the big, the green, and the ugly

the happening--
even the most ardent m. night shyamalan supporters must acknowledge that the director's product has been in steady decline since he exploded onto the hollywood scene in 1999 with the sixth sense. i felt, going in, that this would be a crucial film for him, considering. smart marketing (including his first R rating) and his reputation for harrowing tales buoyed the first-week take beyond $30M. next week mark the precipitous drop in receipts, cuz this movie stinks. in the past, even when his writing was subpar, his direction impressed, often inspired. here, it's All bad. acting? mark wahlberg gives his worst, while zooey deschanel is simply awful. story? i won't even get into the grade school didacticsim on display. perhaps the title is meant to offer vague reasoning for his own fall from grace; i'm now doubtful we'll ever see greatness from shyamalan again.
stinks: 1 star

the incredible hulk--
everyone wants to know: Is it better than ang lee's hulk, released only five years ago? well, it's certainly different. things, overall, have been markedly so since marvel started running their own show. already steering two franchise characters (iron man and hulk) to top of the box office, the new kids on the hollywood block seem to have a grasp on what their comic fans want to see. that's Action. not weighted down with gravitas, dull exposition, or even much backstory (film smartly doses you with need-to-know info in opening credits), this hulk gets the job done in the trenches. i'm not keen on the casting (william hurt as a career military man?), yet the actors are game. tim blake nelson and tim roth shine. cgi is, uhh, good enough, and script inoffensive. predictable (and apropos) Green light for sequel & director louis leterrier.
action: 2 stars