Director Appreciation: Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson is truly a modern auteur in every sense of the word. In his career spanning nearly two decades has consistently made films that are both critically acclaimed and crowd pleasers. His penchant for long sweeping narratives with lots of characters is one of his films defining traits, along with vibrant visuals and the odd long take, that usually follows one or more characters through an amazing set piece.

Like Wes Anderson, P.T.A. is known for his collaborations with many actors on his films, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzmán, William H. Macy and, most recently, Joaquin Phoenix. He has also directed actors to give some truly career defining performances, most notably Daniel Day-Lewis (it's a performance that really sticks out in a career of amazing ones) and Adam Sandler (who surprised everyone).

Anderson's main themes used throughout his films are dysfunctional families, alienation and loneliness. Most of his characters are flawed and seek to redeem themselves from these flaws through their interaction with others.

Boogie Nights (1997)
"I'm a star. I am a big, bright, shining star."


Anderson has spoken openly about the amount of porn he watched in his teenage years to inspire the making of this film. It chronicles the meteoric rise of young porn star Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg), as he rises to fame in the adult film world, mentored by producer Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds).
























As much as this is a film about the Golden Era of Pornography in the late 1970s, it can also be viewed as modern tragedy with an almost dynastic feel to it, as Dirk is taken in by an unlikely family that rises and falls. Toward the end of the film there are some really scary scenes where the characters reach desperate times and do whatever they can to stay in the lives they have created for themselves and realise life is harder than they wanted it to be.

The film sports some amazing performances, including that of its star Mark Wahlberg. Although he'd been in movies before this one, it's his performance as Dirk that really shows that he had some great skills when it came to being a serious actor. John C. Reilly gives one of my favourite performances of his as fellow actor Reed Rothchild and Phil Hoffman is just hilarious as Scotty, a sound guy who falls in love with Dirk. That's not to mention other great performances offered up by Julianne Moore, Heather Graham and Don Cheadle.

Punch Drunk Love (2002)
"I have a love in my life and that makes me stronger than anything you can imagine."



















Barry Egan (Sandler) is a timid, shy and single man who owns a warehouse that markets novelty items. He has seven sisters who all abuse him emotionally to the point of lashing out. One day he meets Lena (Emily Watson), whom he falls in love with immediately. Barry is also being extorted by a phone sex operator, whose boss is the explosive Dean Trumbell (Phil Hoffman again).

The world that Anderson has created with this film is extremely developed. Barry wears a blue suit for the whole movie and it is hinted that this is the first time that he has worn the suit, leading you to think what he usually wears that makes this such a surprise for the other characters. The film also has an exceptionally intriguing subplot in which Barry discovers that he can get around a loophole in a coupon deal for cheap air miles by buying extremely large quantities of chocolate pudding, leading to a superb little dance in a supermarket aisle and me thinking if he isn't slightly autistic.

The film has a surreal quality to it, with vibrant colours distorting the frame constantly, as well as lens flares that would make J.J. Abrams blush. Most of the music adds to the feeling; the main music is played on a harmonium, which gives the film a calming quality. The calmness is intercut with high intensity sounds that are repeated (I wouldn't necessarily call it music) at times when the characters are under pressure.

Every so often Adam Sandler offers up a performance that proves he can beyond shabbadoo and it takes a director like Anderson or Judd Apatow with Funny People (2009) to bring it out of him. Barry is a nervous, compulsive character and Sandler handles him well. Phil Hoffman's Dean Trumbell is an amazing powder-keg of a man and although Hoffman is only on screen for a total of five minutes, he leaves a lasting impression.

There Will Be Blood (2007)
"There's a whole ocean of oil under our feet! No one can get at it except for me!"

For most audiences, the idea of a movie about oil drilling, especially in the early 1900s, would sound incredibly boring. But when a director such as Anderson combines forces with an actor like Daniel Day-Lewis, one of the greatest actors alive, it makes for an extremely captivating movie.

Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) is an oil baron who has oil drilling operations all around the state of California. His attention is brought to a possible oil claim in the small settlement of Little Boston, where he buys a ranch from the Sunday family, where he believes the oil is. He soon comes to confront Eli Sunday, one of the sons and pastor of the community's parish.

This is Anderson's best film. It looks at both dysfunctional families and greed. As the film progresses, Daniel does more and more heinous things to increase his wealth, whilst becoming more and more distant from his adopted son, H.W. Day-Lewis gives his only Oscar-worthy performance in this movie, he is absolutely terrifying to watch. Paul Dano gives an equally good performance as the pious Eli Sunday.

The Master (2012)
"If you figure out a way to live without serving a master, any master, then let us know, will you? For you'd be the first person in the history of the world."

Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is an alcoholic WWII veteran who is struggling to find purpose after the war. He crosses paths with Lancaster Dodd (Phil Hoffman), the charismatic leader of a philosophical movement known as "The Cause." Freddie soon gets caught up in this movement and sees a great man in Dodd.

The parallels between this movie and the origin of the Church of Scientology are present and in a way too big to ignore, but Anderson is making a much broader statement about the nature of man. The fact that Freddie needs a master like he is some sort of animal shows that man would be aimless without a person in an authority position. When Freddie leaves the embrace of the group, he has no idea what to do with himself.

Although Joaquin Phoenix is the lead actor in the film, Hoffman steals all the scenes he is in. Dodd is an intensely complex character who only wants what is best for his family and his followers, but you can really see that he feeds off the power he gets from being in front of a crowd.

We're The Millers

We're the Millers does an unconventional take on the family road trip movie. There are some elements that people will recognise, but for the most part, you won't.

David (Jason Sudeikis) is a low-level drug dealer working for Brad Gurlinger (Ed Helms), a crazy drug baron who likes to show off his wealth. One day, David gets his stash and money stolen by some thugs and ends up being blackmailed by Brad to do some smuggling for him. He enlists the help of his neighbour, Kenny (Will Poulter), a runaway, Casey (Emma Roberts), and a stripper who lives in his building, Rose (Jennifer Aniston). They pose as a family to bring the drugs to the States from Mexico in a RV. They soon discover that they stole the drugs from an equally crazed Mexican baron, Pablo Chacon (Tomer Sisley), and race to get to Denver before they can be stopped.

This movie is a lot funnier than what I expected. There are a lot of jokes about regular family road trips, but also jokes about how this group isn't a real family. One hilarious ongoing joke involves a weed baby.

Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live, Horrible Bosses) is a great leading man in this comedy and you can see that he is really comfortable doing improvisation, because I'm sure most of his priceless one-liners couldn't be written, even by the funniest comedy writers.

It was amazing to see America's sweetheart Jennifer Aniston play a foul mouthed role. It's always refreshing to see actors go against the grain and take a role that no one's seen them do before. Aniston is  just plain funny as she really gets into the role of trying to be a fake mother to this family. She sort of reminds me of Catherine O'Hara in Orange County.

Will Poulter has been consistently funny throughout his career. He was hilarious in the British sketch show School of Comedy and now he has proven that he can be funny in a feature length film. I look forward to seeing a lot more of him in future.

I know Emma Roberts (Scream 4) has been working in Hollywood for years, but prior to this, none of her films have appealed to me. That's not to say that she isn't a good actress, because this film clearly shows that she is.

Verdict: A genuinely funny and original comedy that will appeal to anyone who's ever been on a family road trip. Or smuggled drugs.

The Last Stand

This really should be Arnie's last stand. While it was a fun romp through the Nevada desert, Schwarzenegger has no business fighting crime. It is a young man's game and even he acknowledges the fact.

The Last Stand revolves around Sheriff Ray (Schwarzenegger) and his rag-tag group of deputies trying to stop an escaped cartel boss from making his way to Mexico. The plot is almost that simple. The reason the cartel boss escaped is due to FBI agent John Bannister's (Forrest Whitaker) negligence. The whole thing could have been avoided if he checked up on his agents and moved his prisoner in daylight instead of the wee hours of the morning.

I feel like this movie could have been a whole lot shorter than it's 107 minute running time. There are a whole bunch of extraneous shots of glances between Deputy Sarah Torrance (Jaimie Alexander) and Frank Martinez (Rodrigo Santoro), I'm still not sure what his role was in this movie, and these shots in this modified Corvette, where cartel boss Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega) shifts gears. Although they looked cool, we only needed to see them once or twice, not every single time he changes speed.

There is a strange sort of familiarity between Ray and Cortez. I feel as though we are missing some scenes where we find out that Ray has run into relatives of Cortez during his stint as a LAPD Narcotics officer. Although they barely hint at this, it would have been nice in this sort of movie to have that explicit connection. It would also explain the reaction Ray gives when he finds out who is making a run for his town.

The cast (apart from the few who I will point out) were not suited for this film. Of course this role was written for Arnie and he does fit in. The same is said for Johnny Knoxville, who is just playing Johnny Knoxville (like he has any other setting!), and Luis Guzman, as the loyal but hesitant and insanely funny deputy.

On the other hand, Forest Whitaker is playing just an angrier version of the role he played in Species. He only really comes off as incapable of following proper protocol. The other person not suited here is Jaimie Alexander. She is capable of extraordinary range and I felt that she was a wasted talent. The way that they built up the character of Cortez, you were expecting a name actor when he would finally be revealed, but instead we get an unfamiliar face.

The person who sort of defies both of those positions and is in sort of a middle ground is Peter Stormare. Whilst you would expect to see him silently shoving body parts into a wood chipper (Fargo, anyone?), here he is playing a loud gunslinger type and at the end of every scene with him, I was waiting for him to spit his tobacco on the ground.

Verdict: Some great driving sequences coupled with callbacks to old Arnie one-liners ("Consider yourself deputised") make for a great action movie. My recommendation to Arnie: quit acting while you're ahead, maybe move into producing and directing like your Twins co-star Danny DeVito.