MovieChat Forums > Knight of Cups (2016) Discussion > Should be called 'Terrence Malick Learns...

Should be called 'Terrence Malick Learns Absolutely Nothing'

posted 10 years ago by HereComesMadness
39 replies | jump to latest

After his last couple of films were dismissed as glorified perfume commercials, Malick goes right back out with the same ol' bag of tricks hoping for a different result. Meaning, the man does not take critique well. So, here we are with a another movie featuring randomly filmed vignettes that are supposed to somehow come together to form a narrative, with Malick wondering why he's staring down 29 percent on the Tomato meter. Followed by the usual peanut gallery defending his "genius".

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No one is on my ignore list, because I'm not a pussy
Long live the Xbox One

[–] SulphurMan 10 years ago

Maybe Terrence Malick doesn't care about the "Tomato meter", and instead wants to accomplish his own vision for his own films. They're his, in case you needed to be reminded. There are plenty of other movies to go and see instead, I'll still never understand why people b*tch about this kind of thing on internet message boards.

[–] RobChenoweth 10 years ago

The OP has a right to his opinion. You may disagree with it. But, to say you don't understand why people say things like this on internet message boards is absurd. Let's presume for a moment that directors make films for people to see and to potentially gain some insight into a story. If an audience, especially many of whom are intelligent, are left scratching their heads, then the film was essentially a failure. Or are directors like Von Trier and Malick only into making films which only make sense in their own heads? Artistic masturbation is what I call that. And it's lame.

So, people have a right to come on message boards and critique the artist's work. Period.

"I wanna mean it from the back of my broken hand..." -The Killers

[–] cuchelo1 10 years ago

It's posts like RobChenoweth's that make me wish iMDB had an 'Upvote' or 'Like' button.

Perfectly said.

Falling feels like flying... until you hit the ground.-Tom McRae

[–] Craytonus_AP 10 years ago

+1 upvote

"Tahiti is not in Europe . . . I'm going to be SICK."

[–] politicaldefiance 10 years ago

Tree of Life was dismissed? Certainly not by the Cannes jury, the Oscars or several critics.

[–] HereComesMadness 10 years ago

It got booed at Cannes, yet, people thought it was worthy of awards anyway. Even though it was totally unwatchable.

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No one is on my ignore list, because I'm not a pussy
Long live the Xbox One

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MinimallyTalentedSpoiledBrat 10 years ago

Cannes has the reputation of often booing the movies

[–] syafiqjabar 10 years ago

Being booed at Cannes can be a good sign for a movie as far as I know.

[–] tcob44 10 years ago

Nobody should bother responding to this ignorant troll. He spent two years bashing Cloud Atlas without watching the film, simply because Larry was now Lana. And personal issues aside, he has pathetic taste in cinema and actually thinks box-office earnings reflect whether or not a film is good. Seriously, don't bother wasting your time trying to argue with him, especially when you could use that time more productively by insulting his (so-called) "taste" in cinema and make fun of his idiocy, avatar, username, etc...

[–] Bale-Pearce-Oldman 10 years ago

His avatar is awesome though. Seriously.

I was looking at the lights.

[–] HereComesMadness 10 years ago

I did see Cloud Atlas, it's just that you were so adamant in defending it from every single person that dared to critique it on the board, you decided to be the film's insane knight. Even stalking users outside the board for their opinions. Maybe you should live and let live and try not to take every issue people have against movies you like so personally like you made them yourself.

The fact that you feel that everyone should attack me for arbitrary reasons just because I don't like what Terrence Malick is doing with his films, shows how warped you get when it comes to expressing opinion. Seriously, it's not everyone else... it's just YOU.

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No one is on my ignore list, because I'm not a pussy
Long live the Xbox One

[–] tcob44 10 years ago

I did see Cloud Atlas

Well over a year AFTER you'd been bashing it!?! HELLO!?! Kind of nullifies your credibility thereafter, don't you think??? [Rhetorical, BTW]

it's just that you were so adamant in defending it from every single person that dared to critique it on the board, you decided to be the film's insane knight. Even stalking users outside the board for their opinions. Maybe you should live and let live and try not to take every issue people have against movies you like so personally like you made them yourself.

The fact that you feel that everyone should attack me for arbitrary reasons just because I don't like what Terrence Malick is doing with his films, shows how warped you get when it comes to expressing opinion. Seriously, it's not everyone else... it's just YOU.

WTF weird, delusional nonsense are you blathering on about now? Shut up, seriously, not only did you NOT read the book, but nobody f'ing cares about your ill-formed (so-called) "opinions" about cinema in general, so why don't you go back to the video game forums and talk about something you maybe might have some depth of knowledge about to actually perhaps try and discuss with others, instead of coming up with generic, cliche, vague "critiques" which are more accurately described as "pathetic cries for attention", troll.

But anyway, you've wasted enough of my time already and I find it hard to believe you could intellectually muster up a reply good enough to warrant dignifying with a response, so good talking with you again, now STFU and go back to the kiddie pool where you can p!ss all you want with your own kind. Thanks in advance!

[–] Bale-Pearce-Oldman 10 years ago

It is Wolf of Wall Street meets Tree of Life, shot in Go Pro.

I was looking at the lights.

[–] Pistolpete332010 10 years ago

He's either a visionary, or the man's just too lazy to actually write a screenplay. I suppose it just works for him but I agree that his lack of preparation comes off more as laziness than genius. His movies are often pretty to look at though, I actually like The New World (His most panned film) the most because although it was disjointed in structure it was the most coherent in narrative.

[–] Pistolpete332010 10 years ago

It is Wolf of Wall Street meets Tree of Life, shot in Go Pro.

Interesting analogy.

[–] Bale-Pearce-Oldman 10 years ago

 Interesting because it is true, somewhat.

Mistletoe alert!!!! 💋

[–] HereComesMadness 10 years ago

That sounds pretty accurate. Come up with a loose outline, go location scouting and have the camera spin around the actors several dozen times seems to be his current foray into profoundness. He could get away with this back when he reared his head every other decade. Now, nope.

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No one is on my ignore list, because I'm not a pussy
Long live the Xbox One

[–] nuklearweasel 10 years ago

I actually like The New World (His most panned film) the most because although it was disjointed in structure it was the most coherent in narrative.

I should have read your comment before I posted mine - but I completely agree. The New World is gorgeous and makes sense. I don't know why it was so critically rejected by audiences as well.

I'm a film maker too and I don't understand the need to brag about not writing a script for your movie. Not one thing? That does seem lazy to me - not a bragging point. It's a very fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants style of film making that makes me cringe because you just know the end result will be as scattered and rudderless as the production.

[–] Bale-Pearce-Oldman 10 years ago

Agreed wtih both of you about The New World. It was the film that really made me love Malick. I didn't know that this was panned hard though.

Mistletoe alert!!!! 💋

[–] nuklearweasel 10 years ago

After his last couple of films were dismissed as glorified perfume commercials...

I lol'd - that's so true. I really want to love Malick movies for their cinematography and visual story telling - but he continually abandons narrative in favor of ever boring, repetitive fish-eye, lens flare and murmuring dialogue abstraction. It would be good, but he doesn't really have a story to tell to connect the dots with the images.

To be fair, you can have a completely silent film - but just showing us dispirit sequences of beautiful images won't get the point across - sure it might evoke a feeling of some sort, but it has to mean something. Has to connect and resonate with the viewing audience...otherwise it amount to nothing more than a singular self gratifying piece of pretension.

I couldn't really get into Tree of Life though I went to the theaters to see it, and I haven't even seen the last one yet...the only movie of his I really liked was The New World. It's beautiful and at least tells a story with the imagery and poetry/prose accompanying the images. Anyway, end rant.

[–] jab670 10 years ago

And people also tore apart The New World and then later included it on their best films of the '00s list. The Tree of Life has also had more influence than many other American films on cinema. I think he's doing just fine and it's silly to dismiss his films as "glorified perfume commercials." It's just blatantly ignorant of film history, of which Malick is not doing anything new as much as returning cinema to its roots in silent films. Look at films like Zemlya or In Spring.

[–] thepalestfire 10 years ago

Zemlya is amazing. But yeah, people that complain of lack of a narrative don't seem to know what that word means.

"Homosexual behavior is most definitely inferior." - rj

[–] 10 years ago

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