Licorice Pizza - Speculation & General Reactions

[Montclair]

Does bigger and longer equals better art?

When you swing for a home run and end up striking out, it's not as good as swinging for a base hit that actually gets you to first. But, when you swing for a home run and blast it out of the ballpark it's better than only swinging for a base hit.

What if it turns out to be a home run for you? Isn't the part of the fun of art — especially by an artist as singular and talented as PTA — having your own personal experience with it?

I'd be very surprised if it did, considering the scale of it. As I said before, I'm sure I'll like it, but not in the same way I love BN, TWWB and The Master. His next one sounds more in line with those.

[Pringle]

What if it turns out to be a home run for you? Isn't the part of the fun of art — especially by an artist as singular and talented as PTA — having your own personal experience with it?

[Jeremy Blackman]

The pre-judging is a bit out of control.

Personally I haven't felt the need to seek out early reviews, beyond knowing it's not a disaster. You can't possibly know how the movie will hit you without seeing it, so why not just come to terms with that being a surprise? I don't understand the appeal of actively constructing a personal preconception.

[ono]

LOL. We know next to nothing about the next one.

[Montclair]

The pre-judging is a bit out of control.

Personally I haven't felt the need to seek out early reviews, beyond knowing it's not a disaster. You can't possibly know how the movie will hit you without seeing it, so why not just come to terms with that being a surprise? I don't understand the appeal of actively constructing a personal preconception.

What's out of control about pre-judging something based on what the filmmaker's have decided to give you(a trailer, synopsis, stills and interview) and on the feedback that critics/the public have decided to share? Everybody pre-judges art based on previews and word of mouth.

I guess knowing that a Paul Thomas Anderson movie is "not a disaster" isn't really enough for most fans. You can't possibly know how any movie will hit you without seeing it, so why not just watch every single movie in existence? I don't understand the appeal of actively trying to question people on trusting their preconceptions on a movie that the writer/director said was the result of needing to take a break from a much more challenging and longer work he was in the middle of.

LOL. We know next to nothing about the next one.

We know Paul's very secretive, so if he made a deliberate choice to mention he was writing a much more complex and difficult project during his first interview on LP, there's a 99% that's what he'll do next. We also know that when he was promoting Phantom Thread he said he was working on a "600 page thing." There's every reason to believe his next one will be the long and difficult project that he hinted at in both of those interviews. That's not "knowing next to nothing."

[Jeremy Blackman]

What's out of control about pre-judging something based on what the filmmaker's have decided to give you(a trailer, synopsis, stills and interview) and on the feedback that critics/the public have decided to share? Everybody pre-judges art based on previews and word of mouth.

Clearly I'm referring to the level of pre-judging, not the idea that pre-judging happens at all.

I guess knowing that a Paul Thomas Anderson movie is "not a disaster" isn't really enough for most fans. You can't possibly know how any movie will hit you without seeing it, so why not just watch every single movie in existence?

Controversial opinion: a Paul Thomas Anderson movie is distinct enough from the category of "all movies" that I'm going to give it special consideration.

[ono]

No, I was very careful to say next to nothing. We don't know nothing. But to say we know anything else concrete is ridiculous, and to be looking forward to what's next before most people have seen what's now is even more so.

[Montclair]

What's out of control about pre-judging something based on what the filmmaker's have decided to give you(a trailer, synopsis, stills and interview) and on the feedback that critics/the public have decided to share? Everybody pre-judges art based on previews and word of mouth.

Clearly I'm referring to the level of pre-judging, not the idea that pre-judging happens at all.

I guess knowing that a Paul Thomas Anderson movie is "not a disaster" isn't really enough for most fans. You can't possibly know how any movie will hit you without seeing it, so why not just watch every single movie in existence?

Controversial opinion: a Paul Thomas Anderson movie is distinct enough from the category of "all movies" that I'm going to give it special consideration.

Clearly, someone of Paul Thomas Anderson's stature deserves a level of pre-judging that you would never go to for most directors. Controversial opinion: a Paul Thomas Anderson movie deserves special consideration because he's set the bar so high that when many things point towards him lowering the bar for himself, it's cause for alarm.

[Montclair]

No, I was very careful to say next to nothing. We don't know nothing. But to say we know anything else concrete is ridiculous, and to be looking forward to what's next before most people have seen what's now is even more so.

It's ridiculous to suggest I said we know anything concrete. I was very careful not to use a word like that. Looking forward to what's next when a great director hints at what's next during the start of his publicity run for the current movie is human nature.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Clearly, someone of Paul Thomas Anderson's stature deserves a level of pre-judging that you would never go to for most directors.

I agree! It is perfectly reasonable to pre-judge that you'll probably like the latest movie from one of your favorite directors. 

[Montclair]

The pre-judging is a bit out of control.

Personally I haven't felt the need to seek out early reviews, beyond knowing it's not a disaster. You can't possibly know how the movie will hit you without seeing it, so why not just come to terms with that being a surprise? I don't understand the appeal of actively constructing a personal preconception.

What's out of control about pre-judging something based on what the filmmaker's have decided to give you(a trailer, synopsis, stills and interview) and on the feedback that critics/the public have decided to share? Everybody pre-judges art based on previews and word of mouth.

I guess knowing that a Paul Thomas Anderson movie is "not a disaster" isn't really enough for most fans. You can't possibly know how any movie will hit you without seeing it, so why not just watch every single movie in existence? I don't understand the appeal of actively trying to question people on trusting their preconceptions on a movie that the writer/director said was the result of needing to take a break from a much more challenging and longer work he was in the middle of.

It just feels like you're cherry picking reactions, q&a quotes, etc. to support your pre-determined view of the movie. If you are already considering it "minor" PTA that's fine, but I think objectively there's not a real reason to believe that. There's been every range of opinion so far, ranging from "It's my new favorite PTA" to "it's near the bottom", with pretty exceptional reactions overall. It's clearly far more than "not a disaster."

As for the scale of the film, I feel like you're really overreading into that quote about it being easy to make—he made it very clear he was referring to working with his friends, near home, etc. and not that he was just phoning it in on the writing side. Haven't seen any reviews calling it minor honestly—overly meandering/unfocused if anything, which could probably be said about just about any of his movies. If you're not a fan of PDL, The Master, Inherent Vice, that's fine, but all those movies received more or equally divisive reactions upon release than this is. (And my memory could be a little off, but looking back I'd put Phantom Thread on the same level as this one—got a lot of 4s/4.5s with some 3s right at the beginning, ratings just kept going up and up over time).

I'm not cherry picking anything, I'm reacting to what Paul decided to reveal about his writing process. I'm also reacting to many people comparing this to Lady Bird and saying it's a very fun movie. Lastly, I'm reacting to the trailer that made it seem to be on a more intimate small scale with two leads who(in my opinion) sounded a little stiff in their line readings.

I'm not overreacting to that quote(which never used the word "easy" btw). I'm, again, reacting to the trailer and Paul saying that he was struggling with what he wanted to be his next movie, so he stopped and decided to write something that was right in front of him. Also, the two main characters are family friends who don't have any acting experience and(IMHO) it slightly shows in the trailer. I would never accuse him of "phoning it in" so I'm not sure where you got that from. I just get the feeling that he lowered the bar as far as scale and level of challenge goes. I get that feeling from the way he talked about this project coming together. Also, I'm a huge fan of The Master and it had a trailer that blew me away both in the snippets we saw of the acting, the cinematography and the scale of the production. Also, in his first interviews about Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, The Master, Inherent Vice and Phantom Thread, he talked a lot about the amount of preparation he had to do to in order to get the details right and to try new styles of visual storytelling.

[wilberfan]

A momentary diversion.

What are the advantages of the limited-release-for-a-month-then wide vs everwhere-at-once for Licorice Pizza?  Back in the day I suppose it would have built word-of-mouth for a 'smaller' film, perhaps? 

Does all the social media activity actually help the film?  It raises awareness, sure, but does it also somehow 'lessen' the experience for most of the rest of the world that has to wait another 6 weeks when they finally get to see it?  With Paul being so 'secretive', doesn't delaying the release in the Age of Social Media just invite all manner of leaks, reviews, etc?  Or is all awareness good awareness?

3 full weeks of "industry" screenings in L.A. would seem to be a deliberate attempt to garner nominations, no?  (Too cynical?) 

I don't really know my marketing rules--how do you think this current strategy will serve the film?

[Montclair]

Clearly, someone of Paul Thomas Anderson's stature deserves a level of pre-judging that you would never go to for most directors.

I agree! It is perfectly reasonable to pre-judge that you'll probably like the latest movie from one of your favorite directors. 

I agree! It's perfectly reasonable to pre-judge that you'll like the latest movie from one of your favorite directors and still believe that the odds of you liking it on the level of some of his most impressive works are low based on the words that came out of one of your favorite directors' mouth.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Clearly, someone of Paul Thomas Anderson's stature deserves a level of pre-judging that you would never go to for most directors.

I agree! It is perfectly reasonable to pre-judge that you'll probably like the latest movie from one of your favorite directors. 

I agree! It's perfectly reasonable to pre-judge that you'll like the latest movie from one of your favorite directors and still believe that the odds of you liking it on the level of some of his most impressive work are low based on the words that came out of one of your favorite directors' mouth.

Are you going for cute or obnoxious? Playful argument is great, but your posts are approaching a level of annoyingness that hasn't been seen on this message board in a very long time. The troll-saturation-level of posts like these is way too high, my friend.

I know you're trying to construct clever debate posts, and that requires a certain level of bad-faith interpretation, but I think this is way simpler than you're willing to admit. Vaguely anticipating with generic optimism seems pretty different from constructing an elaborate preconception.

That said, I don't want to say "you're doing it wrong," because that seems confrontational and patronizing. If this is your path, there's no point in anyone trying to dissuade you.

[©brad]

Oh man this fucking movie really needs to come out soon.