57/100

Obliterated upon its initial premiere at Cannes, Gus Van Sant's The Sea of Trees is more of a Late-Shyamalan textural exercise or a perpetual response, in tone and theme, to Christopher Nolan's Interstellar than typical art-house fare. The story is as mawkish as it is elegant, pummeling the viewer with inane but preposterously moving conversations, monologues, and flashbacks, all of which feed Van Sant's soothing display of naturalism. Sunlight shines in between the tree branches, but it is the bodies, bloodied and weak, suicidal and lost, and souls who are the focus. All of it is bizarre and misguided, with story right out of Neil Breen's oeuvre, but it is never boring and continuously heartfelt in between the spurts…

Sometimes, a film just feels like it is speaking to you.

In 2015, I had a life changing experience: my beautiful 2 year old daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia. The moment we were told by the doctors, I felt as if the floor gave way underneath me. It was an out of body experience I cannot describe, brought about from shock and grief.

It's now August 2017, and my daughter is still here, fighting a brave battle. I have had to be brave for her, or at least wear a mask of bravery. My emotions and thoughts flip from one minute to the next: I'm grateful for her still being here, and terrified of the possibility of losing her.

I…

This had been on my Netflix list forever, finally gave it a shot. 
And as much as this was to be expected, heads up everyone this movie is very dark. 

McConaughey’s performance for some reason reminded me of True Detective. The monologue he gave at the fire was great. And Ken Watanabe was phenomenal as well, definitely this movie’s MVP in the acting department. 
And I only wish Naomi Watts had been given more screentime but she was great as well in the screentime she did get. 

The flashbacks dropping bread crumbs throughout the movie as to what had transpired to lead up to the present events was so well done. It did make for the movie to be a little…

Hmm. I didn't hate this latest Gus Van Sant movie as strongly as other people, but I didn't love it either.

For the most part, The Sea of Trees had me engaged. And I think it has to do with the performances from McConaughey, Watts, and Watanabe, all of whom manage to transcend the film with their commitment. They all gave great performances, even though McConaughey struggled to shed some tears during a showy scene in the forest with Watanabe’ character. I know tears are not indicative of good acting, but considering that McConaughey portrays a grief-stricken, suicidal man, I expected something close to a breakdown in that poignant moment. It’s still a fine performance though.

It’s Naomi Watts who…

37/100

[Originally written as part of my third dispatch from Cannes '15 for The Dissolve.]

Every year at Cannes, at least one Competition title gets booed, inspiring a round of handwringing once word gets out. Personally, I never boo—but, then, I almost never applaud, either, unless I know that the cast and crew is present. After all, the closing credits don’t particularly care what I think. Hearing the lusty boos that erupted at the end of Gus Van Sant’s The Sea Of Trees, however, I finally understood the communal nature of this admittedly obnoxious ritual. Mediocre films are met with the silence of indifference, but people feel the need to acknowledge a memorably awful experience with something more like an…

From the many things that I have heard about The Sea of Trees, I would not have expected something nearly as perplexing as what I've received here. Obviously, this film wants to be something so much deeper than what it's already given us, but the fact it fails so miserably is where it is all just so fascinating to watch from start to finish. Perhaps not for the reasons that Gus Van Sant may have intended, but there's so much that The Sea of Trees is attempting to be, and yet the fact it fails is why it just keeps our attention as it moves on. There's an extent to which I do understand the hate it received from Cannes,…

6/10. The Sea of Trees (2015) is a drama directed by Gus Van Sant which stars Matthew McConaughey, Naomi Watts and Ken Watanabe. A suicidal American befriends a Japanese man lost in a forest near Mt. Fuji and the two search for a way out.

- Watched on Prime Video -

I do not think it is so bad like many people write here but "The Sea of Trees", one of Gus Van Sant‘s more recent outings, is not very good either. Tackling heavy subject matter such as grief, cancer, and suicide, the drama sets a serious tone from the beginning. Liked the first third a lot - unfortunately, it only goes downhill from there. The performances are solid but…