RSS Feeds
Bad-Buzz Watch: M. Night Shyamalan Defaced; Deepak Chopra Stumps for 'Love Guru'
Posted by Defamer Hollywood at 7:45 AM on June 4, 2008
With the exception of Iron Man, the quality of the '08 summer movie vintage has been more than a little underwhelming. While we await salvation (we hope) in the form of July entries The Dark Knight and Tropic Thunder, a glance at the latest downbeat buzz on a few other key offerings has us thinking it might be a long June.
· The Happening: We don't know how much more there is to say about Manoj's Folly, but the accompanying photo suggests the troubled film's marketing campaign may have its own climactic twist ending in mind. Follow the jump for a larger version and the rest of our glimpse at cinema's June swoon.
· The Love Guru: Still no word yet on whether irritable Hindu spiritual leader Rajan Zed had his studio-promised look at Mike Myers' bomb-to-be, but go-to Hindi heartwarmer (and supposed Love Guru influence) Deepak Chopra got loose with both an essay in Guru's defence and a word of support for Myers:
"He said, 'Listen, it's kind of a satire. It's a lampoon,'" Chopra said, recalling Myers' words. "He said on the surface it's like that, but on a deeper level, it's a tribute."
Myers "has the most profound understanding of Eastern wisdom, traditions and spirituality," Chopra said. "In the end, the movie is about self-esteem and love. It is about, in fact, love being the ultimate truth. He goes about it in a very silly, humorous way, but that's his style."
What? It's a comedy? Huh. We'll be damned — literally.
· Get Smart: We're getting a bad feeling about the movie for which we nurtured some of our highest summer hopes. First, there was that excruciating Carell/Rock/Hathaway interlude Sunday at the MTV Movie Awards, during which an audience member was responsible for the funniest joke:
A pair of sources also sent word in recent days that a small press screening last week yielded generally scalding reaction. Warner Bros. , meanwhile, is offering the minimum one screening on each coast the week of its June 20 release — opposite The Love Guru. We might make alternate plans that weekend; maybe the Dark Knight trailer? Like, 40 times in a row?
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
STV
Posted 4:57 AM 4/6/08
@Old No.7: You mean Manoj's movie is different?
STV
TurdBlossom
Posted 4:54 AM 4/6/08
@Victor Ward: You just know the reviews will be all "The Happening that didn't"
TurdBlossom
Old No.7
Posted 4:53 AM 4/6/08
Anything with "Happening" invariably gets me thinking about this:
Old No.7
Victor Ward
Posted 4:32 AM 4/6/08
The Happening is possibly the worst movie title of all time. Could we possibly be more vague? Something happens? Really? Awesome!
Victor Ward
lolacat(ΩΜ)
Posted 5:27 AM 4/6/08
People! I can't wait for "The Happening" to happen! Mystery Science Theater 3000 has been over for a long time and I miss it.
lolacat(ΩΜ)
JudgeFudge
Posted 5:26 AM 4/6/08
Haha, LoLShyamalan!
JudgeFudge
CourageousCoward
Posted 5:21 AM 4/6/08
If that M. Night poster wasn't in a New York subway station, I'd say it had Molls written all over it!
CourageousCoward
Benovite
Posted 5:19 AM 4/6/08
Sequel: The Happenstance
Benovite
KrisP
Posted 5:16 AM 4/6/08
M. Night Shyamalan lost me after Sixth Sense. Signs was meh, The Village was horrible and I couldn't even bring myself to watch Lady in the Water. He's taken himself far too seriously and the predictable "What a twist" drives me nuts.
But I too am looking forward to getting drunk and watching Wall-E.
KrisP
Cam/ron
Posted 5:05 AM 4/6/08
I'm just looking forward to getting drunk and marveling at the 20 million shades of dust used for one 10-second scene in Wall-E.
Cam/ron
Rey
Posted 5:48 AM 4/6/08
All I can think of is:
THIS IS MY HAPPENING, AND IT FREAKS ME OUT!!!
(Courtesy of Mr. Ebert via _Beyond the Valley of the Dolls_)
Rey
enriquez the water bottle
Posted 5:33 AM 4/6/08
@Benovite: And the follow-up trilogy: "Subject," "Verb," and "Predicate."
enriquez the water bottle
Huge Tracts of Land
Posted 6:46 AM 4/6/08
I think it's funny that the TV spots for the Happening say "M. Night Shyamalan's First Rated R Movie!" like I'm 15 years old and that's gonna make me super excited? Eep! I'm so excited I squeezed my juice box too hard!!!
Huge Tracts of Land
KingHater
Posted 6:44 AM 4/6/08
@Old No.7:
Ah, bugger.
KingHater
KingHater
Posted 6:43 AM 4/6/08
They had to change it from the original title, What's Happening!!
KingHater
Benovite
Posted 6:41 AM 4/6/08
@enriquez the water bottle: prequel: Something
Benovite
WGARefugee
Posted 7:22 AM 4/6/08
Simply another case of writer-director disease. Every writer has scripts that don't work that they are too emotionally attached to to hear the shrill warning from their built-in shock resistant shit detector. They get submitted, turned down all over town, and either never get made or, rarely, they get enough constructive criticism to make the script work. M. Night, on the other hand, doesn't take notes because he's an auteur. Working with a writing partner, like Alejandro Amenábar does, restores some critical distance and dignity to the proceedings.
WGARefugee
Losin_it
Posted 8:11 AM 4/6/08
This is merely Night's updating on the "What's Happening" legend. Sort of a manoj au trois.
Losin_it
enriquez the water bottle
Posted 7:49 AM 4/6/08
@Benovite: Finally leading to "Stuff."
enriquez the water bottle
DrAftershave
Posted 8:33 AM 4/6/08
sadly, "The Penis" would be a more interesting story from M. Night. can you imagine the twist in that story? wait, the words "twist" and "penis" should NEVER be that close together.
DrAftershave
Cultmember
Posted 8:39 AM 4/6/08
The Crappening.
Cultmember
martini-shark
Posted 10:58 AM 4/6/08
"The Happening" sounds like something conjured up by Disney's "Imagineers".
martini-shark
WasatchMan
Posted 11:58 AM 4/6/08
Well, look at it this way: another bomb for Steve Carell and he'll be Michael Scott for the foreseeable future.
WasatchMan
Supercharo
Posted 1:33 PM 4/6/08
@Old No.7: or this:
+ Watch video
Supercharo
fuddes
Posted 4:32 AM 5/6/08
Sadly, Steve Carell is going the way of Mike Myers. He does one character well, and we're tired of that character.
fuddes
Inkymonkey
Posted 5:16 AM 5/6/08
"There appears to be an event happening," is the worst line of dialogue I have ever heard in my life, and I love MST3K. I can't believe that ego freak put it in his trailer.
Actually, yes I can. Time to go back to Creative Writing 117, Shammy.
Inkymonkey