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."

September 4, 1999

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

De Luca named Variety Showman of the Year!

Mike De Luca, President of Production for New Line Cinema was named Variety's Annual Showman of the Year. Previous honorees include Michael Eisner, Michael Crichton, Robert Wright, and Jim Carrey. 

Here are Paul's comments on New Line and Mike:

Paul Thomas Anderson, writer-director of Boogie Nights puts it bluntly, "I go where Mike goes. He lets me do what I want to do but, he can also guide me away from some self-inflicted wounds I might cause." Studios have suggestions, but "if you're an egotistical filmmaker like myself you don't want to listen."

As for what sets Michael De Luca apart: "I really haven't dealt with that many other studio execs. I've met a few of them and I wouldn't want them to have my home phone number. But Mike does.

"Everybody in Hollywood rushes to give their opinion and he doesn't do that. What he can do is not say a lot and keep his mouth shut and let you discover it. I would prefer to not make movies anywhere else and I think there's a lot of people who feel the same way."

Courtesy of Vanessa Torres - Variety Magazine August 23-29, 1999

Paul's Ad

Here's Paul's ad in Variety congratulating Mike De Luca

July 18, 1999

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

Paul has final cut

Ideally, the studio and director have nailed down the details before filming begins. New Line production's president and COO, Michael De Luca, has given Boogie Nights director Paul Thomas Anderson final cut on his next film, Magnolia; he says that it is vital to have as many meetings as possible before the deal with the filmmaker is even signed. "It's something in general we'd rather not do, but after Boogie Nights it became part of Paul's deal," De Luca says. "But Paul and I are so close it's a trust issue." (De Luca also supported the two and a half hour running time of Boogie Nights and says he only regrets that the movie wasn't longer "with a disco intermission.")