I saw M. Night Shyamalan's The Village last night and I really liked it. The film is getting mixed reviews but I still thought it was good. Night uses suspense like no other, and by not showing us what was in the shed right away and cutting back to it later was a great filmmaker at work.

Many people didn't like the trademark twist at the end, but I did. This movie could have been a great Twilight Zone episode. I noticed clues along the way that could give away the ending but I simply ignored them and didn't try to guess the ending because I wanted to be shocked, and I was.

The only negative thing I could say is that the trailers for the film are misleading. They make it seem like this is a complete 100% thriller, when it's really a typical Shyamalan movie: has its scary moments, but generally has a positive and romantic story that takes the stage. However, the misleading trailers did nothing to take away from what I thought to be a good movie.

If M. Night Shyamalan didn't direct this film then the world would be cheering for it. With Night, comes an expectation and the way people are these days they expect too much and actually want the person to fail so they have something to complain about. This was a very original film I thought.

Ron Howard's daughter and Phoenix (as usual) deliver great performances. I was amazed to learn that this was Bryce Dallas Howard's first big role, she did a great job. Shyamalan really coaxed a great performance out of her (as he does with all of his actors). I just wish Joaquin was in it more, he gets stabbed midway through the movie and then it becomes Howard's movie. William Hurt was good as the patriarchal type figure who masterminds the whole Village hoax. The rest of the cast was good I thought, sometimes Adrien Brody got to be annoying or superfluous to the scene, but overall he was good.

The two things I really liked about this film (other than the end) was the realism of the stabbing of Joaquin Phoenix (that scene also had a lot of power) and the picture that you see at the end of all of the "village elders" as young men and women. It was just cool to see, and I can't imagine how hard that must have been to create digitally.

No matter how much I liked it though, I doubt Shyamalan will ever top UNBREAKABLE. That is in my top 3 favorite movies of all time. The Village is a good movie though, at least I think so. Don't go into the movie trying to guess the ending like most people do, that's not fun. Go in to the movie to be entertained and shocked. Everytime I heard something that could have been foreshadowing to the end I simply dismissed it and didn't think about it... and I loved the end and I was like "what the hell?"

Shyamalan is a brilliant director. Not because he can come up with creative twists but because he doesn't give too much away too soon. He lets the story unfold. He uses suspense like no other(except Hitchcock), they make you wait for the scare. You know it's coming but they toy with you before delivering it.

I really suggest that if you didn't like The Village to go back and see it again.. and if you haven't seen it yet then don't go in expecting a scary thriller, expect a romantic story with some thrills in it and a cool ending (if you don't try and guess it).. I will admit that the end wasn't as good as previous Shyamalan twists but it's still better than most movie endings these days. This is truly a good film, but that's just my opinion. Go see it and judge it for yourself. But keep an open mind.

I just watched "the village". I liked it alot, the ending was crazy i was totally blown away by it, it was so so.....ORIGINAL! Something we don't see very often these days. I KNEW Night was going to change up his old spooky film template pretty drastically, but i didn't know how. I loved the way the ending just changed the whole atmosphere and idea of the film. OH and who spotted Night's cameo appearence? It was pretty well hidden it never actually showed his face fully. It just showed the reflection of his face in the glass of the medicine cabinet. I would have never seen it if i hadn't recognized his voice. But the trailers were a little misleading, although the "fake" creatures were pretty creepy in the first half of the film. All the actors did a pretty phenominal job. I think some people will expect the film to be something different just because most of Shyamalan's films are thrillers. But, if you just pretend you've never seen anothter Shyamalan film and watch this film for what it is you will enjoy it.

I loved it. The people I saw it with were saying it was ok but that was because they were expecting a horror film like the previews made u think. I agree he will never be able to top unbreakable but this movie is damn good. The ending is one I figured out, but was awesome. I was thinking... if thats not how he is going to end this story then it is how im going to write a movie lol. So im glad it ended the way it did, but mad that I didnt get to come up with it on my own. Overall great flick Id see it again in theaters and Im buying it on DVD for sure

Just got back from seeing it.
Now, don't get me wrong, I liked it a lot... BUT it wasn't what I wanted to go see...
(if that makes sense)

I was looking forward to some horror/suspense, and like M Night... he TWISTS things all to hell....

I thought it was great, but I just wasn't in the mood for the kind of film that it turned out to be.

I give it ****/***** stars...
Well done!

I liked it for the simple fact that as soon as the credits rolled you heard the entire theater grunt, "Awww, that sucked." I like M. Night's style and am glad that he's one of the few directors not to settle for the extremely fast, shaky camera fad that has plagued the directors and movies this year.
M. Night was pretty easy to spot, you know he's gonna be in there and he was playing the one person he could possibly play. The only thing is, I can't think of what his cameo was in the Sixth Sense.

-Elliott

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MeGrimlock,

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Originally posted by MeGrimlock:
I liked it for the simple fact that as soon as the credits rolled you heard the entire theater grunt, "Awww, that sucked." I like M. Night's style and am glad that he's one of the few directors to settle for the extremely fast, shaky camera fad that has plagued the directors and movies this year.
M. Night was pretty easy to spot, you know he's gonna be in there and he was playing the one person he could possibly play. The only thing is, I can't think of what his cameo was in the Sixth Sense.

-Elliott

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The Doctor!!!

"Your son has several bruises on his body"

"Those are from sports."

I just got back from seeing it. I have to tell ya, it made me think. I enjoyed it very much. The only thing that dissapointed me was when they revealed the newspaper to us. For some reason, I wanted it(the year, the way of life) to be real. Nontheless, it still rocked.

Just got home from the village and I must say, i'm still kinda like whoa. It wasn't really what I was expecting and the beginning I have to admit is kinda slow. Wasn't expecting Phoneix to get stabbed though, and once he did I was like aw man, there goes the movie... but Bryce Dallas Howard really, really blew me away. She gave a fine performance and the soundtrack for the movie was fantastic too. Maybe it's something about fake monsters that really gets to me. I am a huge Night Fan, but I think the love story between Phoneix and Howard touched me more than the twist in the end.

Ive remained a true fan of night's threw out even when people said signs or unbreakable were bad ( i think the 6th sense was his worst movie lol ) its nice to see some people are talking positive about the village. I just wish that the previews for the movie would have made it look more like a drama that way people would know no to expect a horror film. It didnt bug me but i know some people there were dissapointed. I guess thats how they planned on gettin seats filled though.

Wow, you all liked it? Because I found it to be a big pile of crap riddled with continuity errors. To each his own.

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Originally posted by Alan Denton:
Wow, you all liked it? Because I found it to be a big pile of crap riddled with continuity errors. To each his own.

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Ellaboration is required.

SPOILERS!!!!!

As to the ending that is "Blowing everyone away." What was it like 11 months ago the first teasers hit? When they did I said, "If It was my movie, I would make it that modern civilization was in full swing all around them and the "creatures" were a myth that just kept them all in this place, frozen in time." I liked it so much I was convinced that was the ending, and for the most part it was (Though they're fear was self imposed)

So as each "clue" hit I was like, "I'm right, that is what it's about." So much so I was almost hoping I was wrong. I also called the Adrien Brody sub plot from almost the start (study Behavioral science and you'll see it was almost text book.)

So this leaves me with two thoughts eithere...

1) My sensibility and understanding of this style (which I often use myself in my own work) has gotten so affective I have "tuned in" to the creative energy floating out there and can percive the twists ahead of time almost like a (pardon the pun) Sixth Sense. Or...

2) Night has just gotten bad at this and EVEN I can figure it out. I preffer to believe the first is true..

R. "Pick a number between 1 and 10" Michael

Ok, I'll elaborate. But before I do, let me explain that when I say "continuity errors" I don't mean careless cinematography. I mean bad scripting that makes no sense when you think about it with any rational thought. Parts from the beginning that don't add up once the "twist" is revealed. Here's what I mean:

1) I went into the movie knowing the ending MUST be a twist, so I got to thinking, and actually figured it out. BUT in the very beginning of the movie, I was somehow proven wrong by a tombstone marked 1897! If it took place in 2004 and they never had any contact with the outside world, why would they subtract 100 years? Nobody knows that 2004 is a year full of technology. It was pointless.

2) The fact that ALL of their livestock were killed, simply to be an element of shock, but then later in the movie, when asked to explain why the elders would do that, the explanation was basically "oh...uh...one of the elders did that... uh... I think..." ALL OF THEIR FREAKIN FOOD WAS GONE!

3) similarly, when asked about the sounds in the forest "oh... we did that..." HOW?! You don't have technology! Is there some guy just sitting in the forest making monster noises? ...all the time? Talk about dedication.

4) if there are only 8 or so elders who populated the entire village (and aren't that old), how are there so many damn people in that town?

5) Why were they speaking in old english if it was current day? Just to cover up the ending? Weak.

6) Why did they all decide it was time to open the boxes? Because it was time in the movie to reveal the surprise!

7) They kept a monster costume in the same room where they put the bad kids? How convenient to the story, but completely non-sensical to human thought

8) The color red was meaningless storyline-wise and was more-or-less put there so M Night can make the lame metaphor to blood being red. Why would you make up that weird rule for your made-up monsters? It doesn't make sense!

Also, not continuity errors but stuff that still pissed me off:

9) heavy misuse of good actors like Adrien Brody and William Hurt

10) Shyamalan's OBNOXIOUS cameo. the way it was shot, gave you the impression that this person is important, and you're sitting there thinking, "Who is this guy? I wanna see already. He must be important" oh, he's important alright... HE MADE THE FREAKIN MOVIE. *******...

11) hour-and-a-half long meaningless shots.

12) There was no point in having the Sigourney Weaver/William Hurt love thingie. It didn't result in anything.

That's all I can think of right now, but I bet there's more.

--Alan

I'm having a problem here, I can't quite ever remember going to the movie theaters and seeing a movie from "Tizzy Entertainment"... oh wait, that's because you have never had a movie in the theaters like M. Night Shyamalan has. I mean, since you're so good at predicting endings of movies and all, I would imagine you would be a millionaire filmmaker. Just because you could predict the ending of a movie doesn't mean you're smart enough to CREATE the story and characters and ending in your head like Shyamalan is. I know I'm no pro filmmaker, but I don't try to act like one either.

Al, why are you yelling at Tizzy?! You started this topic with YOUR opinion. Everyone is intitled to their opinions. If you don't like what people say, don't post a topic.

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Originally posted by Al:
I know I'm no pro filmmaker, but I don't try to act like one either.

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If you want to make it in the film making business, acting professional would be a good idea.

I know I started it with my opinion, and it didn't bother me that he didn't seem to like the movie, but what did bother me was the fact that he decided to sound all high and mighty like he is somehow above M. Night because he "guessed" his ending. I don't dislike the guy and I'm sure he makes good movies as well, but I'm not yelling at him, just letting him know that he doesn't need to be arrogant about his opinion, but he can certainly share his opinion. That's what I always say when I post, I always say there is no right or wrong and all opinions are acceptable. And when I said I don't try and act like a pro filmmaker, what I meant was I didn't try to act like I'm better than all of the guys who are making big and creative movies out there, especially because I'm just an 18 year old kid.

HEY AI... if anyone but Tizzy made the comments he made I might be upset because its easy to get mad when people trash something you like. I know your knew here and all but Tizzy is one of the good guys here... he states his opinion but he is always redpectful of others... always. He NEVER says im right and your wrong. Never. So while i appreciate your passion in sticking up for the film ( i have been doing the same thing ) i jus wanna let u kno that Tizzy shouldnt be attacked like that. Im not trying to be mean Im just letting you know since I have been on the sight for like a year and a half.

Ok here's a few bits of info...

A) There's a novel which I believe is called "Running out of Time" or "Out of Time" or something along those lines that came out a few years back. Featured a village where someone gets sick and a girl is sent out to get medicines and stumbles upon tourists. All Shyamalan does is rip off old Twilight Zone episodes which brings me to my next point...

B) Quoting the first post: This could have been a great Twilight Zone episode. Well it was... or at least very much based on the one where they either crash or wake up post-armageddon to find a barren earth. They start forming some crazy Lord of the Flies habits and then someone walks over a hill and sees a huge city.

C) I was VERY much into the first 4/7 of the movie. I thought it was strong enough with out the distracting and unnecessary twist. It would've been cool enough if it was really 1897 and they were just trying to keep people in to avoid the "main" society. The "village" plot was strong enough by itself.

D) Shyamalan is not only just stealing other ideas, but he's also beginning to both parody himself and panic when the next script-writing session rolls around and he has to think of ANOTHER twist ending. If you go in knowing it's going to be a twist ending it loses the effect... that's why it's a twist. I submit Fight Club, Usual Suspects and Memento.

E) Beyond all of this, Shyamalan is a good director, but he overuses the loud startling scares. For example, when Ivy is behind the tree and turns and the beast is standing there (which I was never scared of at any point in the film once we saw them, I don't see how people were) and the camera pans back to Ivy, then back again, he slaps an unnecessary JUMP sound effect in there. If he just panned over and showed it there it would be FAR scarier then constantly trying to make the audience jump. Those are the best kind of scares (I submit the girl [actually the old lady] playing with the toy in the bedroom in The Others). Far creepier.

Overall I liked the film, yes, but it was ruined by an unnecessary, predictable and not to mention poorly executed ending. As far as I'm considered, The Sixth Sense was and will be his best movie, everything after that has been garbage up until The Village (which as I said, is decent).

I know what you mean Mike Jones, and I don't know Tizzy and I checked his website and he makes good movies from what I saw, and I like what I saw but I just didn't like his arrogance in his comments... but after reading about him on his website he seems like a good guy and I have no hard feelings towards him... I appreciate you telling me that though.

I just wanted to let everyone know that if you're interested in The Village or M. Night Shyamalan there is great website here Shyamalan Collective that has a lot of info. and other cool stuff. Also, I won a free Village movie poster from it because I guessed close enough to the opening weekend box office gross. Just thought you guys might like that..

and by the way, Keller, I agree with some of the stuff you said (and I'm a HUGE Twilight Zone fan) and I also like how you chose the fraction "4/7" to represent your likeness of the film hahaha

This is what I love about message boards, they remind us of how much of our comunication relies on body language, and vocal tone.

In reality Al, I really enjoyed "The Village" and I am actually a BIG M. Night fan. I have been waiting for this, as I waited for all of his works and actually thought it was cool that he went with that ending, seeing as I had thought it cool all those months back. Of course he beat me to it (The film was way into post at that point) but my intention was really that it almost made me feel as if I were on the right path.

And you are right, you have not seen "Tizzy Entertainment" come up on the big screen. My success is moderate at best but it is a continuious process. Hopefully one day I will make a film that one might reffer to as "M. Night'is" and that be a good thing.

Oh and thank you Alan. As to your points, yes it was some part "Keep the audience in the dark" but do remember Hurt's character was a history professor, and in staying with most he would be a slave to the history. Creating the illusion was part of convincing themselves. So it was important to them to abandone all things from the modern world and return to a simpiler time. Might as well go all the way.

As to the animals, they thought it might be an elder but in fact it was Adriens character that had killed all the animals, which is the first stages of a disturbed individual escalading toward murder (All serial killers have animal killing and or torture in their past) At that point they thought one of the elders had lost it, not knowing Adrien had found the costume. Also in the picture of them back in the city, there were several children and a few pregnant women. Even so, quite a large village.

The "Lets open the boxes" thing. No real excuse, and I to was annoyed by the Hurt/Weaver love angle. It had it's flaws but overall I enjoyed it.

R. Michael