Paul Thomas Anderson, while known and praised for his unique directorial style, followed the same career path as many of his peers, with much of his early work being in music videos. His success, however, has not stopped Anderson from diving back into the music video arena himself earlier this year with Joanna Newsom. With Newsom …
A long-awaited film for Paul Thomas Anderson fans, Junun doesn’t come as a huge surprise as a next project from a director whose last film took on the immense task of adapting a Thomas Pynchon novel. Instead of jumping right back into narrative filmmaking, Anderson traveled to India and decided to make a documentary.
People thought PTA doing an art house Adam Sandler movie was weird. How about a live action kids movie about a wooden boy? Via THR, Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film following Inherent Vice may be a version of Pinocchio that Robert Downey Jr. has been developing for the last several years. Anderson is being brought …
Inherent Vice Written for the screen and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson USA, 2014 Even if you were not around during the 1970s, Inherent Vice comes across as a faded, nostalgic memory. Being a faithful adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel, the film recounts the dying days of the free love era, laced with the look, …
It’s not just that Paul Thomas Anderson’s movies tend to defy any one genre description; it’s that, often, it seems as if the writer-director is trying to play with many genres simultaneously. The only reason that Boogie Nights isn’t the best drama of the 1990s is that it spends a lot of time trying to be the best comedy of the 1990s instead. So Anderson’s newest, Inherent Vice, is a departure in that it mostly sticks to one style (sun-drenched film noir) and one tone (absurdist comedy). It’s also a fine film, which suffers only when measured against the insanely high standard that Anderson’s past work has set.
1. Paul Thomas Anderson learned to make movies by watching movies. Each of his films bears the ghostly fingerprints of his masters and mentors: the obsession and one-point perspective of Kubrick; the tough-guy veneers and fetid societies that sated the first decade of Scorsese’s career; the intense meditative stares of Jonathan Demme, constantly reminding us …
NYFF 2014: Chris’ Top 5 – A year dominated by its main slate Not much more can be said about the sheer grandeur and highbrow allure of the New York Film Festival. Gala debuts and celebrity red carpet events have become quite the norm for the festival, making its 52nd installment no exception. No, this …
It’s not just that Paul Thomas Anderson’s movies tend to defy any one genre description; it’s that, often, it seems as if the writer-director is trying to play with many genres simultaneously. The only reason that Boogie Nights isn’t the best drama of the 1990s is that it spends a lot of time trying to be the best comedy of the 1990s instead. So Anderson’s newest, Inherent Vice, is a departure in that it mostly sticks to one style (sun-drenched film noir) and one tone (absurdist comedy). It’s also a fine film, which suffers only when measured against the insanely high standard that Anderson’s past work has set.
Even if you were not around during the 1970s, Inherent Vice comes across as a faded, nostalgic memory. Being a faithful adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel, the film recounts the dying days of the free love era, laced with the look, feel and paraphernalia of the subculture. Anderson’s comedic thriller peppers itself with restless, almost out of place laughter, while dedicating itself to the themes of the early Seventies. One is reminded of private-eye classics such as Roman Polanski’s Chinatown and Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye, with traces of Zucker-Abrahams comedies like Airplane! and The Naked Gun. For many, the homage to 1970s filmmaking will be a very real and thrilling look down memory lane. For others, it’ll be a history lesson like no other found in modern day filmmaking.
Though I did get to attend the TCM Classic Film Festival earlier this year (which was an amazing experience, and well worth your time), the New York Film Festival, in its 52nd year this time around, will be the first time I will have attended a festival as press. So, I’m very giddy about it. …
What’s difficult about making this list is finding a balance between a successful Kubrickian film that either predates or pays homage to Kubrick and, for lack of a better term, is a ripoff. Now that we’ve hit the apex, it’s clear that these are, regardless of influence, quality films. What sets them apart is their …
My first real attempt at understanding the brilliance that was Stanley Kubrick came in my freshman year of college, when I wrote a research paper on 2001: A Space Odyssey for an English class. After all that work, I only received a B and found myself more confused than ever. But there it was – …
What more can be said about Philip Seymour Hoffman, especially in the wake of his terribly tragic, premature death? He was perhaps the finest actor of his generation, he was deeply loved in his community, and he was a partner, a father.
An actor leaving us is the most strange of phenomenon. There is some solace in that, leaving behind a rich and diverse body of work, available to be re-watched forever, they do take on a certain unique immortality.
American Hustle Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell Directed by David O. Russell USA, 2013 Watching American Hustle puts one in mind of the old anecdote relayed by the late Roger Ebert. He wrote of a child prodigy, invited to play an impossibly difficult piece of music on piano for one of …
Much like Paul Thomas Anderson’s previous movie There Will Be Blood, The Master is a portrait of megalomaniac. It is about character interaction, not character development – a study of two souls searching for answers and for belonging. It is also one of the most technically impressive films of the year and one that satisfies …
With awards season truly underway, it is time to dust off the gowns and practice the speeches (not to mention the he-deserved-it-more look) and make out predictions for the BAFTAs. Part 1 will cover the following categories: – Best Documentary – Best Animated Feature – Best Film not in the English Language – Best Adapted …
#10: The Cabin in the Woods (107 points) Written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard Directed by Drew Goddard USA, 2012 Like Scream, it’s a self-aware slasher film, but where Scream was happy simply to turn the genre’s bloody glove inside out and examine the stitching, The Cabin in the Woods has more complicated ambitions. If Scream is …
25: The Dark Knight Rises Directed by Christopher Nolan Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan 2012, USA The Dark Knight Rises feels as if it was made up of two equal halves, with the most critical moment of the film breaking the movie in half, almost literally. While the second half may have …
2012 wasn’t a bad year for movies. It was actually a great year. The problem is, the movies we were most anticipating, specifically the Hollywood blockbusters like Prometheus and The Hobbit, didn’t live up to our expectations. With that said I still managed to make a list of 50 films I loved. Maybe I just …
[quote by=”Synopsis”]Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master stars Joaquin Phoenix as a psychologically damaged war veteran who finds himself working for Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a charismatic figure building his own religion. As the alcoholic, self-destructive former soldier becomes more deeply involved with the leader of this cult-like organization, his natural instincts keep him from …
Punch-Drunk Love Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson Written by Paul Thomas Anderson 2002, USA There’s something about films like Punch-Drunk Love that can leave you feeling faintly bloated – not quite to the extent of a three-course meal; those sort of delicacies are saved for the epics (Ben Hur, anyone?), but more like an overflowing …
Every thirty days, I like to post a list of my favorite films I’ve recently seen. Here are the best films I’ve seen throughout the month of September. This list is based on movies theatrically released here in Canada, and I do not include what I have seen at film festivals. **** 1: Tabu Directed …