So far, having seen Iron Man, Gatsby, Star Trek and Epic, I think my favorite movie of the summer might wind up being Badlands*, Terrance Malick's 1973 directorial debut, which I caught at the Film Forum the other week. Predating his floaty camera/close-ups of grass and fences aesthetic**, this teenage crime wave feature is tremendously satisfying. Often disturbing, sometimes funny, and totally riveting (in it's own odd way) it just left me so glad I went to the movies and wondering why people don't talk about this movie more. Let's call this movie the American Breathless. Or Swiss Family Manson. Whichever.
*Of course, I haven't seen Fast & Furious 6, so everything's still up in the air.
**I might have caught on to Malick a little late, but in the build-up for Tree of Life I fell for him hard. Suddenly prolific, I'm sitting out To the Wonder for fear of coming to resent his signature style. He's got two more movies he's filming or finishing, gotta ration out the love.
1 comment:
Badlands is one of my top 5.
To The Wonder... I want to defend it, but I can't. Didn't work like it could have. Good as a trailer though.
Post a Comment