To The Wonder: Fuck You, It’s Good

wonder


To The Wonder (2013)
Written & Directed by Terrence Malick
112 min.

Everybody likes Malick. Anyone who says they don’t is full of shit. There are moments of pure transcendence in each one of his films, whether you like the whole thing or not. Shots where the light coming from the sky is godly, or where an actor or actress looks better than they’ve ever looked, or where the camera makes a perfect yet seemingly impromptu motion. You can’t love movies and not go crazy over that sort of shit.

However, he can be quite frustrating at times. This is almost entirely due to the fact that he’s a very subjective editor. Most films that exist are edited fairly objectively—and I don’t just mean linearly, I mean that most of the cuts are for purpose, not for feeling. Malick, on the other hand, cuts mostly for feeling and vibe. This gives each one of his films its own personal wavelength, and you’re either riding it gleefully, or watching it pass you by, wondering what the hell is going on.
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The Happening: A Filmmaker’s Film

happening
Shyamalan wants you to look at this image and see evil. That’s a beautiful thing.

The Happening (2008)
Written & Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
91 min.

Spoiler-free.

There exists a phenomenon in the arts where an artist, or a given work, is so bursting with subtle, glorious aspects that only fellow artists in the field or truly knowledgable critics can pick up on that when ‘civilians’ check it out, they see it as simply empty and stupid and boring. Their untrained eyes are so fixed on the surface elements that they miss the masterful sleights of hand underneath. This happened with The Happening. What’s unique here though is that filmmakers, for some reason, have yet to jump in and defend it and help civilians understand its wonderful aspects—probably because, for the most part, they themselves are just as clueless.
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