The Master Archives

A Healthy Reminder That the Oscars Don’t Matter

It’s the end of January and, as such, all the …

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Men, Women, Anderson and Altman: On ‘The Master’ and ‘3 Women’

1. Paul Thomas Anderson learned to make movies by watching …

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The Strain, Ep. 1.13, “The Master” deflates before our eyes

Hold on. This episode was promoted as the season finale, and all research online confirms this to be true. But this is not a season finale episode of television. It would’ve been much more effective in the middle of the first season, and even then it would’ve been a rather middling hour. Was anyone really hoping to find out in the season’s last episode whether Eph would relapse and drink again? Was that a payoff someone was counting on? Truth be told, that could almost be considered one of the peaks of the episode. Strap in, guys, this is going to be depressing.

The Definitive Religious Movies: 30-21

What makes films about religion so interesting is the way …

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The Definitive Kubrickian Films: 20-11

My first real attempt at understanding the brilliance that was …

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Philip Seymour Hoffman: Undersung and Underpraised

I still remember the first time I saw Philip Seymour …

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Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Thomas Anderson: One of film’s greatest teams

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.

Touchstones & Legacies: Paul Thomas Anderson & Philip Seymour Hoffman

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.