cheesy” in any parts, because while there is some silly comedy, that is the goal of this movie. The story is not bad at all, and shouldn’t overlooked either. If you want, you can read into the plot and get some deeper message, but it’s quite subtle. It’s a great movie for all!

Rating: 4 /5