Knight of Cups (Terrence Malick, 2016)

[Altair]

Absolutely glorious poster - now it's all the more frustrating that it potentially won't screen in the UK until 2016!

[Finch]

Eric Kohn at Indiewire gives the film a B

[pzadvance]

As does The Playlist's Jessica Kiang

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Broad Green picks up U.S. rights

They're already handling Voyage of Time and the Knight of Cups deal also includes the untitled Austin film.

[FrauBlucher]

Wonder what it means for the physical media rights? Could it go right to Criterion?

[Jeff]

Broad Green picks up U.S. rights

They're already handling Voyage of Time and the Knight of Cups deal also includes the untitled Austin film.

These guys are 35 and 31, and have the rights to three Terrence Malick films. They've got Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room and Mia Hansen-Løve's Eden too.

[Cronenfly]

Between these guys and Megan Ellison, it would seem that the future of even slightly risky commercial film distribution/funding rests in the hands of extremely wealthy patrons from other walks of life. Not that I'm complaining, mind, just glad that someone is stepping in to pick up the slack.

[flyonthewall2983]

The full list of music used in the film

[Altair]

Neil Young at RogerEbert.com gives a very positive review: "Malick has delivered an exasperating, exhilarating magnum opus, a film with unapologetic, vaulting ambition that is to be prized, even cherished.".

[hearthesilence]

Between these guys and Megan Ellison, it would seem that the future of even slightly risky commercial film distribution/funding rests in the hands of extremely wealthy patrons from other walks of life. Not that I'm complaining, mind, just glad that someone is stepping in to pick up the slack.

It's funny, I was talking with someone about this the other day in relation to this old story about the CIA's covert support of modern art. For some reason, it was dug up again and making the rounds on social media, but the first thing that came to mind was, "man, maybe that's what it'll take to turn things around."

[Finch]

Kenji Fujishima at Slant wasn't impressed.

With Knight of Cups, Terrence Malick achieves the sense of stylistic ossification that many accused his last feature, To the Wonder, of embodying. The difference is that the earlier film was still, in its own rather elemental ways, tied to actual flesh-and-blood characters on screen. In Knights of Cups, by contrast, Malick seems to have finally decided to do away with humans altogether. In some ways, this is the filmmaker's 8 ½: a feature-length riff on his own creative frustration, with Christian Bale as his directionless stand-in, a screenwriter suffering from spiritual ennui. But then, of course he's bored and frustrated: He lives in Hollywood, after all, and if works like The Day of the Locust and The Player have shown us anything over the years, what else is Hollywood but a cesspool of decadence and empty hedonism? To this ostensibly mind-blowing insight, Malick adds a fascination with landscapes and architecture that recalls Michelangelo Antonioni's similar obsessions in the unofficial trilogy of L'Avventura, La Notte, and L'Eclisse—though Emmanuel Lubezki's roving camerawork and the poetically hushed voiceovers on the soundtrack scream Malick through and through.

[djproject]

A good friend of mine - who is also a fan of Malick - commented how you can take The Tree of Life, To the Wonder and Knight of Cups as an unofficial "loose autobiography" trilogy. All you need is another film where you have a middle-aged character contemplating the meaning of life and creating an art piece reflecting this and then everything will lapse in on itself =].

[ShellOilJunior]

Mixed reviews as expected.

For me Malick has never missed so I'm expecting another excellent film.

[Jeff]

Between these guys and Megan Ellison, it would seem that the future of even slightly risky commercial film distribution/funding rests in the hands of extremely wealthy patrons from other walks of life. Not that I'm complaining, mind, just glad that someone is stepping in to pick up the slack.

The Atlantic has a piece on this phenomenon.

[Ovader]

Not until 2016.

First up in 2016 is “Knight of Cups,” which debuted at Berlin to a mixed response. So rather than go out in December during the awards corridor, they decided to go in the new year. "We want to have the longest run possible," said Hammond, "not for money’s sake, but so we can get as many people to share the experience." Next will be the still-untitled drama (which will not be called "Weightless"), which recycles some of the same ensemble cast led by Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Natalie Portman, followed by "Voyage of Time."

[FrauBlucher]

Get ready for the Malick discord once again....

Broad Green Pictures has announced that Terrence Malick’s star-studded “Knight of Cups” will arrive in theaters on March 4, 2016,

[LittleFerret]

Featurette.

[Altair]

New U.S. trailer

Malick's experiments with digital cinematography seem to have reaped amazing results if the trailer's anything to go by.

[pzadvance]

New U.S. trailer

Malick's experiments with digital cinematography seem to have reaped amazing results if the trailer's anything to go by.

I've seen this circulating and I cannot tell what's different about it from the trailer we got a year ago. Maybe a few of the quick cutaways have been switched out? Seems exactly the same to me...

[AK]

Might be old news, but still news to me: this is going to be released on Blu in Germany already on 14 January. (Amazon.de)

[Trees]

Might be old news, but still news to me: this is going to be released on Blu in Germany already on 14 January. (Amazon.de)

That's bad news for Broad Green, who are releasing the film in the USA March 4. A lot of people may choose to watch this by electronic means once it's out on blu-ray.

"Night" is a continuation of the new narrative style Malick has been working on in earnest since "To the Wonder", trying to tell stories in new ways. Almost like trying to invent a new language. It's not easy. The visuals and the film in general are superior to "Wonder", but if you were frustrated by "Wonder's" lack of traditional narrative or structure, you will find more of the same with "Knight". I personally loved the film and connected with the main character, Rick, but for anyone who is not an arthouse aficionado or Malick die-hard, they may have problems connecting with this picture.

[ermylaw]

Might be old news, but still news to me: this is going to be released on Blu in Germany already on 14 January. (Amazon.de)

Thank you for posting this. I might go for this blu -- I wonder if anyone has any info about this studio and forced subtitles...?

[AK]

Might be old news, but still news to me: this is going to be released on Blu in Germany already on 14 January. (Amazon.de)

Thank you for posting this. I might go for this blu -- I wonder if anyone has any info about this studio and forced subtitles...?

Good call on the forced subtitles question. I have no idea myself. I'll definitely get this anyway, since it'll only premiere here in February, and likely won't come near where I live in a while, if at all. The news of the imminent release of the Blu-ray has also made me quickly buy To the Wonder as well — a film I've seen only once, and if possible, felt rather neutral about, which is astonishing since I absolutely love everything else Malick has ever done. High time to see it again, then.

[ermylaw]

The description seems to say that there is a German dub track, so that might indicate that subtitles are optional. It comes out to $19 USD, which is a good price.

[Lost Highway]

Might be old news, but still news to me: this is going to be released on Blu in Germany already on 14 January. (Amazon.de)

That's bad news for Broad Green, who are releasing the film in the USA March 4. A lot of people may choose to watch this by electronic means once it's out on blu-ray.

"Night" is a continuation of the new narrative style Malick has been working on in earnest since "To the Wonder", trying to tell stories in new ways. Almost like trying to invent a new language. It's not easy. The visuals and the film in general are superior to "Wonder", but if you were frustrated by "Wonder's" lack of traditional narrative or structure, you will find more of the same with "Knight". I personally loved the film and connected with the main character, Rick, but for anyone who is not an arthouse aficionado or Malick die-hard, they may have problems connecting with this picture.

I don't see Malick inventing a new language, I just see a film-maker who is further lapsing into self-parody and I'm perfectly fine with films which lack traditional narrative or structure. There is a reason why Malick's critical stock has dropped sharply and it's because his box of tricks has played itself out and his films lack substance. The trailer for this sets off nothing but alarm bells, clumsily lurching from one trite cliche (visually and thematically) to the next.