How does PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE stack up to PTA's previous films?

Started by Teddy, April 22, 2003, 03:40:09 PM

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Teddy

I didn't get a chance to see the film while it was in theatres.  I'll buy it reguardless of how good or bad it is compared to the others, but I was just curious.  Help me out.
"I saved Latin.  What did you ever do?"

Pedro


cowboykurtis

Quote from: Pedro the WombatIt's his worst film but amazing nonetheless.

couldn't have said it better myself -- true dat.
...your excuses are your own...

Gold Trumpet

His absolute best film by far. In his previous films, he was working in pure talent, but bordering on homage to the point where you wondering how far you could go in really appreciating his filmmaking. Yes, he was a much different filmmaker than the men who made Goodfellas and Short Cuts - but the story were still in the realms of those two films to such a point I could never go over the edge in complementing him solely because I couldn't think of Magnolia without thinking of Short Cuts and same with Boogie Nights to Goodfellas as well. I'm not speaking of his personal command while he films, because that was apparent to be very much his own, but the stories bothered me, though I love both films. But with Punch-Drunk Love, he is in his own realm and instead of borrowing a specific story and seeming to remake it his way, he is just taking bits and pieces from other filmmakers to make something that feels like his own world finally. The most acclaimed directors are known for this, because it is use of style, instead of just shooting to tell the story, which most do, but the acclaim goes to the ones with style and when style is at hand, you feel most are playing the film like a jazz musician in a jam session would, complementing many different people and styles in various ways without really trying to just copy. Punch-Drunk Love will keep on growing and has room to do so because it is completely unkown type of film in presentation and structure and it is short where an entire evening doesn't have to be planned around its viewing, like Magnolia. People will feel able to just put this movie in whenever they want to. It's really an exciting movie with exciting possibilities to what Paul Thomas Anderson can do next.

~rougerum

Ernie

It's very very different...that's all I can say for sure, you could say it's as good as his previous films but in such a very very different way. It's hard to explain this movie on its own much less compare it to others...your not gonna wanna hear this but, you just have to see it.

There's a lot of truth in GT's post above...PTA himself has said it's his most personal film and he makes it obvious...it's the first one that is really and truly all his...and that's what makes it so beautiful.

It's hard for me to call any of his films his best or his worst as I'm sure you can tell...I love them all way too much, it's too fucking hard.

EL__SCORCHO

Quote from: cowboykurtis
Quote from: Pedro the WombatIt's his worst film but amazing nonetheless.

couldn't have said it better myself -- true dat.


I agree with both you guys.

MacGuffin

Quote from: EL__SCORCHO
Quote from: cowboykurtis
Quote from: Pedro the WombatIt's his worst film but amazing nonetheless.

couldn't have said it better myself -- true dat.
I agree with both you guys.

I concur.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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aurora

I think Hard Eight is his worst. Not that its shit (its fucking cool and gets cooler with each viewing) but it just doesn't do it for me as much as Boogie Nights and Magnolia.

Punch-Drunk Love is excellent. Its so different to his others I don't even think it should be compared to them. Its virtually half the length of Magnolia.

oakmanc234

I honestly feel that 'PDL' is his best picture yet. It was really different to his previous, only when Hoffman's character/the Utah brothers were introduced did I feel like I was watching a PTA flick (it had that 'look' of his others). It was really arty (hell, art even merged onto the screen) but I loved its originality and difference to other films out there. And 'PDL' is the first film of his that I didn't think of another directors work, his style has really come on its own.

All of his films are flat-out brilliant, but I just think 'PDL' is the superior picture.
'Welcome the Thunderdome, bitch'

Ghostboy

I think it's his best, but I won't say why because Gold Trumpet already did.

Duck Sauce

I like Boogie Nights better and Magnolia is right up there, but as GT said, they were kind of different variations on Goodfellas and Short Cuts. This is hopefully the begining of PTA branching out into his own themes and stories in a way. I think PTA will always be borrowing from his favorite films, and that is just his style and he does it well. It is a great movie, but I have an attachment to Boogie Nights like you wouldnt believe. I guess you could maybe say his best, but not my favorite.

pumba

I thought that Puch Drunk love was p t andersons second best. I though Magnolia was just awesome and like nothing i have ever seen. Puch Drunk love was awesome in its own unique way and is so damn original. I also love how the the hero is sort of an ordinary warehouse owner and the villian is just another no body.

chainsmoking insomniac

I think Duck Sauce said it the most succinctly: Boogie Nights and Magnolia were derivative of Scorsese and Altman, respectively; I will always love Boogie Nights, Magnolia was an excellent film, and Punch Drunk Love was his worst, though still fucking great to watch.  
Hard Eight, however, is still my favorite.  
I think with Punch Drunk Love he's branching out on his own, which is why this particular movie seems to 'falter' a bit next to his other films; but I liken it to a baby taking his first steps, and even Jackie Joiner Kersey fell a couple of times before she learned how to run like a cheetah....:)
"Ernest Hemingway once wrote: 'The world's a fine place, and worth fighting for.'  I agree with the second part."
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tpfkabi

i think it's his best. i think its pta with a plan and concentrating on that plan instead of straying a little bit (even though his straying is great).
this is the film i will watch over and over.
magnolia is just hard to sit through. i say i'm going to watch it, but then i end up watching the beginning and end.

yes, pdl is 90 minutes of pure cinema. 90 minutes that are refreshing at no matter how many times you see it.

i have a prediction. after some of you have the dvd in hand, you will change your mind.
I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.

bonanzataz

i saw the thing 4 times and i'm dying to see it again. it really is amazing. like everybody's been saying, magnolia is great, but you really do have to dedicate yourself to watching it. i can't remember when the last time i watched it uninterrupted was. i wish i could see pdl on the big screen again, but that's not happening... sigh.

where does one buy a projector, a screen, and prints of PDL, magnolia, and 2001?
The corpses all hang headless and limp bodies with no surprises and the blood drains down like devil's rain we'll bathe tonight I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls Demon I am and face I peel to see your skin turned inside out, 'cause gotta have you on my wall gotta have you on my wall, 'cause I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls collect the heads of little girls and put 'em on my wall hack the heads off little girls and put 'em on my wall I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls