greatest PTA scene

[SiliasRuby]

let see if my memory serves me right. the funniest scene in boogie is when jack, reed and dirk is in the jacuzzi. in the background you can see scotty cleaning the swimming pool. that shit is phucking hilarious.

Really, I got to resee Boogie Nights. I haven't seen it in about two months. My favorite Paul Thomas Anderson scene is when Tom Cruise breaks down in front of his dying father.....shouldn't we put spoilers in the title of this thread?

[Daliang]

The funniest scene for me in Boogie Nights is when Buck is trying to sell the stereo system to the customer and as an audience member, you know that Buck has no fucking idea what he's talking about. Then to top it off when he plays the country music...it's a fucking classic; like the rest of the movie.

[Pubrick]

The funniest scene for me in Boogie Nights is when Buck is trying to sell the stereo system to the customer and as an audience member, you know that Buck has no fucking idea what he's talking about. Then to top it off when he plays the country music...it's a fucking classic; like the rest of the movie.

u may enjoy this thread..

[JG]

The slow push in on Claudia. It brought closure to a 3hr 15minute film with 9 threads to its story, in a way that was completely emotionally satisfying.

I hate to do a bump on this, but how, in your opinion, would you say it brings closure to the film.  

The reason I asked is I have to do a 45 minute presentation on PTA for a class in school where I analyze his movies and 20 minutes need to be clips.  The only clip I know I'm gonna show is from Boogie Nights is when Bill kills himself.   I'm thinking of using the opening clip of Boogie Nights and show how the opening music sets the tone for the movie.

I'm gonna show clips on all movies, but mostly Boogie Nights and Magnolia, but I can't decide exactly which clips convey PTA's style and the central themes of his movies.

If you want to help, thanks.

[ono]

2 hour, 58 minute film, Magnolia is.  Credits are another story, about 10 minutes long.

The push on Claudia doesn't bring closure to the film.  Ricky Jay's narration does.  The push just punctuates everything Claudia went through, and her smile is catharsis.  Ricky Jay bookends things much more clearly though.

If you want vintage PTA sequences, look to the phone booth lighting up in Punch-Drunk Love when Barry finds Lena in Hawaii.  One of my favorites.  I wrote a whole essay about this (P-DL's "Quirky Delights"), as did SHAFTR.  Cite your sources as needed.  Look around for SHAFTR's thread.

Look to any number of quick inserts he uses, such as the one when Dirk says "I can do it again."  Needle on the record player, then the bottle of champagne popped.

One of my favorites, though, is when Dirk fights with his mother.  He leaves his house, she's yelling out her front door, then immediately cut to Jack's house, he opens his door and welcomes him.  Instant new family.  Perfect juxtaposition, coupled with the move in and whip pan over to Dirk approaching Jack.

Better yet, what you should do, rather than having us do your homework for you, is take Hard Eight and Boogie Nights and watch the images with the commentaries running over them.  Do this over and over again.  That's the best insight you can possibly get to his films.  Then, watch the That Moment diary.  And watch it again.  And again.

[JG]

Don't get the wrong idea, I was just curious as to what other PTA fans felt were the consummate PTA scenes.  What sucks is my teacher just told us about the project and I'm presenting next Monday.  I feel rushed.  

For PDL, I'm gonna use when he kicks the window in and then a scene that encorporates Brion's wonderful score.   The phone booth scene is great.

[killafilm]

I'm thinking of using the opening clip of Boogie Nights and show how the opening music sets the tone for the movie.

I'd def. use this clip.  It's not just the music though.  The fact that PTA introduces so many characters, and you get a decent feel for them all, in one 3min+ Steadycam shot... amazing.

[The Perineum Falcon]

I think he meant the "broken circus music" unless he was referring to both.

But yeah, use that and the intros.

[©brad]

I'm thinking of using the opening clip of Boogie Nights and show how the opening music sets the tone for the movie.

I'd def. use this clip.  It's not just the music though.  The fact that PTA introduces so many characters, and you get a decent feel for them all, in one 3min+ Steadycam shot... amazing.

yeah it is but its nothing that hasn't been done before. your presentation has to go a bit deeper than showing long steadicam shots b/c of "how cool they are."

[JG]

I think he meant the "broken circus music" unless he was referring to both.

But yeah, use that and the intros.

i was talking about the circus music (I think it really sets the tone of the movie and reminds you that it's not gonna be all fun), but I'll probably show the whole opening sequence, not just because it's cool, but because it is an extremely effective shot.  It shows how good PTA is at balancing multiple characters.  

What scenes/shots would you use of PTA's that "has never been done before."

[©brad]

I think he meant the "broken circus music" unless he was referring to both.

But yeah, use that and the intros.

i was talking about the circus music (I think it really sets the tone of the movie and reminds you that it's not gonna be all fun), but I'll probably show the whole opening sequence, not just because it's cool, but because it is an extremely effective shot.  It shows how good PTA is at balancing multiple characters.  

What scenes/shots would you use of PTA's that "has never been done before."

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."

why focus on the technical for your presentation? that's the freshman-film-school approach. why not focus on common themes throughout PTA's body of work instead? you are much more likely to differentiate PTA from other filmmakers of his gen through his writing style rather than his use of a stedicam or super-fast whips and pans.

and if you simply must talk about the technical bravado of mr. anderson, do an analysis of his use of sound. there's a topic that doesn't get as much limelight as it should.

[JG]

Well I'm writing a five-page paper on PTA Anderson in which I discuss many of his reoccuring themes.  I'm gonna focus on his use of sound when I show clips of PDL.  

But thanks for the help

[killafilm]

I'm thinking of using the opening clip of Boogie Nights and show how the opening music sets the tone for the movie.

I'd def. use this clip.  It's not just the music though.  The fact that PTA introduces so many characters, and you get a decent feel for them all, in one 3min+ Steadycam shot... amazing.

yeah it is but its nothing that hasn't been done before. your presentation has to go a bit deeper than showing long steadicam shots b/c of "how cool they are."

Don't know where I wrote "how cool they are." In the said shot the technical certainly backed the STORY.

[polkablues]

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.

[©brad]

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.

okay, but my question is- why show that specific shot in the presentation? what purpose would it serve in his overall analysis of pta? furthermore, does a shot like that speak more of the director or the cinematographer?

i just have seen many a film presentation in which a student puts together a reel of 'cool shots' from a favorite director and uses that and that alone as leverage for his/her analysis (i.e. PTA can do a long 10-minute stedicam shot, PTA can whip pan faster than anyone else, PTA does this shot with this lense and no one else does it so that makes him great...) my experience is that film professors are much more interested in the 'why' rather than the 'how.'