"It's not the L. Ron Hubbard story. [Scientology] was one of the bigger movements at the time, but there were a lot of movements at that time," says Hoffman. "There's nothing about how I'm behaving or talking that echoes [Hubbard]. I thought of a lot of other bigger-than-life personalities, charismatic people like Orson Welles."
"People are going to have to draw their own conclusions to that aspect of the movie," says producer JoAnne Sellar. "[Anderson] is interested in how veterans came back from World War II. They were these lost souls who were uncertain about their future."
"Joaquin's character is like a beaten dog," says Hoffman. "No matter where he goes, [Quell] gets into severe trouble. And somehow I'm able to deal with him."
Entertainment Weekly has just posted their list of the 25 Greatest Working Directors and ranked Paul at #11. Here's what they had to say:11. Paul Thomas AndersonThought the list is (arbitrary and) weighted towards current favorites (would Fincher have ranked so highly after Benjamin Button came out?) it's nice to see PTA make the list even though he hasn't had a film out in almost 4 years. Check out the entire list at EW. (Thanks xixax!)
THE EVIDENCE: Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999), There Will Be Blood (2007)
WHY HIM: One of the most dynamic directors to emerge in the last 20 years, Anderson makes movies that crackle with energy and typically showcase volcanic performances (see: Daniel Day-Lewis in Blood). Anderson is particularly good at taking a well-worn genre — the Western epic, the romantic comedy — and transforming it into something modern and unforgettable. — Tim Stack
Paul Makes EW's It ListAge 27 Why him? After the porno-poetic thrill of Boogie Nights, which this San Fernando Valley wunderkind wrote and directed, actors are clamoring to work with him as they did for Altman. Like the trailblazing '70s auteurs, Anderson gives his films emotional texture that comes from the gut: "The scenes that truly affect people are the ones based in personal shit."Work habits "I write early, like 6 a.m., and I can only really write for three hours," he says. "That's because I smoke myself into a sickness. The best stuff comes in the first blast ... the idea behind writing very early is that your subconscious is still kicking ass. You're not paying attention to what you should be writing."Creative crutch "The biggest thing for me when I'm writing is the music. Now it's Aimee Mann and Michael Penn." And filmmakers? "Blake Edwards ... 10 is a fucking masterpiece."Weirdest career moment "Burt Reynolds."Next? Another L.A. story: "It centers around an odd occurrence in nature."
Emily Watson talked Project X4 to the weekly magazine, The Georgia Straight, about Project X4 while promoting Altman's Gosford Park (Thanks Owen!):Watson did say yes to Paul Thomas Anderson, the Magnolia and Boogie Nights director, when he was looking for a lead female for his first comedy, Punch Drunk Knuckle Love. The film's male lead: none other than Adam Sandler."I had the best time," she says, "and Adam is amazing. Paul pulls down something very different from what he has done before and so does Adam, and I guess so do I. I'll admit we're a strange threesome, but it was a happy meeting."Musician Nick Cave (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds) had this to say about Magnolia in a recent interview in the 2001 Winter issue of Mojo. (Thanks Ryan!)He doesn't find that much to admire about recent movies - especially the Coen brothers - though he did like Michael Mann's Heat and The Informer, and thoroughly enjoyed Paul Anderson's Magnolia. "I love the way that it descends into misery," he says. "There's a section in the middle which goes on for ages, where everyone's just in agony, sitting there crying. You don't often get that from Hollywood: lengthy periods of sorrow just aren't welcome, you have a cry for two seconds and then everybody's happy again. And I liked the shower of frogs: to me it was like an apocalypse, God yawning at everyone's stupidity, and sending down a plague."In case you missed it, the Boogie Nights DVD was listed among Entertainment Weekly's Essential DVDs of the Century. Here's their comments:Boogie Nights (1997) (New Line, R, $29.95) Leave it to the leader of a ''funky bunch'' to star in a porn flick. Or rather, a flick about porn. But Mark Wahlberg proved to be the perfect choice to play Dirk Diggler, the well-endowed star of Paul Thomas Anderson's ode to the adult-film industry. And while size may indeed matter, it was Anderson's deft attention to detail that made ''Boogie Nights'' the defining cinematic look back at the glitzy, glamorous (and grimy) late '70s.Here's an interesting article about the spirituality of Magnolia. You can read it here. (Thanks Nick!)
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.
In the current Entertainment Weekly 10th Anniversary Issue, film critic Owen Gleiberman voted Boogie Nights the #2 film of the 1990's! Here's what he said about the selection:Paul Thomas Anderson's bravura porn-industry epic remains, in every scene, an ecstatic act of filmmaking, as well as the great movie about what happened to the pleasure principle in America.There's also a great quote in the issue by Mark Wahlberg right after Boogie came out in 1997 that I had not seen:"I don't want to go out with someone who has seen this movie and is looking for something they're not going to find."
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.
More Entertainment Weekly TidbitsMagnolia partially graces the cover of the November 26th issue which proclaims 1999 - The Year That Changed Movies. This article has many comments from Paul and is a definitive must read.In addition, I have collected the rest of the highlights of the issue below:They rank Magnolia as one to see for the rest of the year and into 2000:After 1997's electric Boogie Nights, director Paul Thomas Anderson delivers an Altmanesque epic intertwining the lives of a guru (Tom Cruise), a cop (John C. Reilly), a salesman (William H. Macy), a dying father (Jason Robards) and other denizens of the San Fernando Valley. (Dec. 17 - L.A./NY)They also list the new directors for the next millennium. The entire article is here, but this is what they had to say about Paul:PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON: Hard Eight (1997) and Boogie Nights (1997) are the work of a Valley Boy full of nerve and verve gunning for the deluxe adrenaline rushes of Scorsese.Lastly, they review various movie posters and here's what they had to say about the theatrical poster for Magnolia"MAGNOLIA CWhat's New Line's solution to selling a three-hour-plus drama with eight plots that are only tangentially related, and a superstar, Tom Cruise, reluctant to overshadow his fellow thespians? The Magic Eye route: Tom is tucked behind two petals near one o'clock. (You'll need to look at the real poster to find him.) While hiding Cruise's mug is risky business, the studio gets extra credit for referencing the movie's inexplicable plague-of-frogs scene with a Kermit in the corner.Mike De Luca ArticleHere's a nice article on Mike De Luca, president of New Line from Newsweek. It has a nice summary of his career and the fact that he is finally putting his "bad boy" image behind him.The Latest Rumor on Paul's Next MovieThe latest rumor about Paul's next project seems to be the most unlikely to me. This scoop comes from the wonderful UK film magazine Total Film:Southern book Blue Movie – detailing how a brother and sister form an American acting dynasty decide to make a porn film as an expression of high art – is looking like the next project for Paul Thomas Anderson to direct, reuniting Boogie Nights’ Mark Wahlberg and Heather Graham.Courtesy of Total Film Magazine - November 1999I find this rumor very far fetched as Paul has been down the porn road before, and I doubt he's ready to revisit it.
Entertainment Weekly TidbitsThey ran an article recently on holiday movies with long running times. Of course, they mentioned Magnolia. Here's what Paul had to say:"Magnolia was three hours and 20 minutes, and I'd been cutting like crazy," sighs director Paul Thomas Anderson of his sprawling L.A. drama, whose final running time is just under three hours. "If you're asking someone to give that kind of time, you have to be sure it's for a good reason."Another article on holiday movies and their Oscar chances. Here's what they said about New Line and Magnolia's chances:NEW LINE: Can the only major never to score a Best Picture nomination make history with Paul Thomas Anderson's follow-up to Boogie Nights? If nothing else, MAGNOLIA should provide Tom Cruise with better Oscar chances than Eyes Wide Shut.
1st Magnolia InterviewHere's a great interview with John C. Reilly from the Sunday Edition of the LA Times. There is quite a bit about Magnolia as well as John's entire career. Some funny stories are shared about Paul and John and some of the wacky things they do. Check it out.
Trailer TalkA very funny and sarcastic take on the Magnolia trailer from my local paper, The Seattle Times:We don't really know what this is about, but it's got the director and the cast of Boogie Nights and one raggedy-looking Tom Cruise. He's grown out his hair - does this mean he can act? The camera spins from character to character, and each says, "I'm (fill in the character's name)." What they really should say is, "I'm (fill in character's name) from Boogie Nights, but now I have more facial hair." Except for Julianne Moore.The Farrelly Brothers?Entertainment Weekly recently concluded their Online Poll to coincide with the unveiling of their 100 Greatest Entertainers (1950 -2000). These online polls should be taken with a grain of salt (Seth Green from Buffy the Vampire Slayer won best TV actor), but I was interested in how the Best Movie Director category would shake out. Without further adieu, here's the results:1. Kevin Smith, 18.9%
2. Quentin Tarantino 16.7%
3. Tim Burton 14.3%
4. Bobby & Peter Farrelly 7.3%
5. Andy & Larry Wachowski 5.0%
6. Paul Thomas Anderson 4.2%
7. John Singleton 3.9%
8. David Fincher 3.8%
9. Sam Mendes 3.5%
10. M. Night Shyamalan 3.3%
Magnolia the UnderdogTen Underdog fall movies you shouldn’t miss by Peter Travers1. Magnolia - Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) wants to keep this personal drama under wraps until it opens, but here’s what to expect: Anderson tracks 10 characters over one day in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley, crafting an intimate epic that exposes the emotional highs and lows of life at the end of the century. And look for an unbilled Tom Cruise to win the best reviews of his career as a sleazy motivational speaker.Courtesy of US Magazine - November 1999 IssuePTA on CruiseAn interesting quote from PTA on Mr. Cruise which was also found in EW's 100 Greatest Entertainers issue (Tom was #52)."He's like an animal for information. He was always asking questions. Really interesting, technical stuff about what sort of lens I was using, or what I was thinking when I wrote a particular scene. He's ferociously curious."
PTA Alums at the Box OfficePhilip Baker Hall turns in another great performance in Michael Mann's new film The Insider. Hall plays a 60 Minutes executive producer and goes toe to toe with Al Pacino. As usual, he's not given enough screen time, but he energizes the film whenever he shows up.Luis Guzman has a critical (but small) role in the #1 film this past week, The Bone Collector. He gets most of laughs in this thriller in the vein of Silence of the Lambs and Seven (it doesn't hold a candle to these two movies).It's good to see these great actors get some screen time in major studio films.
Magnolia : Starring William H. MACY, Julianne MOORE, Philip Baker HALL, John C. REILLY, Jason ROBARDS, Felicity HUFFMAN, Tom CRUISE directed by Paul Thomas ANDERSON what's the big deal? The much-anticipated follow-up to Anderson's critically hailed ''Boogie Nights'' -- the movie that made Marky Mark a big deal (at least in its last scene). release date Dec. 25''I'm going to get final cut once in my career, so I might as well abuse it to the hilt,'' says the 29-year-old director. Exactly how he'll abuse it isn't entirely clear, though we do know, based on ''Boogie Nights,'' that Anderson isn't afraid of complicated story lines or sprawling running times. Nor does he shy away from risqué subject matter. But Anderson, who also wrote the script, is keeping ''Magnolia's plot details double top secret.This much we do know: The film is set in modern-day San Fernando Valley, takes place over the course of 24 hours (except for a 15-minute prelude set at the turn of the century, which Anderson filmed using an old-fashioned hand-crank Lumiere camera), and features a brief cameo by Tom Cruise.''It's about family relations, how they need to be mended -- or broken, depending on your point of view,'' is all Anderson will (cryptically) reveal. Hall (who'll also appear in ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'') isn't much help either: ''It's a multiple-story format, with about five different plotlines running through it,'' he says. ''It's a little like Robert Altman's 'Short Cuts'... but that's really all I can say about it.'' BUZZ FACTOR: 7
