Badlands's Recent Activity - Spout

Film:Badlands

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:10:27 GMT

Title: Badlands
Year: 1973
Director: Terrence Malick
Plot: "He wanted to die with me and I dreamed of being lost forever in his arms." A young couple goes on a Midwest crime spree in Terrence Malick's hypnotically assured debut feature, based on the 1950s Starkweather-Fugate murders. Fancying himself a rebel like James Dean, twentysomething Kit (Martin Sheen) takes off with teen baton-twirler Holly (Sissy Spacek) after shooting her father (Warren Oates) when he tries to split the pair up. Once bounty hunters discover their riverside hiding place, Kit and Holly head toward Saskatchewan, leaving dead bodies in their wake. As the law closes in, however, Holly gives herself up -- but Kit doesn't hold it against her, as he basks in his new status as a momentary folk hero. Inaugurating the use of voice-over narration that he would continue in Days of Heaven (1978) and The Thin Red Line (1998), Malick juxtaposes Holly's flat readings of her flowery romance-novel diary prose with the banal and surreal details of their journey. Singularly inarticulate with each other, Kit and Holly are more intrigued by mythic celebrity gestures, as Holly peruses her fan magazines and Kit commemorates key moments before orchestrating a properly dramatic capture for himself (complete with the right hat). The sublime visuals lend a dreamlike beauty to the couple's trip even as their actions are treated casually; Malick neither glamorizes Kit and Holly nor consigns them to the bloody end of their fame-fixated predecessors in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). With the couple's opaque dialogue and Holly's fanzine dream narration, Malick further denies an easy explanation for their crimes. Made for under 500,000 dollars, Badlands debuted at the 1973 New York Film Festival, along with Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, and was released within months of two other outlaw-couple road movies, Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express and Robert Altman's Thieves Like Us. Although Badlands did not make an impression at the box office, its pictorial splendor and cool yet disquieting narrative established Malick as one of the most compelling artists to come out of early-'70s Hollywood. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 15
Number of Lists: 22
Number of blog posts: 5
Number of discussion threads: 13
SpoutRating: 4

Spout Post: Re:Weekly Theme for October 26: Famous Last Words

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:13:31 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 11/2/2009 3:13:31 PM
Body: My favorite film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly always gives me huge goosebumps at the very end. Tuco yelling, "Hey, Blondie! You know what you are?! Just a dirty son of a --" and then the famous wa-ah-ah-ah-aaaaah sound burst forth to drown out his last word. I love it! Robert Bresson's movies always have great last images, but great last lines too I'd say. From Diary of a Country Priest - "All is grace" Pickpocket - "Oh, Jeanne, what a strange way I had to take to meet you" Last lines of Badlands after Kit the mass murderer is being brought in by the cops: KITSir... Where'd you get that hat?TROOPERState.KITBoy, I'd like to buy me one of those. TROOPERYou're quite an individual, Kit.KITThink they'll take that into consideration? Dr. Strangelove - "Mein Führer! I can walk!" Stroszek - "We have a 10-80 out here, a truck on fire, we have a man on the lift. We are unable to find the switch to turn the lift off, can't stop the dancing chickens. Send an electrician, we're standing by." White Heat - Cody Jarrett's last lines - "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - "Just a flat out high-speed burn through Baker and Barstow and Berdoo. Then onto the Hollywood Freeway, straight into frantic oblivion safety, obscurity. Just another freak in the freak kingdom." I Am A Fugitive from a Chain Gang: Hellen: How do you live? James Allen: I steal. The Kentucky Fried Movie - "I'm not wearing any pants. Film at eleven."

Spout Post: Re:Which of these from Tim Out's list of 10 greatest directorial debuts of all time is your favorite?

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:11:31 GMT

Post By: Dr_Gor
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 9/13/2009 9:11:31 PM
Body: [quote user="Risselada"] Please reference this thread for the rules of this group. Here is the link for the full list of Time Out's 50 greatest directorial debuts of all time Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:The 400 BlowsL'AtalanteBadlandsBlood SimpleCitizen KaneThe Maltese FalconThe Night of the HunterNight of the Living DeadPerformanceThey Live By Night [/quote] Obviously I could only vote for one movie out of that list... George Romero is a GOD in the directing world and NOTLD is, quite simply, one of the best movies ever made... < GOR >

Spout Post: Re:Which of these from Tim Out's list of 10 greatest directorial debuts of all time is your favorite?

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:27:13 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 9/10/2009 1:27:13 AM
Body: For me it was Badlands. I've seen all of Malick's film (just four) so far, and while they are all good, I feel like he began with the perfect film and then went just slightly downhill from then on. I found it interesting that three of these movies had "night" in the title and two of them had the phrase "night of the" in the title. I'm not sure what that means, but maybe if you are a first time director you can put this phrase in the title of your film for some extra luck.

Spout Post: Which of these from Tim Out's list of 10 greatest directorial debuts of all time is your favorite?

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:25:09 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 9/9/2009 6:25:09 PM
Body: Please reference this thread for the rules of this group. Here is the link for the full list of Time Out's 50 greatest directorial debuts of all time Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:The 400 BlowsL'AtalanteBadlandsBlood SimpleCitizen KaneThe Maltese FalconThe Night of the HunterNight of the Living DeadPerformanceThey Live By Night

Spout Post: Re:What is your favorite movie directed by Terrence Malick?

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:16:13 GMT

Post By: QFLW
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 3/3/2009 5:16:13 PM
Body: [quote user="Risselada"] Please reference this thread for the rules of this group. Is anyone looking forward to Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life which should be coming out some time in 2009? I believe shooting has wrapped and they are into post production. It will be interesting to see what Malick does with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. And interesting to see both of them starring in a movie together. Although I will admit that I enjoy each subsequent Malick movie less than the previous one. Is anyone else looking forward to this film? Do you feel like Malick's best days are behind him or is he still gearing up for his best? Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:BadlandsDays of HeavenThe New WorldThe Thin Red Line [/quote] The one I haven't seen is Thin Red Line; I just never got around to it. Got bored with The New World & didn't finish watching. Days of Heaven was just depressing, as much for the relentless, unending expanse of wheat as for the downer of a story and blandness of characters. My vote went to Badlands; it really is my favorite of the lot. Certainly more exciting than the others. Although each of Malick's films have been a disappointment to some degree, I'm curious to see Tree of Life. The premises, trailers and cast always look so interesting, so I keep being drawn in by new hope.

Spout Post: Re:What is your favorite movie directed by Terrence Malick?

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:15:11 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 3/3/2009 5:15:11 PM
Body: [quote user="JimBell"] I read about Malick before I'd seen any of hismovies, and I thought he sounded like my type of director. I've only seen The New World and The Thin Red Line, and they were both poor. The New World was so ideologically driven that the characters were ludicrous. I voted for The Thin Red Line because some of the action is good and some of the cinematography is memorable, but I could not keep the characters straight so that I could care about them. [/quote] I know what your are saying Jim. Badlands is his first, and one of my favorite movies of all time! Days of Heaven is also great, but not quite a masterpiece. I understand your objections to the films you saw, and I feel that if his next film is worse than all the rest it might not be worth seeing.

Spout Post: What is your favorite movie directed by Terrence Malick?

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:33:40 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 3/3/2009 1:33:40 PM
Body: Please reference this thread for the rules of this group. Is anyone looking forward to Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life which should be coming out some time in 2009? I believe shooting has wrapped and they are into post production. It will be interesting to see what Malick does with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. And interesting to see both of them starring in a movie together. Although I will admit that I enjoy each subsequent Malick movie less than the previous one. Is anyone else looking forward to this film? Do you feel like Malick's best days are behind him or is he still gearing up for his best? Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:BadlandsDays of HeavenThe New WorldThe Thin Red Line

Spout Post: Week 30.

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:08:45 GMT

Post By: CaptainRyannn
Post To: CaptainRyannn Blog
Post Date: 8/11/2008 9:08:45 PM
Body: Titles in bold represent a first time viewing. 346. Magnolia (Anderson, 1999)----------I thought that this was a pretty great collage-type film with the likeness of a more familiar title, Crash. Aside from Julianne Moore's performance, one of the few things I didn't like was the fact that the characters didn't connect with each other other than the bizarre finale at the end of the film. (7.5 / 10) 347. Stuck (Gordon, 2007)----------Based on a true story, stuck follows a wannabe-ghetto woman (Mena Suvari) after she hits a homeless man and drives him into her garage. The acting was terrible, the premise was good though. Towards the end, it began to pick up in terms of entertainment. (6 / 10) 348. Equilibrium (Wimmer, 2002)----------Christian Bale? Sweet. Reviews relating it to The Matrix? Awesome. This is why I initially checked out Equilibrium. The action was pretty sweet but every few minutes, I couldn't help but see a blatant plot-hole. Also, can someone answer me why do the people have dust fly out of them when they get shot? (7 / 10) 349. The New World (Malick, 2005)----------It seems that whenever Malick puts out a new movie, I become less and less interested. To me, Badlands was his best and his vast collection of movies since then have just seemed to have gone downhill. I appreciated the beautiful cinematography and music along with the great acting. But the pacing was just a little too slow for me. (7 / 10) 350. The Terminator (Cameron, 1984)----------It's funny to think that The Terminator, one of the most masculine movies of all time, came from the same guy who made Titanic, one of the most popular love stories of all time. I basically watched this for mere entertainment and it satisfied that. (7 / 10) 351. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Cameron, 1991)----------Again, I just watched this purely for entertainment. I think it did a better job at doing that than the first one. The best thing about watching these movies is just pausing it at certain testosterone-filled moments and thinking, This is the governor of California. (7.5 / 10) 352. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Mostow, 2003)----------This got quite a bit of negative reviews. I wouldn't say that it was especially bad, but rather on par with the first one. The best part was how they ended it. It got me excited for Terminator Salvation. (7 / 10) 353. A Home at the End of the World (Mayer, 2004)----------Although the subject matter may not be something many of us can relate to, the themes definitely are. The overall mood and and portrayals of friendship and love make this worth watching alone. (7 / 10) 354. Undertow (Green, 2004)----------When I first watched this, it was decent. Once I delved into some reviews and analysis' I watched it again and fell in love with it. The story follows two brothers who live with their dad out in the southern forests. Their mysterious uncle comes around and suddenly a game of cat-and-mouse begins. The tone of the film stays consistent and I think that that is it's strongest point along with great performances by Jamie Bell and Josh Lucas. (8 / 10) 355. Antikörper / Antibodies (Alvart, 2005)----------Antibodies is a film that follows closely in the footsteps of The Silence of the Lambs. Our protagonist is a village cop and the antagonist is a serial killer whose finally been caught. The cinematography was good and the acting was average. The basic story-line is something that's been done plenty of times before but the sheer intensity that this takes it to puts Antibodies a little bit above the rest. (7.5 / 10) 356. Cidade de Deus / City of God (Meirelles, 2002)----------I've seen City of God countless times as it is my favorite film along with Once Upon a Time in America. It takes us through two decades in the lives of a handful of children / teenagers in the slums of Rio de Janerio. Most grow up to be hoods and murder and robbery isn't something uncommon in their lives. Our protagonist, Rocket, is an aspiring photographer and just so happens to be there as all of the violence breaks out. If you're okay with subtitles, be sure to check this one out. (10 / 10) 357. Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (Hurwitz, 2008)----------The whole 'Escape' part only really lasts about five minutes. The rest of the film is basically slapstick comedy executed in an non-comedic way. (5 / 10) 358. Shotgun Stories (Nichols, 2007)----------I have been looking forward to seeing this one for quite some time. After falling in love with the trailer, I had to see it. There are two sets of step-brothers. Their father just died. One set knew him as a loving man and the other knew him as a violent, neglecting one. A feud erupts between them and their egos don't allow themselves to stop until irreversible damage has been caused. This movie had some of the most real characters I've ever seen portrayed and it was as if I were watching this unfold in real life. (8.5 / 10) 359. My Bodyguard (Bill, 1980)-----------I rented this based off of Roger Ebert's shining review but found it to be just average in comparison to other tough-time-in-high-school films. The main kid is a rich boy who starts going to a public school. The bullys don't like this and pick on him. After getting pushed around he gets the tough-guy bodyguard and they become friends, but not after finding out a few secrets about each other. (6 / 10) 360. Kicking and Screaming (Baumbach, 1995)----------Unlike the 2005 comedy, this one is actually good. But it's not about a children's soccer team, but rather a group of friend who have just graduated from college and don't know what to do next. This has some of the most subtly humorous dialogue I've ever experienced and I couldn't help but laugh virtually the entire way through. The plot really isn't there, there's no character development or twists. This movie basically stands up on the dialogue and it's characters. The friendship that exists reminds me slightly of that of the American Pie trilogy. Great movie. Worthy of its Criterion stamp. (8 / 10) 361. Schizopolis (Soderbergh, 1996)----------What did I just watch? (?? / 10) 362. Children of Men (Cuarón, 2006)----------Featuring probably some of the best camera work and choreography in film in recent years, Children of Men was superb. To be able to shoot such busy scenes all in one shot takes a certain amount of skill. Watching the special features and commentary definitely gave me an idea of how much work went into this. Children of Men takes place about twenty years in the future where women are infertile and no one knows why. Immigrants are killed and the world is in chaos. An immigrant is found bearing a child and Theo (Clive Own) is in charge of getting her to safety. (8 / 10) 363. The Chumscrubber (Posin, 2005)----------Set in a 'Desperate Housewives' kind of neighborhood, shy-boy Dean, through a series of events, is in charge of getting drugs for the popular kids. With an all-star cast, The Chumscrubber is entertaining, dark, and comedic all at the same time. (7.5 / 10)

Spout Post: Re:Weekly Theme for July 21: Road Trip!

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:45:03 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 7/27/2008 7:45:03 PM
Body: Sorry I've been really under the weather and preoccupied so I've gotten behind on a lot of these threads. I just opened this one up however and was suprised at how few of the movies that immediately came to mind for me (other than my favorite, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) had not been mentioned yet at all! Although not one of my favorite movies, the quintessential road movie for me is Two-Lane Blacktop. I can really appreciate the purity of it I think, and the kind of people you'd really find living on the road. Jim Jarmuch's first film Stranger than Paradise is a favorite of mine that I think would qualify. And I think his most recent film Broken Flowers does as well. Many people mentioned Natural Born Killers which is really a more specific genre of a crime spree on the road type movie. There area couple movies that I think far surpass this film in this genre. Specifically at the top are Badlands and Bonnie and Clyde. For my favorite comedies that feature road trip elements, I'd mention Dumb & Dumber, and Borat. And also The Wizard when I'm feeling nostalgic.

Spout Post: BADLANDS

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:27:24 GMT

Post By: Windbreaker
Post To: Windbreaker!
Post Date: 7/6/2008 3:27:24 PM
Body: Probably Malick's movie with the most mainstream appeal, yet also the most hidden from the general public. I'm surprised it didn't get more attention when The Thin Red Line came out, particularly since Malick doesn't have a ton of projects over the years like a Spielberg, for example. Usually when I see Martin Sheen acting in his younger days, I'm impressed. As opposed to today's Martin Sheen who every time he appears onscreen, it's like "hey, I'm Martin Sheen -- I used to act". Anyway, the half-Charlie half-Emilio rebel plays it nice and smooth in Badlands, perfectly representing the character. Sissy Spacek was perfect for the innocent teen just waiting for someone to corrupt her. She's not completely naiive -- she knows her innocence is being taken by the young punk. Overall, a fascinating first-person look at wild, misguided kids on the run.

Spout Tag:Classic

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:54:36 GMT

Classic
Number of films tagged: 816

Number of people who tagged: 312

Number of times used: 1453

Spout Tag:murder

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:57:25 GMT

murder
Number of films tagged: 8748

Number of people who tagged: 157

Number of times used: 830

Spout Tag:beautiful

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:08:38 GMT

beautiful
Number of films tagged: 259

Number of people who tagged: 149

Number of times used: 416

Spout Tag:teenagers

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:42:10 GMT

teenagers
Number of films tagged: 3025

Number of people who tagged: 97

Number of times used: 399

Spout Tag:moving

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:15:30 GMT

moving
Number of films tagged: 286

Number of people who tagged: 68

Number of times used: 160

Spout Tag:animal

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:04:09 GMT

animal
Number of films tagged: 1773

Number of people who tagged: 18

Number of times used: 42

Spout Tag:ontheroad

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:52:58 GMT

ontheroad
Number of films tagged: 896

Number of people who tagged: 14

Number of times used: 30

Spout Tag:diary

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:47:47 GMT

diary
Number of films tagged: 178

Number of people who tagged: 9

Number of times used: 13

Spout Tag:murders

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:07:30 GMT

murders
Number of films tagged: 6

Number of people who tagged: 6

Number of times used: 7

Spout Tag:killingspree

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:12:46 GMT

killingspree
Number of films tagged: 192

Number of people who tagged: 4

Number of times used: 4

Spout Tag:landscape

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:13:22 GMT

landscape
Number of films tagged: 62

Number of people who tagged: 4

Number of times used: 4

Spout Tag:cross-country

Fri, 30 Jun 2006 00:01:19 GMT

cross-country
Number of films tagged: 2

Number of people who tagged: 2

Number of times used: 2

Spout Tag:badlands

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 23:16:31 GMT

badlands
Number of films tagged: 8

Number of people who tagged: 1

Number of times used: 1

Spout Tag:found-toaster

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:57:34 GMT

found-toaster
Number of films tagged: 1

Number of people who tagged: 1

Number of times used: 1

Spout Tag:hot-idea

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:24:39 GMT

hot-idea
Number of films tagged: 1

Number of people who tagged: 1

Number of times used: 1