greatest PTA scene

[killafilm]

dude, you can certainly show a shot that is a homage to a certain film (god knows there are many in his movies) but you'd be hard pressed to find any shot in a PTA movie that have “never been done before.”

There's the one shot in "Magnolia": the push-in to the picture on the wall, where he changes lens in the middle of the camera move.  If that had been done previously, I have no knowledge of it.

Because it did happen.

[phreelee]

you liked that jibberish ramble of a monologue?

You are out of your mind.

[Pubrick]

you liked that jibberish ramble of a monologue?

You are out of your mind.

hey newb, all this stuff you're replying to is from 2 years ago or at the earliest 4 months ago. show that you are not useless by introducing yourself.

[Neil]

I didn't bother reading all these, but one of my favorite PTA moments, although there are many is;

In Punch-Drunk Love when barry and Lena get hit by the truck, and barry gets out beats the shit out of them with a crow-bar, breaks windows. The best part is when he get's back in the car and the camera is attatched to the door, and it slams when he gets back in, and you see him comfort her.

Awesome.

Sorry if someone already said this, because it was probably described alot cooler than what i just said.

[Myxo]

I have a special request.

Does anyone know where I can find a clip of Jim Kurring & Claudia at the restaurant in Magnolia? I'd prefer the full scene to include the, "Now that we've met, would you object to never seeing me again?"bit. I'd really appreciate it if someone could even host that scene off their DVD for me. I'm not sure how to rip it off mine.

[FORT]

the original teaser, its got truncated bits of that moment

[SailorOfTheSeas]

Hope its alright that im posting here, seeing that no one has since before twbb and the master come out. I feel like if brought it to the light again people would have new stuff to say.

My top ten

Little Bills Suicide
Selling the fake cocaine
Opening of Magnolia
Little kid rapping
Rainin frogs
Car crash, bleeding head and Barry takes out brothers
1898-1902 sequence
Beach swimmin'-Doubting Henry-Killing Henry-Burying Henry-Mr Bandy in the morning-Baptism sequence
1927 sequence
The entirety of The Master

Syndey is great but I'm hesitant to put anything from there on here as ive only seen it once.

If I had to choose his GREATEST and I would judge it by what is my favourite scene. although it isnt really a scene, more a sequence of moment, it would probably be the end of the first processing in the Master. We see Freddie leaving Doris and Overtones plays as we see the shot of him leaving and the boats wake again, slowly rising and showing the horizon. Then we see freddie and lancaster laughing together and smokin' to jazzy piano music. Favourite moment in my favourite film. Although id choose the whole film if i could. 

[Reelist]

Ok, this is something to do. My favorite one from each movie, mostly moments taken out of scenes:

Sydney- When Sydney teaches John the slot machine scam, I forget how it works every time and feel like I'm learning it along with him.

Boogie Nights- Scotty berating himself over and over after Dirk rejects him. Who can't identify with that? It's one of the most emotionally powerful moments in my personal filmgoing experience.

Magnolia - As Jim Kurring is turning the corner and the first frog slaps his windshield. I can still remember how I jumped in my seat when I first saw that happen, and every time since I wait for it, but can never predict the exact moment.

Punch Drunk Love- Barry breaking the sliding glass door at the birthday party. The most beautifully constructed scene of what it feels like to hate your family.


There Will Be Blood- This line



It's when we see Daniel's evil personified, or some gobbledy-gook. I especially love the guys reaction.


The Master- Jail Scene. As above, it's both of the characters speaking from their rawest place. Completely embodying their animal natures.


Mind you, I haven't seen any of these in a long time. The list is ever changing.

[Mel]

The Death of Little Bill in "Boogie Nights" - few people already pointed it out. I'm not objective here, since audio commentary made me appreciate it much more. Excerpt from Film School Rejects:

The first time he screened Boogie Nights for an audience, Anderson remembers cheers coming from the scene where William H. Macy‘s Little Bill finds his wife having sex with another man on New Year’s Eve and proceeds to shoot them both dead. He immediately felt like he’d done something wrong with the film, as this wasn’t the response he wanted to illicit. His friend, singer/songwriter Aimee Mann, was sitting next to him at the time, and she took his hand and told him it wasn’t his fault. Once Little Bill shoots himself in the film, the audience went quiet. “And they weren’t laughing, and they weren’t cheering, and it was dead silence, and I thought, ‘Okay. Good. I’ve done my job okay. It’s them that’s fucked up’,” he says.



This is almost exactly, what I felt, when seeing it for the first time. This scene has almost every ingredient perfected: visuals (long take), music ("Do Your Thing"), buildup, timing (half of the movie and transition to 80s), emotional ride, surprise (I didn't expect Little Bill to shoot himself).

There are other great scenes (multiple) that PTA created, but this thanks to his commentary is most memorable for me.   

[ElPandaRoyal]

For me it has to be The Master's processing scene on the boat. I've honestly never seen anything like that before (or after). It's extraordinary, great acting, and so intense I suppose because Freddie is told not to blink, and you're closely watching if he does or not until a certain point, then it suddenly doesn't matter at all because the scene is not about that, you're already hypnotised. That's not only my favourite PTA scene, it's one of my favourite scenes ever.

[Lottery]

THE MASTER SPOILERS

Mind is blank because there are so many great choies here but regarding The Master, I don't think enough people realise how incredible the last 15 or so minutes are. This is pretty much the cinema scene to the end. Right after meeting Mrs Solstad- Freddie realises his that his chance with Doris isover, the one thing that may have made him happy at last. So he finds his way back to Master after possibly dreaming contact with him. The Casper cartoon is great- I love the end of that scene where he get's up and a character says 'A Captain never leaves his ship!' And then we cut to the waves (with Sweetness of Freddie playing, one of the more sorrowful pieces). Then we have that final meeting, where there's just to much cool stuff happening. The final part of that scene is so special- after Slow Boat to China, Freddie has a half smile. It's like a realisation and acceptance for him. And during this half-smile, Overtones starts playing and this lasts until the end of the film (for the most part). Overtones is the most important piece on the entire score, it's remarkably bittersweet and I that's how I feel about the film. It's not a devastating tragedy, nor it is absurdly and horrific, it's bittersweet. Freddie realises that he must move on- Master is still in love with Freddie, but he knows the relationship can't last. I don't think this marks a drastic shift in Freddie's identity but I think there's a newfound acceptance and peace in him. And this is why the film ends the way it does. He drifts, finds a girl in a bar and in the next scene, they're in bed together. Overtones still playing. Freddie asks her about past lives, while he himself is recalling the past. Then finally Freddie at the beach and 'Changing Partners'. It puzzled me on the first viewing as much as it set my mind on fire. I can't imagine any other directors being able to end a film like that, with Winn Manchester and Freddie in bed, there's an overwhelming sense of openness and humanity, it's incredible. It's doubly fascinating with Overtones playing. Technically, aesthetically and emotionally, these scenes together hit all the right spots and I think it might be PTA's apex as a director. I wrote more than I intended and it's all a mess (and I've written about it before) but yeah, I feel very strongly about the film.

[SailorOfTheSeas]

Yes you're right, all this is fantastic too. I agree with you about Overtones and the dream connection you mention is interesting. A nice little detail about the end of the film are the silhouetted wooden curves that look like still 2D waves on the bed as Freddie and Winn are fucking, naked. And then the last line of dialogue "Stick it back in, it fell out." I would call this last entire sequence of the film PTA's greatest but then i remember the rest of the film and i feel the urge to put every single moment in it his best.

[ElPandaRoyal]

Thinking about my previous answer, I just realised The Master is now my favourite PTA film.

Also, Lottery, great post.

[Cloudy]

Lottery is single-handedly trying to spark up my much repressed withdrawals...for that...I say...fuck you...

[Drenk]

Right now, let's say that the last scene of The Master, in the bedroom, is one of the most sweetly nostalgic and weirdly optimistic scene I've ever seen.