Works from Two Cannes Directors: Woody Allen and Terrence Malick

Once again, I failed to make it to Cannes! It would be a dream to go one year just one year, until then I can only yearn and dream.

One of my favorite movie times of the year comes when Cannes opens and I get to hear about all the great films premiering from there, most of which won't see the light of day in my neck of the woods, unless they are "Kung Fu Panda 2".

Two films that did make their premier at Cannes this year came from two of my favorite directors, Woody Allen and Terrence Malick. Allen's "Midnight in Paris" opened the festival out of competition. As a fanatic of both Allen and Paris, the film seems delightful. Malick, the great reclusive director had great success with "The Tree of Life", only his fifth film in 35 years.

Seeing that I was unable to see their latest films, I decided to visit films from these directors I haven't seen yet.

For Woody Allen I chose "Everyone Says I Love You", a modern musical, that seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle with the rest of his work, not many people talk about it anymore. It's the story of an upper class extended New York family as the film seems to follow them throughout the year. This is also a musical Woody Allen style, which includes many old standards from the jazz era. I found many parts of this film to be utterly charming, it's lightweight, romantic and fun. Allen is known as a cynic sometimes, but I think he's best when he lets his romantic self come to light. Allen has made better movies than this, but very few of them have been this magical.

Next up was Terrence Malick's "The New World". I had yet to see this film centering on the story of Pocahontas as she encounters John Smith (Colin Farrel) and later moves to England and marries a tobacco farmer (Christian Bale). Terrence Malick is one of the most lyrical filmmakers today. I found "Days of Heaven" and "The Thin Red Line" to be existential masterpieces. I found "The New World" a challenge, I grew impatient with it, yet there are passages as beautiful and poetic as he has ever done. "The New World" didn't keep my interest as much as his other films, that isn't to say I'm dismissing it, Malick isn't the kind of director to get the brush off. I found after watching "The Thin Red Line" again, it became more deeper and meaningful to me, who's to say the same can't be said for "The New World". I will definitely revisit it again some day.