New York Times, Written By Dave Kehr
October 6th, 2002
PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON, 32, is the unofficial poet laureate of the San Fernando Valley.
"I was born in Studio City," Mr. Anderson said by telephone from his home, "and I'm here now, looking out over the expansive West."
The West he refers to includes Sherman Oaks, Reseda, Encino and many other valley settlements, large and small. They are all new cities in the American mode, composed of strip malls, franchises of every description and vast middle-class housing developments. A significant portion of the movie business has also migrated there, slipping over the San Vicente Mountains from Hollywood.
Three of Mr. Anderson's four films have been set in what Angelenos call simply the Valley, and with them he has emerged as one of the most original voices of his generation, a filmmaker who combines extreme formal experimentation with close observation. His work is at once sociologically accurate and poetically abstract.
Sunday, October 06, 2002
Saturday, October 05, 2002
Interview: New York Film Festival Q&A
New York Film Festival Q&A, Transcribed By Shaun Sages & Todd Parker
October 5th, 2002
This is a loose transcription of the New York Film Festival Q & A.
>> Since "Punch-Drunk Love" doesn't feature your regular material, such as the "Clementine Loop", or actors like Phillip Baker Hall and John C. Reilly, do you consider it to break the tradition of your previous three films?
PTA: It breaks from the tradition only in that they're not in it. But just because there was really no parts for them in the story…Um…Phil Hoffman is in it, and so is Luis Guzman. There's just nowhere to put the others really.
>> Why did you choose to shoot the film in scope?
PTA: Well, that decision happened a long time ago, when I was a youngster. I thought to myself, if its a movie, why should it look like television? And there's really nothing better than when that curtain opens ALL THE WAY UP.
>> Why is there a car crash in the beginning?
That's just something you write to get going, like, you need something to START. Joel Silver, a guy that, y’know, makes “those kind of movies”, I once heard him say that every movie should start with a BANG, and that just made sense to me.
>> The pudding story is a true thing that happened...is there anything else in the movie that's based on real events?
Um...no, the pudding story is the touchstone of truth in this movie. (audience laughs)
>> Can you talk about the colors in the film. What they're derived from?
PTA: From an acid experience that I've had in 1967. (Laughs) They're just art by Jeremy Blake. I've seen his work…I had just kind of a…like a bad idea of some color. But it was really bad and I didn't know what to do. But then I saw this Jeremy Blake art, he does these installations I saw at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Classy stuff. I thought that was really phenomenal stuff.
>> When did the blue suit come in?
PTA: Uh. We kinda had a little obsession for different Technicolor musicals. And if you've watched many of them, there always seems to be a standard blue suit. There's a great blue suit in "Bandwagon", and I can remember seeing that and saying 'I want that color blue.'
>> How convinced were you that Adam had what was it takes to do this certain type of role?
PTA: Yeah. I was never convinced that it would be anything but wonderful working with him, because I think that's when…you respond to someone as an actor but you wanna make sure that you like being around them, cause you're gonna be around them a lot. You're going to be, y'know, you're gonna be in love with each other for two years or however long it's gonna take. I think Adam and I work in similar ways with alotta the same people and a close group. Adam is kind of in charge of his movies, and I'm sort of in charge with my movies. So you know you're coming from a similar place. A similar works ethic. And that's critical when you're jumping to do it. Does that answer your question?
>> I wanted to know when you were convinced…
PTA: Oh, when I was…Yeah. Yeah. From the beginning. Absolutely.
>> Let's talk about the score. Did you know what the sound was gonna be like while you were shooting?
PTA: Yeah. I worked with Jon Brion when I was writing the movie as well to talk about ideas and notions, what might sound right or good for the movie. And he would do 8-minute chunks of stuff, and it was really nice to have in going to shoot the movie because…if you don't know what the fuck you're doing you're just gonna turn to the music and kinda let it guide you a little bit. And it really helped Adam and Emily, I think, to know…if you kinda know what music is gonna happen there an actor can know how little they have to get away with. Y'know. Like, 'Okay, so that's gonna happen there.' So it's just kinda like attacking it a little bit like you're making a musical, y'know, even though it's not really a musical…just kinda pretend that it is. It becomes helpful. I know Adam is really a musical person, too. So it helped. And then some of the stock sound is just amazing where we shot. We shot in that warehouse, it's kind of an amazing place deep in the Valley. There's a railroad nearby. There's a mountain nearby. Some of the sounds are just natural sounds of the environment…it's just putting the microphone in the right place.
>> Why does Adam wear the blue suit for the whole movie?
(long pause, laughter) Um, you just need the brightest colors you can in a love story like this, I guess.
>> Luis, can you compare working with Paul to working with Brian De Palma? What's different?
LUIS: Um...Brian De Palma directs the movie. Paul directs and writes the movie. He creates the movie, the whole thing, everything comes from him. And he's so amazing to work with because he’s got everything down, and he’s become like a master at this, already. Paul, give me twenty dollars.
>> How did this character sort of develop, or come into shape…come into being. What did you start with? Was there a story or an incident that kinda came in? What was the process of developing the character.
PTA: Uh. Well. Well. I'm trying to remember. I don't remember maybe what might have started it, maybe some loose ideas or notions, but the real trigger was Adam. And then writing it while talking to Adam on the telephone…I went to Hawaii to write the movie and I was there writing it while Adam was working. And, uh, just the - - I don't know - - that's just the way it goes. Y'know. You're just farting around in things that make you laugh, or things that entertain you, or seem interesting and seemed interesting to him and back and forth and then…just collaborating with someone and then once I finished the script then we really started to kinda collaborate and figure out what the hell we were doing.
Adam: I think what happened was, Paul talked to me about the idea, but didn't really tell me much. While he was writing it, he let me hear...on occasion I would speak to him on the phone and he would say 'I wrote a good scene today.' And I'd say, 'Oh yeah? Well, what happens.' He'd go, 'Well I don't wanna tell ya'. And I'd say, 'Well, can you gimme a line?' And he'd say, 'Alright. Page 41, you say 'Sure, why not?'' Ok. I know I like to say 'Sure, why not? 'But now I don't want to. (Laughs) And then, uh, Paul actually came up to my house and he said 'I finished.' I went into my living room, he went away, I just read it and every page I kept going 'Man, what is gonna happen?' I kept asking 'Do I die in it? Do I kill somebody?' I was baffled, though, but it was nice. Paul and I became good friends, even before he showed me the script…talking about it, talking about it…getting to know each others lives. And we just had long conversations about Barry Egan. I learned a lot from Paul, and then I just tried to have fun with it.
>> Im a little confused, exactly why does Emily Watson fall for Adam. What's the reasoning behind her choosing him?
PTA: I think he just called you unattractive.
ADAM: Hey buddy, who are you to call me unattractive?
(audience laughs, the guy stammers trying to rephrase his question)
PTA: The real question is, who wouldn't fall in love with this guy?
>> This film is much shorter than your last two...what was the reason for switching editors?
I worked with an editor named Dylan Tichenor, and now Im working with Leslie Jones and you want to know if that's why the movie’s shorter? This movie was five hours long before Leslie Jones got a hold of it. There she is, in the balcony. She's a totally cool, beautiful woman.
(gives her applause, the audience joins in)
Come on, she deserves more than that!
(audience applauds harder)
>> How long did this film take to shoot?
Pretty long actually. We were doing it right at the time of the supposed actors strike. “The actors are gonna strike! We've gotta make movies!!!” So we shot some stuff, but then Adam had to go do Deeds, and Emily had to go do Gosford Park, but it was kind of an advantage, because I got to look over all of the footage and kind of handle it the way Woody Allen and Stanley Kubrick did. And then they came back and we shot the second part.
>> When you look at the film now, can you really tell the difference between the footage you shot first and the second part of the footage?
No...I really don't. Because, its all one experience, y’know?
>> (holding up a script) I have a script!
Um, give it to Joe Roth. Joe? Oh, yeah, he's sitting about three rows down from you. Just give it to him. Yeah.
October 5th, 2002
This is a loose transcription of the New York Film Festival Q & A.
>> Since "Punch-Drunk Love" doesn't feature your regular material, such as the "Clementine Loop", or actors like Phillip Baker Hall and John C. Reilly, do you consider it to break the tradition of your previous three films?
PTA: It breaks from the tradition only in that they're not in it. But just because there was really no parts for them in the story…Um…Phil Hoffman is in it, and so is Luis Guzman. There's just nowhere to put the others really.
>> Why did you choose to shoot the film in scope?
PTA: Well, that decision happened a long time ago, when I was a youngster. I thought to myself, if its a movie, why should it look like television? And there's really nothing better than when that curtain opens ALL THE WAY UP.
>> Why is there a car crash in the beginning?
That's just something you write to get going, like, you need something to START. Joel Silver, a guy that, y’know, makes “those kind of movies”, I once heard him say that every movie should start with a BANG, and that just made sense to me.
>> The pudding story is a true thing that happened...is there anything else in the movie that's based on real events?
Um...no, the pudding story is the touchstone of truth in this movie. (audience laughs)
>> Can you talk about the colors in the film. What they're derived from?
PTA: From an acid experience that I've had in 1967. (Laughs) They're just art by Jeremy Blake. I've seen his work…I had just kind of a…like a bad idea of some color. But it was really bad and I didn't know what to do. But then I saw this Jeremy Blake art, he does these installations I saw at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Classy stuff. I thought that was really phenomenal stuff.
>> When did the blue suit come in?
PTA: Uh. We kinda had a little obsession for different Technicolor musicals. And if you've watched many of them, there always seems to be a standard blue suit. There's a great blue suit in "Bandwagon", and I can remember seeing that and saying 'I want that color blue.'
>> How convinced were you that Adam had what was it takes to do this certain type of role?
PTA: Yeah. I was never convinced that it would be anything but wonderful working with him, because I think that's when…you respond to someone as an actor but you wanna make sure that you like being around them, cause you're gonna be around them a lot. You're going to be, y'know, you're gonna be in love with each other for two years or however long it's gonna take. I think Adam and I work in similar ways with alotta the same people and a close group. Adam is kind of in charge of his movies, and I'm sort of in charge with my movies. So you know you're coming from a similar place. A similar works ethic. And that's critical when you're jumping to do it. Does that answer your question?
>> I wanted to know when you were convinced…
PTA: Oh, when I was…Yeah. Yeah. From the beginning. Absolutely.
>> Let's talk about the score. Did you know what the sound was gonna be like while you were shooting?
PTA: Yeah. I worked with Jon Brion when I was writing the movie as well to talk about ideas and notions, what might sound right or good for the movie. And he would do 8-minute chunks of stuff, and it was really nice to have in going to shoot the movie because…if you don't know what the fuck you're doing you're just gonna turn to the music and kinda let it guide you a little bit. And it really helped Adam and Emily, I think, to know…if you kinda know what music is gonna happen there an actor can know how little they have to get away with. Y'know. Like, 'Okay, so that's gonna happen there.' So it's just kinda like attacking it a little bit like you're making a musical, y'know, even though it's not really a musical…just kinda pretend that it is. It becomes helpful. I know Adam is really a musical person, too. So it helped. And then some of the stock sound is just amazing where we shot. We shot in that warehouse, it's kind of an amazing place deep in the Valley. There's a railroad nearby. There's a mountain nearby. Some of the sounds are just natural sounds of the environment…it's just putting the microphone in the right place.
>> Why does Adam wear the blue suit for the whole movie?
(long pause, laughter) Um, you just need the brightest colors you can in a love story like this, I guess.
>> Luis, can you compare working with Paul to working with Brian De Palma? What's different?
LUIS: Um...Brian De Palma directs the movie. Paul directs and writes the movie. He creates the movie, the whole thing, everything comes from him. And he's so amazing to work with because he’s got everything down, and he’s become like a master at this, already. Paul, give me twenty dollars.
>> How did this character sort of develop, or come into shape…come into being. What did you start with? Was there a story or an incident that kinda came in? What was the process of developing the character.
PTA: Uh. Well. Well. I'm trying to remember. I don't remember maybe what might have started it, maybe some loose ideas or notions, but the real trigger was Adam. And then writing it while talking to Adam on the telephone…I went to Hawaii to write the movie and I was there writing it while Adam was working. And, uh, just the - - I don't know - - that's just the way it goes. Y'know. You're just farting around in things that make you laugh, or things that entertain you, or seem interesting and seemed interesting to him and back and forth and then…just collaborating with someone and then once I finished the script then we really started to kinda collaborate and figure out what the hell we were doing.
Adam: I think what happened was, Paul talked to me about the idea, but didn't really tell me much. While he was writing it, he let me hear...on occasion I would speak to him on the phone and he would say 'I wrote a good scene today.' And I'd say, 'Oh yeah? Well, what happens.' He'd go, 'Well I don't wanna tell ya'. And I'd say, 'Well, can you gimme a line?' And he'd say, 'Alright. Page 41, you say 'Sure, why not?'' Ok. I know I like to say 'Sure, why not? 'But now I don't want to. (Laughs) And then, uh, Paul actually came up to my house and he said 'I finished.' I went into my living room, he went away, I just read it and every page I kept going 'Man, what is gonna happen?' I kept asking 'Do I die in it? Do I kill somebody?' I was baffled, though, but it was nice. Paul and I became good friends, even before he showed me the script…talking about it, talking about it…getting to know each others lives. And we just had long conversations about Barry Egan. I learned a lot from Paul, and then I just tried to have fun with it.
>> Im a little confused, exactly why does Emily Watson fall for Adam. What's the reasoning behind her choosing him?
PTA: I think he just called you unattractive.
ADAM: Hey buddy, who are you to call me unattractive?
(audience laughs, the guy stammers trying to rephrase his question)
PTA: The real question is, who wouldn't fall in love with this guy?
>> This film is much shorter than your last two...what was the reason for switching editors?
I worked with an editor named Dylan Tichenor, and now Im working with Leslie Jones and you want to know if that's why the movie’s shorter? This movie was five hours long before Leslie Jones got a hold of it. There she is, in the balcony. She's a totally cool, beautiful woman.
(gives her applause, the audience joins in)
Come on, she deserves more than that!
(audience applauds harder)
>> How long did this film take to shoot?
Pretty long actually. We were doing it right at the time of the supposed actors strike. “The actors are gonna strike! We've gotta make movies!!!” So we shot some stuff, but then Adam had to go do Deeds, and Emily had to go do Gosford Park, but it was kind of an advantage, because I got to look over all of the footage and kind of handle it the way Woody Allen and Stanley Kubrick did. And then they came back and we shot the second part.
>> When you look at the film now, can you really tell the difference between the footage you shot first and the second part of the footage?
No...I really don't. Because, its all one experience, y’know?
>> (holding up a script) I have a script!
Um, give it to Joe Roth. Joe? Oh, yeah, he's sitting about three rows down from you. Just give it to him. Yeah.
Thursday, October 03, 2002
Interview: Exclusive Advance Seattle Screening Q&A Transcription
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
Tuesday, October 01, 2002
Jon Brion - Here We Go (2002)
The music video for the original track "Here We Go" was edited by Paul, and created from alternate takes & unused sequences from Punch-Drunk Love. The video was initially released within a 13 minute sizzle reel montage on an extremely limited/rare DVD release titled "Blossoms & Blood."
Thursday, September 19, 2002
Interview: "Who's Laughing Now?"
City Beat, Written By Steve Ramos
September 19th, 2002
Paul Thomas Anderson and Adam Sandler are Toronto Fest's unlikeliest pair
TORONTO -- Director Paul Thomas Anderson enjoys the last laugh at a Toronto International Film Festival news conference on behalf of his newest film, Punch-Drunk Love, a romantic-comedy about a hot-tempered businessman, Barry Egan (Adam Sandler), whose life improves after falling in love with Lena (Emily Watson), a soft-spoken stranger.
September 19th, 2002
Paul Thomas Anderson and Adam Sandler are Toronto Fest's unlikeliest pair
TORONTO -- Director Paul Thomas Anderson enjoys the last laugh at a Toronto International Film Festival news conference on behalf of his newest film, Punch-Drunk Love, a romantic-comedy about a hot-tempered businessman, Barry Egan (Adam Sandler), whose life improves after falling in love with Lena (Emily Watson), a soft-spoken stranger.
Sunday, July 07, 2002
Interview: Exclusive Internet Q&A
Written by Cigarettes & Red Vines
July 7th, 2002
This interview is based from questions submitted by internet fans.
>> What films (if any) did you use as inspiration when writing PDL?
....yeaah! to be able to answer the question which has been inside so long! I was watching tons of Astaire/Rodgers - Carefree/Gay Divorcee and of course ye old lads: Help! on repeat. remember watching tons of Tati...which RUN don't crawl and get. I recommend......the sound! the love! the affection!.........also music, must say: Joan Armatrading, Ferrante and Techer, Ernie Kovacs (!) lots of the Beatles and lots of Neil young 'silver and gold'. ever seen the moon is our home?
July 7th, 2002
This interview is based from questions submitted by internet fans.
>> What films (if any) did you use as inspiration when writing PDL?
....yeaah! to be able to answer the question which has been inside so long! I was watching tons of Astaire/Rodgers - Carefree/Gay Divorcee and of course ye old lads: Help! on repeat. remember watching tons of Tati...which RUN don't crawl and get. I recommend......the sound! the love! the affection!.........also music, must say: Joan Armatrading, Ferrante and Techer, Ernie Kovacs (!) lots of the Beatles and lots of Neil young 'silver and gold'. ever seen the moon is our home?
Monday, July 01, 2002
Couch (2003)
A very silly 2 minute black and white short featuring Adam Sandler as a man shopping for a couch. Originally premiered on Sandler's official site.
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Interview: "Looking For Laughs"
Dallas Morning News, Written By Charles Ealy
May 30th, 2002
Director Paul Thomas Anderson, known for the dark and moody dramas Boogie Nights and Magnolia, was all smiles at a media conference for his new romantic comedy, Punch-Drunk Love.
The Europeans peppered him with questions, primarily wanting him to explain the American phrase "punch-drunk."
Mr. Anderson acknowledged that the title was hard to translate but said that the movie's main character, played by Adam Sandler, "feels stuff that he can't express, so he throws punches" at walls and bathroom stalls. And when you fall in love, it's even more complicated, and you literally become punch-drunk. "At least that's how I feel when I'm in love," Mr. Anderson said.
May 30th, 2002
Director Paul Thomas Anderson, known for the dark and moody dramas Boogie Nights and Magnolia, was all smiles at a media conference for his new romantic comedy, Punch-Drunk Love.
The Europeans peppered him with questions, primarily wanting him to explain the American phrase "punch-drunk."
Mr. Anderson acknowledged that the title was hard to translate but said that the movie's main character, played by Adam Sandler, "feels stuff that he can't express, so he throws punches" at walls and bathroom stalls. And when you fall in love, it's even more complicated, and you literally become punch-drunk. "At least that's how I feel when I'm in love," Mr. Anderson said.
Monday, May 20, 2002
Interview: "Crazy For Love"
LA Times, Written By Kenneth Turan
May 20th, 2002
The filmmaker whose creative drive was seen in 'Boogie Nights' and 'Hard Eight' has taken on the romantic-comedy genre, and he's determined to push the limits.
CANNES, France--"It's so simple," Paul Thomas Anderson says, looking out at the rain from the marble-floored living room of the rented villa shared with about a dozen of his cast and crew just outside of town. "A camera, film, a microphone. Stuff comes in, stuff goes out. That's it."
Except that with Paul Thomas Anderson, nothing is ever quite like that. Simple is just not in the cards.
It doesn't take more than seconds in the presence of this gifted, aware 31-year-old writer-director to feel the intensity and creative zip that led to "Hard Eight," "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia." He is, in the best sense, a filmmaker who is driving everything--the audience, the form, his collaborators, himself most of all--to go further than they have before. Which is how his latest film, "Punch-Drunk Love," which premiered at the Festival de Cannes on Sunday, came to be.
May 20th, 2002
The filmmaker whose creative drive was seen in 'Boogie Nights' and 'Hard Eight' has taken on the romantic-comedy genre, and he's determined to push the limits.
CANNES, France--"It's so simple," Paul Thomas Anderson says, looking out at the rain from the marble-floored living room of the rented villa shared with about a dozen of his cast and crew just outside of town. "A camera, film, a microphone. Stuff comes in, stuff goes out. That's it."
Except that with Paul Thomas Anderson, nothing is ever quite like that. Simple is just not in the cards.
It doesn't take more than seconds in the presence of this gifted, aware 31-year-old writer-director to feel the intensity and creative zip that led to "Hard Eight," "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia." He is, in the best sense, a filmmaker who is driving everything--the audience, the form, his collaborators, himself most of all--to go further than they have before. Which is how his latest film, "Punch-Drunk Love," which premiered at the Festival de Cannes on Sunday, came to be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)