I may be one of the few, but I didn't like Gladiator. I haven't been able to finish watching it since the first time I saw it, and it was a strug back then, too. I don't know, its not a bad movie, just not even close to my top picks.

Gladiator was good, but that is as high praise as I will give it. It was definitely not deserving of the Oscars it received, in my opinion.

Unfortunately, the disappointing "Signs" put "The Village" squarely into the rental category. Can't take a chance on it at theater prices. Just MHO, of course.

I really liked "Unbreakable" and "Sixth Sense," but - oh boy - I just didn't buy into "Signs" at all.

OT - saw "Secret Window" last night. Can Johnny Depp be any cooler? If it weren't for him, I don't think we would have made it to the ending.

[QUOTE=Tim Broderick]Unfortunately, the disappointing "Signs" put "The Village" squarely into the rental category. Can't take a chance on it at theater prices. Just MHO, of course.
QUOTE]

I enjoyed the movie. I found it to be original - which gives it a notch up right off the bat. Check it out.

RIK

I liked the Village. It entertained me. That is what I look for in a movie.

I may be one of the few, but I didn't like Gladiator. I haven't been able to finish watching it since the first time I saw it, and it was a strug back then, too. I don't know, its not a bad movie, just not even close to my top picks.

And what, might I ask are your top films? Any such list will be subjective at best, reflective of each individual's taste.
Compiling such a list is purely an excerise in fun, nothing more.

For myself, I enjoy Phoenix's work but of late he hasn't really had anything that reflects his effectiveness on screen. Commodus was a role in which he excelled bringing much villany yet a sweetness almost an a childlike innocence
to such a vile person.

I did think Gladiator was most deserving because it was a tale simply told not dressed up to offer social political commentary on the state of man as individuals as such recent films as Colleratal (a preposterous setup and that got increasingly ludicrous as the film progressed), The Manchurian Candidate (at least a bit of the film was grounded in reality but not much), Training Day (a cop so totally over the top as to be unbelievable) as well as the very disappointing King Arthur are posited to be/have done. Here was an example of marketing gone awry, highlighting a female lead, creating a warrior queen that overshone, outfought and was deemed solely responsible for the creation of the Round Table. I'm all for female empowerment but it was antagonistic to Guinvere as she has generally been thought of. If I want a warrior queen, I am awaiting Gibson's film on a somewhat well known British queen who is known to have been good with a sword.


"Are we not entertained? Is this not why we are here?"
"What we do in life echoes in eternity"

I have only seen Gladiator once (two months before it was released) and those words have stayed with me. It is rare indeed.

Finally saw The Village last night. I thought it was excellent. I agree with most of the other comments everyone's made on it. Hurt sounded the most fake but after seeing the whole thing I wanted to cut him some slack.

It really wasn't what I was expecting it to be but the cool thing is it was still enjoyable. Just different than what I was expecting. There were really a few twists and one of them I just did not see coming. I thought about a couple of the others but also had alternative (alternate?) guesses since I never had enough clues to be sure about. And yeah there were a couple of plot holes but I didn't think they detracted at all from the entertainment value.

One scene near the beginning had quite a few folks in the theater laughing out loud. I was not expecting humor but that scene was funny.

I saw it this weekend and loved it. I posted a review with spoilers in another thread. No spoilers here.

This may be one of those "love it or hate it" films. I think if you go with an open mind and let go of expectations, you'll enjoy the film.

The performances are top notch (especially Bryce Dallas Howard) and so is the cinematography.

And the surprise(s) were very surprising to me!

Susan