baaaad movie

so i had the honor of attending the screening of m. night's new movie, the village due out in july. it was one of those pre-released, not quite finished screenings to get the audience reactions and stuff. again, it was one of his signature "surprise twist endings" movies which, in my opinion, is sooooo played out! it's like you expect this from him now and can't just watch the movie because you are constantly wondering "what is the twist?" so i wasn't quick enough to catch the twist even though i was looking for it, but let me just say, the surprise is WACK. it wasn't even a surprise like "whoa..." it was more like "huh? that's stupid." oops.

don't get me wrong. the production value of the film is great. it's slick. it's well-produced and looks real pretty (thanks to roger deakins and disney's deep pockets) but the story is just plain silly. honestly, i think it would have been more powerful had you known the twist at the beginning. granted, they are still working out the kinks, but to me, there are a lot of kinks to be worked out. and the script was not well-written. just too hollywood cliche for me. AND the actors all seemed to be over-acting too. the cast reads like a hollywood's who's who, but jesus, tone it down a bit people. no more yelling when you're trying to announce a climatic plot point. joaquin phoenix was the only solid performance in my book. that guy is great. wonder why he ends up doing these big budget hollywood films?

anyway, for night's sake, i hope it gets better. he was there asking us questions and it seemed like a lot of the audience was on the same page as i was... ouch. the guy is smart, so hopefully he's got more (or less) footage up his sleeve. otherwise, i smell a summer blockbuster bomb.