The Village--spoilers/no spoilers, who knows?

[stacer]

The thing about this movie is, it was already done in a children's book 9 years ago. I didn't read the spoiler threads in various places because I hadn't seen the movie and didn't want to have a Shymalan spoiler, but now that I've read this article, it sounds to me like it's not Shymalan's twist at all. I still want to see the movie, however. The book in reference, Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix, is a great book--published in 1995.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/10/news/newsmakers/village.reut/index.htm

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

19th century secret keeping and running for medicine hardly seem trademarkable to me. Maybe if I'd read/seen each than I could comment more. Go see it Stacy and let us know if you think he's crossing hte line.

[stacer]

I'm thinking I might try to see it this weekend. It's very hard to prove copyright infringement, even when it's obviously the same story. It just makes me leery when it's the exact same story with the exact same twist, and Shymalan does have a reputation to live up to.

The thing about it is, isn't Shymalan from Indiana? Haddix says she got the idea while traveling in Indiana, so perhaps Shymalan independently came up with the very same idea while growing up in Indiana (or wherever he was).

[fuzzyoctopus]

Well living in the Mid-West can make you feel like you're cut off from the modern world.

I mean I lived in a community with lots of Amish families outside the city limits.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

yes , curse them and their wee beady eyes...

[Peter Ahlstrom]

I haven't read any spoilers. Should I see this movie? I loved 6th Sense and Unbreakable, but was very disappointed by Signs' hokiness.

[Spriggan]

Well its Shalamans worst performing movie to date.  It fell like 75% after opening weekend becasue the ending was pretty lame and obvious.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

I don't care about box office performance necessarily, or even reviews...Unbreakable didn't even hit 100 million, and its reviews weren't that great either (lots of people didn't like the ending), but I thought it was great.

I'm interested in hearing from people who went to see it and know me, whether they think I would enjoy it.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Well, you were the one who took me to Unbreakable...

I don't know, it was kind of cool in a very surreal way.  My problem with it was that I could not get into the world- even my vast suspension of disbelief could not meet the terms the movie was asking of me.  But once I got over that fact, I enjoyed it pretty well.

[EUOL]

I really liked The Villiage, Ookla.  Go see it.  Remember, however--Shymalan movies aren't about the surprise 'twist.'  They're about the characters and the atmosphere, both of which were excellent in this movie.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Okay. I'll go see it. If I'm disappointed (i.e. if it has any aliens who go into a hazardous environment without wearing protective clothing), you'll be hearing from me.

[EUOL]

Hey, that movie was a tribute to War of the Worlds.  It makes about as much sense as aliens going to a foreign environment without bothering to wonder if there might be new diseases that could kill them.  Maybe they'd never seen water before, and didn't realize it could kill them.  

Besides, that movie was about a minister finding his faith again.  The aliens were secondary.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

That didn't make the aliens excusable.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Sorry, Brandon, but as much as I enjoyed the film, Peter's right. THe water thing is hard to swallow. I mean.... WATER?

That didn't ruin the film for me though.

[Entsuropi]

So much for no spoilers, guys.