Josh Brolin Talks Inherent Vice, Calls Experience "Absolute Fucking Chaos"

With the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival officially behind us, the swirl of press inevitably left in its wake is now slowly unfurling onto the internet for cinephiles worldwide to consume. As a consequence, David Poland, whose utterly invaluable "DP/30" series tracks down a major player from just about every significant film from these festivals and talks candidly on camera with them for a half hour, sat down with Inherent Vice-star Josh Brolin, who was there promoting his work in Jason Reitman's Labor Day. As you may have guessed would happen over the course of thirty minutes, the conversation meandered a bit toward Brolin's past, present, and future projects near the middle, and here's what he had the following to say about working with Paul Thomas Anderson around the 14:40 mark (transcribed (roughly) by yours truly):

'The Master' Was Released 1 Year Ago Today

Paul Thomas Anderson's six feature-length motion picture The Master was formally released into the world one year ago today, on September 14th, 2012. Time flies, right? To commemorate this occasion, here's every available trailer for the film. Have a good weekend, everyone!

Paul & Maya Welcome Fourth Child

Looks like some congratulations are in order for Paul Thomas Anderson and Maya Rudolph, who have reportedly welcomed their fourth child into the world. The baby joins sisters Pearl and Lucille, and brother Jack. Congratulations, guys!

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"The Master" is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. 

Actor Michael Cotter Talks "Inherent Vice"; Boogie Nights Script Read At TIFF

An interview over at examiner.com has been making rounds today, wherein actor Michael Cotter talks a bit about his experience working with Paul Thomas Anderson & co. on Inherent Vice, and here's the nitty gritty of it:

What can you tell us about your role in the upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson film "Inherent Vice"? 

I play A.D.A. Rhus Farthington and I work in the District Attorney's office in LA, where I am co-workers with Reese Witherspoon's character Penny. It is a period piece set in LA in 1969-1970, and it's always fun to be able to play in a different decade, especially for the wardrobe and set choices which were both great.

How was working with A-listers Reese Witherspoon, the always unpredictable Joaquin Phoenix and director Paul Thomas Anderson?

It was an amazing experience! I think all three of them are brilliant at what they do and I felt lucky to be able to play in the same game as them for a few days. Once the cameras started rolling, they all welcomed me into the fold and were all very generous in the moment.

Any interesting stories from the set you can share with us?

One of the coolest things that we did was for one of the scenes we shot, PTA ended up letting the three of us basically improv through this interview scene. And once we all started to improv together, it became this really fun game of finding our way through the scene together and just feeding off of each other. It was really fun to be able to do that with Reese and Joaquin and just trust that we would find our way to the end of the scene each time, but always find cool new moments on every take.

Among other things, this should finally help put to rest any lingering suspicions you may have had that Reese Witherspoon was somehow no longer involved in the film. It also fills in a couple casting gaps that were a bit more justifiably up in the air: that Witherspoon will be playing Penny Kimball, and that the role of Rhus Farthington has gone to Cotter. Our Inherent Vice page has been updated accordingly.

Shooting Wraps on Inherent Vice

Photo by Wilson Webb - © 2013

Welp, kiddies. Principal photography on Paul Thomas Anderson's seventh motion picture, Inherent Vice, has officially come to a close, and it's a bittersweet thing; on the one hand, we have no more exciting casting announcements to relay to you. On the upside, now we can all start daydreaming about what the thing will actually look like cut together. Whichever way you choose to look at it, a new PT Anderson picture has officially been captured for your viewing pleasure, and it is now one big step closer to theatrical exhibition. That's pretty cool.

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"The Master" is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. 

WATCH: 'Turn Blue' -- 55 Minute Documentary on Ernie Anderson

Above is an interesting short-subject documentary about Paul Thomas Anderson's father Ernie, and the creation of his infamous television persona Ghoulardi, which, of course, PTA named his production company after. PTA is mentioned very briefly towards the end, and there're a couple good bits with Boogie Nights-era Ernie, which bookend the thing. The doc is coincidentally directed by a guy named Phil Hoffman, but rest assured it is a very different Phil Hoffman than the one we here at C&RV have come to know so well.  If you're having trouble figuring out what to do with your Friday, this piece is well worth the time. Thanks to the various followers who passed it along.

In other news, rumor has been circulating that Inherent Vice has officially entered post-production. However, our little birdie tells us that the production will be doing final reshoots this Saturday (tomorrow), at which point it will wrap out. So hang in there, folks. We're getting miiiighty close.

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"The Master" is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. 

Singer/Songwriter Joanna Newsom Reportedly In For 'Vice', Too

Well how 'bout that.

Just one day after a lengthy news update on Inherent Vice, wherein a couple of you pointed out in the comments section that someone who looked suspiciously like singer/songwriter/harpist Joanna Newsom was seen in some recent set photos, The Playlist is reporting that singer/songwriter/harpist Joanna Newsom will in fact be in the motion picture, citing that very photographic evidence as apparently good enough to confirm an acting role.

Though it's not known who she will play, this will mark Newsom's feature-film debut, after having done a cameo on Portlandia last year. Whether she was brought to PTA's attention through her work with Maya Rudolph's former Saturday Night Live colleague Fred Armisen on that show, or through Newsom's fiancé Andy Samberg -- another old SNL colleague of Maya Rudolph's -- or through some other as-yet-undisclosed channel, this is yet another inspired casting stroke in a long line of truly inspired casting strokes for the film.

Here's JN performing "Sawdust & Diamonds" off her 2006 album "Ys" at The First Unitarian Church Sanctuary in Philadelphia, PA.

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"The Master" is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. 

IV Roundup: Sam Jaeger Quietly Signs On; Surf Band Lands Cameo; More

couple things to get caught up on, so here we go:

1) Star of television series Parenthood, Sam Jaeger, has joined the cast of Inherent Vice as Special Agent Jason Flatweed, confirmed through his own personal twitter account. Funnily enough, this will mark Jaeger's second project with Joaquin Phoenix in as many years, as he also has a part in Spike Jonze's upcoming "Her."

2) Surf band The Blank Tapes just announced through their record label that they will have a cameo performance in the film, and based on the video below and the design of the band's website, we'd guess they'll be right at home.



3) A few have inquired, and we can now confirm through a source on the ground: Inherent Vice WILL, like The Master, have an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Many of you already know what this means, but for those not interested in technical gobbledygook, the size of the frame that the shots are being composed for will be less wide than the first five PTA films, which all preserve 2.35:1. Here's a diagram to help illustrate.

4) Max Ophüls' 1953 film The Earrings of Madame De... is now out on bluray through Criterion. PTA lent a wonderful introduction to the film a couple years back for it. A small sample:



5) If you live in Maryland, The Master will be hitting AFI Silver in 70mm on August 24 and 25. You can find more out about that here.

Whew, I think that's everything. As far as we know, Inherent Vice has not yet wrapped principal photography, but it should be getting close. In the meantime, consult our page on the film to find just about everything we know of it in one place.

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"The Master" is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. 

FBF: PTA at São Paulo International Short Film Festival in 1994

Again courtesy of a very alert follower, we have a brief video of PTA discussing audience reactions, presumably to Cigarettes & Coffee, at the 1994 São Paulo International Short Film Festival. Less talky, more watchy!

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"The Master" is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.