Over the last week, we've rented a record number of DVDs... anyone seen any of these that they want to comment on? I was a little disappointed at the lack of special features offered on these.

Bourne Supremacy
The Forgotten
The Day After Tomorrow
Simon Birch
The Village



Of the bunch, Simon Birch is still my favorite film despite having seen it before and despite some broad departures from the novel.

Bourne was good for what it is (a simple cloak-an-dagger action movie) but I liked the story choices that were made getting it transitioned from 70's book to modern screenplay.

TDAT was pretty dumb. Or pretty and dumb, because some of the scenery/set sfx were nice.

The Forgotten was pretty good until the last 10 minutes.

I like M. Night Shyamalan so I watched The Village with an open mind. Good thing, too; I could see why some hated it. I liked it, but wouldn't consider it a classic-to-be. The best part? About 70 minutes into the movie, I realized something unusual for me: I had no idea what was going to happen next and no idea how the movie was going to end. I had some idea as to what was "really" going on but could not predict how (or if) it would show up in the film. Interesting to view, but not the huge "oh!" that was in 6th Sense.

-Red

Warning: Don't Read any further if you have NOT seen the Village. I spoil the whole movie for you!**************

There is an eerie resemblance between Margaret Peterson Haddix's children's book, Running Out of Time, published by Simon & Schuster in 1995, and the Shyamalan movie. The book is about a tomboyish girl in a rural village in the 1800s who comes to learn that, in fact, it is a historical preserve in 1996 and the adults have kept that secret from the children of the village. She finds out the truth when her mother sends her out to get medicine.
Supposedly Simon and Schuster was bringing a law suit against M. Night Shyamalan, but I haven't heard anything else about it since the movie came out.

--Amanda from Seattle

I had also heard that. The book was excellent, I haven't seen the movie yet. Someone I talked to this weekend had read the book and seen the movie and said there was some resembalance but not as close as the publisher implied.

The argument that I read was that there was no "love story" in the book and the "love triangle" is supposedly an important part of the movie. Also, in the book, the village is being watched by people from the "real world"--It is a form of entertainment---Where in the movie, it is a retreat from the "real world" by a group of people (like a cult)

But the points that are similiar (an 1880's village hidden away from the modern world, the girl who sets off to "save" the village) are major plot points. But perhaps Simon and Schuster decided that they did not have a case, because I can't seem to find anything recent about the lawsuit. (besides, who wants to try and sue Disney?!)

-Amanda from Seattle

Ms. Haddix also has some other great Children's books. Most notably, Among the Hidden.

I've now read all of her books. They are fantastic, no doubt about it. I loved the whole Shadow Children Series. I've read all but the latest which isn't out in paperback yet.

I especially liked Turn Around. It's more of an adult book than a children's book. It offers great food for thought.

Maiden