In Contention

Tag: The Thin Red Line

  • Matt Zoller Seitz’s video essays on Terrence Malick cinema

    Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” adds 16 theaters and eight new cities as it expands a little farther this weekend. If you happen to be near enough to catch it, don’t forget to keep the discussion going in our reactions thread. You can find out when the film will make its way to you at Fox Searchlight’s official site.

    As a build-up to the film’s release, the Museum of the Moving Image’s Matt Zoller Seitz has been working through another series of video essays, this one focused on Malick’s filmography. He’s wrapped things up this week with a two-part dissection of 2005’s “The New World,” Seitz’s favorite of the director’s efforts.

    “The net result is a profoundly warm, embracing film that celebrates life itself in all its wonder and terror,” he says of Malick’s fourth feature, “a portrait of a few distinct lives on a planet, and in a universe, that has no beginning and no end.” He could as easily be talking about any of the director’s films, not least of all his latest.

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  • THE LISTS: Top 10 performances in Terrence Malick films

    If you can believe it, it’s been since Halloween that we kicked the dust off this feature at In Contention. We made it all the way through the Oscar season without feeling compelled to go there. Odd. So, with Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” opening in New York and Los Angeles this weekend, before expanding to other cities throughout June, it seemed a good time to dig back in and cook up a collective that might drive a little more interest in the discussion.

    The easiest thing I could think of was a list of the best performances from Malick films, and as I sat down to revisit all five of the director’s works last week, it became clear it was as good a choice as any. There is, after all, plenty to choose from.

    Malick films contain a wide-ranging array of performances, all of them proving to be singular feathers in the caps of many actors. Indeed, when an actor stars in a Malick film, he or she is met with direction unique to any other experience, and it can yield great, unexpected work. Naturalism and a sense of authenticity are hallmarks of these portrayals, as Malick likes to scrape away the dishonesty of “performance” and get to something truer, with all the imperfection that comes with it.

    For my money, the following 10 represent the best of the lot. Let’s dive in…

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  • Thoughts on Malick’s ‘Tree of Life’

    I decided to sleep on Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life.” After a full day of jury duty, a few moments for dinner and then a trip to West Hollywood for the 7:30 screening — which let out near 10pm — it seemed foolish to jump right in to such a dense piece of work. I shutter at the thought of instant Tweet reactions from Cannes (and the one blogger who surely had little more than one-upmanship in mind when he decided to fill his brain with the film twice in Los Angeles yesterday).

    But I guess the unfortunate fact is, this is a film met with more inflated cinephile anticipation than any in recent memory. So clamoring to express thoughts on it is to be expected. Much of this is owed to Malick’s self-imposed aura of awe, retreating from the press experience in the wake of a tough “Days of Heaven” production over 30 years ago. It is seclusion as understandable as it is not. (I recall a frustrated New Line publicist in 2005: “Even Kubrick did phoners!”)

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  • Turning up the Malick

    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.

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  • ‘Tree of Life’ not waiting for Cannes?

    When Terrence Malick’s endlessly postponed “The Tree of Life” was finally handed over to Fox Searchlight and ruled a 2011 release, the conversation turned to which festival would get to host the film’s premiere. Many pundits (myself included) assumed that Cannes’s top dog status — in terms of both red-carpet allure and awards heft — would get it the gig, but if this tweet from the ever well-informed Cédric Succivalli is to be believed, we could be seeing it earlier than that.

    Succivalli writes that the film’s French distributor EuropaCorp has confirmed a February 23 release date, obviously ruling out a Cannes appointment three months later. That leaves only two major fests where it could potentially bow: Sundance (an idea Anne Thompson previously floated on Oscar Talk) and Berlin.

    Interestingly, the mid-February Berlinale was the festival of choice for both “The Thin Red Line” (which won the Golden Bear) and “The New World” (which played out of competition), even if neither film actually had its world premiere there. So it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see “The Tree of Life” extend that relationship.

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  • Malick’s ‘Thin Red Line’ shines on Criterion Blu

    If you’re sitting there right now, reading these words, killing time, nothing much to do this afternoon, do yourself a favor — go out and buy the new Criterion Blu-ray release of Terrence Malick’s “The Thin Red Line.”

    I’ve been delighting in this top 10 all-timer all week, probably my most anticipated home video release since, oh, “Batman” hit VHS during the holidays in 1989?  Naturally, there is no on-screen involvement from Malick, but there is plenty to explore.

    First, let’s start with the film itself.  John Toll’s gorgeous, mesmerizing photography pops with crystal clarity as, finally, his work on the film gets the treatment it deserves.  The sound is also striking (though let me know if I’m the only one who notices it pop in suddenly over the title screen), the mix of elements and Hans Zimmer’s score truly immersive.

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  • Cover art for ‘Thin Red Line’ Criterion release

    A few weeks ago we told you about the upcoming DVD and Blu-ray Criterion release of Terrence Malick’s “The Thin Red Line,” perhaps one of the most anticipated Criterion announcements yet.  The information came with sell sheet cover art, but today we get a look at the actual cover art, and as one would expect, it’s gorgeous.  Check out the full image after the jump.

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  • ‘Amelie’ tops list of decade’s best cinematography

    The folks at Movieline got their hands on a list of the top 50 films of the decade, from a cinematography standpoint, as laid out by voters at American Cinematographer magazine. Topping the list: Bruno Delbonnel’s work on “Amelie.” Delbonnel is a favorite among DPs. After all, “A Very Long Engagement” won him the ASC honor in 2004 and he received his third Oscar nomination of the decade for last year’s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” But it’s still a surprising call.

    Another delightfully unexpected pick is Jeff Cronenweth’s lensing of “Fight Club,” but I was personally irritated to find John Toll’s serene, thematically potent work on “The Thin Red Line” go completely unrecognized in the top 10 (he finally shows up at #17).  I’d also say Roger Deakins, though at his usual top notch on “No Country for Old Men,” probably should have seen top 10 representation for “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” instead.  His work on the western just misses at #11.

    I’ve been asked many times to offer up a list of the top 10 shots of the decade as a bonus to my annual top 10 shots of the year columns, but I don’t think I can do it.  For one thing, it’s obviously a ton of work, but with so many shots in so many movies, I just think it would be tough to whittle it down.  Too tough.

    Check out the full list from American Cinematographer after the jump.  (Note they’re picking from 1998 to 2008).

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  • Malick’s Pacific theatre makes its way to Criterion

    I haven’t picked up a copy of Terrence Malick’s “The Thin Red Line” on DVD because I’m so OCD.  As in, I can’t stand the “Fox war classics” thing at the top of the case.  It’s the same reason I have a love/hate relationship with my “John Wayne classics” version of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.” I know, weird, but I also thought Malick’s film, one of the very best ever made, needed a big to-do from Criterion or SOMEONE willing to dig in.

    It looks like I’m finally getting my wish, as Criterion will be releasing the DVD and — ZOMG! — Blu-ray this September.  This follows the recent Criterion release of “Days of Heaven” from the director.  And it’s just in time for all the forthcoming “Tree of Life” buzz.

    Count me stoked.  REALLY stoked.  I’m not sure what the specifics of the release are, actually, but I long for the day someone digs up all the footage and gives us that six-hour cut.  Is all of that lost to the winds?  I’m out of the loop.

    Anyway, the sell-sheet cover art hit today, which typically eschews any poster art in favor of something more singular.  Check it out after the jump, but keep an eye on the official page for the film at Criterion for updates and, eventually, the “official” cover art for the release.

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  • When Cedar Rapids ain’t good enough, light out for the territories

    Lina Leandersson in Let the Right One InI was going to include this David Frank Rope of Silicon op-ed in today’s round-up, but it’s just too good not to spotlight separately.  I laughed out loud a number of times because I understand this guy’s pain.  I’ve been there before.  And I’m sure plenty in the readership can relate.

    The piece is a week old, so you may have already come across it, but the central idea is the annual top 10 list/best of the year online frenzy and how it makes Frank, sitting helplessly in 33-screen Cedar Rapids, Iowa (two hours away from Des Moines, the closest market for limited releases), want to pull his hair out.  He compares his annual out-of-the-know agony to being “[t]hat one guy at your college roommate’s sexy art student girlfriend’s party who hasn’t illegally downloaded the latest Bright Eyes album that everyone around him is raving about.”

    Frank “gets it,” of course.  “Why give an auditorium to a movie that sells 5 tickets a day,” he asks, “when you can cram it full of old people who must see Marley and Me per their bucket lists?”  But eventually he comes around to the all-too-familiar “movie road trip,” that splendid ritual of trekking it however many miles it takes to see the films that simply aren’t making it to the multiplexes (or single-plexes) in those smaller markets:

    To me, the movie road trip is how you earn your stripes in the film fiend brigade. You can say you love fine cinema and blah blah blah. But save it for Flowery Film Theory 101. The physical, monetary, time-consuming act of seeking out one small, great film in a far away land (like Des Moines) says a lot more about your dedication to movies than wordy adoration.

    This brings back plenty of memories, because like I said, I’ve been there.  I certainly haven’t had these year-end prestige flicks at my disposal here in Los Angeles all my life, and if you have, consider yourself lucky.

    I grew up in a little burg called Salisbury, North Carolina, maybe an hour or so north of Charlotte.  I remember making that journey in 1997 to see “Jackie Brown” and a year later to see “The Thin Red Line.”  The Manor art house theater over on Providence Road became a destination for the really small stuff, like “The Red Violin” or “Limbo.”

    When I pushed off to college in Winston-Salem (another half-hour north) in 1999, there were times I’d still have to make that journey: “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” “Amelie,” etc.  And by that time I was already running a site, so the necessity went beyond desire.  But as I look back on it, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  It recalls those pre-jaded years when films were just films and the curtain had yet to be pulled back.

    So I hear you, David.  Way to keep the spirit alive.  You’ve more than earned your stripes in my book.

    What about you guys?  What’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled to see a film that wasn’t playing in your area?  Have you ever made the journey knowing the film would be in your town in a few weeks, figuring, ‘Screw it, I have to see this movie RIGHT NOW?”  Tell us your story in the comments section below.

  • Coulda been a countenda

    It’s on AMC, so I figured I’d go hunting down that original teaser for Michael Bay’s “Pearl Harbor,” featuring excerpts from Hans Zimmer’s “The Thin Red Line” score.  Remember when this was one of the coolest trailers ever?  Then the movie…dear lord, the movie.  I should really change the channel.  Anyway…

  • Some suggestions for Special Edition DVDs

    United Artists' Heaven's GateEvery week, much to the delight of my children, several packages arrive at my door containing DVDs, movies that are not yet released in the home market that I am expected to review. Tough work, ain’t it? Seriously, I would do what I do just for the free movies.

    That said, I have followed the history of DVD very closely and the manner in which several studios double dip with their releases. Most recently we have “The Godfather Restoration,” which is superb, but represents the third such DVD release for these films. The first came in 2001, The Godfather Trilogy, and then each film was released on its own so folks not wanting Part III could pass (sorry Kris).

    Another film that went through many incarnations before the Ultimate Collector’s Edition was “Blade Runner,” though last year’s final release should be the final release. Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” went through several variations before coming to us in the ultimate edition, minus, of course, “Hearts of Darkness,” the splendid doc about the film’s making. What might have been cool is to see some footage of Harvey Keitel as Willard (if it exists).

    But it all leads me to wonder which films out there deserve a double disc/special edition release.

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  • In it together

    Today is my birthday. I’m 24 years old.

    I’ve been following the Oscar race with some notable level of attention for 8 years. It is by no means a lengthy tenure, as there are others in the game who have been observing this outlandish span of time much longer than that. Even still, in these recent years – the height of the race’s popularity amongst the film-going community – I’ve noticed a number of intriguing things as a witness to its modern evolution.

    My first season was the 1997 season. The big films in play were James Cameron’s Titanic, Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential and Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting. It would be a rather poignant introductory year into the process for me.

    I knew my favorite films of the year were As Good As It Gets (from director James L. Brooks) and L.A. Confidential. The former struck the right chord at a time in my life where I was truly head-over-hills in love, while the latter was part of a brief progression of cinema – along with Michael Mann’s Heat and Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects – that was greatly sparking my interest and leaning me toward a profession chosen in the filmmaking arena.

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