The Village

M Night's latest. Unsurprisingly we are going to be tasting another Suspense/Thriller by the hands of M Night. I am glad to see Phoenix and Brody working together. I think they are both great actors.

1. Let the bad color not be seen. It attracts them.
2. Never enter the wods. That is where they wait.
3. Heed the warning bell. For they are coming.

I wonder what plot twists await us this time around.

- EXTERNAL LINK - (to see trailer)

I have truly enjoyed Shyamalan's previous films, and I hope this one is as good.

I caught the ten minutes of footage that they played last week during Unbreakable on ABC, but I couldn't really get a feel for the movie from it. The premise is intriguing and seems pretty universal (striving for and starting a utopia only to find challenges still exist in said utopia), so hopefully he delivers yet another great film.

When's the release date?

Sean (utopia...sounds like a soft drink...) ;)

Just saw Unbreakable again and had forgot how good it was. I'm also a big fan of Shyamalan and Village is one of the films I look most forward to this summer.

Release date is July 30th.

I can't wait for this movie. Great cast, great director. Shymalan is one of the best new directors on the scene, along with Christopher Nolan. Sixth Sense was a tad overrated, but Unbreakable was very underrated and Signs rules. I will be first in line for this.

I've liked M. Night's movies very much, but I heard what the twist ending to this movie and it is incredibly stupid. I can not believe it. I think he is very talented, but how long can he rely on the same concept of a thriller with a twist ending?

That is why I am reluctant to call him a "great" director. To me, a great director is someone who can make great movies in numerous genres.

I wouldnt dream of spoiling it, part of what makes M. Night's films so entertaining thus far is waiting for the ending to unravel. I didn't want to know it myself, but I was reading something and it just came out of nowhere. Trust me, I want to be wrong too, so we will see...

Tony,

First off, thank you for not spoiling anything since you seem to know the ending. Secondly I really hope you're wrong about this movie, or that Shymalan has changed the ending. I have really high hopes for this movie! It's the first film to come out in a long time that genuinely looked scary! I guess we won't know until the end of this month eh?

- Josh :)

I hate to be the cynic all the time, but again, I have seen the script and the "twist" at the end is the stupidest thing I have seen it. It's very insulting to the audience and it shows how arogant M. Night has become. I did read he was reworking the ending, so hopefully something has changed, so we will see...

Tony

I loved "Sixth Sense", "Signs", and "Unbreakable". Shyamalan seems to have a way with earie or scary films! I think his latest attempt with "The Village" won't disappoint.

In the special features of "Sixth Sense" Shyamalan talks about the use of the color "red". He seems to be keeping with a similar theme in The Village, as it's the "bad color" and "you must burry it". In psychology the color red is directly associated with sex. Is it just me, or could this "bad color" in Shyamalan's movies have anything to do with his native culture? I don't know exactly where Shyamalan is from, but his name and looks suggest the middle east somewhere. Could it have anything to do with the middle east keeping women and sex under wraps (as it were)? No offense to anyone from middle eastern descent, cultures or beliefs.

On a different note, does anyone know why Sigourney Weaver isn't in any of the commercials or trailers, being that she's a character in the movie?

- Josh :)

Tony,

Slightly off topic here, but referring back to John Woo... did you hear that he's doing Clancy's "Rainbow 6"? He's also doing a movie called "Spy Hunter". Presumably off of the 80's video-game. This used to be my favorite game as a kid. John seems to be a "hit and miss" kind of director. I would HATE to see him screw up Rainbow 6. That book was EXCELLENT! Spy Hunter on the other hand... few movies have had a good outcome being solely based upon a video-game. Tron is the only one that comes to mind that was particularly good.

- Josh

Josh,

I heard about Spy Hunter, but not Rainbow 6. John Woo needs to do something good pretty quick I think. Paycheck was rediculous. I cant believe he even put one of those stupid doves in it. I enjoyed his hong kong movies very much, even though they were just melodramas with really cool shoot-outs. I just cant wait to hear his next pitch. "I have a great idea...whole movie slow motion."

Tony

Tony,

ROTFL!! Yes, I think a complete slo-mo movie is in John Woo's very near future! Unfortunately it will take twice as long to watch it! Maybe he's just a huge fan of "Tai-Chi"? That stuff is WAAAAY slow... and hard! I think if Woo could get down off his "slow-mo" horse, Rainbow 6 has the potential to be as good if not better than the Bourne flicks! However the actor playing "Clark" would have to have a deadly sense of getting down to business like Matt Damon brings to the "Bourne" character. If you've read the books, you'll know what I mean. Rainbow 6 has "John Clark" in top form (in my opinion) even though he's getting on in his years at this point in the books. Having a military background myself, I thoroghly enjoyed Rainbow 6!

- Josh

I am not a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan's work. I do not like twist endings, especially in Signs. I mean the movie was good until the ending, but I doubt any of you were pleased with the ending. Come on, they die from water? Wouldn't the humidity in the atmosphere alone kill them? Twist endings just seem like the easy way out for a film to me.

Agreed, Chrtrpnt, unless the twist ending is an integral part of the framework of the whole story, as it was in "The Sixth Sense" or "The Others." Then, I think it works. But the water thing at the end of "Signs" WAS pretty silly.

John

I've read on several occasions that Shyamalan reshot the ending of the Village since it had gotten out to the public. Perhaps Tony's conclusion was the real reason and Shyamalan chose the whole "leak" thing as an excuse.

Let's hope the ending delivers!

Sean (...and if it doesn't deliver promply, I want my pizza free!...)