This is just to say that I think The Manchurian Candidate is one of the best movies in a long time. It deepens and enriches the first film, while being a great work of art on its own (in much the same way that Godfather II enriched/deepened The Godfather.) I do think though that if you have never seen the original (or due to forgetfulness are sketchy about its details) much of pleasures Demme serves up will elude you.
Close analogies I can think of are the recent addition to the Brooklyn Museum or I.M. Pei's addition to the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. -- modern additions to grand Beaux Arts buildings -- solid, elegant, b&w Frankenheimer reflected/refracted in the shiny, color of splintered Demme.
Demme also plays with gender, race and politics in exciting ways.
As for The Village, I am curious if anyone on the list has seen it and what their response was.
Brian Dauth Queer Buddhist Resister