Career Review is a new feature I'm introducing now, where I will be watching the entire filmography of a director and analyzing it. I'll rank the films and pick my favorite scenes from each of them. I'm starting this with Paul Thomas Anderson, who's filmography could also double as a list of some of my favorite films to be made in the past 20 years. I'll try to be un-biased, but you should definitely expect nothing but praise.
In All Seriousness:
Paul Thomas Anderson's Films:
Hard Eight (1996)
PTA's debut feature is a tough film to try and compare to the rest of his work. The film showcases the long tracking shots, quick montages, and motif of unconventional families that PTA will be known for throughout his career. It also features the first collaborations with Michael Penn (also scored Boogie Nights), Robert Elswit (cinematographer for all of Anderson's films except for The Master), and three actors he would cast in some of his films after Hard Eight: Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, and the late and great Phillip Seymour Hoffman. But despite the common factors shared with his other films, Hard Eight is clearly the outcast in a tight little filmography. His writing isn't as strong, and the dialogue seems more artificial in Hard Eight than it does with his other films. And some of the camera and editing techniques he tries to pull off here aren't as smooth and don't seem as thought out as it does with every film following this film. He had trouble with the studios not giving him much freedom throughout it's creation(for example the original title of the film is Sydney, but Anderson was forced to change it to it's current name). Even though the studio interference and the lack of experience as a director definitely worked against him here, Hard Eight is still a good movie that would probably be among the better films of a lesser director's filmography. It just falls victim to being just a lump of coal in a group of diamonds.
Favorite Scene: The Craps scene, in which Sydney (Philip Baker Hall) plays with a young guy played by a scene-stealing Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
Favorite Performer: Philip Baker Hall as Sydney
Rating (out of 5 stars): ***
Boogie Nights (1997)
Favorite Scene: Drug Deal Scene
Favorite Performer: Julianne Moore as Amber Waves
Rating (out of 5 Stars): *****
Magnolia (1999)
Having read and watched countless interviews with Paul Thomas Anderson, I've seen him talk more about his films than I've talked about anything period. What it seems like from those interviews, is that he made this film as a way of dealing with the death of his father around the time he made Boogie Nights. Anderson deals a lot with life and death, fathers and sons, and relationships in general in Magnolia. By far his most emotionally draining film, Magnolia is filled with a lot of depressing moments, peaking in it's sadness at the scene where the cast sings along to Aimee Mann's (who did the soundtrack for the film) song 'Wise Up'. The gloominess along with the three-hour long running time (a little too long even according to PTA himself), make Magnolia a film with much less re-playability than a film like Boogie Nights. With that being said the film is an essential viewing for any fan of Anderson. I'd argue that Magnolia has the ability to make even the most robotic, emotionless of people feel something, or at least make them think. The last twenty-ish minutes is a wonderful technical achievement, and worth watching for that scene at least.
Favorite Scene: Kinda spoilers: When Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall) passes out in the middle of a taping of What Do Kids Know? It's the best acting I've seen Baker Hall do in any film.
Favorite Performer: Tom Cruise as Frank T.J. Mackey
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
With Punch-Drunk Love, Paul Thomas Anderson set out to make a romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler. That's exactly what it is, but with a whole bunch of PTA sprinkled all over it. Anderson uses Sandler's angry and child-like acting talents, and creates a character that fits him perfectly. Although the love story part of the film is a bit too conventional, it has these little touches that keep it from entering sappy, Lifetime movie territory. To add on to that, the subplot of the guy who runs a phone sex line company (played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman) stealing money from Barry is incredibly interesting and adds an almost horror-like element to the film. These scenes are also the funniest. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Adam Sandler work off of each other's anger so well, that it makes the two scenes in which they interact some of their career-best work.
Favorite Scene: Tie between the two Barry and the Mattress Man interactions.
Favorite Performer: Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Dean Trumbell the Mattress Man
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
There Will Be Blood (2007)
From a technical standpoint, There Will Be Blood is PTA's best film. The film is a masterclass of cinematography, scoring, set design, sound editing, writing and directing. Plus Daniel-Day Lewis's Daniel Plainview should forever be known as one of the most iconic performances of all-time. That's not a hyperbole, until scientists create robot actors that are better than humans, DDL's performance will be known as one of the best. There Will Be Blood is filled with memorable scene after the next, and will most likely remain one of my favorite films for a while.
Favorite Scene: Daniel's baptism.
Favorite Performer: Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview
Rating (out of 5 stars): *****
The Master (2012)
The Master happens to be the first film by Paul Thomas Anderson that I was able to watch in theaters. Nothing beats the feeling of getting to see a film by your favorite director in theaters. When it turned out to be great, it was like experiencing peanut butter and jelly for the first time again. Joaquin Phoenix, who is an actor I've admired for a while, getting matched up with Paul Thomas Anderson is a dream come true. In a perfect world, their working relationship will last even farther than their second film together, Inherent Vice. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams round out the leading cast, and both give great performances. If you're going to watch The Master you should be prepared to watch it again, because it is both necessary and enjoyable to give it multiple views.
Favorite Scene: The prison scene
Favorite Performer: Joaquin Phoenix as Freddie Quell
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****1/2
Inherent Vice (2014)
The release of this film last year is the inspiration for this blog post, but I wanted to wait until I saw it a second time so I could make a fair judgement of it. When I saw the film for the first time, it was in theaters with a bunch of people who responded well. The good atmosphere definitely added to my response to the film. So the second time I watched it on iTunes in order to judge it in a different environment. Upon second viewing, the film was still a real joy to watch. Anderson wrote his funniest script here, based off of wonderful source material. I found myself actually laughing out loud both in the theater and alone in my bed. Anderson uses static shots and lets entire scenes play out with the camera change being a slow move in towards the actors. He also picks out takes where actors mumble their lines, or stutter, giving the characters a true-to-life feel. For every extra viewing that is required for The Master, you'll need two for Inherent Vice. The film can be a bit difficult to follow at times, especially if you haven't read the book. Also there are so many little jokes that are not easy to catch after the first viewing. It's always a great reward to catch little things you didn't notice until the second viewing.
Favorite Scene: The ouija board/running in the rain scene. It's my favorite portrayal of a relationship in any of PTA's films.
Favorite Performer: Josh Brolin as Lt. Christian 'Bigfoot' Bjornsen
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****1/2
Overview
With seven films made in less than twenty years, the closest Paul Thomas Anderson has come to a failure is his still pretty good debut feature, Hard Eight. He is the kind of director that allows his actors to actually earn their good performances by using takes that last several minutes without a cut. Not only does Anderson direct, but he writes every film he directs. All of his scripts mix drama and truly hilarious comedic moments really well (with the exception of There Will Be Blood, which is pretty much all drama). Family is clearly important to him, with familial elements being evident in all seven of his films, as well as his use of the same crew and actors on many of his films; creating his own little work family.
Final Ranking:
(1, 2, and 7 are pretty solid, but 3-6 could be switched around after even more viewings. They were really hard to rank)
1. Boogie Nights
2. There Will Be Blood
3. The Master
4. Inherent Vice
5. Punch-Drunk Love
6. Magnolia
7. Hard Eight
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