What’s the antithesis of Arrested Development, Firefly or The Big Lebowski? Those may never have ‘found their audience’ but over time seemed to recognised by everyone. What are the deep cuts that you liked but it feels like everyone has completely forgotten they even existed.
Most Terence Malik films I guess? He’s popular amongst film buffs, but I feel like his reach should be broader than that.
My friends and I went to see The Thin Red Line in the theater on opening night. It was literally a sold out showing. We ended up having to sit in the second row.
After the first 40 minutes or so we noticed a few groups of people walking out. 20 minutes later a few more groups left. It became a slow trickle of people just getting up and leaving.
When the movie ended and the credits began I turned around to look at who was left. There was literally just one other guy sitting a few rows behind us.
I get it. It came out on the heels of Saving Private Ryan, it was marketed as a similar style “war movie”, it had a laundry list of big names who were only onscreen for a few minutes… all those people ended up watching a deep, languid reflection on life, love and the very nature of humanity. So yeah, not a typical formula for box office dynamite.
I understand why so many people would not be able to sit through the entire run time, but it’s honestly their loss. I loved the movie, and the shock of turning around to see an empty auditorium made the experience even more memorable.
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And yeah, their loss, I agree. And don’t get me wrong, not everything Malik ever does works 100% for me. Tree of Life was good, but A Hidden Life was profound. I think anyone could find at least one of his films that would make them feel something deeply, if they had the patience.