Cynical Cinema

Terrence Malick is the kind of guy who is usually a character in movies, rather than a maker of movies. He lives in obscurity, surfacing once every decade or so to make a sensational movie, then he disappears again. In the 70s, he made the classic Badlands with Martin Sheen. He popped up in the 80s to make Days of Heaven with Richard Gere, and again in the 90s to direct The Thin Red Line with Sean Penn. All brilliant movies, all shrouded in a bit of mystery.

Then in 2005, Malick popped up again, this time directing the powerful and beautiful film The New World, with Colin Farrell. It’s ostensibly about Pocohontas, but in a Terrence Malick movie, the acting is secondary, and the script is tertiary. The New World, again, features very little dialogue. What sets his four films apart from the rest of the world is his camera. There has not been a movie that looks this good since, well, The Thin Red Line.

No one makes scenery a character in a film the way Terrence Malick does, and The New World is fantastic because of it. The extended edition comes out October 14th from Alliance Films, and it doesn’t add much to this brilliant movie. But if you missed The New World the first time around, it’s time to check it out. This film is a classic.

That’s it, people. You can stop buying movies for the rest of your life. Because the ultimate movie item is now on sale. As of yesterday, September 23rd, DVDs have reached perfection, when Paramount Home Entertainment released The Godfather Trilogy on Blu-Ray. The greatest movie trilogy of all time is now available in the greatest Hi-Definition format of all time. And while you may not think at first that The Godfather movies are the kind that require Blu-Ray technology, you would be wrong. There are certain classic movies where Blu-Ray is an obvious improvement over the original transfers. Dark City, or Blade Runner. Movies that started out dark and require that crisp, clear picture.

But The Godfather really does change as well. These are three movies that I have seen dozens upon dozens of times, and yet watching them in Blu-Ray was a whole new experience. When you watch the scene where James Caan gets riddled with bullets, it’s like you’re one of the guys holding a machine gun. When Luca Brasi is rehearsing his speech outside Don Corleone’s office, you feel like he’s talking directly to you, the movie watcher, about this, the day of your daughter’s wedding. And when Michael takes Fredo out for a boat ride…well. You’ll just have to see to understand. And then you will agree. DVD movies have attained perfection with the release of The Godfather Trilogy on Blu-Ray. Throw out the rest of your collection. It is ALL now obsolete.