I'm curious where everyone stands on the maddeningly non-prolific Terrence Malick through my totally scientific, not-at-all-subjective poll.

I voted for the third option. For me, Malick is a filmmaker whose work is much easier to appreciate than outright love. My favorite of his is Badlands, and while I wouldn't necessarily say that each of his subsequent films have yielded diminishing returns, each of his following films has affected me less and less. He certainly has a way of crafting poetic visuals, but his painterly style can sometimes be overwhelming, to the point where it can almost be seen as a distraction from other areas that could have used some improvement. With that said, I'm writing this as someone who has only seen each of his films once, with both Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line collecting dust on the shelf desperately waiting to be re-watched, so I'm by no means an expert on his filmography.

I'm eagerly anticipating The Tree of Life though.

I'm not psyched to see many new movies, but Terence Malick is different.
I voted for the master option.
Rob

Terrence does not work for you, you have to work for him.

You don't watch your TV; YOUR TV WATCHES YOU!

Enough post-modernism. My thoughts are somewhat like Blonde Almond's, but I'm a bit more pessimistic. Badlands was very good, Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line were pretty but lacking.

I really can't wait to hear Pedro's thoughts on The Tree of Life. Ever since he showed us the trailer way back when you've got me interested.

And I'm still a Malick virgin, so I shant vote.

It should be noted that I'm on record with giving The Thin Red Line a B, but his style has grown on me since that initial viewing. I'm planning on a Malickathon before The Tree of Life comes out. I'll have to get my hands on The New World, which shouldn't be too difficult.

I voted that he's a master because that's what I believe, thought I wouldn't go as far as Pedro's ultimatum.

I haven't seen any of his movies the whole way through (The New World is the only one I've seen part way through) but I am definitely excited for The Tree of Life. I also want to have a Malick marathon before that film.

Pedro

It would be awesome if you could run a thread on Terence Malick and provide reviews of each of his films as you lead up to seeing Tree of Life. I'm way overdue on this as well.

Rob

I think I can do that. I can start fairly soon as I've seen Badlands already.

Hey Pedro...let me watch a Malick film with you, yeah? I kind of miss the movie club discussions. Maybe we can have a mini-Malick-marathon or whatever. What of his are you planning on watching next? I'll put it in the q immediately. If it's cool.

I will go chronologically, so Days of Heaven is next. Watch Badlands first, though. It's not his first film and most accessible film (probably), it's the one that a lot of people agree is great. Like, I think it's the highest ranking Malick film on that list. You know the one.

I actually think that Badlands is the easiest of his movies to date as it's less poetic and more conventionally structured.
I'll try and join in as well
Rob

Awesome. Badlands is at #1 on the queue. I should get it about the weekend. Thanks guys.

I'm honestly not sure which poll option to choose here. He falls short of my all time favourite directors but that's probably because I've only seen 2 of his films. However, I'm not sure that he's overpraised. I was reading the comments on an EW article about him and most of the people seemed to actively dislike him (and I got the impression most of them were, at worst, "kind of" knowledgeable about movies).



I'd really like to hook up with you guys ( ) too if you're doing this. I've seen Badlands and The New World but I'd like to see the rest of the man's filmography before checking out Tree of Life.

I honestly fell asleep the first time I watched The New World (and you will too if you're tired). However, my second viewing was completely different. This might sound corny, but it helps not to think of it as a "movie". It's more like a poem or a piece of art. Yeah, that sounds corny.

Count me in for this as well. It will finally give me an excuse to re-watch Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line.

I've seen everything he's done except The New World and I don't see how someone can be a great director when he hasn't made a great film

Hmm, I'll bite

I think Badlands and Days of Heaven are both great films and I'm open to being convinced on Thin Red Line. New World is my least favorite.

Rob

Badlands is very good. I don't see what's terrific about Days of Heaven beyond the images. That said, I didn't hate it at all, and even liked many parts of it, but a great film? No way.