‘The Master' Wins Big With The National Society Of Film Critics

Congrats to "The Master" crew for winning big this afternoon with the National Society Of Film Critics. Amy Adams and Mihai Malaimare Jr. took home top honors for Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography respectively while the film was a runner-up for Best Picture, Best Director (PTA), Best Screenplay (PTA), Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix) and second runner-up for Best Supporting Actor (Philip Seymour Hoffman). (via Awards Daily)

BEST PICTURE
*1. Amour (Sony Classics) – 28
2. The Master – 25
3. Zero Dark Thirty – 18

BEST DIRECTOR
*1. Michael Haneke (Amour) – 27
2. Kathryn Bigelow – 24
2. Paul Thomas Anderson – 24

BEST ACTOR
*1. Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln – 59 (Dreamworks/Touchstone)
2. Denis Lavant – 49
2. Joaquin Phoenix – 49

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
*1.  Matthew McConaughey – Magic Mike (Warner Bros.), Bernie (Millennium Entertainment) – 27
2. Tommy Lee Jones – 22
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman – 19

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
*1. Amy Adams – The Master (The Weinstein Co.) – 34
2. Sally Field – 23
3. Anne Hathaway – 13

BEST SCREENPLAY
*1. Lincoln (Dreamworks/Touchstone) – Tony Kushner – 59
2. The Master (P.T. Anderson)– 27
3.  Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell) – 19

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
*1. Master (Mihai Malaimare, Jr. ) – 60
2. Skyfall (Roger Deakins) – 30

UPDATE 1/7: According to Criticwire Paul has also been awarded the Best Director prize by the Online Film Critics Society with Philip Seymour Hoffman taking Best Supporting Actor. Nice!

Check out all the film's nominations & wins here.

Oscar nominations are announced this Thursday. Which nominations do you think the film will pick up? Sound off in the comments.

Pre-order "The Master" on Blu-ray or DVD.
Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates.

WGA Nominates ‘The Master' For Best Original Screenplay

Congrats to Paul who was nominated this morning by the Writers Guild of America for Best Original Screenplay for "The Master." Check out the full list of nominations below (via The Playlist):

Best Original Screenplay
John Gatins - "Flight"
Rian Johnson - "Looper"
Paul Thomas Anderson - "The Master"
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola - "Moonrise Kingdom"
Mark Boal - "Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Adapted Screenplay
Chris Terrio - "Argo"
David Magee - "Life of Pi"
Tony Kushner - "Lincoln"
Stephen Chbosky - "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"
David O. Russell - "Silver Linings Playbook"

Best Documentary Screenplay
Sarah Burns, David McMahon, Ken Burns - "The Central Park Five"
Kirby Dick - "The Invisible War"
Alex Gibney - "Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In the House of God"
Malik Bendejelloul - "Searching For Sugar Man"
Brian Knappenberger - "We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivisits"
Amy Berg & Billy McMillin - "West of Memphis"

Check out all the film's nominations & wins here.

Speaking of The Playlist, I've been working on a lengthy piece on the film for that outlet which should be very interesting to our readers. Stay tuned.

Pre-order "The Master" on Blu-ray or DVD.
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PTA Awarded Best Director Prize By LA Film Critics; Phoenix, Adams, Malaimare Jr. Awarded Too

Awards season is rolling on and "The Master" continues to pick up accolades from various critics groups around the country. This past weekend the LA Film Critics awarded the film Best Director (Paul Thomas Anderson), Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix), Best Supporting Actress (Amy Adams) and Best Production Design (Jack Fisk & David Crank). They also named the film as Runner-Up (meaning 2nd place) for Best Film, Best Cinematography and Best Music Score. Four wins and three runner's up = not too shabby. Boston Film Critics picked up the slack by awarding the film for Best Cinematography (Mihai Malaimare Jr.) and PTA as the Runner-Up for Best Director. Well deserved. Shoutout to Awards Daily for all their great coverage.  You can check out all the film's awards & nominations (so far) on this page.

Update: Washington DC Film Critics gave Philip Seymour Hoffman their Best Supporting Actor Award and Jonny Greenwood for Best Score.

In other news, PTA was mentioned yet again on Elvis Mitchell's great podcast The Treatment, this time by "Skyfall" director Sam Mendes.

"We were talking off mic a little earlier about one of the greats, Paul Thomas Anderson, who is a true auteur - and there are very few of those who I would classify as geniuses - who can write their own material and have a particular vision and take that vision from their lonely room where they're writing with their pen onto their typewriter and take it right the way through to the point where they can make the finished article. I am not one of those people and most directors are not and so you are waiting for material to arrive that speaks to you in some unconscious way and you're not always sure why you're led in one particular direction or another. And it's your duty to be open to everything to some degree and to not try and repeat yourself."

Pre-order "The Master" on Blu-ray or DVD.

Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates.   

Sight & Sound Crowns ‘The Master' As The Best Film Of 2012; Watch Interviews With DP, Editor, More

It's December already which means that awards season is upon us. Kicking things off is Sight & Sound who have just named "The Master" as the best film of 2012. (We agree.) Very good news for the film and hopefully the first of many accolades to come. (via The Playlist) Additionally, a few video interviews with key department heads/collaborators on the film have also come to light which you can check out below for a deeper insight into how "The Master" was made. (via xixax)

Below The Line (with editor editor Leslie Jones, production designers David Crank & Jack Fisk, costume designer Mark Bridges):



Camerimage (with DP Mihai Malaimare Jr.):


Pre-order "The Master" on Blu-ray or DVD.

Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates.  

Anderson Wins 2nd Fipresci Award For TWBB

Variety reports that Paul Thomas Anderson will be on hand to receive The Grand Prix Film Of The Year award at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s searing portrait of overweening ambition, “There Will Be Blood,” has won the Fipresci (the Intl. Federation of Film Critics) Grand Prix for film of the year. 

Anderson will pick up the prize in person at the opening ceremony of San Sebastian Festival on Sept. 18.

The latest kudos comes after “Blood” took director at Berlin and Academy Awards for Daniel Day Lewis for lead actor and Robert Elswit for cinematography.

The plaudit from the world’s foremost film critics’ org consolidates Anderson’s position as one of the most critically admired directors out.

Fipresci noted Monday that Anderson had been a clear winner among the 242 critics who voted this year for the Grand Prix.

Anderson already won a Fipresci Grand Prix in 2000 for “Magnolia.” 

Other recent winners, pointing to top niches in a modern critics’ pantheon, are Nuri Ceylan Bilge’s “Uzak,” Jean-Luc Godard’s “Notre musique,” Kim Ki-duk’s “3-Iron,” Pedro Almodovar’s “Volver” and, last year, Cristian Mungiu’s “4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days.”

September 24, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

Fiona Apple's Fast as You Can directed by PTA is nominated for Best Pop Video of the Year at the annual Billboard Music Video Awards. The ceremony will be held on November 10th at the Hilton in Universal City, CA.

Magnolia held at 11th place on the VHS rentals chart for the week ending September 10th.  Weekly rental revenue was 1.98 million for a total of 36.8 million since its release on July 25th. Magnolia's rental revenue is 163.8% of Box Office gross, which is an outstanding number. Nothing else in the Top 20 is that high. What does it mean? That a lot more people are seeing Magnolia at home than they did at the theater. Now we just need to get these VHS folks to invest in a DVD player...

There are a few PTA related tidbits in the brand new Total Movie Magazine. What's cool about this magazine is the DVD that's included. It has trailers, featurettes, short films & more. It's worth checking out. One feature called Cinemullets, chronicles the worst haircuts on film. Here's their take on Boogie Nights:


Mullethead: Little Bill

Interestingly, Boogie Nights spanned two critical mullet eras, the '70s and the '80s. The '70s were all about, "Am I a hippie? Am I disco? Pass the coke, I think I'm Bowie." In the '80s the mullet M.O. became "Well, yeah, I'm metal, but I'm fancy metal." Full credit, then, goes to William H. Macy's Little Bill for standing out in one of the greatest ensemble mullet movies ever made. If we had hair that bad, we'd blow our brains out, too.

Side Note: The soundtrack album is a monument to mulletdom in itself, featuring such hirsute heroes as Rick Springfield, ELO, Night Ranger & Dirk Diggler.

Another feature entitled "Commentaries That Don't Suck" also highlights PTA's Boogie Nights track:

The Set-Up: What's so great about the commentary from director Paul Thomas Anderson is that he obviously truly admires all of the actors he worked with on this film, and more than that, their performances crack him up. He also provides a surprising amount of background on everyone onscreen, including even the weird extras.

Revealed: Why Elliot Gould's picture is in the background of three separate shots; which real porno flicks influenced Boogie Nights.

Shining Moment: Anderson ponders at length how actor John C. Reilly leaves him "break-down-crying, falling-on-the-floor-thinking-I'm-going-to-throw-up laughing." About the time he admits, "I can't get enough of him. I could stare at that fucking face all day long," you're wondering if maybe our man Reilly needs to look into a restraining order.

Typical Quote: This is just like you've got this scene that you've written and you just kind of feel like you've got three great actors and a bunch of cocaine and you'd be foolish if you didn't sit them down and get a bunch of improvisational shit.

September 17, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

I'm pleased to announce the winner of the PTA DVD Music Video Contest is Jimmy Nguyen! What did Jimmy do to deserve this prize? Jimmy submitted a 3 minute short film set to Aimee Mann's "One". Big deal, right? His entry was received on CD ROM, complete with menus, an introduction, the short (with & without commentary!), cast & crew biographies & a behind the scenes featurette! There was considerable time & effort put into this & it really shows! I hope to have this (as well as many of the other entries) on the site in the near future, so you can all check it out.

Hard Eight will be showing at Brown University next weekend as part of their Director's First Film Series. Hard Eight plays at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 21st & on Sunday, September 24th. Admission is $2 for students & $2.50 for everyone else (per film). Other films showing include Bound, Clerks, I Shot Andy Warhol & Spanking the Monkey. You can check out this link for more info...(Thanks Ian!)

Magnolia was voted Best Film of the Year by FIPRESCI. PTA will receive the award at the opening ceremony of the San Sebastian International Film Festival on September 21st. I'm not sure if PTA will be there to receive the award. More info on this will follow. FIPRESCI is a worldwide organization of 150 film critics from 40 countries. For more information on the festival go here.

Back on Monday with the DVD sales chart, VHS rental chart & more!

September 10, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

Congratulations to Dylan Tichenor, Aimee Mann, & Paul Thomas Anderson for winning Best Editing in a Video at yesterday's MTV Video Music Awards for Save Me. It was also nominated for Best Video From a Film.

Magnolia held steady in 7th place on the VHS rental chart for the week ending August 27th. Weekly rental revenue was 3.80 million for a total of 29.5 million since its release on July 25th. 

A great interview with PTA by the Toronto Star from January. Topics include frogs, the soundtrack mix & more! (Thanks to reader Andrew Chiu for sending in the interview)

July 27, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

The Magnolia DVD has been delivered to select DVD sites for early review. The VHS is now available for rental, but go out & buy a DVD player & wait another month for the real thing. As expected, the DVD lives up to the hype. Check out the in depth looks at DVD File & DVD Angle. 

The packaging will include a sleek, black slipcase to house the two disc set. Boogie Nights should also have a slipcase. Here's a picture of the Magnolia slipcase.

The MTV Music Video Award Nominations were announced yesterday. PTA's "Save Me" was nominated for best video from a film & best editing in a video. The awards will be held on September 7 at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

There was a fascinating article on magician/actor Ricky Jay this past weekend in L.A. Times Magazine. Here's the link to the entire story, but here's what PTA had to say:

Paul Thomas Anderson, who cast Jay as a cinematographer in "Boogie Nights," is one of the magician's most unabashed fans. Jay acted and narrated in Anderson's "Magnolia" as well. In fact, Jay was one of the first people to read the script for last year's ensemble film, and the young director, who considers Jay an underused actor, has great affection for him. "He's like Mr. Wizard. Whenever I have a question about writing, one of the first people I think to ask is Ricky."

The August issue of Movieline has a 2 page article on New Line president, Mike De Luca focusing on his home theater & DVD collection. Here's some comments related to PTA:

"Paul Thomas Anderson has been here and turned me on to Deep Throat, which really surprised me because they were going for a real story there. Brett Ratner [director], who's a good friend of mine, watched an early cut of Boogie Nights here, was blown away and probably took a lot of that into Rush Hour."

"When there was a perception at the office from my superiors that Boogie Nights was too long, I came home and did a marathon of Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia and The Ten Commandments. By the time I was through, I thought, 'We've got the shortest movie in history!' and I went back to New Line and proposed a four-hour Boogie Nights with a disco intermission."

June 7, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

Well it appears there's more to the Phil Hoffman: Inside the Actor's Studio airing on Sunday. Parts of the country (as well as Canada) were able to see this new episode, while a Sean Penn rerun aired in other areas. As soon as they announce a rerun of the Phil Hoffman, I will post the date & times on the site.

I wanted to thank all of you for the wonderful emails & congratulations I received for being named Entertainment Weekly's Site of the Week. I really appreciate it. I just hope the attention to the site will bring more attention to PTA & his films.

March 1, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

I'm back today with a large update and some great news if you are an aspiring screenwriter or live in the L.A. area and want to see Paul Thomas Anderson in person! He will be a featured speaker at the 6th Annual From Concept to Sale Conference where you can rub elbows with PTA, Frank Darabont (Shawshank, Green Mile), Kevin Smith (Chasing Amy, Dogma) & more! The conference will be at the Bel Age Hotel in L.A. from March 17th - 19th. You can go here for all the details and registration information. 

In other PTA news, east coast fans will get a rare chance to see Hard Eight (Along with Mamet's House of Games) on the big screen, as it will be featured March 16th at the NEO-NOIR: A selection of 61 35mm films inspired by film noir. The address is Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St., Manhattan, New York. Call (212) 727-8110 or check out their website for more information. 

According to a tidbit in NY Magazine, Paul will return to write/direct some additional material for Saturday Night Live on March 11th (Thanks Michael Schneider). Magnolia has received four nominations in the Sixth Annual Chlotrudis Awards (Best Picture, Director, Cinematography (Elswit) & Supporting Actor (Hoffman). Chlotrudis Awards is a non-profit organization that honors, supports and educates about independent and non-mainstream film. This Awards Ceremony will be held on April 8 at the Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, MA. Find more information and vote for this year's Chlotrudis Awards on their website.

Finally, I have added some new content to the Magnolia Page & uploaded Version 1.0 of the Boogie Nights Page of the Multimedia Section. In addition, I have updated the Magnolia Awards Page, Magnolia Box Office Page & new articles and interviews to check out.  I'll be back on Flashback Friday!

February 21, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

Great News today from the Berlin International Film Festival where Paul Thomas Anderson was awarded the prestigious Golden Bear for Magnolia. As you know, I try to keep my own opinions off the site, but I am very happy for Paul & I'm thrilled to see the continued critical success of the film. It was also great to hear how enthusiastic the German audience received Magnolia. Here is a link to a short clip (QuickTime or RealPlayer) from German television showing Paul receiving the award & I have posted quite a few pics below (more to follow soon in the PTA Photo Gallery). 

I got word that PTA directed one of the few funny bits on Saturday Night Live. It was the parody of MTV's Fanatic with Ben Affleck, Jimmy Fallon & Molly Shannon (Thanks Will!

February 16, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

As I'm sure you have all learned by now, Magnolia was nominated for three Oscars. It's nice to see Paul, Aimee & Tom get recognized. Hopefully we will have a few winners this year. The Oscar telecast will be on March 26, 2000. On a related note, the Chicago Film Critics Association recently unveiled their nominations & Magnolia received 4 nominations (Picture, Director, Screenplay & Supporting Actor).

February 3, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

I can't hardly believe it but the site had its 50,000 hit tonight! It's really come along way in such a short amount of time & I just wanted to thank all of you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to stop by & check it out. 

SAG nominees were announced. Magnolia nabbed three nominations in the following categories: 

Best Ensemble Film - Entire Cast

Best Supporting Actor - Tom Cruise

Best Supporting Actress - Julianne Moore

The winners will be presented on March 12, 2000.

January 29, 2000

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

Well, it looks like the Kevin Smith/Magnolia story got big enough that Entertainment Weekly picked it up. There is not much to the story, and that's good, because I have had enough of it. Now, let's talk about more important things.... 

Hope you caught PTA on Late Night with Conan O'Brien last night. It was pretty short and sweet, but it's good to see him and the film get some more exposure. It was nice to see Tom win the Golden Globe Award, let's hope that will equate to Oscar Gold this time.  

In case you missed it, the official Magnolia Shooting Script/Companion Book is out in paperback. There will be a Hardback coming out as well. I'm still trying to get the latest information on the Jon Brion score being released on CD. I will keep you posted. 

True West will open in New York on March 2. For those that don't remember, it's the play with John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The official site is up and running so take a look. 

December 30, 1999

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

Well, it looks like Magnolia was sort of snubbed (or the nice way of saying it was "overlooked") by the Hollywood Foreign Press who vote for the Golden Globes. Magnolia was nominated for only two awards: Best Supporting Actor - Tom Cruise and Best Original Song - Save Me by Aimee Mann. I have never been a huge fan of their selections, so let's hope this doesn't affect its chances come Oscar time. 

Hopefully those of you in Los Angeles and New York have had a chance to see the movie by now. I would love to hear your thoughts, so send me an email. 

I have a decent sized update today with some new articles and interviews. The Paul Interview/Q & A in Madison Magazine is especially good, but as usual, please read with caution as it does contain some spoilers. 

December 16, 1999

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

Paul Chat Session Tonight

Paul just completed a chat session tonight at 9:00 EST/ 6:00 PST with Yahoo! There were some decent questions and some typically funny PTA responses. I will post the transcript as soon as it's ready. 

Magnolia Wins More Awards and Nominations

Magnolia edged out Being John Malkovich and was named best film of the year by the Toronto Film Critics Association. Paul Thomas Anderson was also awarded Best Director and Best Screenplay (Tied with Being John Malkovich). I will update the site with any awards Magnolia wins as they are announced. Here is the complete list:

Best Picture

Magnolia

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson

Best Screenplay

Magnolia - Paul Thomas Anderson

The Golden Satellite nominations were also announced today. These are chosen by the International Press Academy. Magnolia garnered a few more:

Best Picture

Best Supporting Actor - Tom Cruise

Best Director - Paul Thomas Anderson    

Best Screenplay - Paul Thomas Anderson

Best Original Song - Save Me (Aimee Mann)

Best Ensemble Cast

December 8, 1999

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

First Awards For Magnolia Announced

The National Board of Review, the New Hampshire of annual film awards has named their annual awards today with Magnolia winning a few awards. I will list how Magnolia did with the winner also noted.

Best Film
: #3 Magnolia (Winner: American Beauty)

Supporting Actor: 
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Magnolia and The Talented Mr. Ripley)

Supporting Actress: 
Julianne Moore                                                                                                                     (Magnolia, An Ideal Husband, A Map of the World and Cookie's Fortune)

Ensemble Performance
: Entire Cast of Magnolia

Here's my last update until I return on Sunday from L.A. and the Magnolia screening at the Egyptian Theatre. I hope to see and meet a lot of you down there