how would you rank his films so far?

Started by Robyn, October 23, 2017, 09:37:05 PM

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wilder

Damn well put.

Wondering if you saw this remark PT made about Phantom Thread that wilberfan linked (SPOILERS EVERYBODY)

Quote from: wilberfan on November 27, 2017, 01:57:20 AMhttps://twitter.com/ErikDavis/status/934978136369958912

Drenk

I saw it and remembered what he said after writing that sentence. I hadn't thought about it in context with Plainview before. I'm very excited for Phantom Thread...
Ascension.

Drenk

Well, marriage is definitely a thing that makes Dodd unavailable for Freddy but he also has The Cause to deal with. And his couple with Freddy works outside the logic of marriage (I'm not even sure it is really about sex, I'd even say it works better that a "normal" couple or his marriage because there is no sex) and can't be chained to The Cause...Their short honeymoon is when Freddy is saying that The Cause works! But it doesn't for him. So he leaves.

He is not the master with Freddy, I guess. Nor is Freddy the master. It's a companionship. They need to travel and do things all around the world. The song he sings to him is perfect. That's a toxic way to see marriage and we also see that he is not really the master of his couple but he plays that role for the world—and they are a couple that works in the way that their mariage is strong for The Cause, the extended family, and Freddy fucks everything up. Dodd was beginning to lose interest in The Cause toward the end...But he can't escape. He looks so trapped in that gigantic desk but it's his fault if he can't go away...

(Of course, he's probably gay and I don't think that Freddy is...It was messed up.)

Ascension.

wilberfan

Quote from: Something Spanish on November 06, 2017, 10:27:14 AM
...still revel at the movie's ambitions, its scope, its innovations, the incredible dialogue, just everything about it is awe-inspiring. I don't ever want to wait such a long time between viewing again.

In general, this describes my feelings about Boogie Nights.  I'm deeply fond of Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love, but I've only watched those 5 or 6 times each.  I've seen BN more than 30 (and maybe half of those in the last 5 years or so).

ono

One such older thread:

http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=12860.0

As for me:

The Master -- I just love how elliptical he's gotten.  The scene of Freddie falling asleep to Casper and getting a phone call is emblematic of everything I want a film to be.  The final confrontation reminds me a tiny bit of the final Eyes Wide Shut confrontation.  And that final sex scene is just too good.

There Will Be Blood -- the last 20-ish minutes never happened.  A theory I've been working on based on the editing choices made.  If ever you were to point to a film with perfect filmmaking, this would be it.  Everything is just so precise.

Magnolia -- But that did happen.

Punch-Drunk Love -- Best love story.  I wrote an essay about its quirks back in college, thanks to a lot of people's observations here.  It helped foster my film love in so many ways.

Boogie Nights -- It's only listed 5th because he's made 4 better films.  Not that it isn't great.

Hard Eight -- It's only listed 6th because he's made 5 better films.  And everyone had to start somewhere.

I still haven't seen Inherent Vice or Junun.  IV, because I promised myself I'd read it first, but it is such a slog to read.  Lame excuse, I know.  I own IV.  Will probably watch them all again before Phantom Thread.  Just the other day, I listened to the first Boogie Nights commentary all over again for the 50th time.  Like catching up with an old friend.  Listened to the Hard Eight one a couple months ago.  They make me bummed PTA doesn't do commentaries anymore.

wilberfan

Quote from: ono on November 28, 2017, 07:57:07 PM
Just the other day, I listened to the first Boogie Nights commentary all over again for the 50th time.  Like catching up with an old friend.  Listened to the Hard Eight one a couple months ago.  They make me bummed PTA doesn't do commentaries anymore.

You used the phrase "...the first Boogie Nights commentary".  Was there a second?  :shock:   Oh, wait.  You probably meant that was his first?  Has he really not done once since?  THAT is tragic...

ono

There are two Boogie Nights commentary tracks, yeah.  One is more interviews with the actors that play along with the movie.

wilberfan

Quote from: ono on November 28, 2017, 08:34:03 PM
There are two Boogie Nights commentary tracks, yeah.  One is more interviews with the actors that play along with the movie.

That's right!  I remember Cheedle and Moore in the second one...

Something Spanish

TWBB may not be primarily about capitalism, but capitalism, and its tussle with religion, certainly is a driving force throughout, as is porn in Boogie, Dianetics in Master, gambling in Sydney, etc. PTA's films are character driven and whatever themes arise are mainly due to the characters' personalities and interactions within that setting. I know people say they understand the plot elements of IV, that the story is easy to follow if you pay attention, but I find that untrue, particularly if you haven't read the book. The story is simply too elusive and he does not seem interested in it. It's all about the characters being thrust into situations and a yearning for ideals passed by. The movie perfectly bottles the spirit of Pynchon's themes.

I remember he said in one interviewer that he likes to go for the saddest happiest ending possible, and that's one of the magic touches I connect to most in his films. Like Dirk returning to porn, he's back in his element, but what a sad place to be after the successes he experienced, or Freddie flashing to the image of himself laying down with the sand sculpture after everything he was taught throughout The Master, Doc riding down a foggy road with his old lady, after spending the entire movie worried about her safety, even though they're not back together. Every ending, with maybe the exception of Punch-Drunk, is tinged with a bittersweet flavor that fits perfectly with all that preceded. 

wilberfan

Quote from: Something Spanish on November 28, 2017, 09:24:19 PM
I remember he said in one interviewer that he likes to go for the saddest happiest ending possible, and that's one of the magic touches I connect to most in his films. Like Dirk returning to porn, he's back in his element, but what a sad place to be after the successes he experienced, or Freddie flashing to the image of himself laying down with the sand sculpture after everything he was taught throughout The Master, Doc riding down a foggy road with his old lady, after spending the entire movie worried about her safety, even though they're not back together. Every ending, with maybe the exception of Punch-Drunk, is tinged with a bittersweet flavor that fits perfectly with all that preceded.

Yes.  I've occasionally heard someone describe the ending of Boogie Nights as "happy", but I could never agree with that.  It was gratifying to see them all back together (and safe? but for how long?) but just look at Maggie's blank expression in her vanity mirror, despite Jack's "I'm staring at the foxiest bitch in the whole world"...or Rollergirl lost in a daydream, looking out of the GED classroom.


Something Spanish

Quote from: wilberfan on November 28, 2017, 09:44:26 PM

Yes.  I've occasionally heard someone describe the ending of Boogie Nights as "happy", but I could never agree with that.  It was gratifying to see them all back together (and safe? but for how long?) but just look at Maggie's blank expression in her vanity mirror, despite Jack's "I'm staring at the foxiest bitch in the whole world"...or Rollergirl lost in a daydream, looking out of the GED classroom.



Yeah, Jack's final walk through the house with Michael Penn's downer melody says it all, especially when he passes Little Bill's portrait.

Punch Drunk Hate

Isn't it ironic that what is consider the darker and more depressing film(Magnolia) has a more hopeful ending then what is considered by many to be a joyful 70's romp(Boogie Nights)? Not that those characters have that much better, though you could see them changing for the better, while the Boogie Night characters are stacked in a hole they cannot dig out of. Even the more hopeful conclusions(Reed and Buck) have a bittersweetness, knowing Reed stupidity and Buck stealing the money from the armed robber at the donut shop.

jviness02

We can talk about religion and capitalism all day long, but all you really need to know about There Will Be Blood is in the man's own description of the film he gives to Marc Maron: It's a Tom and Jerry episode. Ultimately what makes PTA such a great artist is his interest in character over anything else. Yes, there are themes that the two men represent, but at it's heart it's a cat and mouse game between two cunning individuals and if the film doesn't work on that basic level, it doesn't work on any higher level. PTA understands and appreciates the basics and uses them as roots to deeper and richer aspects of his work, unlike, for example, The Revenant, which never tried to understand the basic aspect of it's revengw story and simply tried to make it richer and deeper without the understanding of the story's basic roots and it lead to a lot of mumbo jumbo. It was a bit of a mess. For lack of a better word, I don't think PTA "over-thinks" himself. It's why Paul Dano described him as making movies straight from his balls, versus straight from intellect.

Oh and my rankings:

1. The Master
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Boogie Nights
4. Punch Drunk Love
5. Magnolia
6. Inherent Vice
7. Sydney

I'd give 1-6 A's and Sydney a solid B+.

wilberfan

Quote from: Something Spanish on November 28, 2017, 09:47:34 PM
Quote from: wilberfan on November 28, 2017, 09:44:26 PM

Yes.  I've occasionally heard someone describe the ending of Boogie Nights as "happy", but I could never agree with that.  It was gratifying to see them all back together (and safe? but for how long?) but just look at Maggie's blank expression in her vanity mirror, despite Jack's "I'm staring at the foxiest bitch in the whole world"...or Rollergirl lost in a daydream, looking out of the GED classroom.

Yeah, Jack's final walk through the house with Michael Penn's downer melody says it all, especially when he passes Little Bill's portrait.

Someone left this beautiful paragraph as part of a comment a few years ago:

QuoteSometimes I think of this scene, and the way Burt Reynolds takes us through it. The way the soft, evening light leaks into the windows of the house. The way the camera hugs his back and never lets Jack leave the frame, though others pass in and out. The way the camera lingers on Little Bill Thompson's portrait, hung on the wall where he took his life. The way the mournful musical suite from the imageless opening returns, hovering just low enough in the mix. And I think, God, what a fucking film.

Alethia

That comment left me momentarily misty-eyed, for sure.