Wha???

What's up with all of you lumberjacks trying to chop down The Tree of Life? How is there so much pretentiousness in a simple story about a family? The film has always felt genuine and sincere to me. If you're a Malick fan, this doesn't seem too far from The New World or The Thin Red Line. If you're not familiar with his work, why is it so off-putting to watch something new? I can understand not liking it or thinking it's boring, but I still fail to see why it's so awful or pretentious.

John, glad to hear from you again. But between your new ToL thoughts and this newfound "respect" for Midnight In Paris, I think Bizarro John must have tied you up somewhere in Long Island during your New Years vacation.

Perhaps I am the Danny Kaye kind; I wish I could know for sure, but the a-holes over at Netflix don't seem to have a copy of The Court Jester available. Missing out.

Yeah, I think I'd unhesitatingly apply Sturgeon's Law to contemporary fiction. But I also admit that some books are crappier than others. I'd rather read Steig than Stephanie Meyer. I also admit that I've read the Harry Potter series more than once. Those books just speak to me, though. In a way, they end up reading me. Okay, this is starting to get silly. Nowadays, books only seem to be written for specific audiences, so it becomes harder and harder to compare and contrast. Harry Potter is written for children and people like myself who can't seem to grow up. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is written for adults. It's easy to call both trash when they're trying to do two different things. I don't really know what I'm trying to say. I'll just keep giving contemporary fiction back-handed compliments.

Maybe I can't do this, but my statement doesn't apply to Vonnegut. I consider that actual literature, and I think most people would. No age limit required for his stuff, as long as you're old enough to try and understand what he's talking about. I don't think fans should discard the things that Chuck writes. But more than anything, I wrote that as a joke. The image of old men walking around saying, "You're not your fucking khakis," amused me. But yeah, my book club statements needed to be challenged. For a second there, I thought I got away clean.

I completely agree with your assessment that the best of anything teaches us something new and changes us each time. I think you'd find that in The Tree of Life if you gave it another shot. You must be thinking of Uncle Boonme with that penis fish and vagina fish talk. I wish I had two digital copies of ToL so I could've given you one as well.