Toledo Blade, Written By Chris Borrelli
January 24th, 2000
Paul Thomas Anderson is 30 years old, with stylishly rumpled hair and seemingly permanent stubble. He looks the stereotype of the handsome, tortured artist, which works well for him because he makes big sprawling movies that weave and connect multiple plot lines, grand statements about epic subjects like family and home, compassion and love. He's what is called by the media a "hot young director."
His latest, Magnolia, is the kind of self-indulgent but exciting opus that great artists attempt: 3 hours and 15 minutes of gut-wrenching anguish and soul-searching.
This is not the kind of guy you might expect to spring from the loins of Ghoulardi.
But, hey group! - as Ohio's famous horror-movie host might have screamed.
Mr. Hot Serious Director of the Moment is the son of the late Ohio legend Ernie "Ghoulardi" Anderson, who became a local phenomenon during the 1960s when he threw a ratty fright wig on his head, popped one lens out of his sunglasses, and hosted horror movies - from Little Shop of Horrors to House of Wax - on Toledo and Cleveland TV.
Ghoulardi was a bane to parents, telling his audience to "Turn blue!" and "Stay sick!"
He turned the Cleveland suburb of Parma into a running joke. He even made fun of Mike Douglas.
