To the Wonder is by far Malick's best film.

Can't say I agree but I am very glad to see love of any kind for this beautiful film.

Nothing will top the profundity of letting your purse be thrown in the bush

I think he has yet to make his masterpiece.

1. Badlands / Days of Heaven / Tree of Life
2. To the Wonder / The New World
3. The Thin Red Line

I love some of the fake-indigenous music in The Thin Red Line though.

well that's an original ranking if I ever saw one. Never seen someone throw tTRL last.

You might be right. None of his films is perfect. His last two, I think, are where at last he's settled into a style of film that's truly his own, where he makes none of the concessions toward conventional plot and character that he used to make, which, for me, tend to mar his earlier films rather than enhance them (at least his middle two, where he seems to want to move in a more experimental direction but couldn't completely abandon conventional storytelling, causing some friction along the way). The Tree of Life is still pretty messy, though. To the Wonder might be a little too slim at times, but I think its tightness works with the story. For me, it's his most powerful.

I actually hope that he changes it up in some way for his next film. To The Wonder feels like he's gone as far as he can with the style he started trying to develop with Thin Red Line. He doesn't really need a stylistic overhaul but maybe a strong tweak into another, more grounded feeling direction. I think a good example of what I want from him is something like Mulholland Dr, where he can move smoothly between totally accessible grounded type scenes and very strong experimentation, while sacrificing no complexity.

The Thin Red Line isn't terrible or anything but I simply cannot get lost in it as a cinematic poem the way I feel like it wants me to. Its his only film where I am constantly thinking about it as a constructed thing, which is not how I think he wants his films to work. First of all, it's distracting as FUCK for Clooney, Nolte, and Travolta to be in roles like that for split seconds. More importantly though I just don't think the film works for me stylistically. I don't think it's at all focused, and I feel like most of the effects it goes for fall flat. I think it's definitely his weakest film in terms of how the voice over is functioning. Visually and aurally it has a few beautiful moments here and there, but the other problems distract me too much. Someone could probably edit together a highlight reel of my favorite moments in the film that would last 15 minutes, and I would like it much more than the film itself. I can't say that about any of his other films.

And I also think Malick was a major jerk for having Brody be the star of the film in the script only to not find out that he was basically relegated to extra status when he saw the film at the premiere.

Yeah. Maybe a kung fu movie.

Can you imagine Brody inviting his family and friends to the premiere with the idea that he's the lead and then watching that?

hmm don't give a fuck about big actors getting small parts, no idea why that should distract from the film. As for Brody, well, it must have sucked to see the film and a heads up from Malick would've been nice. But I don't care at all (Brody ended up becoming a bigger star than Jim Caviezel or Elias Koteas) as this has absolutely nothing to do with the finished film. Also, Nolte's part wasn't small at all iirc. Wasn't he one of the most important characters in the first half of the film?

Definitely love all of Malick's films, no idea where this wave of actually-he's-not-that-amazing comes from. I mean, I do, because y'all explained it some here, but can't say that I agree with your conclusions. I can watch any Malick at any time (provided I have the time) and still be amazed at shit I didn't notice earlier or have forgotten, since they've become so convoluted since TTRL. I would, however, like to see, as Dreww suggested, Malick making a Mulholland Dr. of his own.

Days of Heaven
The Tree of Life
The Thin Red Line
Badlands
To the Wonder
The New World

THIS IS THE UNPOPULAR OPINIONS THREAD YOU MONSTER

which kinda sucks. Elias Koteas is awesome.

What PBR said has literally has nothing to do with what I said. What I said is that Malick is a jerk because Brody was told he was the star of the film, probably put a lot of blood sweat and tears into actually performing the leading role of the film, then told a bunch of people that he would be in the leading role of the film, then showed up to the film's premier only to discover, watching the film, that he was basically an extra. That makes Malick an asshole. If you disagree, you are just as bad as anyone in the Tarkovsky cult. That Brody became famous anyway has nothing to do with the fact that Malick is a major dick.

Also, I refuse to believe that even the most hardened arthouse-only out-of-touch-with-the-rest-of-the-world cinephile would not find George Clooney being in a Terrence Malick movie for half a second undistracting.

a film director being an asshole is not an unpopular opinion.

but yeah, i agree