The Happening

Here's one of my pet peeve issues: everyone complains when directors do what made them a cult if not household name. It happens all the time with recording artists. Directors as different as Wes Anderson, Francois Truffaut, Wong Kar Wai, and M. Night Shyamalan just like Alfred Hitchcok in another era, basically all make, or made, the same film time after time. Personally I see enough films that style over substance can be a call to sanity against typical weak Hollywood storylines. Shyamalan's a good enough director to make creepiness worth watching.
There's a lot of creep, and shudder, and 9/11 imagery that stirs the soul. And then Night lowers the boom. You're either on the guy's wavelength, or after this film and Unbreakable his train, or you're not. You the reader should continue to scan this review if you want to know what happens after the first reel. Your humble scribe is so plugged into the scene that, for instance, when I saw The Sixth Sense for the first time I already knew Bruce Willis is really dead through the entire film. In other words, spoilers aren't as big a deal to me as to the average filmgoer.
The Happening basically takes the plot of The Day of the Triffids, an early 50s British novel that was made into a cool film in the early 60s, and mixes that with the kind of end of the world scenario that worked for Night in Signs, and in other films like 28 Days Later. In Day of the Triffids a bizarre meteor shower blinds the majority of Earth's population and the titular plants move and devour people. In The Happening everyone has sight, yet cannot see the obvious, and the plants kill without moving.
Try to see past the ad hype that proclaims "his first R-rated film." Yes, there's some spurting blood from head wounds and the guy that lies down in front of an industrial strength lawn mower but it's really the amount of suicides that rapidly happen in a row that throws the alert switch. And after Zohan gets a PG-13 despite its looney sex innuendo it's hard to distinguish the thin line that makes one film adult and another kid friendly.
The Happening has a good explanation for the plant attack. At least the scientific mumble jumble about honey bees disappearing and plants releasing defensive odors or hormones sounds convincing. There's an ecological pessimism that permeates The Happening. You might find yourself talking to plants and trees after you see this movie.

The Singing Revolution

There are some documentaries that have great themes and stories yet are too pedantic to be seated in the pantheon of non-fiction films. The Singing Revolution sums up the history of Estonia. There's a lot of information hurled at the viewer and those with the patience to sort through it will find an uplifting saga where non-violent protest defeats brute totalitarianism.
The first couple of reels recount the history of that region of Europe during the 20th century with an emphasis on Estonia throughout the WWII period. During this time frame they were occupied by Stalin's Russia, the Nazis and then Russia again but this time for another 50 years. A pivotal moment occurs during a 1969 outdoor festival where many in the crowd break the law by singing a banned patriotic song, and thus the title.
Over the next two-plus decades the Estonia political machine moved against their Soviet counterpart like pieces in a chess game until they were at the point of declaring independence. By this time there's a sizable amount of Russians who've been embedded into Estonia's population and are themselves an active political force, only against the grain of Estonia. Near the end the story centers on two individuals who held off troops from the Russian army bent on blowing up the only Estonian television tower broadcasting their message of freedom. Russia at that moment was in the midst of a coup and the TV tower incident marked the true beginning of the new Estonia.
The Singing Revolution, playing exclusively at the Angelika, transports you into an Eastern European mindset. There's a lot to relate to, everything from traditional costumes to their style of communal singing. The scene's not unlike a domestic outdoor folk concert where everyone does their own thing. The director will be in attendance at the Friday June 13 evening screenings.

Hulk smash shit

Remember 100 years ago there was a film that nobody had heard of but when it opened it generated such good word of mouth that it became instantly cool. The film worked because it was a straight forward action packed thriller. Actually it was about 12 years ago and the film was Executive Decision with Kurt Russell. He did the same next year with Breakdown. Which brings us to The Incredible Hulk. In the first reel we have cameos from Bill Bixby and Stan Lee (looking more alive than in his Iron Man cameo) and you don't have to wait that long for the tongue in cheek appearance from Lou Ferrigno. What this says is that Marvel wants audiences to know that this Hulk is ripped from the pages of the comic, and doesn't waste time with unnecessary character development or existential dilemmas.
Since you can't believe anything the movie whore press says just stay away from broken record stories with the same tale of Edward Norton feuding with the studios over final cut. The real story would be the visual momentum that Hulk aims for and, for the most part, delivers. Yes, Hulk looks fake, like most CGI but if you can get past that obvious defect the rest of the film has the tone of happily flipping page by page of a comic that holds your interest.
Marvel has Hulk at Universal and Iron Man at Paramount but what studio will distribute the eventual (2011?) Avengers movie that will unite Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor?

Stuck

A seemingly caring nurse parties hard at a bar after a hard day at work, takes ecstacy and on the way home hits a homeless man. Instead of seeking help she leaves him embedded in her windshield and parks the car in her garage. The next day she takes a cab to work despite the wounded man's plea for help. If the plot to Stuck sounds familiar that's because those events described actually happened in Ft. Worth early this decade.
The events in real life that inspired this film were even weirder but the movie turns it into a moral tale complete with subtext about working for a living, promotions and getting lost in the shuffle. Stuck follows the attempts of the man (Stephen Rea) to get help despite being impaled on the wiper blade and suffering a broken leg. The nurse (Mena Suvari really climbing into the body of an unlikeable character) paints herself in a tragic corner. She enlists the help of her dealer/boyfriend to get rid of the body. Only the guy's not quite dead or ready to give up. We think he may be saved when neighbors hear his cries or a Pomeranian wedges into the closed garage and starts licking the by now unconscious man's wounds.
Director Stuart Gordon gives us an ugly yet ripe portrait of desperation and places the audience in the middle of a real horrific situation, wedged in the passenger's seat if you will. As Rea weaves in and out of pain and consciousness his odds improve and then completely reset to zero. Gordon helmed such horror classics as Re-Animator and From Beyond so he knows how to mix pathos and humor and terror in the right amounts that produce a riveting movie.
At once intimate and yet grizzly Stuck will stick to your memory well after seeing the film (playing exclusively at the Angelika). So the next time you see someone driving and paying more attention to the cell phone in their hand, or perhaps drive past a stand alone single car garage with a closed door, you'll flash to the image of a braided Mena Suvari doing everything but the right thing.