The Happening Challenge

By now, you're probably all too aware of the fact that M. Night Shyamalan's The Wha?? opens tomorrow, Friday the 13th. Really, the anticipation is almost palpable: You can almost feel the trees exhaling dumb mysteries, the bodies dropping (in laughter), and the exasperated sighs of moviegoers everywhere saying, "Oh, come on." Even Shyamalan has low expectations for the movie:

"I wanted it to be a fantastic, fun B-movie," Shyamalan told Reuters in a recent interview about the eighth film he has written and directed. "The No. 1 thing is I want people to say: 'That was a really fun B-movie.'"

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It is precisely for these reasons (and my extremely low tolerance for Shyamalanian twists) that Keith has challenged me to go see The Happening tomorrow, and report back here to you with my findings. How anti-climactic will the cause of 'the happening' be? Will I be able to take Mark Whalberg seriously? How many minutes until I start to envy the people committing suicide? How many people will exit the theater saying, "That was a really fun B-movie"? Can the movie surpass the mysteriousness of Shyamalan's American Express commercial? We'll find out tomorrow!

In the meantime, the trailer below outlines some other reasons why you should see the movie (besides "someone dared me to"):

First you "[6th] sense" it, and there are "Signs"? Very subtle. Unfortunately, then you see a "lady in the water" lurching towards "the village," and you want to run in the other direction. Another big selling point of the movie? It's rated R! So maybe if you're lucky you can swing by the movie theater to see it with your dad after you get your learner's permit.