Features
Headlines
Search
Archives
Monday brings the Cannes reveal of the most anticipated movie of the festival, and for many, of the year: Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life.” Screenings will also be held throughout the day in LA (and, I assume, New York as well).
We’ll know then whether the film measures up to perhaps the most inflated sense of expectation this side of — hell, I don’t know what film has held this sort of insular captivated pre-release awe, yet remained a bit of an unknown amongst general moviegoers.
In the meantime, the atmosphere on both coasts is that of the second coming, as a Malick film is clearly an event. He’s a filmmaker entering his fourth decade of work but only has five (highly influential) films to show for himself. Tonight, The Elemental Cinema of Terrence Malick kicks off here in LA at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art with a screening of 1973′s “Badlands.” Actors Sissy Spacek and Jim Caviezel, production designer Jack Fisk and costume designer Jacquline West will be on hand at their respective screenings to add to the aura of Malick in Q&As.
In New York, the Museum of the Moving Image launches a similar take-advantage-of-the-moment series, kicking off with “Days of Heaven” tomorrow night.
I’m thinking about catching the introductory LACMA screening tonight, but if you want to get your Malick fix on in advance of Monday’s review deluge and the May 27 release, and you find yourself in one of those cities, dig in.
(UPDATE: Commenter Graham reminds us that there is also a retrospective of Malick’s work set for Minneapolis’s Walker Art Musuem. This will include a screening of “The Tree of Life” on June 1, introduced by producer Bill Pohlad, a resident of the city.)
[Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures]
19 responses so far
1 5-12-2011 at 11:27 am
graham said...
Kristopher,
There is also a retrospective of Malick’s work been screened in Minneapolis at the Walker Art Musuem and it will screen all his films including the Premiere of ” Tree of Life” Introduced by producer Bill Pohlad , the producer who actually lives here in Minneapolis .
In Context: Terrence Malick Retrospective
Here is a link to check out the
http://calendar.walkerart.org/canopy.wac?id=6230
2 5-12-2011 at 11:31 am
Silencio said...
I wonder how much of the Malick hoopla (however well earned) is also a sign of how starved film lovers are of truly astonishing work these days. Maybe it indicates that the seventies took him for granted.
3 5-12-2011 at 11:34 am
/3rtfu11 said...
Can someone explain this to me and nicely — Did Terrence Malick stock go up the moment Stanley Kubrick die?
People made such a big deal about him during the pre-release hype for TTRL. Post-Kubrick’s death he thought of even more highly than any other filmmaker I can think of.
4 5-12-2011 at 12:17 pm
Matthew Starr said...
I think a top ten list is in order, similar to what you did with Nolan and Fincher last year.
5 5-12-2011 at 12:22 pm
Matthew Starr said...
Also I think Malick stock went up in December 1998 when he released his first film in over twenty years, that Kubrick passed way shortly thereafter is coincidental.
6 5-12-2011 at 12:24 pm
Matthew Starr said...
Finally and sorry to take three comments but I think the hype for Tree of Life is much greater than New World due to the creation of the film blogosphere..
7 5-12-2011 at 12:53 pm
Ken said...
Matt: that and the logline/synopsis. And the trailer (which by itself was pretty much the best movie of 2010, and I’m only half-kidding). Throw in Pitt/Penn, and it’s pretty much a perfect storm of arthouse hype, hype which I’ve been trying to divorce myself from for the past two weeks (because how the hell can I go into a Malick movie with hyped expectations?).
8 5-12-2011 at 1:12 pm
Kristopher Tapley said...
The film blogosphere was certainly around and vocal in 2005.
9 5-12-2011 at 2:03 pm
Michael W. said...
I vividly remember the first teaser trailer for The New World. Don’t remember the talk about it though. But I DO remember visiting the In Contention blogspot site at that time :D
But speaking of teaser trailers it occurred to me a while ago that it’s now 10 years since the first teaser for Lord of the Rings came out!!! It was a quick glimpse of the fellowship walking in the mountains and then the titles of the films coming Christmas 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Time just flies by.
10 5-12-2011 at 4:19 pm
Rashad said...
Most overhyped film I’ve seen on all of these blogs. I’m not a fan of Malick’s to begin with, but it’s quite annoying and funny to see people proclaim this a masterpiece just from watching the trailer
11 5-12-2011 at 4:56 pm
Jason said...
A Malick film is an Event , he is the last great classic film maker out there to really invent cinema and push the boundaries of the medium.
I cannot wait to hear how the movie goes over at Cannes. I bet the critics will either love it wholeheartly or despise it .
12 5-12-2011 at 5:21 pm
Matthew Starr said...
I guess instead of the word creation I should have used the word growth. The cinema blogosphere is definitely a lot larger than it was in 2005 and it has kind of shifted from a place for post screening discussion to a place of pre-screening hype.
If we’re all still talking Tree of Life on June 3 as opposed to say Super 8, then we’ll know Malick made a hell of a film.
13 5-12-2011 at 7:18 pm
Mike_M said...
Excited to hear the reviews from Monday’s screenings… really wish I could make the MotMI screenings in Queens, but have a 1 week old at home, so logistically it just wont work…
14 5-12-2011 at 7:43 pm
Speaking English said...
***he is the last great classic film maker out there to really invent cinema and push the boundaries of the medium.***
This is nonsense.
15 5-12-2011 at 8:17 pm
/3rtfu11 said...
All this Malick talk makes me long for Tarantino’s return.
16 5-13-2011 at 2:53 pm
Fitz said...
‘Tree’ could make or break the cult following Malick has right now. Even people on campus are talking about this next film.
17 5-14-2011 at 6:00 am
Justin Hawe said...
This is the most important and anticipated release of 2011 .
Speaking English : If you read the production notes on the film you’ll see Malick is attempting to change the language of Cinema so I tend to disagree with you there .
There will be obvious comparisons to 2001 but his film is on to something new .
Malick is unlike any other director working today.
18 5-14-2011 at 6:33 pm
Speaking English said...
***If you read the production notes on the film you’ll see Malick is attempting to change the language of Cinema so I tend to disagree with you there .***
Malick is hardly the only one who’s said they were “attempting to change the language of cinema.” And what, because he says something it must be so? Even sillier.