I think we have to agree to disagree; I found The Tree of Life (the only Malick movie I've managed to finish) to be a boring, incomprehensible mess of a movie, while Solaris and Stalker have been, in my opinion, somewhat interesting things.

The Thin Red Line is one of my top films, and I walked out of The Tree of Life. Only afterwards did I realize they were directed by the same guy. And then this spring I saw A Hidden Life. I thought it was absolutely fantastic. I plan to rewatch The Tree of Life to see if I like it better than first time. Perhaps I was not in the mood for that type of movie that particular evening.

Totally in agreement. The Thin Red Line is possibly my favorite film of all time, while I hated The Tree of Life; except for that awesome creation segment. And I also loved A Hidden Life.

You know, I might have had a similar reaction to Tree of life. But I thought the extended versions of The New World and Days of Heaven shared the same relationship between aesthetic and mood vs. narrative that I see in Stalker. You do not, however, get any Tarkovskysque monologues on metaphysics from Richard Gere or Colin Ferrell.

I need to watch Solaris and Stalker.

Tree of Life was one of my favorite film experiences ever, but I wouldn’t care to watch it again.

I’m curious - why did you feel like Tree of Life was incomprehensible?

If I'm being 100% honest, I haven't seen the movie in more than a decade and I barely remember it, outside of the general "not liking it" feeling.

If it shows up on Netflix or something I might give it another go; it's not rare for me to like a movie more on a second viewing.

Realistically, that movie is not going to be on Netflix any time in the next decade