Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Badlands (1973)


This weekend I watched Badlands --one of those 70s classics I had never gotten around to seeing. Having loved The Thin Red Line I assumed it was a must-see. Which it is. But sometimes you leave certain classics underwhelmed. I recognize that it's a thing of beauty and I admired the almost-frustrating distance and objective tone that Malick maintains. But I can't say that it suddenly became a personal favorite.

The revelation for me was Sissy Spacek. I was never really a fan of this actress but her 70s work is sublime. More on this topic and Julianne Moore as Spacek's acting descendent at Cinemarati...

6 comments:

NicksFlickPicks said...

You've hit my response to Badlands exactly, which is weird to me, because I practically want to marry Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line. Even though Badlands has all the same qualities and I totally admire it, I just don't want to go home with it in nearly the same way.

Joe R. said...

That's funny because I can get behind Badlands in a way I really, really cannot with The Thin Red Line. I'm at a loss as to explain why, however, although I think the fact that I respect Malick rather than enjoy Malick has something to do with it.

Anonymous said...

I assume you mean Julianne Moore as Spacek's acting descendent, but I'll stop being nit-picky now.

NATHANIEL R said...

that's what you get having no editor. thx.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I'm pumped that somebody (Nick) loves Days of Heaven as much as I do. Because I'm a male and according to High Fidelity we like to make lists, I make plenty of them and Days of Heaven currently ranks in the top 5 favourite cinematography and score.

Plus, Richard Gere was so dreamy when he was younger.

I've never seen Badlands or Thin Red Line and The New World looks decent. I'll see it predominantly because it's an Oscar-in-play movie and it stars by husband, Christian Bale.

-Glenn

Anonymous said...

"Badlands" leaves you with an unnerving feeling because you're never sure where it's going to go, but it's also little far-fecthed -- especially the couple's time in the forest.

Nothing tops "The Thin Red Line."