The Happening

Day 157 - 6/6/09 - Movie #157

BEFORE: Friday night, we went to B.B. King's in Times Square to see Dennis DeYoung, formerly of Styx, perform with an acoustic trio that included Glen Burtnik (formerly of both Styx and REO Speedwagon) and Jeff Watson (formerly of Night Ranger). It's the third time that we've seen a "nostalgia" act there, the previous were Toto and Air Supply, and having seen Styx twice without DeYoung in the line-up, this was just done to complete the cycle. Two complaints: in between the perfunctory "Babe", "Lady" and "Come Sail Away" were just too darn many cuts from the new album. I realize you need to pimp it, but that doesn't mean the audience actually wants to HEAR it. Second complaint: people really have forgotten how to act in public places. B.B. King's is a combination restaurant and concert venue, so they tend to seat you across from your dinner companion, so it's really not appropriate during the performance of "Desert Moon" for someone to tell their friend, at full volume, that this was his biggest solo hit, from an album released in 1985, and that the video had a LOT OF PERSONAL MEANING FOR HIM! Some of us want to hear the music, Screamy!

I stayed up all night to catch a morning train to Rhode Island, so I had time for a movie early on Sat. morning. Enough sci-fi and robots, lets get back to basics - like real end-of-the-world stuff. This is one of the few films by M. Night Shyamalan that I know almost nothing about, so any twist or shock ending won't be spoiled for me.

THE PLOT: A strange, horrible and unprecedented crisis begins in Central Park. A high school science teacher, his wife and a young girl do what they can to survive it.

AFTER: Obviously I don't want to spoil the ending (or its explanation) for anyone else - instead I'll quote the late, great George Carlin on environmental issues:

"there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are f**ked. Difference. Difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years."

"The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we're gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, 'cause that's what it does. It's a self-correcting system."

"I think, to be fair, the planet sees us as a mild threat. Something to be dealt with. And the planet can defend itself in an organized, collective way, the way a beehive or an ant colony can. A collective defense mechanism."

I can't quote any more, because Carlin's monologue then hits very close to the plot of this movie. In fact, it might even have inspired the plot. Bottom line, I'm not a big fan of horror movies, and watching people commit suicide on film isn't my idea of a good time. And seeing the guy who played Cameron in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" in a cameo as a high-school principal just made me feel very old.

RATING: 3 out of 10 construction workers