PTA Began Work On A Video For Fiona Apple's ‘Hot Knife'

Fiona Apple's first album in 7 years -- The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do -- dropped this past week and we have had it on pretty constant rotation here at Cigs & Vines. With a sudden flurry of attention comes a deluge of interviews and some of them are really great too, like this one. If you follow us on Twitter, you already know Fiona has dropped a few mentions of Paul here and there, saying to Interview Magazine...

"I'm actually very goofy. I hate this feeling like I'm name-dropping, but Paul Thomas Anderson [the director and Apple's ex-boyfriend] told me that two of the funniest people he knows are me and Daniel Day-Lewis. He was like, "You're both hilarious, but everybody thinks you're awful."

 And from the aforementioned NYMag profile...

I assumed she wanted to talk about her album; she said she didn’t care. I told her I thought it was her best work; she said it was funny because she’d run into her ex-boyfriend, the filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, and “he remembers me as somebody’s who’s been down on themselves from years ago,” and when he’d asked about the album, she told him she felt “really, really happy, I felt like I can die now, I’ve done what I want, this is me.” 

So it appears the formal couple are still very friendly, which is good news for anyone who adored Paul's string of music videos for her back in the late 90s and hoped that one day he might return to the short format. According to an interview with Fiona in V Magazine, that may still happen.

“I have this weird thing where I’m friends with my ex-boyfriends, and I really care about them. I care about their lives with their girlfriends. I feel like maybe an annoying mother or something.” Among these exes are illusionist David Blaine, in whose office/apartment Apple crashes when in New York, filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, who started to make a video for Apple’s new song “Hot Knife” before having to work on a movie, and most notably writer Jonathan Ames, the subject of one of the album’s sweeter tracks, “Jonathan.”

2nd Trailer For ‘The Master' Surfaces; Includes First Look at Philip Seymour Hoffman & Amy Adams

We were damn grateful on May 21 when Paul finally decided to give us our first look at "The Master" in the form of a self-cut teaser trailer. But it looks like he isn't done yet as only a few weeks later, a second teaser trailer for his latest has surfaced on YouTube courtesy of "Al Rose Promotions." This one runs a few seconds shorter and features the same score as the first, but also gives us our first glimpse at Philip Seymour Hoffman's Lancaster Dodd a.k.a. The Master and his wife Mary Sue, played by Amy Adams. The clip is entitled "The Master - Hopelessly Inquisitive" and interesting to note that the title on the previous teaser has been updated to read "The Master - Was There A Fight?" Might we be getting a few more of these teases from Paul before October? Only time will tell.

Check out our Flickr page for hi-res stills from both teasers (perfect for your desktop wallpaper or Facebook cover photo). And though we've never been ones to fan the flames but feel we might be remiss if we didn't point out this.

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

PTA & Robert Downey Sr. Talk ‘Putney Swope' In Final Criterion Video

In the final part in Criterion's 4 part series of interviews between PTA and filmmaker/iconoclast Robert Downey Sr., the pair discuss "Putney Swope" (1969), probably the latter filmmaker's best known work. As we've already mentioned, Paul said 'Putney' showed him “you could be really punk rock in a movie. You could do anything. It didn’t have to make sense. As long as it was funny or funny to the guy who was making it, it would come across as exciting.” If you haven't seen it already, you can check out the film now as part of Criterion's 5 film set of Downey's work entitled Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr.



Though there wasn't much meat on the bone -- so to speak -- in the way of enlightening info, it was nice to watch these two filmmakers casually chatting about film. And we'd like to thank Criterion again for putting these together.

Watch Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

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

‘The Master' Could Be Headed To Venice; John Huston Influence

Back when the rumors started to heat up that "The Master" might be making its Cannes debut, we did a little piece running down the odds on which festivals we thought had the best shot of scoring the film. While we always thought Cannes was a long shot (just seemed a bit too early), we gave better odds to the Venice Film Festival which runs from August 29-Sept 8 this year. Though PTA has never premiered one of his films here, like Cannes the fest always pulls through with an impressive lineup. But unlike the recently concluded fest, the timetable puts it about 5 weeks out from the Oct 12 opening of the film, just enough time to start building some real buzz.

According to an article in the Hollywood Reporter, festival artistic director Alberto Barbera promises a “more sober, less glitzy” version of the festival with new films by Brian de Palma, Terrence Malick and Paul Thomas Anderson as "likely candidates." So while the festival is hot to pursue "The Master" we probably wont know for the next month or two if it's actually playing there as it's still a bit early for a confirmed lineup. Also worth noting is that if the film does premiere in Venice, there's a good chance for a screening either at TIFF or the NYFF which fall immediately afterwards. 

In other news, a reader recently passed along this link to a blogpost that points out some similarities between "The Master" teaser and a John Huston documentary called "Let There Be Light" which chronicled soldiers suffering from psychological wounds suffered in WWII. Similarities are such that we have no doubt that PTA probably came across this as part of his research and would be worth watching a few minutes of over at the Film Preservation site to see for yourself. (Good find, D.H. Sayer!)

PTA In Conversation With Robert Downey Sr. Part 3

Earlier this week, Criterion premiered the second installment in a 4 part series capturing a candid discussion between PTA and filmmaker/iconoclast Robert Downey Sr. (Part One premiered last week.) Today they've dropped the latest episode which you can watch below where the pair discuss the film "Two Tons of Turquoise to Taos Tonight" a.k.a. "Moment To Moment" (1975), which is featured in the Eclipse box set of Downey Sr.'s work.



Watch Part 1 and Part 2.

Even if you're not familiar with the work of Downey Sr., these videos should be of interest as they're PTA's first on-camera interviews in over 4 years, if we're not mistaken (not counting his "Hugo" Q&A last Fall which was recorded by an audience member). Since Paul has basically been MIA since the 'TWBB' press tour, it's good to see him back in the world again.

Deadline had posited that another reel of "The Master" footage might be shown at Cannes tonight as part of a secret presentation but now they're saying that looks unlikely.

Check out the photos from the teaser in our Facebook gallery and stay tuned to Twitter for the latest news and updates.

PTA In Conversation With Robert Downey Sr. Part 2; Tom Cruise Has Seen ‘The Master'

Last Tuesday, Criterion premiered the first installment in a 4 part series capturing a candid discussion between PTA and filmmaker/iconoclast Robert Downey Sr. Today they've dropped the latest episode which you can watch above where the pair discuss the film "No More Excuses" (1968) which is featured in the Eclipse box set of Downey Sr.'s work.

In other news, according to The Wrap, Paul screened "The Master" for none other than Frank "T.J." Mackey himself, Tom Cruise. According to two anonymous sources (aren't they always?) Cruise “had issues” with some parts of the movie but the two have remained friends since "Magnolia." The article also indicates that The Weinstein Co. wants to show the film to John Travolta as well to head off any potential Scientology-themed controversy down the line. Possibly all nonsense, but time will tell. (via @ntwalker)

If you haven't read the scene-by-scene rundown of the 4 minutes of Cannes footage, you should probably do so. And then check out the photos from the teaser in our Facebook gallery and stay tuned to Twitter for the latest news and updates.

Scene By Scene Breakdown Of ‘The Master' Cannes Footage

To say that yesterday was a big day for the site would be something of an understatement. It was the day that we and many fans have been waiting on for years, as we got our first look at the 6th film from Paul Thomas Anderson. First, we got another little note from Paul with the first teaser trailer for "The Master" (which was cut by PTA himself) and a few short hours later the reactions started pouring out of Cannes to the 4 minutes of footage at the Weinstein Co. presentation. Today, thanks to Hitfix we have a scene-by-scene rundown of the entire presentation (as if it were possible to be any more excited).

Four Minutes Of ‘The Master' Footage Screens At Cannes; First Reactions Here

While we're incredibly grateful that "The Master" crew decided to grace the rest of us with the first teaser trailer for the film this morning, critics in Cannes were even luckier. Invited journalists were invited to Weinstein Company party showing off footage from "Django Unchained," "The Silver Linings Playbook" and most importantly, "The Master." While some wondered this morning if they would be shown the same footage in the teaser, that was not the case. They were treated to about 4 minutes of scenes from the film total and got apparently a much broader look at the film with scenes featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and more.

The Wrap says: 

“The Master” seems destined for controversy. Paul Thomas Anderson has written a tale that is loosely inspired on the life of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. The short piece shown was enough to suggest that Anderson (“Magnolia,” “There Will Be Blood”) has again taken on an epic subject and will face it down fearlessly.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, in moustache and suspenders, plays The Master, the Hubbard-like leader of what is referred to as The Cause. Amy Adams, in fierce dramatic scenes, plays his headstrong wife.

Joaquin Phoenix is the center of the story as a postwar drifter, searching for a path and racked by anguish or mental illness or both.

In one scene, The Master demands: “Is your life a struggle? Is your behavior erratic?”
It looks ambitious and exciting, though no frogs appear to fall. Remains to be seen what the never-shy Church of Scientology will have to say about this portrayal, however fictionalized

‘The Master' Teaser Trailer Has Arrived

Finally, the teaser for "The Master" (yes, that is what the title is) has arrived and yes, we got fucking chills watching it. The Weinstein Company confirms that it was (much like the "There Will Be Blood" teaser back in 2007) cut by Paul. Sound off in the comments below.

Written and directed by Academy Award nominee Paul Thomas Anderson (the acclaimed director of, There Will Be Blood, Magnolia and Boogie Nights), this story stars Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) and Academy Award-nominee Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line). Set in America in the years following World War II, a charismatic intellectual (Hoffman) launches a faith-based organization and taps a young drifter (Phoenix) as his right-hand man. But as the faith begins to gain a fervent following, the onetime vagabond finds himself questioning the belief system he has embraced, and his mentor. A truly one-of-a-kind drama, which promises magnetic virtuoso performances, the film marks the fifth collaboration between Anderson and Hoffman, following Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch Drunk Love.

Paul was even kind enough to drop us a line first thing this morning with a link to the trailer/site. Take it away, sir...

cj -

Ummmmmm. GULP. (double heart attack..) slip, slurp.

here you go,,,,,

themasterfilm.com

paul.

Check out the photos from the teaser in our Facebook gallery and stay tuned to Twitter for the latest news and updates.