Terrence Malick

‘Knight of Cups’ is repetitive, heavy-handed, “First World” navel-gazing at its most self-indulgent. But my god is it beautiful!

The Criterion Collection is both a blessing and a curse for movie geeks. Without Criterion to offer us gorgeously restored versions of hard-to-find classics and “films of importance”, so many essential pieces of world cinema would be that much harder to get your hands on. But on the other hand…..jeez, they’re expensive. Ask your film …

“So one thing from another rises ever; and in fee-simple life is given to none, but unto all mere usufruct.” – Lucretius, On the Nature of Things, Book III The above quote was once used by great Italian documentarian Franco Piavoli to open his masterful 1982 film, The Blue Planet. In that instance, it is deftly applied …

Terrence Malick is having a busy week, which for the director who formerly took ages between films, must rank among his busiest. Malick has first been working on a documentary called Voyage of Time that will incorporate footage from The Tree of Life and be “a celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its …

I Believe in Unicorns is an ode to the American road movie that wears its influences on its sleeve. Particularly reverential to Terrence Malick’s Badlands, it even uses a version of its famous ‘Gassenhauer’ theme, although it must be said that other films have done the same. Despite drawing heavily from these renowned sources, first-time writer-direction Leah Meyerhoff isn’t simply mimicking her idols. By explicitly placing her film within this tradition, she’s able to critique the hopeless romanticism of her central character and scrutinise the naivety of her escape.

My first real attempt at understanding the brilliance that was Stanley Kubrick came in my freshman year of college, when I wrote a research paper on 2001: A Space Odyssey for an English class. After all that work, I only received a B and found myself more confused than ever. But there it was – …

The imagery of “Tess” is what strikes first and leaves the greatest impression, and it was undoubtedly with this in mind that Criterion pulled out all the stops with this release.

Chances are if you’ve seen a movie in the last 10 years, you’ve heard a Hans Zimmer score. Zimmer, a German composer and music producer, is responsible for over 100 scores since the mid-1980s. He’s one of the most popular composers today, scoring for major directors like Ron Howard, Christopher Nolan, and Guy Ritchie. Most …

  [quote by=”Synopsis”] To the Wonder tells the story of Marina (Kurylenko) and Neil (Affleck), who meet in France and move to Oklahoma to start a life together, where problems soon arise. While Marina makes the acquaintance of a priest and fellow exile (Bardem), who is struggling with his vocation, Neil renews a relationship with …

Its that time of the year again in when everyone prepares their Oscar predictions, because let’s be honest for a moment – the best part of the Oscars is placing your bets on who’ll win and hopefully walking away from a long and usually boring ceremony with some extra cash in your pocket. This morning …

Throughout January, SOS writers will be biting the bullet and finally sitting down with a film they feel like bad film buffs for not having seen already. Badlands Written and Directed by Terrence Malick USA, 1973 One of the most recognized films of 2011 was Terrence Malick’s ethereal and captivating The Tree of Life. The …

Throughout November, SOS staffers will be discussing the movies that made them into film fanatics. (click here for the full list) Thin Red Line Directed by Terrence Malick Written by Terrence Malick 1998 – USA It is nearly impossible to quantify within one’s own history what key moment or memory contributed to the formative restructuring …

Every year during the Fourth of July, American cable and movie channels never fail to make an effort to run a slate of films perceived as ideal in representing the American brand. These range from war movies dripping with nostalgia and patriotism to pop culture pieces sympathetic to American history and ideals to macho action …

Recently on episode 273 of Sound On Sight Radio, Justine, Simon and I, all gave Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life a rave review. However I did have one major complaint. Personally for me, I felt that the theatrical cut of his film was too short. What was originally a four and a half hour …

We recently reviewed Terrance Malick’s Palme d’Or winner The Tree of Life on Sound On Sight Radio episode #273. It was an extremely positive discussion, but we were left with so much to say that we’ve decided on a follow up review. This week we will be dedicating episode #278 entirely to the director as …

The Tree of Life Directed by Terrance Malick Written by Terrance Malick 2011 “There are two ways through life,” intones the Mother, “the way of nature, and the way of grace.  You must choose which one you’ll follow.”  Mother is married to Father, and together they have three sons. They live in a modest house …

The Tree of Life Written by Terrence Malick Directed by Terrence Malick USA, 2011 With a scope that dwarfs most entire directorial careers, Terrence Malick’s fifth feature is destined to be the subject of endless interpretation and speculation. Readings will range from the autobiographical, to the Biblical, to the psychoanalytic, to one that would paint …

– Terrence Malick is a director that can’t stay still. A cinematic poet whose wandering eye has been the focus of equal amounts of derision and fascination, Malick’s images can seem fickle and arbitrary at first glance. Indeed, he does not approach images like a storyteller crafting shots from an obligatory laundry list, as if …

Not much is known about Terrence Malick’s upcoming film, The Tree Of Life, since the director prefers to remain secretive about all of his projects. The trailer released just before the end of 2010 was just enough to whet our appetites and from what little we saw, the film looks incredible. We caught a glimpse …

There are certain films that seem to sustain on a life of their own. There is a pulse that beats consistently throughout, constantly reminding us of the fragility of life. We feel as though the dramas of life are being shown to us in their natural environment, as the images dance, oblivious to the watching …

We all know about Tree of Life but Terrence Malick is already working on a new project which doesn’t have a title or a distributor.  Thanks to THR, we have the first official image from the film. The image is of Rachel McAdams and Ben Affleck. The film has been shooting in Oklahoma and has …

Originally Posted in Creative Loafing. 2009 is already halfway over, and the fall movie season (with all the originality and Oscar-bait it has to offer) is just around the corner. What follows is my list of the 25 films I’m most interested in seeing in the second half of 2009. Read all the way to …