DOWN SINCE DAY ONE?

[SoNowThen]

actually, i kind of prefer hard eight to sydney. it's only the title of the film, i dislike when paul gets bitchy about it, it's still a great movie. i see the movie as a hard eight and not a sydney, but that's just me.

I think Hard Eight is a much cooler title, but it's misleading as hell for this movie. Really it's just a simple character piece, and Sydney would've been more appropriate, so I can see why Paul is pissed.

What about its foreign title: Last Exit Reno, or something, maybe it was last stop reno... I can't remember.

[Victor]

i dont think paul gets bitchy about it anymore, we're the only ones who do. who gives a fuck, i prefer sydney, but thats me.

i saw boogie on hbo when i was like 11 cause i heard it was about porn, and it really fucked my head up. i was just completely blown away, going what the fuck was that? i really wasnt ready for it. then, when i was thirteen, the week the vhs came out i rented magnolia and absolutely went apeshit over it, i rented it probably twice more before the dvd came out and, watching That Moment, just went nuts for paul. like eb, he changed my whole view of film, what it can be, how to do it, etc. so three years later here i am, oh yeah i saw punch-drunk seven times in theatres so.

[MacGuffin]

i dont think paul gets bitchy about it anymore, we're the only ones who do.

Right. Even PTA said to Elvis Mitchell on IFC's Independent Focus that he has come to accept the title as "Hard Eight".

[ono]

And me, unfortunately, I got to loving PTA's work rather late in the game

why do u call Hard Eight "Sydney"?

Because the movie is not Hard Eight.  It's Sydney.  It's not about craps, it's about a man named Sydney.  It's out of respect for PTA, really.  Listen to PTA's first commentary on the DVD.    Me, I use the titles interchangeably.  It just happens that I was on Sydney when I made that first post.

[chainsmoking insomniac]

P, what the fuck are you talking about?

Sydney was the original title.  I'm not trying to be "cool."

I'm just trying to stay true to the creator's original intention.  That's all.

God u are so fucking stupid.

i wasn't even talking to u when i asked in the first place, i didn't say WHY IS IT CALLED SYDNEY, i said WHY DO YOU (the ppl who call it sydney) CALL IT SYDNEY.

u didn't even call it sydney, shit man. ur a fuckin crazy man. u just butted in and started giving me obvious information without knowing what the fuck i mean and then when i explained, and that it wasn't directed at u, u still don't know what the fuck i'm talking about.

i've tried not to snap at u man, i've tried hard.

i was making a point and Cecil agreed, that ppl who call it sydney are in a sense kidding themselves and well just stay out of it cos if u don't understand what i'm saying after this u should just unregister urself now cos ur just gonna make me get more grey hairs.

Sorry man.  If I'm kidding myself, then I guess I'm kidding myself.  I just prefer Sydney to Hard Eight.  The movie is, after all, about HIM.  Shoot me.  

And I already explained why I call it Sydney.  Or Hard Eight, if you prefer. Calm down.  Deep breath P.  Deeeeep breath.  Now exhale.  Goooood.   [/i]

[markums2k]

Saw Magnolia first, on VHS (a few weeks after release), rented from Blockbuster.

At the end, I was a little upset that the movie seemed to really go nowhere.  But the pacing was so unique.  It literally felt like an emotional rollercoaster.  I've watched it many times since, and it has never felt the same.

So, went to IMDB, looked up P.T. Anderson, and there's Boogie Nights.  Oh yeah, the porno movie.  I'd always wanted to see that.  So I rented the special re-release DVD from Blockbuster... loved it.

Rented Hard Eight on VHS at Movie Gallery.  Loved it.

Saw Punch-Drunk Love in theaters.  Wonderful.

So now I own them all.  Can I be in the club now? Am I truly down?

[jokerspath]

Saw Magnolia first, on VHS (a few weeks after release), rented from Blockbuster.

At the end, I was a little upset that the movie seemed to really go nowhere.  

Can I be in the club now? Am I truly down?

You can be in the club if you explain how the movie goes nowhere.

aw

[bonanzataz]

i felt the exact same way as markums when i first saw it. i loved the first tape, and after the second tape was over i was like, what? what was the point of that? i just wasted 3 hours! ARGH!

a year later, my friends rented it because we were all huge boogie nights fans and i watched it with them and i'm like, oh yeah, pauls other movie. i don't like this one. and we watched it and i'm like, whatever. afterwards i'm like, it's ok, but it's not that great either.

then, my sister is watching it on the starz channel and she's half hour into it like, this movie is so amazing, and i was watching it and really getting into it, and then i had to go to driver's ed and couldn't finish it with her. i came back from driver's ed and my sister had finished the movie and said that it was one of her favorite movies. so i bought a used copy of the dvd for her and we watched it and that's when i fell in love with that damn movie. i've seen it a million times since.

[jasper_window]

Heard about Hard Eight but it never played close to me.  Saw Boogie Nights frist night.  Loved it!  Rented Hard Eight that week.  Loved it.  Saw Boogie Nights again the following week.  Started to have a problem....I couldn't get enough of the film.  I ended up seeing it 10 or 11 times in theater.  Went in to NYC opening weekend for Magnolia.  Punch Drunk, sadly played for 2 weeks near me, and I saw it twice.  Actually while staying in a hotel a few months later I paid the 11 bucks to rent it off spectravision, or whatever the fuck it's called, and watched it 3 time back to back.  Long story short, I've got problems.

[markums2k]

Saw Magnolia first, on VHS (a few weeks after release), rented from Blockbuster.

At the end, I was a little upset that the movie seemed to really go nowhere.  

Can I be in the club now? Am I truly down?

You can be in the club if you explain how the movie goes nowhere.

aw

I would like to politely call your attention to one specific word in that sentence.  SEEMED.  

Despite that, I appreciated this movie solely on an emotional level.  No movie has ever done that for me since.  Not even Magnolia itself.  But I still don't entirely understand it.  I still don't know what I'm supposed to take away from it.

I'm pretty sure if he hadn't cut Orlando Jones, it would have all made sense to me.

[ono]

Get the Magnolia shooting script if you feel that way, and check out the scenes on ptanderson.com.  I just finished reading the shooting script this afternoon, and those scenes, well, some of them, are in there.  They didn't really take away too much.  I know what I'm supposed to take away from the movie, now, after having seen it three times.  The first time my response was like yours; I thought I had wasted three hours, but the damn movie stuck with me, and I sensed it was something special.  On repeated viewings, it all made sense, and my suspiscions were confirmed.  The Worm/Dixon scene is unique, as it's different than what you'd expect, given what we know about the characters.

[Pubrick]

Sorry man.  If I'm kidding myself, then I guess I'm kidding myself.  I just prefer Sydney to Hard Eight.  The movie is, after all, about HIM.  Shoot me.  

And I already explained why I call it Sydney.  Or Hard Eight, if you prefer. Calm down.  Deep breath P.  Deeeeep breath.  Now exhale.  Goooood.   [/i]

did u even read what i wrote?

please don't reply to anything i say ever again. thanksabunch.

[eward]

i had always wanted to see magnolia, but never got around to it (it came out when i was in eighth grade), i had heard about the rain of frogs and was intrigued, etc.  i ended up renting it last august, and i fucking loved it loved it loved it.  i showed it to my friend - he loved loved loved it, showed it to my mom - she loved it loved it loved, showed it to my dad - he fell asleep....but anyways - after that i began looking for stuff on the net for PTA (discovered C&C that way), then i rented boogie nights, had to watch it twice before i really began to love it (it exhausted me the first time, exhilerated me the second, has done that ever since on repeated viewings), then i saw PDL in the theaters, fucking loved it, bought sydney (thats right, sydney) without having seen it, loved it as well.  i really like PTA.

[BrainSushi]

I guess I became a fan shortly after Magnolia came out on DVD. This was also around the time I started getting serious about wanting to become a filmmaker, and I came upon Magnolia's IMDB page, and thought this should be one of the DVD's I'd get (as I'd just gotten a DVD player). Just thought it sounded interesting, and I remember my mom talking about it when she'd seen it in the theatre.

So, I watched it, and needless to say, it became my all time favorite movie. So I went back to IMDB and looked up the writer/director... some guy named Paul Thomas Anderson. I was surprised to see that he'd also made Boogie Nights.

I was like, ten years old when Boogie Nights came out, and I remember seeing the trailers/tv spots for it and thinking... AWESOME!! A MOVIE ABOUT THE 70s!!!! (I'm into 60s/70s pop culture) I'm not quite sure if I actually knew what porn was at the time. Anyway, Boogie Nights was added to my DVD wish list, got it and loved it.

Eventually, I became a fanboy, despite never having seen Sydney... then they showed it on IFC, and I awaited the day I was actually able to find the DVD in a store. Hooray, so, I'd seen all of PTA's movies, and was keeping up with the status on PDL. Followed all the Cannes coverage and come October '02 experienced PTA on the big screen for the first time.

Oh, and I eventually did find Sydney on DVD at Borders. Quite recently, actually.

[modage]

really interesting stuff.  i am a bit surprised though for all the self-proclaimed PTA freaks on this board, that so many either got into him so late in the game or didnt really care for his stuff when they first saw it.  facinating.