The Village

[the Jazz]

*spoilers abound!*
Rented it, and the first half was great, but the second half was just fairly good. I think incapacitating out the most interesting character in the middle of the film was a really bad idea. And from that point on Ivy's character lost a lot of depth as she was reduced to the part of going to get the medicine with scary monsters chasing her in the woods. She acted it well but the writing was lacking. Also, letting the cat out of the bag with a good 15-20 minutes left in the movie is SUCH a bad idea, you would think that Shyamalan would remember this from his 3 previous suspense thrillers! All momentum at that point was lost. The big secret should have been revealed right after Brody's character dies, so that we don't know who he is until after, and it's more powerful that way.

Anyhow that's my two hundred cents. It was still enjoyable, and like I said, the first half was GREAT. I just felt let down at the end when I had some time to think about it.

[Adam!]

*Quoted Spoilers!*

The big secret should have been revealed right after Brody's character dies, so that we don't know who he is until after, and it's more powerful that way.

I hated this movie (although I enjoyed how hilariously bad it was), and I agree that this ending would have been much better.

[the Jazz]

The score was also ham-fisted in a lot of places. I think it would have made a big difference to have someone else do the music.

[erik]

I think you could have edited out every scene that Ron Howard's daughter wasn't in and the movie would have still done about 80% of the business that it did.

[j$]

So I finally saw this on rental tonight - I quite enjoyed the slow pace of it - nothing tremendous but well-made and entertaining.

But [spoiler]

How does a teacher afford all that?

[/spoiler]

[fodroy]

i loved this. i think everyone hated it because the idiots in charge of marketing made it look like a horror flick.

[sparks]

People bitched and bitched and bitched and bitched and moaned and moaned and bitched about this movie, and I hope they eat shit and die. Not that I loved it or anything, people just bitch too much about decent flicks. Nothing hilariously bad about this one in the least. Beautiful direction, competent (if simple) acting, and the only real failling in the writing being an over-dependence on a plot twist.

Keep in mind that I, like most of us, sit next to annoying people in theatres. Typically they laugh in a "oh, man, that's stupid" kind of way whenever something happens in the film that might make them self-conscious. "Oh man, I'm not scared of that! Sheeeet! Haw haw." I heard twice as much of that in theatres for The Village, and I know well enough why--it's because people are so caught up in expecting something to actually leap out and go "OH SHIT, TIME TO GET SCARED, HERE'S MY INTESTINES BLAAAH" in a "scary" movie. Sometimes suspense is a little more subtle than actually having to be in-your-face-shit-your-pants-scary. If you can't get into the mood, I venture to say it's not always the director's failing.

Or maybe I'm just pissed that people can't let themselves fucking relax for a moment to enjoy something that might be a little base or simple in its appeal. Far too many buzzkills in the world.

[Mostess]

I loved "The Village." Rich visuals, thick score (a little drippy, but so?), steady slow pace, a lot of heart and some very good actors. I think M. Night makes really good scary movies; never gross-scary, just real soul-shaking angst scary. "Signs" was weak in my opinion, but this is a good one.

*spoilers below*

But [spoiler]

How does a teacher afford all that?

[/spoiler]

His father was the wealthiest man in the towns. Was killed by a business partner. I think we assume there was a vast inheritance leading to a land trust in the character's name and a government payola slush fund. Funny you remember he was a teacher but not the reason he went to/founded the village.

sparks is right on the money. I feel bad for M. Night. He's almost trapped by his betcha-didn't-see-that-coming schtick, so the viewers get all meta, trying to guess the surprise. Not condusive to getting scared. When Hurt shows the daughter what's in the shed, Night cuts away and leaves us hanging for about 15 minutes, then goes back in time to show us what it was. I thought "poor Night thinks he has to string me along to keep me watching." Really, keeping the timeline intact wouldn't have ruined any suspense. But obviously some viewers here thought he gave away the secret too soon---like there's no more reason to watch what happens after you know the twist (even though the more predictable twist is still unrevealed).

I don't think the movie was too dependant on it's plot twist surprise(s). But obviously the audience is. sparks is right that the audience bears some responsibility for suspending its disbelief. Especially for such a lovely and carefully made movie. Especially in a theater. Enjoy the film in the spirit of the film, or don't. But shut up if you don't.

[Adam!]

I'd hesitate to say that this was the least enjoyable movie I've ever seen, but it has a pretty solid place on my bottom five list. It's easily tied for worst movie I've seen in a theatre, and I've had a job as a projectionist, so that's saying something. I hesitate because although I spent most of this movie bored out of my skull, I also spent a pretty good portion of it laughing my ass off at all the unintentionally campy bits. After the laughter would subside (my own as well as most of the audience's) Shmamamalan would follow up with some silly dialogue or unsubtle message so earnest that I'd burst out laughing again. Ha ha ha... *whew*.

Signs set my expectations low, and this movie still fell short of them by a mile.


D freaking Minus.

[the Jazz]

thick score (a little drippy, but so?)

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that. You say thick and drippy; I say hamfisted and manipulative. (Let's call the whole thing off?)

[sausage boy]

follow up with some silly dialogue or unsubtle message so earnest that I'd burst out laughing again. Ha ha ha... *whew*.

Dude, it was a period piece. To us, all that sounds silly. Ever watched a BBC period piece and just cackled away at it? Well, thats the era that this is supposed to be set in. Don't you think it would ruin it a tad if it panned in to a quaint little village, not a power pole in sight, in a green clearing, pans in on a character doing her washing by hand, pans in a bit more, you can see the soap suds piled up, pans in to a close up, and she says "Geez, this fuck'n washing is tak'n ages".

Somehow... no.

I though this was quite a good movie. Yeah, marketing fucked up big time selling it as some spooky monster film, but that doesn't mean its bad. Its good to see that M. has grown as a writer and director to do a project that he wants to do, not one that he is expected to do.