Give it away, give it away, give it away now.

Why did it take me so long to find out about MoviePooper.com? Another sterling entry in a field that includes Mr. Skin, the Whipping Scenes In Movies Database, and many more who enrich us all with their laser-like research. Movie Pooper's purview: spoiling the surprise endings of Hollywood movies—not just honest-to-goodness plot twists (Zardoz, Escape From the Planet of the Apes), but some picks that make you go hmm. (Is there really a last-reel shocker in Working Girl? How can A Cinderella Story have a surprise ending?)

This weekend's feature: The final twist in the M. Night Shyamalan joint The Village. (Which seems like kind of a letdown in a movie that features our two sickliest-looking actors; I was hoping the twist would be that either Joaquin Phoenix or Adrien Brody turned out to be the ghost of Monty Clift.) Spoiler alert, obviously.

Comments

[Franklin Harris]

Presumably they should also have horses or oxen or something that can pull a plow, too. But horses would have made the whole "getting to town" thing less of an ordeal.

[Gary Gunnels]

The movie was worse than "Signs," and that's saying something. I loved Ebert's review of it, especially the part where he wished he could rewind the whole experience and get his money back. 🙂

[SM]

"The community in "The Village" not only does not have guns but also no dogs."

Well, the "no guns" part has a "rational" explanation - but it can't be done without giving away the ending.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

Well, the "no guns" part has a "rational" explanation - but it can't be done without giving away the ending.

Giving away the ending is the whole point of this thread. Let's hear it.

[SM]

OK.

***** WARNING *****
***** SPOILER AHEAD *****
***** SPOILER AHEAD *****

The "elders", victims of urban crime & suchlike tragedies all, are resolved to create a crime-free environment for the children. Walker ie William Hurt is a "Professor of American History" at Penn. University. His history skills enable him to propose a peaceful Amish type community for the children, though anyone who has seen "Witness" could probably have come up with the same idea. As i remember it, the Amish didn't have guns, Harrison Ford had to kill the bad guys by other means. Hence no guns in the village. QED.
Bonus QED - I remember some conservative type (Bill Bennett, i think) arguing the the pioneers' fluency in archaic english was what made them so virtuous etc. Yet another reason for the Walkers plan. OK, just kidding.

No second amendment arguments please. This is all extrapolated from the film.

[Jason Ligon]

Gimmickry is not a substitute for story, character development, or direction.

I'm really getting annoyed with the increasingly desperate quest to astound modern (read "cynical") audiences with goofy twists.

[Shannon Love]

M. Night Shyamalan is my second favorite contemporary director. He pushes the boundaries of the medium in a way no one else will attempt. Even when he produces a flawed product like "Signs" it is still an innovative ride.

Having seen "The Village" I think Shyamalan's major weakness is his urban perspective. In "Signs" he set the story in the only non-Amish farm house in rural Pennsylvania that did own a shotgun. The community in "The Village" not only does not have guns but also no dogs. They also manage to produce copious amount of kerosene for their ubiquitous lanterns using 1890's technology and local resources. While watching the movie I couldn't decide if those irregularities were clues, oversights or just conventions of the medium like "all aliens in space speak English"

Even with it's flaws I thought it a great effort well worth my time and money.

[Eric Pobirs]

Rod Serling could have told this guy that two hours is way too friggin' long for a Twilight Zone episode.