Malick continues to be among my favorite film directors. The most frequent form of praise mustered for this film around the web seems to be people congratulating themselves for having not fallen asleep while viewing it. I don’t know why they’re so surprised. the New World held me, as have all of Malick’s previous films, rapt from start to finish. Disparate settings and periods aside, each of Malick’s films address the same poetic issues of a journey undertaken, a natural world that stands outside history, and death- to paint it w/ the broadest strokes possible. Roger Ebert, in his review, makes the astute point that Malick wisely stays away from knowing the history that follows from where this story leaves off.