Paul Thomas Anderson

PTA Filmography Series Part 4: Punch-Drunk Love

Posted on May 9, 2020May 27, 2020 by Adam

“I have so much strength inside of me. You have no idea. I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine.” - Barry Egan I suppose we should consider this Paul Thomas Anderson’s brief foray into “Romantic Comedy” (unless you count Phantom Thread). It’s not like any other romantic comedy I’ve seen. It’s funny, but not that funny...

PTA Filmography Series Part 3: Magnolia

Posted on May 1, 2020May 27, 2020 by Adam

"The book says: We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us." - Jimmy Gator / Quiz Kid Donnie Smith / Narrator I'm pretty sure Anderson cringes at this movie. And I do too, honestly. The above quote can seem faux-deep when isolated and presented at the top of a semi-critical analysis like this one. It seems a bit trite. Overly melodrama...

PTA Filmography Series Part 2: Boogie Nights

Posted on April 26, 2020May 27, 2020 by Adam

This is Anderson's Scorsese movie. Sure, there’s a bunch of Altman here too. But it feels like Scorsese with those sweeping long takes and great musical synchronization. I've seen this movie a few times in my life. For some reason, it never quite stuck. I liked it okay. But I never really understood the adulation it often received. Well this time...it stuck.&nbsp...

PTA Filmography Series Part 1: Hard Eight

Posted on April 26, 2020May 27, 2020 by Adam

Hard Eight sometimes feels like one of those creative exercises where you're given a prompt - just the start of a story - and then you have to fill in the rest. It feels borrowed. Like a dozen popular 90's movies all rolled into one. And yet it doesn't feel too full. It feels kind of incomplete, actually. Like we only got part of a story. And yet I still liked it. I l...