Tree of Life

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

its on at Cineworld including the Wandsworth one, four showings per day this coming week.

great news, thought we were going to have to wait a very long time given the recent distribution problems.

[funthing29]

It's only showing at these Odeons:

Brighton
Camden
Covent Garden
Guildford
Kingston
Marble Arch
Muswell Hill
Richmond
Tunbridge Wells

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

It's only showing at these Odeons:

Brighton
Camden
Covent Garden
Guildford
Kingston
Marble Arch
Muswell Hill
Richmond
Tunbridge Wells

Bloody hell, free previews get more screenings than that Not exactly gonna light up the UK box office.

I think I had better do an advance booking for this.

[elski]

My final hope is that they are rolling it out to more by next friday and I could maybe pre-book with a wowcher. Although unlikely with Harry Potter coming out. But then there's a whole bunch of films I was expecting to have gone, POTC4 and Hangover 2 are still being shown here along with Green Lantern, Transformers, Bridesmaids, Larry Crowne, Kung Fu Pandaa and X men.

The Showroom in Sheffield is showing it from the 22nd July. Might end up having to p*y at this rate
It's just annoying with having the odeon wowchers that need using up.

[soonforgotten]

I think Holly Rollers is released at the same time as HP (15th July).

this week in 'key cities'
http://www.launchingfilms.com/release-schedule

and on Digital Spy as this week too
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/diar ... -2011.html

Oh, I just saw this. I really wonder why there's such limited release for these films.

I see that Huge is out this week too. Wonder how many cinemas will be wasting their time and space on that.

[elski]

Cineworld Sheffield has both Tree of Life and Holy Rollers from July 8th, such a shame I have no cineworld vouchers.

DS review
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/revi ... -life.html

[elski]

The Tree of Life – review
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jul ... CMP=twt_fd

[tarantinoed]

Thanks for that review - it's beautiful. I'm going to see the film later today. I tried to persuade my husband and 2 sons to come with me but only managed one son. Can't wait to see this - I was blown away by Malick's The Thin Red Line in particular in the past.

[elski]

Little White Lies have given it 5/5/5
http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/theatr ... life-15546

[soonforgotten]

If you believe a film can be pretentious and genius at the same time, The Tree of Life may well be for you. Anyone else will have to make a decision.

For me, I lean towards pretentious. That doesn't mean that this isn't beautifully made, because it most certainly is. The problem is that the incredible imagery and cinematography aside, there isn't much to draw the audience in. No emotional ties, no drama, no tension. Make no mistake about it- this is a very challenging viewing experience. As several audience members made an early exit, scenes cut away too quickly while other shots lingered, it became clear to me why this is a limited release. Critics may rave about this, but word of mouth from the average film-goer will limit the commercial success of this. It's a piece that would fit better in a museum than it does in a cinema, if for no other reason than people are less likely to be snacking away in a museum. This is easily the quietest film I've ever seen. Often the sparse dialogue is delivered in whispers. For most of the film the hum of the speakers was the predominate audio accompaniment (with the bloke two seats down from me's heavy breathing as slept coming in a close second). This presents another challenge as often the whispers come during imagery scenes, so one has no idea when to expect them and is too often taken by surprise. The southern accents contribute to making the lines difficult to understand in such instances. I found myself struggling to hear what was going on, let alone understand it.

The peformances are quite good (for what they are in some cases- don't go seeing this just because you might be a Sean Penn fan or you'll be very disappointed) and Jessica Chastain's "grace" really stands out, while Brad Pitt delivers per usual representing "nature". Their performances left me wanting more of them and yet by the time they finally seem to get going, we're brought back to the present day and symbolism aplenty. At least I assume it's all symbolism, I couldn't tell you what any of it symbolises though (a mask sinking underwater, anyone?). I sat truly dumbfounded through the final (breath-taking) scenes. By the time the end credits began to roll, I felt less than intelligent because I had no idea what was really going on for the previous two hours. However, this may all be summed up by a man behind me who proclaimed "f**king hell" as the lights came up. Indeed.

?/10