Journeyman thespian and PTA favorite Philip Baker Hall has passed away at the age of 90. It's really hard to overstate the significance Hall's otherworldly acting abilities had on not just Paul Thomas Anderson's first three features but on damn near every project he ever endeavored to take on, no matter the size of role. His gravitas and grace and wry wit will be sorely missed but never forgotten and hopefully discovered anew by generations to come.
Welp, another awards season has come and gone without any fanfare or drama (har har) and PTA still awaits his first Oscar. What else is new?
On the sunnier side of things, details have arrived for Licorice Pizza's home release. The movie is already available to own or rent on all major digital platforms but its blu-ray and DVD edition will land on May 17. A lot has already been made of this, but the length of theatrical window afforded for this movie is really remarkable given the current economic climate of the biz and was richly appreciated by the likes of folks like, well, us.
The blu-ray and DVD includes camera tests, a Fat Bernie's commercial, a behind the scenes featurette, and a deleted scene for special features. Here's the art:
Really looking forward to peeping the transfer - you can preorder here.
One last thing - here's a final interview round-up for the movie, which we promised you forever ago....
Q&A with Paul Thomas Anderson at the DGA:
PTA on The Love of Cinema podcast:
PTA on SensCritique
Co-cinematographer Michael Bauman & crew on IndieWire:
PTA on BBC:
PTA on Increment Vice podcast:
PTA & editor Andy Jurgensen Q&A
PTA - SBIFF Q&A
PTA - Smartless Podcast
PTA, Alana Haim & Sara Murphy Q&A - SBIFF
PTA & cast virtual Q&A
PTA, cast & crew virtual Q&A
PTA & cast Q&A
PTA - Empire Film Podcast
PTA & Kenneth Branagh Q&A - SBIFF
PTA DGA Q&A
PTA & cast - final press interview (Benny Safdie included!)
Starting tonight, movie theatres everywhere will be running a brand new HAIM music video directed by Paul Thomas Anderson in front of showings of (the now 3x-Oscar-nominated!) Licorice Pizza.
The content of the video/song has not been revealed in advance of the rollout, except the mysterious title card shared out by the movie's official social media accounts pasted above. If you needed further incentive to finally get your butt out there and see the movie (or see it a second/third/fourth/fifth time), here it is!
Also this weekend, the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica kicks off a series of films programmed and presented by PTA himself! The weekend includes in-person film introductions and Q&A's from PTA, rad double-features and is capped off by a screening of Licorice Pizza in 70mm.
Finally, you folks probably deserve a second edition of the interview round-up, given all that's happened over the last few weeks. We'll try to get that in your hands this weekend!
"So, here's the deal. I've been lazy. Err, I haven't been lazy but I've been going nuts."
All of a sudden we are fewer than two weeks (!) away from Licorice Pizza being in wide-release in the States and there has been a raft of interviews in the ramp-up, so we figured those babies probably needed a home. So here they are. Needless to say, given the sheer volume of content, this is the mother of all spoiler alerts. Listen/watch/read at your own peril if you have not seen the movie!
AUDIO: Paul Thomas Anderson on The New Yorker Radio Hour with David Remnick
Paul Thomas Anderson on IHeartRadio with Tim Conway, Jr. (author recommended)
Paul Thomas Anderson on KCRW's Greater LA with Steve Chiotakis
Paul Thomas Anderson on NPR's Weekend Edition with Ayesha Rascoe
Paul Thomas Anderson on The Bill Simmons Podcast with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey
VIDEO: Paul Thomas Anderson & Alana Haim post-screening Q&A
Paul Thomas Anderson, Alana Haim & Cooper Hoffman post-screening Q&A
Alana Haim & Cooper Hoffman post-screening Q&A, with PTA intro
Paul Thomas Anderson & Alana Haim post-screening Q&A
Paul Thomas Anderson post-screening Q&A
Paul Thomas Anderson & Alana Haim post-screening Q&A
In non-LP interview news, our friends at the Talk Easy Podcast recently sat down for a great conversation with Vicky Krieps and she speaks in depth about collaborating with PTA on Phantom Thread. Stream that puppy here; it is well worth your time.
It's sneak preview time! Over at licoricepizzamovie.com you can get tickets to advanced screenings of Licorice Pizza for this coming Saturday, December 11,2021!
Cities where screenings will be held include:
[70mm] Chicago, IL San Francisco, CA Boston, MA Dallas, TX Portland, OR Sacramento, CA Toronto, ON Silver Springs, MD
[35mm] Brooklyn, NY Austin, TX Nashville, TN
[DCP] Atlanta, GA Edina, MN Philadelphia, PA Berkeley, CA Phoenix, AZ San Diego, CA
Licorice Pizzatook top prizes with the National Board of Review today, for Best Film and Best Director. Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman shared the breakthrough performance award as well!
While it's historically been difficult to call the National Board of Review a reliable harbinger for future awards season earnings, it is nevertheless exciting for the film to get this level of praise to kick off the Oscar races.
Will carve out some time very soon to post an interviews round-up for the recent press cast and crew have done in promotion of the movie and by the way, who am I seeing in Chicago this weekend??
IndieWire notes today that when Licorice Pizza opens in limited release in New York and LA later this month, it will be screened exclusively in 70mm.
Sadly, just three theatres in New York and just one (!) in Los Angeles have the capability of showing this format: AMC Lincoln Square/ Angelika Village East/ Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn, and then Regency Village Westwood, respectively. Tickets for the movie's November 26th 70mm opening will be available for sale as of this morning on all four theatres' websites in the links above, per IndieWire.
Variety today published their cover story with Paul Thomas Anderson and his first print interview in support of Licorice Pizza. The below production stills aside,in the interest of keeping this site (and frankly this author) relatively spoiler-free for the time being, we'll forego sharing any excerpts directly but you can read the article in fullright here.
Additionally, the film's official soundtrack information has made its way onto Amazon. Again, we won't share the tracklist here, but we dare you to view it here; suffice it to say that the movie appears to be notably (though somewhat expectedly) light on work from a certain Radiohead guitarist...
We will also enthusiastically share this truly exceptional cover art:
We will amend this post when the release details, editions, and formats become more clear!
UPDATE: The Licorice Pizza official soundtrack will be released onDecember 10and preorders are available right here including a nifty double-album for vinyl collectors!
Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza had its first public screening in 70mm at the Fox Theatre in Los Angeles for DGA members last night and with it, this spiffy new poster was rolled out.
Early reactions coming out of the screening seem to be overwhelmingly positive. Here's a spoiler free sample of what folks are saying:
Licorice Pizza was brilliant. Hysterical and charming. Nothing bad I can say about it. I absolutely loved it. Alana Haim’s performance is everything.
LICORICE PIZZA is so fucking good. God damn. Haven’t been to the theater since pandemic started and that was the most I’ve smiled in a long damn time. Movies are magic.
While we don't yet have any details about future screenings or events, this is -- it feels safe to say -- just the beginning so buckle in for plenty more to come!
