Closet Sci-Fi Geek

Jensen Ackles Does Eye of the Tiger

OK…I am officially in love with Jensen Ackles…how hilarious is this? Love it!

The Happening

I generally enjoy everything that M. Night Shyamalan puts out, and The Happening was no exception. Like most of Shyamalan’s films, people either seem to love or hate The Happening. If you want a lot of fast past action and special effects, The Happening is not for you. If you want a quiet thriller that has some pretty gory, scary moments, then you’ll like The Happening.

I won’t give the plot away in case you haven’t seen it, but consider that some inspiration was provided by the disappearing bees lost through colony collapse syndrome. (This may or not may make the film more appealing.) I liked the concept, though scientifically it is a bit far-fetched.

I will comment briefly on the casting. Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel play a husband and wife with relationship problems who are running from The Happening. I don’t have anything against either of them, but together they were an odd couple. Deschanel is not my favorite actress; her appeal is limited to her playing a wide-eyed deer-in-the-headlights female. Compared to her youthful, fresh face, Wahlberg is aging (badly) and the chemistry between them was non-existent. But I liked Wahlberg even though he’s starting to look a little too rough around the edges.

So the while the casting was so-so, the film had its strange and horrific concept going for it. The Happening manages to make wind and trees scary, so for that I’ll give it an A-.

Pushing Daisies Season Premiere

I am glad to see Pushing Daisies back, but alas, the season premiere was not as good as it could have been. Probably due to fallout from last year’s writer’s strike, this episode looked like they tried to smush a half a season of storylines into one episode. One of the aunt’s had a confession - Olive goes to a nunnery - it was all rushed and forced.

And one gripe - can we get past the “keeping Chuck secret from the aunts” bit? I mean, c’mon, the women are heartbroken, can’t you trust them with the knowledge that Chuck is still alive? It’s not like they’re the types to rush out and tell the media…

Still, glad it’s back…