The Village Redux

J.R. Hudson

J.R. Hudson

Spirit Animal
I didn't feel like ressurecting the original THE VILLAGE thead; couldn't find it anyway and the search feature sucks.  BUt I still wanted to chime in with my .02 on this film.

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I really enjoyed this film.  I knew nothing about it other than the flack it has gotten seemingly from everyone and their mother.  I went into this expecting crap and came out going "Nice."

J. Phoenix is great; I like this actor more and more everytime I see him work.  A. Brody was great, although playing one of those Village Idiot roles; this I did not expect.  The lead actress (Dallas?) is great.  William Hurt, who I usually can't stand was not as annoying as usual and S. Weaver and B. Fraiser (sp?) played good characters even if they were soft spoken in this.

The cinematography was nice and set the mood completly; from the comps to the coloring.  The INT night shots were inspiring with its candle light atmosphere.

The pacing was perfect for this film, wher as I usally find KNIGHTS pacing something of a chore to sit through (Yes, even as much as I like SIXTH and SIGNS).

The pay-off is great and totally unexpected even though mid-way through I started gettting a hint of things to come; I guessed the pay-off correctly but like the way it was handled.

IN closing? I loved it.  Well done and the rap it got is undeserving.  I think where this film went wrong was with the stupid hype it received.  MArketing is one thing, but this film was hyped beyond comprehension.

I am tired of KNIGHTS cameos.  I find them distracting although this one was the clever "..you cant see me but hear me type" and then with the reflection... lame lame lame.  KNIGHT, stay out of the film man.

The music is awesome; scary, thatrical, cinemati and the violin is wicked.  SO wicked it gets a top bill credit at the beginning of the end title sequence.

I liked it!
 
Re: The Village Redux

I am tired of KNIGHTS cameos. I find them distracting although this one was the clever "..you cant see me but hear me type" and then with the reflection... lame lame lame. KNIGHT, stay out of the film man.
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Every director has their trademark and this seems to be his.. He does looks like a guy I went to highschool with. Anyway, I myself didn't really enjoy this movie because some idiots had to ruin it for me. The ending was leaked on the net plus my friend just straight up told me what was going to happen. At that point on, the whole movie killed it for me. Watching know what was going to happen ruined the movie completly. Even still if I didn't know the ending, I probably wouldn't enjoyed this movie. I think M lost his magic ever since Unbreakable. He is still though an inspiration to me. I will get his DVD though. My $8.50 cents, the price of the movie ticket.
 
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I'm no rocket scientist and I'd figured it out about twenty minutes into the movie.   :-[  My wife, who actually is a rocket scientist, didn't have a clue. At one point I thought, "this reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode" and it didn't take long to piece it together.

I would have been p***** if someone had told me in advance!

Even though I spoiled it for myself, M Night still had my feet off the floor through many scenes.  

I recommend picking up a couple of Jack Russell Terriers to cuddle with while watching - they provide great protection during scary movies.

e
 
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I think M. Night is a very competent directory. He has a wonderful grasp for suspence and reminds me a lot of Hitchcock in a many of ways.

My problem is with his scriptwriting. If you boil all of his films down aren't they essentially gimic films? Would you have enjoyed Sixth Sense if it didn't have the ending? I would not have (well, actually I didn't enjoy it even with the ending, but that's a different post). Unbreakable was the only M. Night film I liked (I'm a huge comic book fan), but even then the pacing was horrible. Signs ... don't even get me started on Signs. That film killed my inner child. And now the Village. Just another twist ending. When did Congress pass a law that M. Night has to write a twist ending in all of his films?

I think if he would get away from the surprise endings, and just use his talents to tell a story he would go farther.

My two cents.

Chris
 
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I agree. I'd like to see him tackle something that isn't "ooohhhhh sccaaarrryyyyyy...". Gimmick or not on the cameos; it's lame. Even Hitch wasn't this obvious.

Still, went in expecting nothing and came out not disapointed. Was it ****ing incredible? No of course not. BUt a good 'rental' nevertheless.
 
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Signs and The Villiage are one trick ponies. Ya watch em once, then surprise!!! ya watch em one more time to see how it tricked you and gave you clues. After that they are pretty much useless.

I personally loved Unbreakable. What made this film superior to the other two was the fact that the film didn't rely on it's twist ending to be enjoyed.

Take away the twist to The sixth sense and you have ****. Take away the twist ending to The Villiage, and you would actually have a decent movie. Take away the twist ending to Unbreakable and you stiil have a pretty damn good movie.

6-S makes you reexamine the cinematography, V doesn't make you reexamin anything, and U makes you reexamine the character. I don't know about you, but I believe the whole character part is much more interesting.

Then again, I have a receding hair line at the age of 20...
 
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I thought it was a well put together film, but found the twist both implausible and not consistent with William Hurt's character. M. Night is great at building suspense, but he loaded too much into the payoff and the payoff sucked (for me). If he can drop the twists and the embarassing cameos, he'll be much better off.
 
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I don't know what it is. I thought that Signs and Sixth Sense were awesome movies. 6-S being one of my all time favs. I thought Unbreakable was horrible!! I tried to watch it a second time and just couldn't finish it. ridiculous. The Village was only bad because I wanted to see some monsters tearing people's limbs off. So I felt a little cheated, but I did think the story was pretty good.
 
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The one scene that defined this movie for me was the part where Bryce Dallas Howard is standing in the doorway with her arm out hoping for Joaquin to come to her. You can see the red cloak coming closer and closer and then bam. He grabs her, they turn, and run. All in slow mo. And the music kicked it into high gear.

One of the best scenes I've ever seen.
 
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Agreed. That was a wonderful scene, and one of the best uses of slo-mo ever. Having such a great scene in the middle of a train-wreck of a movie only made it more disappointing for me. ;)

Chris
 
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[quote author=kRTk|PjX link=board=movies;num=1106813439;start=0#8 date=01/31/05 at 03:04:33]The one scene that defined this movie for me was the part where Bryce Dallas Howard is standing in the doorway with her arm out hoping for Joaquin to come to her.  You can see the red cloak coming closer and closer and then bam.  He grabs her, they turn, and run.  All in slow mo.  And the music kicked it into high gear.

One of the best scenes I've ever seen.[/quote]

You know what? I have never been a fan of SLOMO. I think it has its place BUT I never would use for ACTION. I think JOHN WOO and his ATEAM use of SLOMO has ruined it for me.

BUt...

You are correct. The way that scene was shot and the manner in which SLOMO was used is awesome and I think how I would use it if choosing to!
 
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OK, just watched it tonight (what a Valentine's movie) . . .

Man, every cliche' known to man thrown into the mix, as well as several slaps in the face screaming "DID YOU GET IT?  THIS IS A CLUE!!!!!"  And that was the first 15 minutes.

While by no means was the ending a surprise (see above), the one thing I did like was the "Walker Wildlife Preserve" concept.  Very subtle; explained a WHOLE lot with one quick shot of the truck's door.  Then, of course, he had to ruin that poignant moment by talking it to death.
 
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That scene in the ranger's station was totally unnecessary.  Even worse than the sophomoric dialogue - "They haven't allowed airplanes over the preserve since that rhino incident in nineteen-eighty-seven!" - was the wine-keep refrigerator stocked with medical supplies beyond levels most hospitals enjoy.

Add to that the poorly executed Spielbergian moment (hey, a twelve-year old can get past national security with his pet alien!) where the head ranger is reading the paper with his feet on the desk while the sly junior ranger steals meds... classic.

And rangers driving Land Rover Defender 90s?!  What the?!

???

:-[

;)

L A M E
 
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In the BTS featurettes, aside from the usual “oh, this has NEVER been done before!” hyperbole, they kept going on and on about how Hilary Hahn’s violin-playing brought the perspective of a 24 year-old woman to the music, and how you can really hear that.

Sorry; when I was watching the movie, I got the distinct impression that it was being played by a 50 year-old man. That’s not to say it wasn’t beautiful or fabulous, but it sure didn’t convey what everyone seemed to want it to.

For those of you who loved it, I respectfully disagree. I loved “Unbreakable,” and I seem to be in the minority for loving “Signs,” but this was his weakest effort. (Except for “The Buried Secret . . . “)
 
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Anything with William Hurt in it feels distinctly like it was designed for my parent's generation. The only thing that looked or suggested youth in that picture was the... uh, well... um... nothing!

Okay, enough of this... I'm off to the metal shop! ;)

e
 
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I too liked it... I saw it in the theatre and then when it came out on DVD I bought it. I wouldn't say it is the greatest movie ever made, but it is well made and the story is enjoyable.

There are a couple minor plot holes, but the reality is...it's not real  :D  So that makes it easy for me to ignore the couple oddities and just enjoy it as a good story that is well filmed. I especially like the night lighting, it really looks like fire, candle and oil lamp lighting.


Edited to add:

HEY!!!!! SWEET I just made it to "Gold" level!!!!! ;D ;D
 
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I too am a fan of Shyamalan's work. But when I think back on his movies, I don't judge them based on story. In fact, story often takes second place to the overall moods, visuals, and emotions Shyamalan uses. When I think of The Village, I don't think of plot or twists, I think of the "color" of the movie -- the washed out grays and yellows, I think of the pacing, the dialogue (although I agree overused and out of place in the end (however, the one take porch scene between Pheonix and Howard is fantastic)). Sixth Sense is another I regard in the same fashion. Sure, it has a twist/gimic that caught me completely off guard, but that's not why I loved it. Again, I feel the overcast gray blue color coupled with slow, deliberate pacing... NOT the story. Weird, I know. And would Signs have worked if it played to the tune of most of the MTV style films that are popping up these days? No.

Is Shyamalan the best out there? No. Are his movies all the greatest? No. But I do appreciate his style of storytelling. And one can, I believe, successfully draw the lines of comparison -- in the style of storytelling -- to Hitchcock and see many similarities. I also feel Shyamalan will probably tackle something a little different soon. Think "The Trouble with Harry (1955)" by Hitchcock. A dark comedy, something out of the norm, and one my favs from Hitch...

Josh
 
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What twist?

The only thing I mis-assumed from the getgo was that I thought it was a village purposely isolated since the 19th century, rather than an artificial one.

A little misdirection, perhaps. Not a twist, afaic.

A twist would be more like having a scene at the end in which two moons rise...because they are on another planet out there somewhere. :)

Dan
 
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