My wife and I enjoyed another double feature at the expense of our local movies theatre. This time, we saw M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Village” and Michael Mann’s “Collateral.” This movies review contains no spoilers.
The Village
Clearly not one of M. Night Shyamalan’s best. It qualifies as interesting and watchable because of the directorial talent. It is beautifully shot and the creepy-factor holds for extended periods. As for writing, the story is interesting and portrays many interesting ideas. However, there are story holes bigger than a copse of redwoods. Because the joy of Shyamalan’s movies lie in the endings, I cannot reveal more. I recommend this for watching at home on VHS or DVD or, if you feel the need to see it in the theatre, view it as the second of a double feature. We saw this one first and snuck into…
Collateral
On the whole, a slightly better film. Tom Cruise played Ethan Hunt…er… no, it just seems like he played Ethan Hunt from Mission Impossible I, II, etc. Tom Cruise was great but his acting style is indistinguishable from his other action film roles. The only twist is that he plays a bad guy. Thing is, he’s so enjoyable to watch that you end up rooting for him for most of the film. Opposite Tom Cruise’s “Vincent” is Jaime Foxx’s “Max,” a cab driver hired-then-kidnapped, forced to take Vincent on his rounds. Good premise for a movie and Foxx was almost as good as Cruise, but a somewhat distant almost. I predict that Foxx will win an Oscar for some future role. He clearly has personality and acting ability and can play a variety of roles. Michael Mann’s direction made the movie very stylish, very hip. Shot in a similar style as Manhunter (1986) and The Insider (1999), with lots of half-out-of-focus, hazy city lights background, birds-eye-view of the city, and garish neon colors. While the premise is good, the characters and the acting make the movie worth seeing. I feel this movie, like The Village, can be enjoyed as easily at home or, if you are so bold, as part of a double feature.
Together, The Village and Collateral made one great movie.
I myself have seen both movies, though I admit to paying FULL RETAIL PRICE for both tickets.
I enjoyed “The Village,” despite that I’d guessed “the twist” about seventeen seconds into the movie. It was FAR better than Signs, in that it didn’t have water-shy aliens in it landing on a planet that is over 70% water. William Hurt’s talents were mostly wasted. I quite liked the blind girl. Adrien Brody was all right.
I liked “Collateral” about as much as you did, even though I found myself yawning through long stretches of it. As someone who roots for the bad guy in about 90% of all movies, I shared in your “rooting,” so to speak. (In Australia, by the way, the term “rooting” is used as a slang term for sexual intercourse, so perhaps this is not quite the right thing to say. Anyhoo, suffice it to say that I share your sentiment RE: Tom Cruise.) And any movie that doesn’t show Mark Ruffalo’s dick can’t be all bad.
i was at an engagement party last saturday nite….and some dimwit let it slip about the ending of the “village”…and i haven’t even seen it yet! so now i probably will wait till it premieres on usa network or something….how rude was that???!!!!
What to do in a situation like that is step up close to the person who gave away the end of the movie and kick him once in the shin, really hard. When he cries out in pain and bends down, drive your elbow into the back of his head a few times. Once he hits the floor, stomp on his ankle so he can’t stand back up and chase you. While he screams and moans, bend down and give him a quick blast of OC gas (pepper spray) in the face while instructing, “Suck on THIS, fucker.”
Oh, wait. That’s a bar fight. For the movie ruiner, do everything I said except for the pepper spray bit.
By the way, Bonnie Bedelia did it.