Surprise and delight yourself

"We don’t even know what it is until it starts,” said Dan Brauneisen, general manager of Kalispell’s Cinemark theater, referring to the “secret movie” that plays for $5 on Monday nights about once a month.

More than a dozen of us took the leap of faith in early December. All we knew about the film was that it was rated R. 

I casually chatted up people before the big reveal. 

Cambria, the ticket seller, guessed it would be a horror flick. I shuddered. Mondays are scary enough. I asked her why people would sign up for an unknown entertainment. She said with a shrug, “Maybe they don’t want to sit on the couch at home.” 

Past the concession stand we bumped into Walter, striding into the theater with purpose. “I came last time,” he said. “It was ‘The Order,’ and it was really good.” He thought more, saying, “I don’t have cable at home,” then brightened: “I love movies.” 

Inside, a fellow named John said, “I told my dad about this. He asked, ‘What movie is it?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. That’s the point.’  

“It’s perfect for people who can’t make up their minds.”  

Tonight there would be no tussle over the remote, no dilatory channel surfing amid a growing sense of dissatisfaction. 

In the last row Dawn and Josh were settled in with popcorn. “This is our third one. We were able to kind of guess one of them,” they said. “We think this time it’s ‘Kraven’” — the Marvel picture that was set for official release in three days.  

First-timers Shannon and Michael slid into seats as the previews began. Michael said they told each other, “That looks interesting, let’s try it.” She chimed in, “And we’d only be out $5.” 

A slight buzz of anticipation took hold as the feature opened to the Munich Games of 1972, the subject of “September 5” and the hostage taking in the Olympic Village. One moviegoer vaulted up and out of the theater. The rest of us stayed. 

We got an eyeful of history, not just in the event itself but the newsroom tensions of the day: “feeding the bird” (the satellite), sports reporters refusing to cede (“this is our story and we’re keeping it”) and an almost quaint insistence on sources. 

I’d wanted to see this movie, so the risk paid off. When I told Brauneisen the day after that "September 5” had played, he registered surprise and said, “We’re not even getting it for a full-time run.” 

In our curated lives, we read restaurant reviews before we dine, research destinations thoroughly and Google Earth-preview a drive.   

Such scripted living misses out on moments of surprise and delight, which stoke the hippocampus, deliver hits of dopamine and intensify the emotions. Moreover, people made happier by positive unexpected events create more happy people just by interacting with others. 

I returned for another secret movie, this time “The Fire Inside,” a grit-to-glory story about the only U.S. boxer to medal in consecutive Olympics. I keep thinking about the coach, who worked as a cable guy and teaches hundreds how to fight, for free. 

I never would have picked it. I’m glad I went. 

Margaret E. Davis, executive director of the Northwest Montana History Museum, can be reached at mdavis@dailyinterlake.com.