First 'Vice' Reactions Roll Out From Industry Insiders; Doubts Cast On Cannes Premiere

8 months before Inherent Vice is set to hit theatres, and nearly 8 months after it officially entered post-production, we are starting to get some faint glimmers of what form the film's exhibition will take. With the 2014 Cannes Film Festival's full competition lineup slated to be announced this Thursday, April 17, we will finally have concrete resolution for one of the film's most hyped-up potential premiere venues once and for all. Unfortunately, according to a new report by Jeffrey Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere, an Inherent Vice debut at Cannes is not looking likely.

This morning I spoke to an industry friend who's seen Vice and who thinks it's brilliant and mesmerizing in an atmospheric, non-linear sort of way. He says that [Paul Thomas] Anderson, currently doing the sound mix, doesn't really want to subject Vice to Cannes and would rather take his time and tinker around over the summer and then unveil it in Telluride/Venice/Toronto. 

This follows what a friend told me a week or two ago, which is that Cannes topper Thierry Fremaux "has been courting and wooing PTA like mad to get Inherent Vice to Cannes, and that PTA has been telling him since January that it would be very tight for him to get post-production done in time and that he wouldn't show it to Thierry until then. Perhaps PTA would privately like to go to Cannes, but I'm also told that Warner Bros. is against the idea, considering it too early given its December release date. If PTA insists and finishes the film to his satisfaction over the next couple of weeks, he could probably prevail over WB, but the latest I hear is that everything is still very much up in the air."

 Of course, a healthy grain of salt should be taken with this information, given that the sources are all anonymous and that the situation appears to very much still be fluid. In any event, we will know one way or another in only a few days' time.

The much less nerve-racking take-away from this development is that the film (to the few eyes that have seen it) is apparently as astonishing as we all want it to be. The Film Stage provided some other anonymous impressions of the movie from one lucky insider today:

Mix together The Big Lebowski and [Robert] Altman's The Long Goodbye and turn it into a two-and-a-half hour PT Anderson epic and you're getting close to the awesome experience of Inherent Vice. Even Joaquin Phoenix's performance has echoes of '70s Elliott Gould with a touch of The Dude. But don't get me wrong, the film is its own animal. A drug-fueled detective story filled with great psychedelic music and beautiful, grainy cinematography. It's both hilarious and confounding at times. But Anderson does an incredible job of making the incredibly complex plot both comprehensible and entertaining. Even though he's apparently said he's still tinkering, it felt like a finished film and will definitely go down as one of my favorites of his.

242 days.

Find more information about the film on our Inherent Vice page. 
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Image From 'Vice' Mixing Session Shows First Frame of Doc Sportello

We'll keep this one short and sweet. Via xixax, an image of Jonny Greenwood during what appears to be a mixing session for Inherent Vice has surfaced online today, with Larry "Doc" Sportello, in all his glory, accompanying him.

We'll be honest. This is not how we expected to see the first frame of film from the movie, but really... doesn't that make it even more exciting?

255 days and counting.

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Brolin Says 'Vice' Will Stray From Book; Greenwood Calls Film "Romantic"

Since shooting wrapped on the film last August, pretty much the entire cast of Inherent Vice has been mum about the nature of the project. That is, everyone except Josh Brolin. A month after principal photography had been completed, we broke a story where Brolin vomited praise on the experience and process of the shoot, calling it "great" and "absolute fucking chaos." Since then, other soundbites from JB have trickled into the ether.

Well, it would appear he is back at it. Via The Independent, Brolin took an aside from discussing his film Labor Day and Oldboy to reveal, in a small way, what we can expect from Inherent Vice:

"I just did a movie for P T Anderson that I didn't understand," he says of the experience. "The writing of Thomas Pynchon is so Shakespearean. It was crazy, chaotic but really, really gratifying. 

"We took it, I think, in a direction that the book doesn't necessarily go, hoping it will work." The film represents something of a risk, but Brolin is okay with that; after all, if you don't try, you won't know.

 Brolin recently had more candor to share with Yahoo UK Movies News:

"More than any woman I've ever worked with, I absolutely fell in love with Joaquin Phoenix," [Brolin] admits of his time on the project, which is being directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. "Joaquin is the most wonderful human being and actor." 

[Brolin] cites Anderson's as an example of a situation in which humiliation breeds quality. "Joaquin and I would do these scenes together and Paul would say, "This time do it with the table upside down, and you guys get under the table and I’m going to put a blanket over you, and I want you to whisper your lines. And now this time, no lines and no dialogue at all, and I want you to just dance your dialogue. Whatever that next line is, I want you to create a movement that’s going to be what that line of dialogue was going to be if you spoke it.'

“It was just craziness, you know, but really fun. After that, we’d go back to the scene and it would be fed by all those other things that you can create something magical. But you have to do some pretty weird things.”

In other news, a source of ours caught up with Jonny Greenwood recently and was able to confirm that the score for Inherent Vice was indeed recently completed, with Greenwood describing the film as "more romantic" than his other two collaborations with PTA.

How any of these anecdotes will translate on the screen is anybody's guess, but hey, at least we're getting to some specifics!

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WATCH: PS Hoffman (A Tribute)

Good afternoon.

We were passed along this beautifully constructed, and extremely moving tribute to the colorful career of Philip Seymour Hoffman, which was tragically cut short last month. The piece contains highlights from all five of the films PSH made with PTA, alongside countless other memorable PSH screen moments. It is sure to put a lump in your throat.

Thank you to the creator of this piece, Caleb Slain, for reaching out to us personally with this.

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INHERENT VICE: Coming To A Theatre Near You On 12/12/14

Voila. Just like that, Paul Thomas Anderson's seventh feature-length motion picture "Inherent Vice", has been given a release date. According to Box Office Mojo, you should set your calendars for December 12th, 2014. It is unclear at this time whether this date indicates a limited or wide release, though given the history of PTA's previous films, it might be safe to assume major cities will get a peak before it hits theatres throughout the rest of the country.

What this release date means for the film's possible contention in any of the major festivals this year is hard to tell. The film could be well on its way to completion with a December release mapped strictly for awards consideration -- an ideal status for the Venice and Toronto festivals' summer run dates -- or the December release could be budgeting some time for additional tinkering in post-production, making the Cannes Film Festival's run in May somewhat of a long shot. Or it could forego the festival route altogether, as There Will Be Blood did. At any rate, the finish line has been charted and the countdown has begun (290 days and counting, fyi).

With this development, as well as the recent news that Jonny Greenwood has completed recording his new soundtrack for the film, it's hard not to feel as though we may be closing in on a teaser. Just keep in mind: it's a long time between now and December, with still plenty of wiggle room for the ad campaign to begin. We know. The suspense is killing us too.

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UPDATE: We have it on good authority from a source close to the production that, despite this official release date, Inherent Vice is prepping for three days of  pick-ups and reshoots in late March. So while most of the picture is likely locked and completed, there is some more work to be done here; something to keep in mind when analyzing possible festival premieres and trailer drops.

Jonny Greenwood Returning To Score Inherent Vice

We won't kid you guys: For pretty obvious reasons, it's been a somber week here at C&RV.

Fortunately, today some bright (if seemingly inevitable) news has arrived at our desks via Film Music Reporter to help keep our chins up: Jonny Greenwood, as suspected for months now, will in fact be reteaming with Paul Thomas Anderson to lend music to Inherent Vice, marking their third collaboration in a row. Recording sessions are expected to take place this month with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. For those not familiar with the phases of post-production on a movie, once scoring has begun in earnest, it generally means that the film has locked picture and the final edit is in place(!)

But don't get too excited: scoring/mixing can still be a pretty laborious and time consuming process, and it could very well be a while before we see any footage. Regardless, we are now a few steps closer to a brand new motion picture from Paul Thomas Anderson!

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RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014)

We are deeply crushed to report the passing of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Easily one of the elite and best we've ever had. Thank you for everything, sir.

Joaquin Phoenix Talks 'The Master' on Fresh Air

Joaquin Phoenix visited Fresh Air with Terry Gross to discuss Her -- his new, Oscar-ladened venture with Spike Jonze. But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. Five minutes in, the conversation derailed and The Master took over. Among other things, Joaquin discussed having special orthodonture placed in his mouth to give Freddie Quell his famous sneer and deleted battle sequences which more explicitly showed what was behind the character's trauma. The conversation is embedded in its entirety for your listening pleasure.

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WATCH: PTA Interviews Scorsese, Somner on 'Wolf of Wall Street'

If you'll remember back in 2011, Paul Thomas Anderson conducted a Q&A with Martin Scorsese and his creative team over their film "Hugo". Paul was in post-production on The Master at the time. Now, in 2014, with Paul in post-production on his follow-up to The Master, Martin Scorsese has released his follow-up to Hugo: The Wolf of Wall Street. Wouldn't it be great if these two contemporary maestros teamed up again for another Q&A?

Ask and you shall receive.

Over at Awards Daily, Sasha Stone has kindly uploaded over 30 minutes of footage of a post-Wolf-screening Q&A with Marty, a shaggy-haired Paul, and Adam Somner, who has served as First Assistant Director for both directors ('Wolf' for Scorsese; There Will Be Blood, The Master, and Inherent Vice for PTA). The conversation that transpired is extremely insightful, and with not a little humor.

Needless to say, If you haven't seen the film, watch at your own discretion.

PART I


PART II


PART III


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