The village, Yes, it really is that bad

frankthedm · Jul 30, 2004

yahoo movies said:
Drama, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Thriller

I thought the acting was good. But other wise was a let down and falsely advertised. Save your money.

Too bad there was no fantasy or scifi to this movie

The mentally [edit]deficienct[edit] male stabbing the male lead was a VERY good scene.

The thing in the red cloak is a costume befitting scooby-doo.

The director's self insert wasn't bad. quick bit part, nothing major like in signs.

My gaming group will never forgive me taking them to the midnight showing.

eris404 · Jul 30, 2004

frankthedm said:
I thought the acting was good. But other wise was a let down and falsely advertised. Save your money.
My gaming group will never forgive me taking them to the midnight showing.

I was disappointed, for other reasons. Rather pay attention to the story, which is quite good, I found myself looking for clues as to what was really going on, trying to figure it all out - and it isn't hard to guess what it is. The first half is very good, the acting is excellent, and I think he is able to establish a sense of mounting dread. The film visually is gorgeous. Adrien Brody, Joachim Phoenix and Bryce Dallas Howard are wonderful. There is a genuinely shocking and unexpected moment in story that had the audience gasping (it was very well done). I also think Shyamalan poses interesting moral questions in this movie.

But the second half is clunky: the revelations (such as they are), come too quickly and I kept wishing he had (not a real spoiler, but just in case I'll put it in spoiler tags)

just made a simple monster movie

.

I'd say rent it or go to a cheap theatre if you want to see it. It isn't a terrible movie, and better than a lot of garbage Hollywood puts out, it's just flawed.

Desdichado · Jul 30, 2004

Yeah, early press from the critics have the movie as pretty mediocre too. I was excited to go see it today, but maybe we'll pass and see Bourne Supremacy instead.

buzzard · Jul 30, 2004

I was never sure if I wanted to see it in the first place, and when the Wall Street Journal tore it a new one, that confirmed the skip.

buzzard

wizardneedsfood · Jul 31, 2004

Started off strong, nice slow build. Even the good early part was slow, but I can live with that. Then once the first revelation happened, the collective audience let out a loud groan and basically the film was not entertaining anymore. Like a really bad and long episode of the Twilight Zone.

Krug · Jul 31, 2004

Ebert gave it one *... oh oh.

frankthedm · Jul 31, 2004

wizardneedsfood said:
Like a really bad and long episode of the Twilight Zone.

Closer to scooby doo IMHO

Tokiwong · Jul 31, 2004

Fun movie, I enjoyed it... not what you think though...

Kai Lord · Jul 31, 2004

I have to say I too was underwhelmed. I guessed the main twist about halfway through, but only because it was Shyamalan and I knew there'd be a major twist. Its funny, just his involvement with a movie is a major spoiler nowadays. Didn't much care for the twist, particularly because its the kind that gives a movie absolutely ZERO rewatch value.

Some very nice "filmmaking" and outstanding performances, but the story was lacking. In many respects, it was a very slickly polished tease.

wizardneedsfood · Jul 31, 2004

frankthedm said:
Closer to scooby doo IMHO

The concept was Twilight Zone. The execution was Scooby Doo. And we're talking bad episodes of both.

The village, Yes, it really is that bad

frankthedm

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eris404

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Desdichado

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buzzard

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wizardneedsfood

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Krug

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frankthedm

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Tokiwong

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Kai Lord

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wizardneedsfood

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