Yesterday, The Associated Press shot out an article with quotes from director M. Night Shyamalan about his latest film, The Happening. The article is a tease, and not in a good way. It's a tease in an irritating, "What, that's all you've got?" kind of way.

For instance, take this revelatory quote from Shyamalan: "It is an extremely scary movie. This is meant to scare you." Wow! So you mean the guy that made a name for himself by making films that are bursting with tension and jump-in-your-seat moments thinks he's done that again? I don't believe it!

I've always had been mixed reactions to Shyamalan's work. There are moments in his films that are genuinely classic and there are some that are downright laughable. Yet I believe those not-so-great moments are an off-shoot of the kind of go-for-broke attitude I admire most in directors. His mistakes are a symptom of great ambition.

Shyamalan is without question one of the most fascinating filmmakers working today, and I'd like to hear more from him in the lead up to The Happening. Especially since the trailers released for the film so far have made me very skeptical. Something about them seems off and they make the film look a little too staged and deliberate (which is a common beef a lot of critics have with Shyamalan's work).

I like Mark Wahlberg as an actor, but he doesn't seem to fit well in the M. Night universe. Bruce Willis (in The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable) and Mel Gibson (in Signs) were able to effectively give the kind of subtle, stripped-down male performance Shyamalan usually gets from his actors. Though from the footage in the trailers I don't think Wahlberg has nailed it as well as they did.

I recommend highly Michael Bamberger's book about Shyamalan titled, "The Man Who Heard Voices..." It's a very well-reported look into M. Night's creative process during the dud that was Lady in the Water. It's because of that book that I'm even giving a passing thought to The Happening.