M. Night Shyamalan is known for his twisty endings and grand reveals. The Village was neither and frankly a waste of a great set and great acting skills. Where this one dies on the vine is writing. It was enough of a story for a 1/2 hour episode of The Twilight Zone, but falls woefully short as a major motion picture with a big-time cast. William Hurt and Adrien Brody were exceptional, Sigourney Weaver seemed a bit out of place (that may just be me though) and Joaquin Phoenix just tiptoed around the edges of overacting as usual.

The big surprise was no surprise at all as I had it figured out within minutes of it starting. I won’t spoil (haha) it for you – as you should at least be in suspense until the opening credits finish. Overall though, some of M. Night’s worst work.

RATING 5 out of 10

Big Fish was not your average Tim Burton movie, which is what I liked about it. I rarely like his sense of style – the whole creepiness thing doesn’t work for me. This is an interesting movie in that throughout, I kept thinking, “So this is all there is, huh?” The payoff came at the end when it left you with a good feeling – and it was the ending that saved the film. Not a huge payoff, just a good “warm-fuzzy.”

RATING 6 out of 10