LADY IN THE WATER....- Page 2

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 8:07pm

I didn't realize a movie had to "earn" the right to have a twist at the end...

[jasonf]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 9:11pm

Of COURSE a movie needs to earn the right to a twist -- when a viewer has bought in to the movie for an hour and a half, there had damn well better be a setup of some kind that not only justifies everything that came before it, but also doesn't feel like a complete cop-out on the part of the writer. The Village's ending was a cop-out. The Sixth Sense, while I thought it was kind of obvious, at least EARNED it's ending through all the cleverly placed clues throughout, and rewatching the film the end DEFINITELY holds up.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 9:29pm

Well said, jason.

Otherwise, it's just a cheat and no better than having the character wake up at the end of the film and say "Ahh. It was all a dream..."

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 9:37pm

I've been thinking the same thing about how LITW looks really bad. It seems like it's trying so hard to be a scary bone chilling film, but the trailers are really doing nothing for me. I don't know if this is bad advertising or if it's truly a reflection of the movie on a whole. This is comming from someone who has to turn off the tv when every trailer for a horror movie comes on. I'm a weenie when it comes to scary movies.

[jasonf]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 9:38pm

Thanks Cruel - I've explained this to my students on many many occassions - every time I get a paper that ends with "and then I woke up" they get the "justified ending" lecture.

[soapguy17]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 9:38pm

orion59, you gave me my new sign. *looks down*

[broadway86]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 9:50pm

Thanks, jasonf.

The twist for Sixth Sense, I think, is a great one, because: 1) It makes perfect sense in the context of the story, 2) The movie doesn't cheat and gives numerous clues, 3) It is unpredictable, and I'm sure that very few saw it coming, 4) It strengthens and deepens everything that has come before it.

[jasonf]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:02pm

The most important of those is the first one -- it completely works within the context of the story. There ARE tons of clues throughout, and since I knew going in there was a "twist" I was able to figure out what it was based on them. I'll always wonder if I went into the movie cold if I would have known what was coming. Like The Usual Suspects - you watch it now and you wonder how you COULDN'T have seen that coming - but going in I had no idea there was a twist. That twist also worked well in the context of the story.

Another key thing is that the twist can't negate everything that came before it. There have been plenty of movies that have done it (what was that bad one with John Cusack in the hotel...?).

I don't want to give anything away on this, so I'm going to say here this is a SPOILER on the end of the first season of Veronica Mars -- if you're ever going to watch it, don't read any further.

AFter VM spent the entire season searching for Lilly, putting together clues etc. the reveal of who it was was something the audience could NEVER have figured out. We knew the character, and we knew that the person was CAPABLE of it, but the motive wasn't revealed until Veronica figured it out, thereby making it impossible for us as a viewer to figure it out ourselves. That said - the series is still worth watching - but I was REALLY disappointed with the choice of that character as the killer. PLEASE DON'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT SEASON 2 IF YOU RESPOND TO THIS - I'M WAITING ON THE DVDS NEXT MONTH....

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:02pm

Giamatti said on Howard Stern today that there is no big twist. I think everyone will be going to this movie expecting that Shyamalan twist.

I enjoyed the Village somewhat. SPOILERS: I knew going into it that it was modern day, so I was expecting it. The thing that annoyed me was the chance they took by letting the blins chick walk through the woods. Some real animal could have attacked her. There was also no way of knowing that the car would be pulling up just as she climbed over the hedge. She could have been wandering aimlessly and never found her way back. And why was it that none of the elders would go to the towns? I forgot.

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:09pm

You do bring up some good points.

I still enjoyed The Village as well as the twist though, and no one will convince me otherwise. I like not being able to guess the ending as long as it's not as Cruel_Sandwich said a "Ahh. It was all a dream..." twist (which I don't consider The Village's twist to be).

[broadway86]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:18pm

Another key thing is that the twist can't negate everything that came before it. There have been plenty of movies that have done it (what was that bad one with John Cusack in the hotel...?).

You're talking about Identity, which also (imho) had a terrific twist that made perfect sense. I have commited major threadjack because of that movie before, so if you want to talk about it, PM me. Updated On: 7/19/06 at 10:18 PM

[jasonf]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:20pm

It wasn't THAT kind of twist, but I thought it was still pretty obvious what it was. The problem was that that was the whole point of the movie. I think the story would have been far better told using the "invader" motiff -- telling it this way resulted in an ending that many people saw coming - and was kind of a disappointment as the culmination of what came before. The IDEA of a village like that in modern times is interesting, but the story would have been better served if that wasn't the WHOLE point of the movie.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:20pm

What about the twist in Derailed? I only saw part of it, but I have heard it's pretty unexpected.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:26pm

JerseyGirl2, aside from the things you mentioned, also:

Don't people notice that some of the elders are always missing during the attacks on the village? (even if they switch up the duty of pretending to be the monsters it's still iffy).

How did the villagers ever settle in the village in the first place if there are "monsters" all around in the woods? The "monsters" migrated to the woods after the settlers got there or what?

When exactly do the elders plan on telling the younger villagers about the lie? How can they be sure that they'll go along with it?

Also, what about guns? Do the elders just not tell the younger people about guns so that there isn't a way to fight the monsters? If they're reading books from they would still find out about guns. I can understand not wanting guns in the area if you're trying to get away from the violence of society, but this just brings me to my main problem with The Village. It brings up so many different ideas and then doesn't bother to delve into them. If the movie had bothered to go into the idea that you can't escape violence even through isolation, or the moral ambiguity of what the elders are doing, or the political parallels with the current administration instead of just trying to be all twisty and jerk the audience around I probably would've liked it more. The fact that so little is said about the elder's past (coming so close to the ending of the movie) is also a problem for me.

Updated On: 7/19/06 at 10:26 PM

[broadway86]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:33pm

I agree about The Village. There were tons of ways that Shyamalan could have tied the movie together, but he seemed to have chosen the least credible imho.

jasonf, check your PMs.

[jasonf]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:34pm

The twist in Derailed was REALLY obvious -- I was yelling at the tv (thank God I saw it at home not in the theater) - it BETTER not be "....." And sure enough, that's exactly what it was.

[pushdabutton]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:47pm

Lady In The Water is not scary at all. Shyamalan was on the Howard Stern show yesterday and recommended it for kids 8 years and older.

I really liked The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. I thought The Village was predicable but I did like the story and thought Bryce Dallas Howard's performace as a blind woman was outstanding. I was expecting a scarry horror film based on the trailer of The Village and felt completely robbed of that when there was no "monsters" in the woods at all.

The trailer for Lady In The Water is also very misleading. As with The Village, I was expecting a scarry horror movie with a big twist at the end that Shyamalan is famous for. It's a boring story based on a fairy tale explained at the beginning of the movie with stick figure animation and no big twist at the end. I had high expectations for this movie and left the theater very disappointed.

Tomorrow night I am going to an advanced screening of World Trade Center. Hopefully I will like it better than Lady In The Water.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:18pm

The violent scene in Derailed upset me so much that I couldn't go any further.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:35pm

THE VILLAGE remains my favorite film by Shyamalan, twist-worthy or not.

[Craig]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:36pm

M. Night painted himself into a corner by having a bunch of movies in a row have a twist. The idea of a twist is that you don't expect it - at least to be truly effective. When you go in expecting a twist, you're already "on guard" - not saying you can't be surprised. It's just not the same.

That's why, to me, he is a one trick pony. I'd love to see him direct a "regular" film - or a series of them.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:47pm

There's no twist in WIDE AWAKE. That's the first film I ever saw by him. I don't think there is one in the new film either.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 10:55am

Read the quotes in the "cream of the crop" sidebar. Not good...
RT

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 11:02am

You actually pay attention to reviews? Why?

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 11:05am

The majority of early reviews for Pirates panned it as awful as well. Huge hit.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 11:06am

I find reviews entertaining. I had no intention of seeing this movie even if it got raves. Just not interested. But I have a feeling these reviews are more fun than the film itself. Sometimes if I am on the fence I will look to the reviews before I shuck out a bunch of money to see something, usually they don't influence me if I already have a strong interest in a film, though.