I like Almereyda's *Nadja* from 1994, and apparently David Lynch, who we know
was a former AFI classmate of Malick's, likes his work too, because he played a
bit part in  that film. There's still a mutual admiration society between Malick
and Lynch, evidenced by critics noticing the Malick influences in Lynch's *The
Straight Story* from 1999. Maybe Lynch turned Malick on to Almereyda's work. So
far Almereyda's "biggest" films have been *Hamlet* from 2000 (in which Bill
Murray plays Polonius!), and *Happy Here and Now* from 2002 with David Arquette,
which got some glowing reviews ("philosophy made moving" and "captures the
essence of New Orleans") at IMDB. I hadn't heard of either of these films before
looking up his entry at IMDB. He sure deserves more acclaim.

When the DVD of *Paradise* comes out I hope someone posts the clip of Malick
from this film at YouTube. Or are DVDs protected against this?


--- On Sat, 11/22/08, PNeski@... <PNeski@...> wrote:
From: PNeski@... <PNeski@...>
Subject: [terrencemalick] Well this wasn't on the New World Making of
To: terrencemalick@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, November 22, 2008, 9:56 AM













Paradise

By VARIETY STAFF



The peripatetic life of filmmaker Michael Almereyda ("Happy Here and Now,"

"Hamlet") is captured in glorious fragments forming a breathtaking whole in

his new video feature, "Paradise." While impatient viewers might perceive the

chain of 33 scenes (lensed in nearly as many locales) as randomly shot bits, a

closer examination reveals a superb panorama of contemporary life and death,

from the simple pleasures of mornings at home with children to the grief of

a funeral. Though Almereyda says this is a work in progress, current version

qualifies for status at high-end, art-oriented fests and will make a lovely

DVD special.



Training his low-end camera on whatever interesting sights and sounds he has

encountered in his many wide-ranging travels, Almereyda displays a keen

interest in details, whether it's the way Los Angeles' giant metropolitan gleam

dwarfs Fourth of July fireworks (seen in night vision), or the way a little

boy accidentally falls into a pool in Esfahan, Iran.



Many scenes are dominated by children, or adults engrossed in childlike

wonderment (as when a woman captures a firefly), along with scenes involving
fire

and creative invention (from experiments at Caltech to Sonic Youth in

concert).



As the film's bookended shots of airport corridors suggest, "Paradise" is

meticulously constructed underneath its seemingly random facade. The sight of a

police car on a Los Angeles street, linked (by editors Laurie Butler, Bara

K. Jihova and Rachel Webster) with a Gotham flag procession, elegantly flows

into a wistful observation of the post-massacre memorial at Virginia Tech and

a private funeral.



Even more private is the sight of the rarely seen Terrence Malick directing

Colin Farrell on the set of "The New World."



With: Colin Farrell, Terrence Malick, Sonic Youth, Elina Lowensohn.

(English, Farsi dialogue)



Camera (color, DV), Almereyda; editors, Laurie Butler, Bara K. Jichova,

Rachel Webster; music, Paul D. Miller.



Reviewed on DVD, Los Angeles, Oct. 30, 2008.

(In AFI Los Angeles Film Festival -- ALT_Cinema.)

Running time: 75 MIN.



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