To the Wonder

[Stewball]

This was just released but it's also on VOD. I said uh oh, but that was an understatement. Gaaaaaaaah.

1/10, and I was huge on The Tree of Life.

[Jorg]

and I was huge on The Tree of Life.

There's a handful users on here (including me) who hated both ToL and TTW, but did give high ratings to his prior films. What I don't understand is how people can love ToL, but hate TTW. It seems that people like to think of ToL as some kind of philosophical masterpiece, but to me it has the exact same problems as TTW: A narrative that is much too loose, pointless characters (Penn's character, Bardem's character, etc.. both actors said in interviews that they didn't know what they were doing or how they were contributing to the narrative).. Basically just people walking around and looking at each other.. Plenty of nice shots yes, but it all doesn't add up to much, so for me they are just pretentious. I think there is more to movies than watching people walk around in buildings (ToL) and dancing around in supermarkets and laundromats (TTW)

Malick seems to be on a roll now, multiple movies in 1 year, and shooting back-to-back (Uwe Boll style).. If his next 3 movies are received as poorly as TTW then I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of people revising their opinion on ToL.

Before he would take a long time (years) to develop a script.. Nowadays he's just doing it on the go, writing down new ideas each morning before the shoot.. At the rate he's going now, it doesn't seem like he's very critical anymore about his work (his 'fans' will love it anyway, and his crew will do most of the job anyway and give him the fancy images+sound that he needs for presenting his flawed ideas), so I'm not really surprised by the way his last movies have been turning out

[Stewball]

TOL has a great message, but if you don't get it or agree with it, you probably won't like it (like the vast majority of those who've seen it apparently). Yeah Penn (casting) was flat but when was the last time he wasn't, well, besides Gangster Squad. The rest were good to great, sort of presented in suspension at times, which was the state for them all from beginning to end in TTW, which had absolutely nothing to say philosophically or emotionally--unless you wanted to be depressed. It was so down it made you feel elated when it ended.

This sudden increase in Malick's output makes me wonder if he's dying or something. He's got three more all in post-production, 2 set to screen this year, and if they're as bad as this he won't make to the last one. The last one is ominously about the life and death of the universe. This is gonna slam Affleck's career back down (he was lost) and maybe Rachael McAdams', even though she didn't have much screen time--on the other hand, she's on the poster.

[Bojangles]

Yeah Penn (casting) was flat but when was the last time he wasn't, well, besides Gangster Squad.

He won an Oscar in 2008, allegedly became "flat" in the three year period afterwards (TTOL) and then regained his vigor in time for Gangster Squad? What a mercurial talent.

This sudden increase in Malick's output makes me wonder if he's dying or something.

wat

This is gonna slam Affleck's career back down (he was lost)

wat

His acting career had nowhere to go but up, and he's possibly the hottest director in Hollywood right now.

and maybe Rachael McAdams':

wat

Actors are allowed to make independent or unsuccessful movies. Name a top tier actor and I'll tell you the shitty movie they did. If "Married Life" or "Passion" didn't slam her career why should To the Wonder? Malick has a cult following that will at least keep some buzz going around this movie for a while.

[Bojangles]

I didn't really like TtW but at least it's doing something narratively unconventional and exploring the form. I can't be the only one who gets sick of the standard audiovisualized novel. Why can't someone film a poem? My problem isn't that there's a weak story/narrative, or that 'it's all people walking around,' but that there seems to have been a weak preconceived idea. The Thin Red Line had a well thought out script and The Tree of Life was 25 long years in the making. To the Wonder seems like he just woke up each day and winged it. I doubt there was even a script at all.

My theory is that Malick knows that this new way he's going about making movies isn't going to go over well with many people (which he clearly doesn't give a shit about) and so he's just gonna vomit out as many of them as possible, while he has the opportunity.

[ShogunRua]

This is gonna slam Affleck's career back down (he was lost)

wat

His acting career had nowhere to go but up, and he's possibly the hottest director in Hollywood right now.

Exactly. There is only one actor in all of Hollywood that consistently pumps out hit after hit. The others have plenty of bombs/break-even projects, yet still keep going, successfully. DiCaprio has had plenty of bombs. So has Tom Hanks. And Jim Carrey. Tom Cruise has had a bunch.

The only guy that doesn't is Will Smith, and he's a bigger star draw than any THREE other actors and actresses.

[Jorg]

The Tree of Life was 25 long years in the making. To the Wonder seems like he just woke up each day and winged it. I doubt there was even a script at all.

Tree of Life felt exactly the same to me, rushed and full of improvisations.. Penn walking around in a building, the out of place universe scenes with the badly rendered dinosaurs .. Chastain floating in the air and taking a ride in an airplane.. Kids that I couldn't give a shit about.. There's even a f*cking mime in it.. And a pretentious ending to top it off with.. It all adds up to a waste of time for me.. I mean, it's probably highly autobiographical and personal stuff for Mr. Malick, but I couldn't care less, because I would have to go out of my bounds to decipher everything and pretend to myself that I understand the meaning of every shot.. With his previous movies that wasn't necessary, because they had good stories that were complemented with Malick's style. With ToL and TTW it's mostly style over substance imho with a bad story/narrative, so for me that equals a bad movie..

[Stewball]

This sudden increase in Malick's output makes me wonder if he's dying or something.

wat

WAT, you disagree?

This is gonna slam Affleck's career back down (he was lost)

wat

His acting career had nowhere to go but up, and he's possibly the hottest director in Hollywood right now.

He got a well deserved boost from Argo for his acting, now this bomb. But the hoopla for Argo and his direction of it was totally artificial. Given it's last 20-30 minutes, it shouldn't have even been nominated. As the awards season wore on, he (to his credit) looked more and more embarrassed by the machine at work on his behalf; while Clooney and his smirk basked in the spotlight, garnering the awards for the performance of his Hollywood muscle.

and maybe Rachael McAdams':

wat

Actors are allowed to make independent or unsuccessful movies. Name a top tier actor and I'll tell you the shitty movie they did. If "Married Life" or "Passion" didn't slam her career why should To the Wonder? Malick has a cult following that will at least keep some buzz going around this movie for a while.

I was only saying this isn't going to help her career. And this is so bad on so many levels, the cult will have it's hands full defending him. If the next three movies supposedly coming out in the next year are like this they'll burn him at the stake.

I didn't really like TtW but at least it's doing something narratively unconventional and exploring the form.

Slopping paint on a canvas is "narratively unconventional and exploring the form"--a phrase that's as empty and disingenuous as what it describes.

I can't be the only one who gets sick of the standard audiovisualized novel.

It's there if you'll just look, movies that generate novels, like the mold-breaking, on many levels, 2001. Given the audio, especially music, and the video, there are many movies you can't put in a book.

Why can't someone film a poem?

These comments smack of elitism. You put it to music, or dialogue, and it's a whole different story. So much of poetry, today and in the past, is like the narratively unconventional, pretentious. The goal is not to be unconventional, but to create art.

My problem isn't that there's a weak story/narrative, or that 'it's all people walking around,' but that there seems to have been a weak preconceived idea. The Thin Red Line had a well thought out script and The Tree of Life was 25 long years in the making. To the Wonder seems like he just woke up each day and winged it. I doubt there was even a script at all.

I couldn't agree more.

My theory is that Malick knows that this new way he's going about making movies isn't going to go over well with many people (which he clearly doesn't give a shit about) and so he's just gonna vomit out as many of them as possible, while he has the opportunity.

You could be right, but then he's either gone off the deep end, or he's merely lucked out in the past leaving himself exposed now as a phoney.

[Stewball]

The Tree of Life was 25 long years in the making. To the Wonder seems like he just woke up each day and winged it. I doubt there was even a script at all.

Tree of Life felt exactly the same to me, rushed and full of improvisations..

TOL had a theme, a very profound and obvious one. Can you accuse it of aimlessness if you don't know what it is?

I mean, it's probably highly autobiographical and personal stuff for Mr. Malick, but I couldn't care less, because I would have to go out of my bounds to decipher everything and pretend to myself that I understand the meaning of every shot..

It isn't autobiographical, at least that's not the point. You don't have to go any further than the opening quote to know what's going on.

[ShogunRua]

This sudden increase in Malick's output makes me wonder if he's dying or something.

wat

WAT, you disagree?

I think it's just a tad far-fetched to believe that a sudden increase in a director's ouptut means he is dying, don't you?