Badlands

Very odd. I loved the narration and the contrast between it and what was actually happening in the movie. Lots of really cool shots. Kit’s hot.

This movies nuts
Great acting, score, pacing, dialogue, and narration. Somehow quite funny, especially the dialogue.
Kit’s a cool cat
You can tell True Romance took heavy inspiration from this, especially with the music. (This is far better though)
Shes pretty
Mesmerizing watch

I actively watched people fall asleep to this movie

Whilst an undeniably impressive debut, I felt a lack of wonder and emotion that I’ve found thus far with Malick’s films.

There’s always a sense of passiveness with his movies, they’re distant and almost unfocused, but in a really natural way. Here it all feels like a debut where he felt as though he should make a movie how “you’re supposed to” rather than how he wanted to. That being said there’s a lot to enjoy here, I didn’t like the characters - but I don’t think you’re encouraged to… but I did find them wholly interesting - particularly Kit. Some of the shots in the 3rd act gave me that hit I was expecting from one of his films.

Martin Sheen is fantastic here, he plays the subtlety of this psychopath so well, he’s almost a normal guy, just under the surface there’s this itch he needs to scratch. It’s a small moment, but in the scene with the dead cow, it’s quick, yet there’s so much to digest from it, and that’s due to Sheen’s performance. Sissy Spacek was okay, but whether it was her performance, or how the character was written, she was too spaced out the whole film to take much notice of.

I find it hard to rank this among my limited experience with Malick, with it feeling so different. But I enjoyed it regardless, and see how it’s developed the status it has in the years since its release.