REGINAROADIE'S BLOG

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THE NEW WORLD a cult film?
Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Hey all

I'm not sure if anyone here other than me saw this flick when it came out, but I thought it would pertain here, since it could easily be talking about SERENITY.

I was just checking my usual sites, and I found this link on imdb.com to a web article that talked about how THE NEW WORLD is in a position to become like the next cult film sensation. For those curious, here's a link to the article.

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0610,hoberman,72427,20.html

There are some things about the article that I find a bit off, like the comment that "The movie has not only admirers but partisans—it can only be truly loved by attacking those too blind to see the truth." I like to think of SERENITY as another cult film, but we don't go as far as to call other people who don't like the film idiots. And I disagree with the implication that just because Malick cut 20 minutes out of the film after its release it means it's a compromised flick. Kubrick did exactly the same thing with THE SHINING, and the shortened version is one we all know and love. And with something like THE NEW WORLD, which is more about atmosphere and tone than plot, it wouldn't make a big difference if 20 minutes were cut or not.

Either way, to me it doesn't matter, because like SERENITY, I wished that this flick got a lot more exposure than it did. I guess what killed it was hype for other winter releases, as well as maybe the stigma of "Colin Farrell in another historical epic" and people confusing it as ALEXANDER 2. But it's not.

This flick is unlike any other historical epic you'd ever see. It's not really concerned with plot, or history or politics or anything like that. It's almost a sensual experience as it puts you into that metaphysical mindframe of the settlers and the natives as they take in the new environment that they're in. It a film that breathes. It's a film that takes its time in appreciating the beauty of the struggle between man and nature. It's a mind expanding, "woah" movie, that by far the most gorgeous movie in the last year. Every frame of it looks like a work of art.

And I'm pleased as hell that, like SERENITY, it has a chance at a new life at least as a cult flick.

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