21/50: The Village

If I may paint a picture. There is a movie that involves a small group of people that appear to be from the late 1800's-early 1900's. But, they are actually from the present day, but are living in hiding for reason's that we, the audience, have no idea why.

Plus, there appears to be some sort of creature that is living in the woods near these people, that if disturbed could reek havoc on the small group.

Does this movie sound interesting? I think it does. Now, lets say that the director is M. Night Shyamalan. Your idea of the movie changes, doesn't it?

Again, I had heard a ton of horrible things heading into watching The Village. So perhaps, my expectations were so low that anything would be an improvement to my thoughts. However, I really came away enjoying the film.

I can't really explain much about the plot besides what I already have because I don't want to give too much away. Let's just say that what transpires actually made a little sense to me.

Also, I came away with so much more respect for Bryce Dallas Howard. She had a small role as Gwen Stacy in Spiderman 3 and played Victoria in Eclipse. But, other than that, she hasn't really been in much.

She really killed it as the blind Ivy Walker, daughter of one of the leaders in the group, Edward (William Hurt).

For years the group has needed to stay out of the woods due to the creatures and not head to 'The Towns", but when Ivy's love interest, Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) is stabbed and they need medicine to save him - Edward grants Ivy permission to head to "The Towns" to help save him.

Howard was the best part of the film, and like I said, I really came away with a great deal of respect for her after seeing this - especially having to play a blind woman.

So, I enjoyed this film. I know it is probably taboo and I will get reamed for liking this film, but I honestly did. A lot of that may have to do with Howard's performance, and the fact that I looked at this film, not as a Shyamalan film, but just as a film.

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Vantage Point

Our second movie that we took in this weekend was Vantage Point.

Vantage Point is a thriller, terrorist movie that shows a single moment from a handful of different perspectives.

The film opens from the view of GNN (Global Network News) and their team. The President of the United States is set to give a speech against terrorism. There is an assassination attempt on the president, which is followed by multiple explosions.

The film then rewinds and shows you the point of view of Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid), who had previously taken a bullet for the president and was just returning to duty.

Basically, the film begins to unwrap more and more with each perspective that you are able to see. Forest Whitaker, William Hurt, Matthew Fox and Sigourney Weaver co-star in this action-packed film.

The film had a lot of great moments, and it was pretty fun to follow as each perspective was shown - and little-by-little the information was given to you - until you find out who is behind the attack, and how they are going to be brought down.

I would give this movie a better grade, however, if it wasn't so predictable. I told my wife right away, I believe from the second perspective, who was involved in the attack. It was far too easy to figure out. But, it was definitely a fun watch and fun to see how things went together.

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