The Happening – It’s Crappening

The Happening is a cinematic travesty. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, it has zero in common with some of his finer work. For one thing, it lacks even the hint of a twist—a hallmark of his better movies.

It's also painfully stupid. Boasting Mark Wahlberg as high school science teacher Elliot Moore. Yes, you read that right; he's a science teacher. The Happening is little more than a premise. What happened if the trees starting infecting people with a toxin that would rob them of impulse control?

That's the movie. Nothing comes of that. There is no resolution whatsoever. If you're a viewer of this movie, you don't necessarily care anyway. There's so little to enjoy. From the horrendous acting, to the hammy script, to the dearth of palpable tension, The Happening, like its hapless victims, can't stop itself from causing you pain.

It's a tortuous experience. Hence why it sits at 17% on Rotten Tomatoes with 186 reviews. 

Anyway, sit back, sip a Voodoo Ranger Juice Force IPA from New Belgium Brewing through a hole in your gas mask, and don't piss off the trees! I, the Thunderous Wizard (@WriterTLK), Capt. Cash, Mayor McCheese and Chumpzilla are standing in place until the foliage stops murdering people!

This Week’s Segments:

• Introduction/Plot Breakdown – We've sensed it. We've seen the signs. Now... it's happening! (00:00)
• Lingering Questions – After a word from our brothers in beer at Hop Nation USA, we determine whether The Happening is the pod's new Shit Movie Champion. (35:09)
• The "Crappening" Trivia Challenge – The Double Turn Podcast gets pinned by the wind, and then Chumpzilla challenges the field to trivia about the movie. (55:06)
• Recommendations – We offer our picks for the week and next up: We continue "Hops and Pandemic Flops" with Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City! (1:04:32)

And, as always, hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to check out all the interesting factoids—the unintentional comedy of this movie and more—from this week’s episode!

You can find this episode of Hops and Box Office Flops on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, Acast, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Vurbl, and Amazon Music!

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