Box Office Mojo reports that "The Master" continued to perform strongly in wide release collecting an estimated $5 million this weekend from 788 theatres. That puts the film in 7th place for the weekend just behind "Dredd" which opened in around 1800 more theatres and gives it the highest per screen average of any film in the Top 15 this weekend. (For comparison, this opening is a little higher than "There Will Be Blood"'s $4.8 million back in 2007 during its second week expansion.) Congrats to Annapurna Pictures & Weinstein Co. on the film's success so far and let's hope that the desire for repeat viewings keeps the film doing well in the coming weeks.
Speaking of repeat viewings, Slate critic Dana Stevens wrote up a magnificent piece where she re-reviewed the film after watching it a 2nd and 3rd time.
"There’s something deeply and irreplaceably pleasurable about revisiting a complex, ambitious film a few times in close succession on the big screen if possible, and letting each iteration inform and expand on the last. Having gotten the chance to do so this week not only deepened and transformed my experience of this particular film, it reminded me why I started wanting to think and write about film in the first place."Read the entire thing over at Slate. Two new TV spots featuring some new footage (though not new if you've seen the film by now) are up at Fandango. (They also feature some inadvisable narration so perhaps worth watching just for that.)
If you haven't already you should check out our Deleted Scenes guide to look at all the material that made it into the teasers and trailers but not the final cut. And be sure to enter our Gone To China Contest to win Jonny Greenwood's soundtrack and perhaps some other things we may decide to throw in.
I caught the film for a 5th viewing over the weekend at the grand old Ziegfeld Theatre just to continue my tour of seeing it across all of NYC's 70mm venues. How about you? Did you see the film more than once? How was your first/second/third viewing? Sound off in the comments.
#THEMASTER70MM
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Saw it twice this weekend might be PTA's best film even more so than There Will be Blood.
ReplyDeleteSaw it at the Village East in New York in 70mm last Sunday and then at the Coolidge in Boston in 70mm again this past Friday. Just keeps getting better!
ReplyDeleteSaw it last week at Village East in 70 then this week in Philly in 35mm, the first time washed over me, it put me in a trance. I know I enjoyed it but there was just so much to take in. My review is the top one at Metacritic for reference. The second time I liked more and felt so much more connected to everything, the structure flowed more, I connected to the performances more, etc. I going again Wednesday. I need to rewatch TWBB from an analytical point of view again to see which one I like better (TWBB is def in my top 5 of all time).
ReplyDeleteTo see the film once is not too easy, but the second time around is very rewarding. Round three tomorrow night. Terrific Cinema!
ReplyDeleteSaw it once, thought the film was OKAY. Not what I expected at all, slight disappointment.
ReplyDeleteSaw it for the second time, (about 30 minutes after I had seen it for the first time, so I literally had no time to think it over or anything) and it was much more rewarding and engaging, also much more hilarious.
Next day, Saw it again, on 3rd viewing I focused more on the performances... Joaquin really should get Best Actor. and PSH's performance, which I didn't think much of in the first 2 viewings, totally blew my mind on 3rd viewing!
4th viewing, let's just say: I LOVE THIS FILM!
The coolidge is gonna be playing 70mm for 2 more weeks so I will go watch it a couple times more! : )
I really liked it after the first time, loved it the second, but more importantly I've been seeing it at coolidge too, isn't that place awesome?
DeleteJoaquin, Im'a let you finish. But Hoffman had one of the greatest performances of all time!
ReplyDeleteSaw the film at the AFI in Silver Spring, MD on Saturday night. They are the only theatre in the DC area showing it in 70mm. Their main hall seats about 600, I would guess, and the 7:15pm showing was sold out.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the film and was taken in by the performances, particularly Joaquin's. He transformed himself physically for this role and part of me wonders if he did any longterm damage, particularly in regards to his posture.
The audience was reverential and rapt. There was laughter in many places. When the film ended there were a few folks who broke into applause but for the most part it was silent.
I'm going to see this film at least once or twice more before rendering any kind of verdict or trying to decide where it fits, in my mind, in PTA's canon of work.
I think I'm going to see it projected digitally this week to see if I can tell the difference. My girlfriend asked me what was so special about 70mm, and even after having read this site's rundown on the format, I'm not sure I was able to give her a good answer. The screen wasn't any bigger than usual, so I basically said "well, you can get MORE into the frame with 70mm, and the colors and hues are SO much deeper." She bought it but really, I don't quite understand it, so I'm going to see if I can tell the difference.
We had a funny experience before the movie. We met up with a friend at a mediocre thai restaurant across the street from the theatre for a quick dinner before the show. We were sitting outside under an overhang, and all of the sudden dark skies turned into a total downpour. We were safe from the rain, but people who were leaving the restaurant were caught off guard, most without umbrellas.
A small group of people came out the door and stood next to our table. One of the women goes "well F'n F it's raining!" I look up and it was Nina Hartley! Or at least I was 99% certain it was her. I considered for a moment saying something to her, but couldn't bring myself to do it. I guess I was dissuaded by the off chance that it wasn't her and I had to explain to a woman that I thought she looked like a classic porn star. And I also couldn't figure out why Nina Hartley would be in suburban Washington. I thought maybe she was going to see the movie, but in a few minutes a hotel van pulled up and she and a few others got in.
After we got into the theatre I went on Twitter and looked her up, and sure enough she was tweeting that she was in Silver Spring for some sex conference and that she had just been caught in the rain!
It was a bit of strange coincidence that she was there right across from the marquee scrolling with The Master! I had to explain to my girlfriend that she was more than just a porn star, she was Little Bill's wife!
Traveled to Boston from New Brunswick, Canada and saw it twice this past weekend at the Coolidge. Totally agree with the above comments. The venue is awesome and the movie was incredible! Better the second time and even harder to get out of my head now. Probably won't see it again for a few months when Oscar buzz hits and theaters around my parts start showing it but I will be waiting (im)patiently.
ReplyDeleteTrinity Moncton in 4K this friday!
DeleteWhhhaaa? That's awesome! I'm in Freddy. I'm totally going to get some friends to go to that. Thanks for the heads up friend!
DeleteThis brings us to “The Master”. It is like a bad parody of a Flannery O’Connor novel or short story. There have been excellent movies about charismatic religious figures – Robert Duvall’s “The Apostle” is the best I have seen. There are other great movies of this type still to be made. The story of Joseph Smith and the early days of the Mormon church is just begging for a skilled screenwriter. “The Master”, however is a mess.
ReplyDeleteSee the whole essay at literatecomments.com
why do you come to a PTA fan site? That's like going into the ghetto in Harlen at 2am and screaming racial comments. There's no need. Sure, if you did see it, and didn't like it, ok, that's your opinion.
Delete"Drive me to Harlem, or somewhere the same." - Jim Hodder, "Midnite Cruiser", C. 1972
DeleteI like PTA and have seen "Boogie Nights" more than you (na na na na na). That's why I care about the trajectory his career has been on.
DeleteLike Tarantino, Anderson continues to show his limitations as a writer. "Boogie Nights"? Fabulous. He grew up in the Valley, he grew up in the 70's & 80's, He watched a lot of Porn. Hard Eight? Very good, but a tight story. Magnolia? Admirable, but it just doesn't all work. Punch Drunk Love? A one-off. Amusing, but limited. There Will Be Blood? Ambitious, but it's just not what it aims to be. The Master? A muddled mess. Boring, which is unthinkable going back to the beginning with Boogie Nights.
ReplyDeleteThe only Oscar buzz will be Hoffman & Phoenix. No Best Picture, No Best Director, No Best Screenplay. It did $5 million week one but it's going to die because word-of-mouth will be bad except amoung hardcore PTA fans. I'm telling you, people outside of New York & LA do not like it.
ReplyDeletezzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....
DeleteCourageous anonymous comment. To quote Fletch disguised as Mr. Poon (Cherokee Indian), "G*d I admire you..."
DeleteThey really don't. At least, not in the showing I went to. I saw it opening day after driving two and a half hours to the closest place that was showing it. The theater was about forty percent full, and I think I was the only one who enjoyed it. Boos throughout, a lot of walkouts, laughing at dramatic moments, and when the movie finally wrapped up there was a lot of verbal eye-rolling going on. On the walk out to the parking lot the remaining few were laughing about how bad the movie was.
ReplyDelete"Next time I pick the movie!"
"Yeah, I didn't think it would be like that."
"They said it was the best movie of the year, but that was friggin' dumb!"
"That's the last time I watch a movie with Joaquin Philip!"
It was really something.
There Will Be Dud
ReplyDeleteHey you guys, Erik Charter didn't like it.
ReplyDeleteBen,
DeleteMake an argument as opposed to just being an anonymous whiner/gutless wonder. Until then, I fart in your general direction (I think there was actually a line like this in the movie).
I'm not arguing your opinion, I'm arguing that you perhaps didn't have to come on here and offer it up fifty three thousand times. TRUST ME! WE ALL GET THAT YOU DIDN'T LIKE IT!! NOTED! UNDERSTOOD! ARCHIVED!!
DeleteI think that The Master is amazing. I actually attended the same 70-mm AFI screening in Silver Spring that was mentioned above--and then I went and saw it again the following day in 35-mm at another theater. Before re-watching it, I had a hard time getting the film out of my head. Scenes kept lingering with me. And during a second viewing, the film transformed for me completely. It not only became more entertaining (and I already found it entertaining the first time), but it also took on a deeper emotional resonance.
ReplyDeleteWhat's fascinating to me about the film is that I can't pinpoint what makes it work. The Master breaks so many "traditional" narrative rules, while remaining wholly watchable and full of thematic substance. In a way, it's not different from the mixtures Freddie Quell creates: a toxic concoction of chemicals that mysteriously manage to be drinkable (most of the time, anyway).
I find the polarized audience reactions to The Master perplexing. The film was neither boring nor incomprehensible to me--and I'm starting to think it might be PTA's masterpiece. It certainly surpasses There Will Be Blood in my opinion. Then again, PTA has evoked such different styles between this film and Boogie Nights; he's come a long way. Many of his thematic fixations have definitely returned (loners and unconventional families), but it almost feels like he's become a different filmmaker.
For now, I can say that I hope he will revisit this iteration of his cinematic storytelling (I suspect Inherent Vice will be more straightforward) because the world of The Master is so haunting and thought-provoking.
The actual numbers are out and now it's reported that it made less than Blood. It only scored $4.4 million this weekend. That's rough and disappointing. It's a shame, I really want PTA to break through one of these days. I can't see it holding on. I hope, as I'll be seeing it again, but it's unsettling that it hasn't even hit 1000 theatres and it's doing less than expected.
ReplyDeleteDidn't have nearly as much distribution as Blood. Not to mention more marketing.
DeleteStill the #1 average per-screen. Not too shabby.
ReplyDeleteThe women in the last scene's name in the film is 'Winn Manchester,' whose name parallels with 'Lancaster Dodd." Does this have something to do with 'past lives'?
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting, I didn't notice that. I just assumed that the whole film was an allegory for modern society's loss of faith in organized religion. Freddie's sex drive/boozing isn't too far from a lot of younger people's lifestyles today in Spain or the US. I'm probably wrong, but that's how I digested it. After seeing it a second time, I'm sticking to it.
DeleteI saw the movie last night. I've always thought that every PTA film is a work of art in the truest sense. They can change the way you think about life in some way. Public opinion may think that the movie is controversial because it challenges Dianetics. I found the movie could be even more provocative, because it challenges the belief that spirituality is necessary. Every "Path" says that we should follow it because it will bring good feelings into our lives. But think back through your own memories. Don't you have a good number of good-feeling memories that involved having an orgasm or catching a buzz? Is Freddie already living in the promised land of good feelings every time he makes liquor or has sex? That's what hit me in the final scene. That was Freddy in his happy place. He didn't need to feel a window 98 times to get to his happy place. I also thought how hackneyed the movie might have felt if had taken place 20 years later. Everyone was on a quest for catching a buzz, getting laid, and finding a spiritual path in 1970. Poor Freddy was just born too soon.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me, or has critical discourse actually started to resemble the plot of this film?
ReplyDeleteIf PTA is the Master, with fans/disciples (of which I am one) fiercely defending his work against those who complain it doesn’t “add up” or quite “make sense”... sound familiar?
And honestly, some of these gripes are legit. They don’t affect my love for the film, but when called upon to explain why I love it, could be I’m just making it up as I go along...
The confusing nature of The Master goes a long ways to explaining it's polarizing reception. Some people with only nascent ideas about the film prematurely hail it as a masterpiece while others dislike it. More people (myself included) need to see The Master again. While I enjoyed it, I don't know if I think it is great or not. This film demands multiple views, which I think is a good sign. There is a lot going on, but I don't know how splendid the puzzle is cause I haven't finished piecing it together yet.
DeleteDoes it have to be a puzzle? What if it's just what it is on the surface, a codependent relationship between someone who needs to lead and someone who needs to be lead?
DeleteI think the film is great even just on that basis, because everything about HOW that story is told, from the camerawork to the astonishing lead actors, is just completely mesmerizing. MESMERIZING.
Yes Ben, it is MESMERIZING; I've watched twice and look forward to more. Like BO says, I'm still deciding if it's a "great film" or not... some pieces aren't fitting for me, others might be missing.
DeleteA great film doesn't have to have a linear, coherent narrative, but by my standards, it should deliver a coherent feeling or thought. There are certain scenes, such as sink handjob, that interfere like pieces from another puzzle.
Viewing the film as just a relationship between Lancaster and Freddie is, ultimately, too reductive (IMHO). That relationship is certainly the locus of the film, but to see only that is to view The Master with blinders on. Like Alex said, there are just too many pieces from another puzzle. The war, the jobs after the war, past lives, The Cause, the girl at the end, the role of women, Peggy's importance, and so on. Perhaps calling The Master a puzzle is a little too cliche, a little too quaint, but it is puzzling, at least to me.
DeletePTA is always throwing curveballs into places you don't expect. That's one of the things that makes his movies so much fun. Sure, a sink handjob isn't a rain of frogs, but hey, it's somethin'. :)
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ReplyDeletewow, people sure have a lot of time on their hands to be seeing a film over and over. i thought it was ok and dont plan on seeing it again. it left a similar dissatisfaction in me that There will be blood left. I thought the best part of that film was the extras on the dvd which talked about fracking. the film not so much. I think PTA has jumped the shark. sorry pta lovers but it aint worth the money
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell are you all on? It's the most boring time I've ever had in a cinema, and I'm a huge PTA fan.
ReplyDelete