Warner Bros' Sue Kroll Says "Inherent Vice" Is A Masterpiece

In keeping with the early buzz Inherent Vice has received from industry insiders -- and perhaps not all that surprising given she is a representative of the company bankrolling the film -- Warner Bros' President of Marketing and Worldwide Distribution, Sue Kroll, has spoken to Deadline about the company's suite of upcoming projects and included some highly complimentary words about PTA's next:

Warners has a pretty full Academy slate after two very successful years in a row with 2012 Best Picture winner Argo and 2013's Gravity which picked up seven Oscars, along with an Original Screenplay win for Her and two other Oscars for The Great Gatsby. Kroll says the year looks good, including Paul Thomas Anderson's much-anticipated Inherent Vice.

"You're gonna love it. It's the most wonderful movie," says Kroll. "So entertaining, so smart, so fun. I think [it's] different for him but it's a masterpiece. I love it - I think it's my favorite movie of his except Magnolia."

Thanks to Christopher for the tip.

IV: 175 days

Find more information about the film on our Inherent Vice page. 
Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates.

Jillian Bell Talks "Inherent Vice", Confirms Workaholics Co-Star Anders Holm Will Also Be In the Film

In promoting her work in the recent smash-hit 22 Jump Street, actress/comedienne Jillian Bell spoke with Cosmopolitan* about her experience working on Inherent Vice with PTA & co. While what she had to say was suitably close to the vest, the details are very much worth noting.

COSMOPOLITAN: You're going to be in Inherent Vice, your second movie with Paul Thomas Anderson and Joaquin Phoenix. What's your role? I confess I haven't read the book, so I don't have any guesses.

JILLIAN BELL: I've just read parts of it too. I haven't read the whole thing. It's pretty amazing, though. I need to get through it. I have such a small part in the movie - I loved doing it, I would do anything for Paul Thomas Anderson - but they just flew me in just to do a small part as this weird waitress. But I got to do a scene with Benicio Del Toro, who is honestly my favorite actor of all time.

COSMOPOLITAN: And what about Joaquin Phoenix?

JILLIAN BELL: It was him and Benicio.

COSMOPOLITAN: Why has Paul Thomas Anderson [taken] such a liking to you?

JILLIAN BELL: He saw me in Workaholics. He is a huge Workaholics fan, I guess. I mean, his wife is Maya Rudolph, so of course he loves people who do comedy. But I guess he watches Workaholics and, actually, Anders Holm is in Inherent Vice as well, and he's in Workaholics. So I think [Paul]'s trying to get all of us in there.

You'll remember Bell had an equally small part in The Master as one of The Cause's early disciples ("Back beyond... back beyond... back beyond..."), so perhaps PTA has found a new regular for his films moving forward. Arguably most notable of these details is the fact that Bell's Workaholics costar Anders Holm will also be in Inherent Vice. His name had been recently rumored but not confirmed up until this point, so it looks like we have some fleshing out to do on the cast section for our Inherent Vice page.

Anders Holm, Workaholics

We are now officially less than 6 months away from Inherent Vice meeting commercial theatre screens for the first time. As we pivot from spring to summer, our eyes are peeled for the Toronto, Venice, and Telluride film festivals as potential premieres for Vice and, with God on our side, maybe even a teaser/poster before long.

(Thank you Jeremy Daly for the heads up)

IV: 178 days.

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

*Read the Cosmopolitan article at your own discretion, it does contain spoilers from 22 Jump Street.

'Inherent Vice' Set To Expand Nationwide On 1/09/15

Unfortunately, film fans who do not live in any of the major cities in the U.S., or have convenient access to the film markets therein, will have to wait just a little bit longer to see Inherent Vice. Via Box Office Mojo, Warner Bros. has announced that the film will receive a nationwide expansion on Friday, January 9th, 2015, a full four weeks after opening in limited markets on Friday, December 12th, 2014.

As if there was any doubt at this point, the expansion date further suggests a strong awards push for the film from Warner Bros, who plotted a very similar release strategy for Spike Jonze' Her last year. (Thanks Eric Edge!)

At any rate, the countdown stays the same:
212 days until Inherent Vice is made available to the buying public.

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

WATCH: 90 Minute DGA Talk On Francis Ford Coppola's Career, Featuring PTA & Others

Back in March of 2011, when Paul Thomas Anderson was in pre-production on The Master, he and fellow filmmakers David O. Russell (The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle) and Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Twilight, Red Riding Hood) sat down at the Directors Guild of America to discuss the career and influence of one of America's most important filmmakers, Francis Ford Coppola. 

You can watch the full, 90-minute talk here.

With each director selecting clips from Coppola's career to showcase and then discuss, PTA presented scenes from 1974's The Conversation and 2007's Youth Without Youth - the latter of which he would go on to accredit as influential in his decision to hire Coppola-veteran Mihai Malaimare Jr. as cinematographer on The Master. Though the talk is fairly evenly spread out between the four filmmakers, PTA had some interesting remarks to make when asked about Punch-Drunk Love by Coppola. That part of the talk comes in around 26:27.

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA: Did you know what you were doing when you made Punch-Drunk Love?

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON: No, I was just trying to get through every day. It started to feel -- it was horrible for the first three weeks. Just felt terrible, like I didn't know... none of it looked good, none of it looked right, and [we] stopped and started again, and then somewhere along the way, everything started to feel better, and it felt better...

FFC: And do you notice as years go by, people say, "I love that, that was so beautiful! That was so unique!"

PTA: Yeah, no, and I thought... it turned out that everything I thought was terrible was really good. Just with some distance, it felt good. And then I edited it together, and I thought, "I think I made a film that every single person is gonna see, and it's gonna make like 500 billion dollars, you know? I finally did it!" And no one saw it, and people didn't like it, but...

FFC:  I mention it because each of these wonderful directors each has made a film, if not more than one, that's one of my favorites. And Punch-Drunk Love, not to mention the others and certainly Boogie Nights, but... when I go to the movies, I like to go out and say, "I never saw anything like that." That's my favorite thing to say, you know? And that leaves you - that filmmaker - in a tough spot for a while, you know? It tends to come around, though.

If you have the time, we highly recommend sitting through the whole thing. There are many interesting anecdotes from FFC's career, notes on his technique, and, perhaps most importantly, perspectives from three prominent filmmakers who have been deeply influenced by him.

Special thanks to Cinephilia and Beyond for the news.

IV: 225 days

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

UPDATE: Jonny Greenwood To Score "There Will Be Blood" Live In London AND NYC

If you're planning on chilling in London at some point this summer, you would be well advised to leave the dates August 6th and August 7th open, as renowned performing arts and concert venue Roundhouse is poised to host two (2) screenings of Paul Thomas Anderson's 2007 masterpiece There Will Be Blood, with the 50+-piece London Contemporary Orchestra performing the film's iconic score live. The performances will be conducted by Hugh Brunt, with none other than the score's composer, Jonny Greenwood, on hand to perform the ondes Martenot elements of the piece. (The ondes Martenot is an early 20th century synthesizer, which Greenwood has specialized in for many years. It is used prominently in many Radiohead songs, and in Blood perhaps most notably here)

Tickets are on sale now, and we assume seats will go like hot cakes, so head over to Roundhouse now for pricing and other event information.

UPDATE 5/7/14 : Greenwood will also be doing a live performance of There Will Be Blood on September 19 and September 20 at the United Palace Theater in New York! Tickets for those performances will go on sale on May 14. 

IV: 227 days.

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

PTA Joins American Genre Film Archive Advisory Board

Via ScreenDaily, Paul Thomas Anderson has joined the American Genre Film Archive's board of advisors. As of 2009, the AGFA has specialized in preserving old, rare film prints, primarily of horror, action, independent and international genre cinema. PTA will be joining fellow filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, Drive, Only God Forgives) and Tim League, CEO of the Alamo Drafthouse theatre chain and co-founder of Fantastic Fest, which you know as the genre film festival out of Austin, Texas that was home to the There Will Be Blood world premiere back in 2007.

Right now, the AGFA is primed to a launch an Indiegogo campaign in support of a project to complete high-definition digital transfers for rare and endangered 35mm film prints, with a longer-term goal of being able to strike new prints for these films.

No doubt a worthy cause and, of course, something right in PTA's wheelhouse.

IV: 232 days

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

"Inherent Vice" Will Not Play Cannes

As expected, Paul Thomas Anderson has forgone the 2014 Cannes Film Festival as a means to premiere his new movie, Inherent Vice. You can read the full line-up here, including out-of-competition titles and Un Certain Regard. Our eyes now turn to Telluride, Venice, and/or Toronto film festivals as more probable first homes for the film, whose lineups will all be announced this summer.

In the meantime, enjoy this video of PTA winning Best Director at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for Punch-Drunk Love.

239 days.

Find more information about the film on our Inherent Vice page. 
Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates.

First 'Vice' Reactions Roll Out From Industry Insiders; Doubts Cast On Cannes Premiere

8 months before Inherent Vice is set to hit theatres, and nearly 8 months after it officially entered post-production, we are starting to get some faint glimmers of what form the film's exhibition will take. With the 2014 Cannes Film Festival's full competition lineup slated to be announced this Thursday, April 17, we will finally have concrete resolution for one of the film's most hyped-up potential premiere venues once and for all. Unfortunately, according to a new report by Jeffrey Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere, an Inherent Vice debut at Cannes is not looking likely.

This morning I spoke to an industry friend who's seen Vice and who thinks it's brilliant and mesmerizing in an atmospheric, non-linear sort of way. He says that [Paul Thomas] Anderson, currently doing the sound mix, doesn't really want to subject Vice to Cannes and would rather take his time and tinker around over the summer and then unveil it in Telluride/Venice/Toronto. 

This follows what a friend told me a week or two ago, which is that Cannes topper Thierry Fremaux "has been courting and wooing PTA like mad to get Inherent Vice to Cannes, and that PTA has been telling him since January that it would be very tight for him to get post-production done in time and that he wouldn't show it to Thierry until then. Perhaps PTA would privately like to go to Cannes, but I'm also told that Warner Bros. is against the idea, considering it too early given its December release date. If PTA insists and finishes the film to his satisfaction over the next couple of weeks, he could probably prevail over WB, but the latest I hear is that everything is still very much up in the air."

 Of course, a healthy grain of salt should be taken with this information, given that the sources are all anonymous and that the situation appears to very much still be fluid. In any event, we will know one way or another in only a few days' time.

The much less nerve-racking take-away from this development is that the film (to the few eyes that have seen it) is apparently as astonishing as we all want it to be. The Film Stage provided some other anonymous impressions of the movie from one lucky insider today:

Mix together The Big Lebowski and [Robert] Altman's The Long Goodbye and turn it into a two-and-a-half hour PT Anderson epic and you're getting close to the awesome experience of Inherent Vice. Even Joaquin Phoenix's performance has echoes of '70s Elliott Gould with a touch of The Dude. But don't get me wrong, the film is its own animal. A drug-fueled detective story filled with great psychedelic music and beautiful, grainy cinematography. It's both hilarious and confounding at times. But Anderson does an incredible job of making the incredibly complex plot both comprehensible and entertaining. Even though he's apparently said he's still tinkering, it felt like a finished film and will definitely go down as one of my favorites of his.

242 days.

Find more information about the film on our Inherent Vice page. 
Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates.

Image From 'Vice' Mixing Session Shows First Frame of Doc Sportello

We'll keep this one short and sweet. Via xixax, an image of Jonny Greenwood during what appears to be a mixing session for Inherent Vice has surfaced online today, with Larry "Doc" Sportello, in all his glory, accompanying him.

We'll be honest. This is not how we expected to see the first frame of film from the movie, but really... doesn't that make it even more exciting?

255 days and counting.

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