I remember, I was watching The Tree of Life on DVD, and fell asleep after a half hour.

I woke up as the credits were rolling, and thought, "Well, there's no way in hell I'm rewinding that movie."

@Halberstram said:

I remember, I was watching The Tree of Life on DVD, and fell asleep after a half hour.

I woke up as the credits were rolling, and thought, "Well, there's no way in hell I'm rewinding that movie."

Wow, this is what I call a stunning critique. Thank you!

I have seen and liked both, but I don't find them comparable, to be honest.

Well, it was boring. If a movie can put me to sleep, I'd say I'll be pretty critical of it.

@Halberstram said:

Well, it was boring. If a movie can put me to sleep, I'd say I'll be pretty critical of it.

Or you were tired.

Or, I was tired of The Tree of Life.

Tree Of Life certainly operates at a different pace which won't be to everyone's taste I guess but to match the control conditions the question then becomes:- If you stitched all the "flashback" scenes together in Arrival, would that also send you to sleep?

I don't know. I liked Arrival, so I don't see the comparison to The Tree of Life.

It's just, guys, I don't want you to worry about me, or anything, but, I've been fallowing asleep a lot lately. It's usually once a day... or, at night, rather. The sun goes down, and, you know how I like to hop into bed a lie on my back, or, sometimes on my side? Well, I'll just lose consciousness for, like, seven or eight hours!

I wake up, and I'm groggy, and my breath smells really bad. I don't lose memories, or nothin'; I mean, I know who I am and where I've been, and all. It's just... well, I don't want to worry you. I'm sure I'll be fine.

I love you.

@The Midi-chlorian Count said:

Finally got around to watching this film - I like that it's one of these films which will bounce around in my head for a few days whilst I try to decide if it was really good or not...

Usually - not always, but usually - if I have to try to decide if it was really good or not, it means it wasn't, for me. (one notable exception I recall is how I came to appreciate Sunset Boulevard.)

This movie had some really nifty ideas...but it seems the writers painted themselves into a corner where they'd been so creative they couldn't figure out how to maintain the science fiction edge, and ended up in a smarmy, violin-cringy, sappy, confusing mess utterly void of technical edge.

Yeah, I was tired when I watched it...not sure if I should care enough to do more work to grasp the timeline, the back story...or, wait, no, future prophecy...ugh, I can't even.

If you have the critical thinking skills/curiosity to deconstruct the greater meaning of this movie, I believe it will transcend any appreciation you might have for Sunset Boulevard ten-fold.

Once you peel back the layers, you should discover that this isn't necessarily a science fiction movie at all. The aliens aren't who you originally may think they are.