I liked the Sixth Sense, even Lady in the Water somewhat, but why M. Night Shymalan why must you give us The Happening. I had great expectations with this movie. I had watched the HBO “behind-the-scenes” for the movie and it sounded intriguing, but it turned out to be a big waste of $14.00. I would have been better off just lighting the money on fire; at least that would have been a bit more exciting, more realistic and perhaps more suspenseful then this film.

Here’s hubby’s three word review: Worst. Movie. Ever. That pretty much sums it up.

What’s truly disappointing is the fact that M. Night starts with an interesting premise (the first enigmatic scenes of the film show promise) and goes no where with it – for 90 grueling minutes. I found myself laughing at points where nail biting should have occurred. I don’t know if M. Night is starting to “dumb-down” his recent movies, or he just got lucky with his previous work, but something has gone horribly, horribly wrong.

I don’t want to give anything away, but I feel it’s my duty to urge you in the strongest words possible not to waste your money or your time on this film. For a real run down on the film’s many, many, many failures just visit this site.

When hubby and I were in “lovely” Bakersfield we saw some movies to pass the monotonous time that accumulates in the central valley. The two movies we saw were ‘The Golden Compass’ and ‘No Country For Old Men’. Both are drastically different. Hubby wasn’t too thrilled with ‘The Golden Compass’. He thought it was definitely a “chick flick”, being that the main character and narrator of the film was a little girl. I agreed with him somewhat, but I thought the movie was more a kid’s movie rather than a “chick flick”. Also, I thought the anti-religious tone was going to be much stronger. But, being an atheist I didn’t have a problem with “dust” and souls being out side the body in the forms of animals (and might I add, who was high when they thought that up).

Now onto the “guy’s movie”. I’ve just seen ‘No Country For Old Men’ twice and frankly I think it’s a “guy’s movie”. I do think the film is very well done and the acting is great (how incredibly scary is the psychopath killer). Hubby thinks that “No Country” is a fabulous movie, one of the best he’s ever seen. I was a bit too tense through the whole movie to really enjoy myself – even the second time around when I knew what was going to happen. Maybe because the film centers around men I feel as if it’s a “guy’s movie”? I really don’t know. All I know, is that ‘No Country For Old Men’ makes me tense and frankly I’d rather watch a “chick flick”.

A few days ago hubby & I saw the movie ‘The Mist’. The movie looked fun and a great way to spend an afternoon. Alas, I was a bit let down (as I am with most movies these days). I don’t know why, but the movie had a feeling of a made for TV movie. The movie was based on a Stephen King novel of the same name. Hubby had read the book, so he knew what was going to happen, however I didn’t. This made the movie a bit more enjoyable for me, but I still could see exactly where it was going. Most of the initial dialog seemed almost ad libbed. There was also very little dramatic build up; as the movie begins they see the mist across the lake, then the main character goes into town and all of a sudden the mist just shows up. The sound track for the movie (or lack there of) didn’t help with building suspense either.

What’s hard to believe is that ‘The Mist’ was directed by the same guy who did ‘The Shawshank Redemption’. Knowing that makes ‘The Mist’ seem all that more disappointing and armature for such a director.

Our theater going experience probably didn’t help things either. When we first took our seats, previews were showing (some horrible looking “comedy” featuring Matthew McConaughey) I thought alright this better be worth $7.00. However, soon the previews stopped and the lights soon came on. As we looked around bewildered an usher entered and told us (all 10 of us) we had to move to another screen. Well darn it. When we arrived at the new screen the movie had already started (about 10 minutes into it) and some lady very loudly made all of us aware that she knew it as well. I expected another usher to arrive and tell us that they would restart the movie, but no one came. Also, annoying was the fact that half of the lights never completely went out.

Damn, $7.00 wasted on a made for TV movie. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon, too bad I wasn’t sitting on my couch at home.

Yay for the Merry Maids! They came today for their very first cleaning of our house and did a fabulous job. The floors are all spotless and their cleaning products made our house smell like cinnamon! Our old maids in Oceanside used cleaning products that smelled, well … like cleaning products. YAY!

On a completely unrelated note, my father-in-law has been visiting for a few days and I hate to admit it but I can’t wait for him to leave. The only good thing about him being here is that hubby & him watch sports on the bedroom TV so I can watch girly movies by myself on our other TV. A couple of days ago I watched ‘The Lake House’, & a little more than half of ‘Friends With Money’. ‘Friends With Money’ was entertaining but ‘The Lake House’ was pretty unbearable & the story line was very predictable. Last night I watched ‘The Object of my Affection’, a movie with Jennifer Aniston way back in ‘97. It was okay, however much like the ‘Lake House’ I could see exactly where the movie was going. I also watched ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ on Tuner Classic Movies. However, I didn’t realize it was Turner Classic Movies and was cringing as to where a commercial was going to cut in. After awhile I realized that the channel was in fact Turner Classic Movies and the “commercial-cutting-in-stress” melted away. That is such a great movie (everyone now sing the du du du du du notes that run a consistent theme throughout the movie), thanks that was fun.

Back to the father-in-law. Tonight the three of us are going out to dinner. This is always an interesting experience. Will father-in-law complain about the food to the poor waiter? Will he make a racial comment with out even knowing it? Will he dress in sweats? Will he order too much booze and start to swear loudly? This is what plagues me and hubby during every outing. During these “lovely” dining experiences I usually go to the restroom after we’ve ordered our food, just so I can “escape” the table for a few minutes. And also so my head just doesn’t explode. Anyway, this is what I’m in for tonight. Wish me luck.