Ep. 2: Ranking Every Paul Thomas Anderson Film | A PTA Retrospective

Few filmmakers inspire debate like Paul Thomas Anderson, and in this episode, we dive deep into his legendary filmography.

Miguel, Nic, and Spenser rank every Paul Thomas Anderson film and discuss what makes his storytelling style so distinctive, from intimate character studies to sweeping cinematic epics.

We explore the evolution of his craft, recurring themes, and why his films continue to resonate with audiences and critics alike.

Films Discussed Include:
• There Will Be Blood
• Magnolia
• Boogie Nights
• Phantom Thread
• The Master
• Licorice Pizza
• And more

If you're a PTA fan or just discovering his work, this episode is a must-listen.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:02

All right. Welcome to episode two of the Cinephile Mind. I'm Spencer, along with my co-hosts, Miguel and Nick. Our first episode was more of an introduction into what Cinephile Mind means to each of us, as well as a very brief discussion of some of our favorites all time, some of our guilty pleasures. Today we have more of a focused discussion. We'll spend some time going through Paul Thomas Anderson's filmography, appropriate timing, you know, given that he will likely be a potential directing favorite heading into award season, obviously with the release of One Battle After Another. He is, without question, one of the very best directors working today and has made some of our favorite movies. So we thought it was an appropriate topic of discussion for one of our early episodes to kind of go through his filmography and a give our own personal ranking as well as kind of a breakdown and discussion of each of those films. So there are 10 films in total that we will talk about. Our plan is to structure the discussion based on the release date. So we'll be going in chronological order, starting with his first film, and then going from there. We'll open with a brief synopsis of the film for those who haven't seen it. Obviously, we're going to be spoiling a lot in this discussion as well. So just be aware of that. So we'll have a brief discussion about the movie and then each say where this film ranks in our personal list of PTA's rankings. Speaking of rankings, one thing that Nick and I were chatting about before you joined Miguel too, and that I wanted to say is these rankings are fluid. Obviously, this is a point in time in which we feel, you know, how these rankings fall. They are always subject to change based on, you know, when they're viewed. I think a lot of these films, you know, almost demand multiple viewings in order to truly appreciate. And I think, you know, the phase of life that you're at, the feelings that they evoke based on those phases will influence how these rankings fall. I I don't know about you guys. I really enjoyed going back and revisiting a lot of these. There was a couple that I had not seen, so I viewed for the very first time, but it was a really fun exercise and a perfect way to spend some time having had a couple week break from work as well.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yeah, it really was the perfect activity between the Christmas and New Year's Eve, you know, week where, you know, I had nothing to do. Yep. We're off of work. So yeah, definitely enjoyed my time going through his filmography.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

Yeah, I I kind of as I was watching the movies, I I really wanted I don't know, I it was like I wanted it to uh also be something that I could have watched on the big screen because they were just so like great and immersive. So, you know, obviously I watched on like my TV or whatever, but yeah, as I was watching it, I'm just like I hope that whatever theater does, especially the Alamo probably does on uh PTA retrospective as well. Because I would love to watch some of these on the big screen since I hadn't seen a lot of them.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

Yeah, that's a great point. I think a lot of these are the experience is obviously enhanced if you won't get to see them in the theater, and there are very few that I actually got to see in the theater. So and these are all actually very good movies, too. I think obviously they're we will have our least favorites, you know, when we're specifically talking about PTA's filmography, but I found it, you know, for the most part, you know, it's pretty difficult task to rank these. You know, I think for me, there's like obvious tops and bottoms, but like those like middles are they're hard because they're all these are all pretty good movies.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Yeah, I think for the first time when putting together a ranking, it's actually perfect that he has 10 future films. So we could, you know, easily create a top 10.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

He obviously has his own flair and like themes that may appear across many or all of them, but it is still comparing like somewhat apples to oranges, even between some of his films. So yeah, it is tough to rank, but Hard Eight.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

1996. So synopsis of this one is veteran gambler Sydney befriends a young man named John transforming into a Las Vegas casino champion. John falls for a prostitute, and the couple soon finds themselves in need of Sydney's help. I will admit, I saw this movie for the first time several years ago. I did not rewatch it. So it has been a long time since I see since I've seen it. When I watched it, I did enjoy it a lot. But, you know, for me, obviously, this, you know, PTA made this when he was in like his early 20s, which is, you know, a remarkable work for a first film, a first, you know, full feature-length film. I would be surprised if any of you guys have this any higher than 10. I feel like to me, it's like at the bottom, when we look at his overall filmography, and you know, going forward, I will say I'm not gonna say the ranking right off the bat. I'm just, I'm just this is just how I'm kicking this one off. But I will save the ranking for the others at the end of the discussion. But I just wanted to make that point because I feel like as an artist, this is probably how it should be. Like this is how you would want. You know, you probably don't want your first work to be considered your very best, especially considering the number of films he's gone on to release. I think it's very clear he's evolved a ton as a filmmaker. But that being said, I think it's a very good movie. I would be interested to hear you guys' thoughts on it. But spoiler, I I do have this as 10 for him.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

It's actually top three for me. Wow. No, okay. But no, yeah, like you said, we're not gonna say we're right here until the very end of our our analysis for each movie. But yes, I agree. It is also number 10 for me. Simply because I I it it was just to me, it was just very apparent that that that he was holding back on his more like eccentric like tendencies from like you saw glimpses of like you know, kind of like his style, which is like more evolved in the next few, but oh for sure, yeah. Like from a like a stylistic like point of view, like having viewed obviously his later films, like he's exercising, I thought, like a lot of restraint with this film not allowing himself to go big yet, you know, with either style or emotion, which also kind of limits how deeply the the film uh landed for me specifically.

SPEAKER_03 7:48

I wonder, and I wonder if that's like a result of him being like so young and like maybe I, you know, was there an element of like discomfort? Because he's working with like pretty you know proven actors, like this, you know, it's a relatively stacked cast with Philip Baker Hall, John C. Riley, Gwyneth Paltrow, like as a mid-20s guy, like how I I I just wonder if that had any sort of yeah, you know, effect on, like you said, like he's not being as experimental or or bold as he gets in some of his later movies.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Oh, for sure. And I was thinking that it could another reason for it could potentially be like, you know, working like being hired as a director for this movie, even though it is his own movie, but he's working with a studio that would have more say on, like, you know, his artistic direction for the movie. I feel like that could also have been played a part. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

I think we also have to mention two short films that he worked on prior to Heart Eight, which were the Dirk Diggler story that went on to inspire Boogie Nights and then Cigarettes and Coffee, which kind of spawned Heart Eight. I watched both of those shorts on YouTube in the worst quality. It seemed like it was like scans of scans of scans of the film. So really low resolution, poor quality videos on YouTube of those two short films. But I don't know if the short film Cigarettes and Coffee that again inspired Heart 8 maybe influenced my rating or like perception of the movie, but you know, I kind of enjoyed it. I think the short film kind of had some more interesting ideas and elements that maybe were kind of fell by the wayside in the actual feature film. But I think Sydney, Philip Baker Hall's character, is probably the most interesting part of it and just sort of his like rules and pragmatism and kind of just his dark past, but how that's kind of contradictory to just how he kind of conducts himself around the other characters. So I actually gave it an eight, a heart eight.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Speaking of Philip Baker Hall, I thought he was the clear standout for me for sure. Uh he elevated the film, giving it its soul, really. With I thought with like each scene, like you learn more about his character without like him verbally really saying anything about like who he is. And like while you're not really sure why he's doing what he's doing, his performance gives you like the sense that he's right and a wrong, and you know, perhaps like a past regret, which is later confirmed in the movie. But it also must be said that Gwyneth Paucho, I thought was terribly miscast in the movie. She definitely played against Type here, but it just didn't work for me as much as you see her trying in the most like you know dramatic scenes later in the film playing Prostitute. I didn't think it worked and landed for me. Even though this was just like a year or two away from her, you know, Oscar win with Shakespeare in Love, and even you know, a couple years away from her work and great work in Talented Mr. Ripley, I it she just was not right for this role, in my opinion. I wonder what you guys uh think.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

I think subconsciously I was thinking that throughout the film. I don't know that I like that came to you know my mind immediately when I was watching it, but I mean as you're saying it, it does I mean, even the pairing of like John C. Riley and Gwyneth Paltrow seems yeah odd in hindsight, especially. But yeah. Definitely Philip Baker Hall stole the show. And I think I I did watch an analysis about the movie after, and it did kind of describe him like caring less about like the morality of things, right? And like obviously he's trying to make amends with John, John C. Riley Riley's character, but it's also more important for him to kind of have these like specific like rules and this level of respect and things, and I feel like that just is so clear throughout the whole film. And an interesting scene, and probably one of my favorites, was early on when they get in the car and they're driving to Vegas, and John C. Riley's character asks for a cigarette, and then when he realizes that Sydney's character only has matches instead of a lighter, he won't light a cigarette. And I felt like that was kind of an interesting way to like show these characters relating to one another and having like their own specific set of rules and like way of going about behaving in the world, because it kind of it seemed to like confuse Sydney why he wouldn't use matches, but then again, you kind of see that same behavior and like very strict set of sequence of things from Sydney's character in other scenarios. So I just thought that was kind of an interesting little sequence to play out.

SPEAKER_03 13:16

In the 10 films of PTA, where where does this one rank for you guys?

SPEAKER_00 13:24

It's a 10 for me.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

It's number 10. A respectful 10. Same. I agree. That's that's where I have it on my list as well.

SPEAKER_02 13:33

I do have it at eight. And again, I I wanted to view it separately from the short film, so I don't know how much the short influenced it for me, but I did enjoy the short film quite a bit. So I think maybe just knowing that how how I saw those characters kind of play out and that story play out, maybe influenced the feature for me. But yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Well, we definitely gotta check that out then. But I you know what? I mean, like, I think for me, my num my eight to ten films are pretty interchangeable. And I think at one point this past weekend that I did have this as number eight, as much as I wanted to also be like hard eight, eight. But I I ended up ultimately just you know made it ten because it was the less PTA feeling film of like the 10 films that we have here. But I do feel like the the the bottom three for me are kind of like you know in the same level.

SPEAKER_03 14:36

Yep, I agree with that. His second feature film, 1997's Boogie Nights. So synopsis for this one: in the San Fernando Valley in 1977, teenage busboy Eddie Adams gets discovered by porn director Jack Horner, who transforms him into adult film sensation Dirk Diggler. Brought into a supportive circle of friends, including fellow actors, Dirk fulfills all his ambitions, but a toxic combination of drugs and egotism threatens to take him back down. I love this movie. This is like one of those ones, you know, sort of like in the Magnolia vein where I watched it kind of when I was early on in my like Cinephile journey, and I was trying to discover all these films, and this one just made a huge impression on me. I get so much enjoyment out of it every time I re-watch it. Yeah, it's just fun and dark and funny, amazingly stacked cast. Like, I think it's just like he you could sort of see the flashes of brilliance that he had in Heart 8 just start to like he improves upon those with this one. I don't know if I have many weak points to call out for this one, other than maybe it's a length because it is a little long, but but yeah, I'm curious to hear what you guys think of this one.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

One thing on this one is, and I mentioned the two short films. I think for me, this one took the ideas of the Dirk Diggler story short film and just ran with them in such a big and awesome way. Whereas I think maybe Heart 8 had the opposite problem where the short was probably stronger than the feature film. But I agree. I mean, it was I think it just takes like that era and time and like the fashion and music and everything, and it's like poking at some of the absurdity of things. And one of the things that just jumped out to me as I was watching it was the character of Roller Girl, and just that she's always wearing her roller skates. And I think it's like one of those funny things that as you see it play out in the film, it doesn't even become a question of like, oh, that's so still funny and weird that she's wearing them. It just is part of that character, but obviously, in the whole like scheme of things, it's one of the most absurd things for this character to never take off her roller skates. But I feel like again, that just is like the whole film.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

It works. I re-watched it a couple days ago, and I I was just like floored how much like I love this movie, and this is the I feel like this is the movie where PTA really announces himself to the world that his talent is up there with the new wave of great filmmakers from the 90s who that debuted in the 90s along with Tarantino and Fincher. You know, so this movie is directed with I thought with so much confidence, you know, and miles away from his first film. He's so great with like world building and the world he built in this movie, like the corn industry in the 1970s, San Fernando Valley. It was just so incredible in that cast.

SPEAKER_03 17:53

Yeah. And there's so many like amazing, tense moments in this film. Like it it but this movie has one of my favorite ever scenes. You know, when they're when they're going into the house of the dealer, I think Alfred Molina is playing like the dealer, and it's just it's so chaotic. But you know, you've got the the like Chinese guy like throwing the noisemakers everywhere and popping them off, and the music is playing really loud, and they're just so tense, they're just there to like try to you know get these drugs and get a fix, and it's like the use of music and everything in that scene. It's one thing it's so well done.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

I love that scene too. And one thing that I don't know how subtle it was supposed to be, but that jumped out was as the kid was throwing the firecrackers, that Alfred Melinox character doesn't flinch at all while the others are like freaking out at each time. I just feel like that's so like just perfectly encapsulating that environment and and the chaos, but like yeah, just kind of that embrace of it. So that was definitely one of my favorite scenes from the movie.

SPEAKER_03 19:06

Yeah, and I mean he's and Burt Reynolds in this movie as well is just incredible. I I want to say I had read at some point that Burt Reynolds didn't like this movie and didn't I think he he regretted it. I didn't think that's it. Yeah, he regretted it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:30

Like which is crazy because it it is such a strong performance from even him. And I think maybe unlike what we talked about with Heart 8, I didn't feel like any of these characters felt miscast. It just felt like they were all exactly who they needed to be. I think another moment and character that I loved was Don Cheadle, who plays Buck in the Donut Shop. That was I think those are the two top scenes for me, and just that whole sequence of the other characters being shot and killed, and then him kind of grabbing up that cash, and then you later see him open his dream hi-fi stereo shop. I think that was just so visceral, you know, he's wearing the white suit, it gets splattered with the blood. It's like there's so many like perfect takeaways from that scene that it's just movie magic.

SPEAKER_03 20:23

Yeah, one thing that just came to mind, like just talking about the Burt Reynolds thing, I think also there was I think he and PTA sort of clashed a little bit, like there was a little bit of disagreement over you know certain things. And you know, the I wonder if this is sort of where PTA really started to get his like confidence as a as a director. Like if he's going up against Burt Reynolds, who is a legend, and who is disagreeing with him, like I think he's really very clearly like Yusuf Miguel, he's he announced himself as like uh one of the premier directors with that. There's you know, stacked casts, a lot of ego, a lot of egos to deal with and manage when you're working on something like this, and it's just so masterfully done.

SPEAKER_00 21:15

Pretty sure he regrets not having a great relationship with PTA now. You know, yeah, he could have been one of those like regular Paul Thomas Anderson cast members. Exactly. I mean, he Burt Reynolds and and of course Julianne Moore, their performances just stood out for me. Like Julianne Moore, her her character, her performance, I just thought was so lived in and so belongs like in that era. Like it's one of the I thought it was one of the greatest performances in a career full of great performances from hers. And looking at like the the Academy Awards, this is actually the first Paul Thomas Anderson film that garnered some nominations that. You know, that the cadmium finally took notice. It was nominated for best original screenplay. Paul Thomas Anderson was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, as well as Best Supporting Actress for Julianne Moore and Best Supporting Actor for Bert Reynolds. Wow. So he was even nominated for this movie.

SPEAKER_03 22:17

Yeah. Wow. That's cool. One other thing about this is I I typically don't I've never really been the biggest fan of Mark Wahlberg. But I mean, I think he's he shines in this movie. Obviously, he's pretty much a perfect fit for it.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

I was wondering who was gonna say something about Mark Wahlberg because I felt like I read somewhere, and I have to like double check this, but that wasn't Leon the Leo DiCaprio supposed to like play this role?

SPEAKER_03 22:51

Yeah, yeah, I think he would have been in consideration for it, but he did Titanic instead, right? I want to say that that's kind of the story.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

Yeah. Worked out, worked out for everyone. Yeah. No, but speaking of Mark Walbert, though, yes, he was less better word, annoying. Yeah. In this movie, I feel like the role itself just uh fits him or who he is. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:25

So as far as where this falls in my ranking for PTA, I have this at number three. It is one of my favorites.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

I have it at four. But I will say, and we'll get to my five later, I kind of had those interchangeable. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

I have it at number three as well. And I feel like I think it could be interchangeable with the number two movie as well. It depends like when you ask me. Yep. I just I think similar to the number two movie. It's it's emotional, but also very accessible, and it's not overly stylistic as his other films and could be enjoyed by casual film audiences, but also top-notch filmmaking. So I I love everything about Mickey Nights.

SPEAKER_03 24:17

So far, Miguel, you and I's rankings are a match. Ten and three. Okay. Yes. All right. Third film, Magnolia 1999. Synopsis for this one on one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host, and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story. Obviously, I think it's no secret where this one will fall on my list. It is, as I mentioned in the last episode, my all-time favorite movie. And ever since I saw it, it was number one for me. It it's it's stayed there. It for me personally is the type of film I love. It's sweeping drama. We get into the personal lives of all these different characters. They're all sort of pathetic in some way, but you come to feel so much for these people. And you know, it's all, you know, kind of all it starts out as everything's unrelated, but ties together at the end in this very kind of, I guess, epic finale. Another thing I love about this movie is just the the weirdness of it, like the it from like a filmmaking perspective, I feel like he made some very, very bold choices. And there are just weird things in this movie that to me just like really it worked for me. I could see it like in, you know, for some people potentially putting people off. For example, you know, like the use of the song in the middle of the film where like that song starts playing and all the characters are like singing the song and it's like cutting to each person singing it. Just a weird moment in the middle of the movie. And then obviously, of course, the end with the frogs falling from the sky. I just like I was so sucked into the complete strangeness of this film. But like to me, it's just like it's so emotional and it's just the type of movie I love.

SPEAKER_02 26:28

Yeah, I think I it's probably fair to say of the features that we've been talking about so far, and chronologically, this is probably the first one where you kind of want to take that step back and evaluate and analyze some of the deeper meaning of some of the decisions that were made and why certain things played out and how all the characters are connected. Yeah, I I really loved it too. I think that that final scene with Tom Cruise's character and his his father and saying, I won't grieve over you, is obviously one of the most emotionally conveyed things ever in a film. So uh I I loved it.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

No, I know to me, yeah. I Spencer, I know you love this movie. But yeah, it's it's always been uneven for me. And but it's one of those movies I admire more than I love, but it still hits me like emotionally every time. Like Paul Thomas Anderson like throws everything into it, really. Some of some of some of it works beautifully, I thought, and some of it definitely to me it didn't. But what I respect about Madnolia is how emotionally honest it is, and I feel like it is one of his more ambitious films up to that point in his career. The themes he explores in this movie, in this movie, are some of the most complex uh he's tackled in his career. And I admire, yeah, I admire that about the film. And you know, obviously Tom Cruise. Probably my favorite performance from Tom Cruise besides Jerry Maguire. But this is this is just like you kind of asked, like, why hasn't he worked with PTA since? You know, because it's been almost like what 30 years since no, or 25. 25, yeah. Yeah, yeah, since this film, and and he hasn't really, you know, had another performance like this great since.

SPEAKER_03 28:38

I totally agree. It's but it's my favorite Tom Cruise performance, and yeah, that that bedside scene with his dad is so moving. And like your your points are so well stated. I totally get how you could be a big admirer of this film, but not necessarily love it or you know find flaws in it, and it certainly is that way. I think it's very difficult to make an over three-hour film captivating and like make people want to watch it, but and I don't know, but every time I sit down and start this movie, it feels like, oh my god, this is gonna be over three hours long. There's no way I'm gonna watch this whole thing. Like I'm just sucked in, and I feel like it it's pretty well paced for a over three-hour movie. I'm I'm sucked in and watch it till the end.

SPEAKER_02 29:29

I also, and obviously, I I brought up the Tom Cruise kind of bedside scene, but I also would want to give an honorable mention that barring that scene, William H. Macy's performance was also mind-blowing from him in the bar, talking to the bartender, confessing his love, and then falling. That was an incredible performance.

SPEAKER_03 29:55

Yeah, yeah, and the scene where he's saying he has love to give, he just doesn't know where to put it is just heartbreaking. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

And I feel like the common thread there is in Madnolia are all these people who were hurt by their dad. Uh like, and pretty much all the all the people in that person in that child's life that were also affected because of it. Yes. Yeah, I feel like it deserves a rewatch, another rewatch for me. And I think it's one of those movies that it just gets deeper with each rewatch.

SPEAKER_03 30:41

So one other like honorable mention performance for me is John C. Riley in this movie. He's like so his character is so pathetic and just like weak. But I don't know, he's just like he's so honest and sincere, and you know, when it it's just I you don't you just get so sad for him, uh, especially when he loses his gun and he's you know crying and just so embarrassed about being a police officer loses his gun. I think there's so many performances in this movie that you could like make a case like, wow, that's like the best one in the film. Philip Seymour Hoffman. Yeah, it's I could spend all day talking about this one, but yes, obviously for me, this is my number one for PTA.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

And Philip Bakerhall as well. It's yeah, he was also great in this, and the the game show uh sequences were one of my faves from the movie.

SPEAKER_02 31:36

Yeah, yeah. I and you know, I haven't spent too much time thinking about all of the connections to that, but obviously that game show is kind of in the backdrop and sort of the glue with a lot of the characters' narrative and just even thinking about the game of being like win or lose, but then you have the kid kind of saying, you know, I'm not going up there to answer this like last question or like this last moment, and then at the end telling his dad, like you have to treat me better, kind of I can't remember exactly how he told him that, but I do feel like a lot of the characters were kind of making that choice of like no longer playing whatever game they were playing before. Right.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

Yeah, and it's kind of like with the kid realizing that early on in his life versus William H. Macy later on realizing like wow, I was you know, that entire career where I was pushed to do this by my dad really affected me in such a deep way.

SPEAKER_02 32:45

Cool. I I have the movie at three for myself.

SPEAKER_03 32:50

Good ranking.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

I have the movie at six.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

Next one is a bit of a departure, I would say, for PTA, at least up to this point. We have Punch Drunk Love 2002 Synopsis, a socially awkward and volatile small business owner meets the love of his life after being threatened by a gang of scammers. Yeah, I think I this is another one that I I really love this movie as well. It's it's very uh of the films that he's released up to this point, very much against the grain. We see a 90-minute film versus his typical two and a half hour plus kind of more epic features up to this point. We also see Adam Sandler, Casting, who at this time is, you know, late 90s, early 2000s, known, I would say, almost exclusively as a goofy comedic actor. So it was a you know, he's making another bold choice here by going with Adam Sandler in a more dramatic role. But I love this movie. I think I I love Adam Sandler's performance in this. I think he shows his acting chops. But yes, this is to me, this is another really strong film from his filmography.

SPEAKER_02 34:14

I think for me, the maybe the shorter runtime and then kind of smaller scale of it. I like to see PTA play in like a bigger arena and some of his like wilder, more grand ideas playing out. And I think Punch Drunk Love doesn't go as far as some of his other films. So I probably have this lower on my list than maybe at least you, Spencer. But curious about Miguel's thoughts on too.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

I really enjoy this movie and going doing a rewatch of it and seeing like a 90-minute runtime. I was like, oh wow. Yeah, breath of fresh air. I know, especially after Madnolia, three hours. Yeah. But yeah, it's just one of those movies that that just gets what it feels like to be to live inside anxiety. Like PTA doesn't just like tell the story, he builds this entire movie around Adam Sandler's characters, Barry, Barry's nervous system. So like the colors are loud, the sound design is like stressful, the score.

SPEAKER_03 35:27

Yeah, the score is like always there, and the background's sort of creating a little bit of tension.

SPEAKER_00 35:33

Yeah, and Adam Sandler was you know kind of incredible here, the same way like we were talking about Lynn Mark Walbert, and these are two characters that have very limited range, really. But like PTA just knew that this character was perfect, would be perfect for Adam Sandler, and it was, you know, and just seeing like his comedic side, but also like his more like you know, vulnerable side here in this movie was great. And I'm sure like after seeing like Happy Gilmore and you know Waterboy and all those other movies, it was like a breath of fresh air, really.

SPEAKER_03 36:13

Yeah, one thing PTA does really well, I feel like you know, he's he adapts these he takes like source material and adapts it in his own way. Like obviously one battle after another is loosely based on a novel, inherent vice, loosely based, you know. He but you know, I think you know, the part of Aries' character in this movie where he's you know he's like trying to communicate with the what is it like Snackwell or Pudding Company about their airline miles deal and how it's like you know that it's they're getting ripped off. Like that's based that's like based on a real thing that happened. Some guy figured it out. And I think he just kind of like took that and kind of adapted it into this whole story, which he is he's he's just a master at.

SPEAKER_02 37:07

I think Philip Seymour Hoffman's performances also just you have to mention him in in all of his. You have to mention him in everything, I feel like. Uh and I feel like he didn't have a whole lot of screen time, but he used it all.

SPEAKER_03 37:23

That's that mattress man. Yeah, that's a that's a great reveal when he comes into the movie. Rankings-wise in PTA's list. I have this as my number five.

SPEAKER_02 37:35

I have this at six.

SPEAKER_00 37:38

I enjoy this movie a lot, but it's just right below medanoia for me, number seven.

SPEAKER_03 37:45

Next one up on our list, we have There Will Be Blood 2007. Synopsis here ruthless silver miner turned oil prospector Daniel Plainview moves to oil-rich California using his adopted son HW to project a trustworthy family man image. Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives. I was I re-watched this very just a few days ago. It had been a while since I'd seen it. And I think obviously now that we've, you know, completed a quarter of this century, we're starting to see these media releases, you know, their top films of the century so far. This one seems to be consensus, you know, top five in all of those. So it's made a huge impact and did when it came out. This, of course, is also the film Quinn Tarantino referenced when he was making his comments about Paul Dano being a weak actor, which those comments I think released the wolves in Dano's favor. But but Tarantino had said this would be his number one if not for Dano. But that's beside the point. I think this was for me. This is another one where like if I I saw it in theaters when it came out in 2007 as an 18-year-old, absolutely did not appreciate it at that time. So it's always fun to go back and re-watch this one. But it is, I think, I don't know what you what what hasn't been said already that you can say here. It's truly one of the best ever made. One thing that stood out to me in this rewatch is that I found myself laughing quite a bit. I think it's funnier than I remember. The interplay between Plainview and Eli is quite hilarious. Like, you know, the scene where Eli like goes to Daniel and then you know asks, you know, can I say a blessing at the well for tomorrow's ceremony? And you know, he's like, Yeah, that's fine. But then comes time to it, he brings the girl up, he does the blessing himself. And you know, I think just I was I kept laughing at like Daniel's seething hatred that is visible on his face anytime Eli enters the scene. I just found that to be so funny.

SPEAKER_02 40:15

But I had that exact scene with the blessing of the that kind of opening ceremony is one of my favorite moments of the movie. I I guess I'm curious what you guys are like what drove his immediate hatred of that character. Is it that he's demanding something from him and it's getting in the way of his own desires?

SPEAKER_03 40:42

Yeah, I I think I see it as he's just a he's blocking him to achieving like up to that point, he had been pretty successful in you know, easily conning these people into giving up the land, and Eli is just coming at him with a lot more suspicion, and obviously he hates that. I think I also the fact that Eli is a very religious person and is active in the church, and obviously that's not something that's important to Daniel, and he keeps getting pulled into that. Some great scenes there. I think he's just the true antagonist to Plainview, and it's just and you know, it's infuriating.

SPEAKER_02 41:36

Yeah, I think the obviously the kind of opening ceremony scene is interesting, and then another one that jumped out to me that I think also characterizes that that attitude that he has is you see that shot kind of afterwards, and he pulls the little girl over, Mary, I think is her name, and he's like telling her, you know, don't let your dad hit you. And I I don't remember where he learned that that was happening, but he's kind of comforting her and telling her, you know, don't let this happen.

SPEAKER_03 42:06

It's HW, yeah. I think HW like tells Daniel that yeah, and then his dad is hitting her, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:12

Kind of after he, you know, she runs off, and then it immediately cuts to you see her father all the time.

SPEAKER_03 42:18

They're sitting at the table together, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:20

And it's like he's using he's only concerned with like cutting anyone out of his conquest to achieve his ambitions. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

Yeah, I kind of wish I did uh did a rewatch of this movie because it is one of my favorite films of all time, and that's not secret at all, but it feels like with this one, it feels like something was unearthed rather than like like directed or made by PTA, like telling this like story of like uh about ambition and isolation and and Daniel Day Lewis for me. I think this is just one of the very best performances ever put on screen. No doubt. If not the best male performance I've seen. So I I wish I had done another rewatch of this so I can talk about specific film specific scenes in this movie, but it's I knew it was gonna be a solid blank ranking for me, so I didn't, but I yeah, I did want to call out two other things, one being because I was just curious after watching the the opening scene where they're drilling this test well, and you know, I kind of looked at the time on the the buffer time, and it was like 15 minutes into the film and still no dialogue.

SPEAKER_02 43:52

So you're just seeing this whole sequence play out. But it again used every moment of that. It didn't feel like boring or like It was just like so compelling. The other thing worth calling out, which I'm sure is talked about uh at length, but I think this was his first time working with Johnny Greenwood from Radiohead on the score.

SPEAKER_03 44:13

That's exactly what I was about to say.

SPEAKER_02 44:15

And I I feel like obviously even some of the earlier films that he's worked on, the music is important, but I think this film is the first one where it's like its own character, the music throughout the whole food film.

SPEAKER_03 44:29

Yes. And he's continued to work with him on every film since. So like they are a pair now. Yeah, no, that that was the exact point I was gonna make was yeah, this was his first collaboration with Johnny Greenwood, and yeah, just the the way he I don't know, it he's just like a remarkable and versatile musician. Yeah, it just it just elevates the film in so many so many ways. So I I loved getting to rewatch this one.

SPEAKER_00 45:00

It had been several years since I'd uh revisited it, but not a second of the film feels wasted, like every frame like feels uh very intentional, nothing feels accidental. Uh this is like PTA at his like artistic peak, I think. And and it's just such confidently directed.

SPEAKER_03 45:26

The I don't know, just like the the set design here and like the like just like the scale of everything, it's so impressive and so well done. Like this deserves all the praise that it gets as being one of the best films ever. It notably obviously did not win best director or best picture at the Oscars for that year. That was the no country for old men. Yeah, no, which is a great film. I would be curious, you know. You know, it's fun to have these discussions, but I, you know, I would I wonder if these both of these same films were released today, would we will we have the same result?

SPEAKER_00 46:04

I think at the time that I saw both movies, I think I would have picked in my head, yeah, I was No Country for Old Man was the movie I was pulling for. But obviously had so much admiration for There Will Be Blood, but but There Will Be Blood really has stayed with me all these years. And it is the movie that really got the Academy to like notice Paul Thomas Anderson with this movie.

SPEAKER_03 46:31

He received the move, the film received eight Austin nominations, so it was across the board, like very well loved, and um yeah, and obviously Daniel Day Lewis won best actor for this one, which is as you mentioned, one of the best performances uh ever, and very worthy of that one. So, yeah, for me, this is very, very, very solidly number two on my list. I'm biased to Magnolia, but you know, this could be one in one A for me.

SPEAKER_02 47:07

Boring answer, but this is my number one.

SPEAKER_00 47:10

I know, same.

SPEAKER_03 47:11

I wish I I think it's it's probably the right answer, though.

SPEAKER_00 47:15

I mean, yeah, but at the same time, artist artists objective. And you know, they're having Magnolia's number one is not wrong, you know, at all. So like, yeah, yeah, it is number one for me as well.

SPEAKER_03 47:31

So after 2007, we move on to his 2012 release, which is the Master synopsis here. Freddie, a volatile, heavy drinking veteran who also suffers from PTSD, finds some semblance of a family when he stumbles onto the ship of Lancaster Dodd, the charismatic leader of a new religion he forms after World War II. This is another one I re-watched very recently, and I think probably like There Will Be Blood on when I first saw this one. I don't think I appreciated it fully. For me, I I know I made the point in the introduction that, like, you know, a lot of these films probably require multiple viewings to truly appreciate. For me, this one stands out as the one that probably demands multiple viewings more than any other PTA film. There is so much here to unpack. Unpack, yes, and that you you would never be able to truly appreciate after after a first watch. Just like the relationship between these two. I I I to me, this is also one like this one, I think, could shift in rankings. Like it's the most movable for me. I I had trouble putting it where I did, but that's probably only because I've seen it like two or three times. I think if if ever watch it more, it could move up. Two of like Philip Seymour Hoffman and Walking Phoenix in this movie are like outside of Daniel Day-Lewis and There Will Be Blood, maybe like some of the best acting you will ever see in any movie.

SPEAKER_00 49:20

I feel like those three performances belong in like PTAs like Mount Rushmore of like best performances. That fourth one would be something that we could debate about. But yeah, those three for sure. This film specifically, I actually really connected with a lot pretty deeply, especially as someone you know out there, the Navy before. The post-service limbo Freddie was in felt very real to me, even though you know that's obviously very different. That's post-World War II, and you know, this is we're in modern times now, but you know, you go from like living inside structure and routine to suddenly having none of it, and you're just expected to figure out who you are on your own, and that pull towards Philip Seymour Hoffman's character, to me, didn't feel like looking for something that's like, you know, that he needed to believe in as far as like religion goes, but so much as wanting direction, like purpose, and someone to tell you where you fit again. But it's also obviously a commentary on uh on organized religion itself, specifically Scientology. But the film to me really nailed that sense of restlessness and disconnection for me. It keeps you at a distance emotionally, but that that distance also feels very intentional and in a way makes the the experience even more honest. But yes, I agree with you, Spencer. It's one of those movies that that grows richer with each uh viewing. So looking forward to like actually just re-examine this film, you know, again in the future.

SPEAKER_02 51:15

Yeah, I I definitely need to re-watch it. I've only seen it the one time. Obviously, the performances of Joaquin and Philip Seymour Hoffman jump out. And then I think just the kind of like cult mentality and obviously like turning someone turning, someone who's lost, as Miguel mentioned, turning to you know, a group of people who seem to have the answers. You just have to go through the right steps and procedures to unlock those answers. And then, you know, that end scene or one of the scenes towards the end with the the book, I think there was the book release, and Laura Dern's character is sitting down with Philip Seymour Hoffman, and she calls out the kind of inconsistency or change that he had made in the book to their onboarding sequence. That just struck me immediately. And it's like that's how a lot of these organized cults or other organizations operate, is conveniently changing the rules or the the beliefs.

SPEAKER_00 52:23

Whatever fits their narrative, their current narrative, yes.

SPEAKER_03 52:26

And he just like snaps at her and shuts her down immediately. Like when she's questioning about it, he's basically just like fuck off.

SPEAKER_00 52:32

Yeah, like no one that's what it is.

SPEAKER_02 52:34

I think I I guess our you know, maybe we're supposed to understand from that point on, it's like the the group embraces that new way of things, right? Rather than continuing to challenge it, they're going to just go along with that being the way things are.

SPEAKER_03 52:51

Yeah. Yeah, and you see just the absurdity that comes along with some of these, you know, especially the more extreme cults with just the the stuff that they're asking Freddie to do, like walking back and forth in the room and touching the wall and describing how it feels, and for just hours and hours on end for seemingly no purpose at all. And like you just like think you feel for Freddie in that moment because you like he's reacting how any normal person would react, where he's just like getting so frustrated.

SPEAKER_02 53:27

He's just like, it's a wall, it's a wall, it's a and then you know it is interesting seeing like he was interacting with Amy Adams' character in that sequence of her asking him to imagine her eyes changing colors, and then you do visually see that happening, kind of signifying like he's bought into whatever their way of viewing things is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:52

Seemingly, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:53

Yeah. Seemingly.

SPEAKER_03 54:00

I struggled with where to put this one. I I feel like it's probably one that will move up over time, but you know, I have it at number six right now, even though it's it's it's very strong.

SPEAKER_02 54:11

I have it at seven, and I think this would be one of those ones where it's so close, and I have I would have it really, I would have it tied with punch drunk love for me.

SPEAKER_00 54:21

I have it at number four, but I I think the top seven are just so strong. Especially like from four to seven, they're all just very strong, and I hate to actually give them like a lower ranking, but also strong.

SPEAKER_02 54:37

So uh I also think some of his weaker movies could easily be in the top of someone else's filmography.

SPEAKER_00 54:44

That's no question about it. Yeah, yeah. Like, I think we can all agree that there is no bad film here.

SPEAKER_03 54:51

No, agreed. Yep. All right. Let's move on to the next one. Inherent Vice 2014. In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Doc Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend. So I just viewed this one for the first time very recently. I I think I, you know, honestly had been a little bit swayed by the reviews and the critics and hearing that, you know, it's not his strongest. It seems like people don't like this one as much. And I had heard that before I watched it, so I just for whatever reason avoided it. But I actually found myself really liking this. I thought it was, you know, I was laughing a lot, I thought it was funny, it's quite absurd, you know, the performances are good. I think, yeah, I think it's it's one of those like this to me, sort of is the example of the point you just made, Miguel, where it's like, if this were any other direct, you know, some other directors, it could be like their masterpiece, but in PTAs, it's probably not quite as strong. But I did enjoy this one more than I thought when I was going into it. I think just because of how funny it was and just like uh absurd and and ridiculous what it was. And this is also another one that's adapted from a Thomas Pinchon novel, Inherent Vice, which I have not read, so I don't know how true or faithful it is to the book.

SPEAKER_00 56:20

I think it was very faithful.

SPEAKER_03 56:22

Okay. So One Battle is the other Pinchon novel that he adapted from, which is very different, I think. But but yeah, I it to me, it's a perfectly enjoyable movie.

SPEAKER_02 56:36

I would say for me, this was one of the ones where I immediately, upon the credits rolling, realized I needed to rewatch it. I I did get lost a number of times, and I know that that's part of it is kind of playing into the counterculture and hippie vibe of things and sort of throwing you into that confusion. But it also definitely had some gems, like they made several jokes about him being a hippie. There was a scene with like the the girl giving him the credit card, and she was like, Don't hippies have them. That was funny to me. And then um Jade, that character by Hong Chao, I believe. She was so funny, and like every time she was on screen was just I was like, Oh my gosh, what craziness is about to unfold with her.

SPEAKER_03 57:31

Yeah, and then like he's Doc's character is he, you know, he's obviously like stoned basically throughout the entire movie. So I think you he has this perception, or or he comes across to others as like he's just this stoner hippie kind of loser guy, but he's actually very smart, and like his ability to actually operate as a detective is is impressive. So he's very he's actually very good at what he's doing, but he just the situations he gets, you know, and he uncovers this kind of bigger kind of conspiracy that's actually going on. So like that that element of it is funny, but everyone's you know, it's kind of a commentary on that time as well.

SPEAKER_00 58:18

I didn't like this movie as much as you guys did, but um it's probably the PTA movie I struggle with the most, and the story just never fully clicks for me. But I it like you said, Nick, I should just like re-watch it again, and you know, and the intentional confusion kept me like at an arm's length emotionally, and but that said, I really admire the technical side of it. I mean, as soon as you press play, it's just everything about it. The thing about it was just so gorgeous, just beautiful, the lighting, it's just visually, it's just probably one of his one of his best films visually, which I didn't say about mention when we were talking about the master, which is also just so look at. But yes, inherited vice is also one of those, just really beautiful films.

SPEAKER_02 59:13

One sort of Easter egg that I caught that I thought was pretty fun is well, so PTA's partner is Maya Rudolph, and he had cast her as a interception role in the film, but also her mom is a singer from that era, so they had her song playing in the background as they were. I don't know if she they were introduced to Minnie Ripperton song. So fun Easter egg.

SPEAKER_03 59:39

That is a cool Easter egg, yeah. I had I had no idea. I knew that they were married in real life, but yeah, having that song is cool detail.

SPEAKER_02 59:48

And Miguel, I don't know if I it is as high on my list. It's actually my last place movie number 10.

SPEAKER_03 59:56

I actually have it at seven.

SPEAKER_00 59:59

I have it at nine.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:01

Yeah, that's probably it's you know, consensus seems to be it's one of the the weaker of his filmography. But like I said, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would going into it. Okay, let's move on to Phantom Thread 2017. Renowned dressmaker Reynolds Wilk Woodcock and his sister Cyril are at the center of British fashion in the 1950s London, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, and debutants, women come and go on Woodcock's life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship. His carefully tailored existence soon gets disrupted by Alma, a young and strong-willed woman who becomes his muse and lover. So I will say I basically watch this back to back with There Will Be Blood. I cannot believe this is the same actor. Just speaking to Daniel Dalis' performance, it's that is just a remarkable it just watching those back to back that I can't believe that's the same person. Yeah, I think for me, what resonated having seen this the second time, this is, I think, another one that very clearly requires at least two times watching before you can truly appreciate it. I feel like this movie is like what this movie is about is explained early on in the film. Reynolds is having a conversation with Cyril, his sister, where he's sharing with her how he's starting to have dreams about his mother. And like obviously his mother is kind of a has been a central figure in his life. We know no background, it's never explained. Uh, she's I guess she's probably dead. Uh, we can, I think that can be assumed, but as far as their relationship, there's no other than the fact that we know that she taught him the craft of dressmaking, uh, we don't know anything about their relationship, but I think that's sort of is kind of what this movie is about. You kind of see that play out in the tumultuous relationship that he develops with Alma.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:06

I yeah loved this movie, and I thought visually it was maybe one of his strongest. Obviously, some of the high style and like polish that it has, and obviously necessitated with just him in that sort of industry. Loved it. I loved some of the tension that they were building with Almo's character, and I think it was her debut role, was it not?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:31

Yeah, I don't know what else she's in it in. Vicky creeps, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:35

And that to me is such a strong. Yeah, I don't think like not that many people can steal or you know, steal a movie or a scene from Daniel Day Lewis, but like, you know, she was right there.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:51

There's yeah, there's a specific scene that like sticks out to me where I can't recall exactly, but like they're sitting down together, just he and she and Reynolds, and she's just getting so frustrated with like his rigidity and like routine. And I I just the way she reacted in that moment, she's like kind of fumbling over her words, but she's expressing frustration that I felt to me so real and relatable, and like how it you would have with any argument with someone close to you where you're expressing frustration. Yes, I just she's so believable, especially in that moment.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:32

I also found like there was funny moments in this movie too. Yeah, there's the scene where she's like dragging her teeth on the silverware and it's like braiding him, and his face and reaction is so like disgusted and horrified. And this was, I think, after they either engaged or married or whatever. So yeah, you know, their relationship kind of flourished in that way, but then he's like becoming disgusted with her in this other way. Yeah, there was just so many little funny moments and and instances throughout the movie.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:07

Yeah, I I just really love this movie. Like, like on the surface, like it's very elegant and controlled, but uh like underneath all of it, it's kind of like it's actually very twisted. It's a twisted romance, you know, it's a power struggle between the two. But like right when you start thinking that Alma would break and start conforming to like you know, what Daniel Day Lewis's character like wants in a in a partner, and you know, almost like silencing them. Like she gets the upper hand and she does things that you know that are unconventional, you know, I think to get what she would want from a partner.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:58

And I'm curious if you guys kind of had this like one of your top moments, but them retrieving the dress from oh yeah, I don't recall who the character was was one of the best sequences, and I think that was one of the first times where he kind of like gave in to her sort of energy, yes. But obviously, her kind of recognizing that his craft was so important to him and not having his like name and brand displayed being so important to him, but that whole moment from then on was like incredible.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:32

What do you guys think? Obviously, you know, the the in the very ending scene kind of reveals what we as the viewer don't know, or at least for me, right? Like you sort of see that Reynolds is in on this whole thing, and and that's why I think it very much requires that second viewing. Because if you go into it knowing that, you can sort of pick up on additional details, like, you know, I think it's a The their just their relationship is it it illuminates so much more about their relationship because you sort of, at least when I first watch it, you're kind of like don't understand what's going on between them, and you're like, why, why she keep doing this? But then obviously the end it kind of it's revealed, which makes this a little bit of a twist. Yeah, definitely. I will say, like, I I struggle with this one though. I have it while very like this. Is another one that I think you know it's one of the middle ones. I have it as I have it at eight. But it could be as high as like four. I've heard you know, I've read and seen so many things where like people think this is his best.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:53

Oh yeah. New Year's Eve scene. Of course. Yeah. For me, it's number five. I ended up with number five, but I kept going back and forth between the master as number four and number five, but yes, number five.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:07

I have it at four. I also think, you know, the we talked about the kind of two leads in there, uh Daniel Day Lewis and the sort of interplay of those two characters, but even Cyril, his sister, I mean, she was such a strong role in every scene she had. Again, visually stunning, great sound. I think the music again. Yeah, that whole New Year's Eve party. I I mean, there's just so many things to talk about with it. So I I was a really big fan and want to rewatch it, but yeah, I have it for.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:42

Yeah, this is another one of those, like going back to Johnny Greenwood where you like you just like you see how talented and like diverse of an artist he is. Like the fact that like the music in this film to me, so like it just of it just feels like it's of that time. And and it, but it's so different than like the other scores for his other movies. It's but it's so fitting in this movie.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:10

Yeah, as far as Austria nominations go, for this one was nominated for best pitcher, best director, best actor, best supporting actress, leslie Manville, best original score, Johnny Greenwood, and and it won best costume design.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:27

Deservingly deservingly, fittingly. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:32

That was the only when?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:35

For this one, yeah. Uh the next one, 2021 Licorice Pizza, the story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973. Yeah, this one for me is it's like uh looser, I guess. Like the storyline is not as there's not as much there as I feel like there is in a a lot of other PTA films. I feel like there's not, you know, where something like the Master where there's so much there to unpack. I don't get that as much in this film. And I think the type of movie it is, you know, it's like a romance, it's people who are younger. It it's not as it doesn't captivate me as much as some of his other stuff, you know, because I tend to like the more like experimental, you know, more I don't know, psychologically deep narratives, and this doesn't have as much of that. I think it's I enjoyed it, but it's definitely towards the bottom on my list. Like the when I think of this movie, like I think I will always think of that scene in there are some funny moments, but the scene in the where they're in like the moving truck and they've run out of gas, and it's like she's backing it down the the hill, uh, is so good. But yeah, for me, it's just like this one doesn't hit as hard as some of his other ones.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:15

It wasn't doing anything that his other movies didn't do already, but what it was doing wasn't as high achieving as those other movies. It got the style of the era right, but it wasn't as immersive, it got the sound and set and acting and all of it done well, but it just didn't draw you in as much. Yeah. The the truck going down the hill scene stuck out. I think the motorcycle jump scene, that was another interesting moment. Yep. But again, the highs of this film weren't as high as his other films.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:57

Yeah, I mean, obviously we have Cooper Hoffman, Philip Seymour Hoffman's son, who plays the main character in this movie, which is a cool, you know, detail. I probably nod to him having worked with Philip Seymour Hoffman through so many of his movies up to that point. So that's cool. But yeah, for me, this one is number nine just above Heart Eight.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:23

To me, it was number eight, but now I'm like, now that we're talking through it.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:29

Yeah, I'll keep it at number eight, but I I did enjoy Heart Eight more than this, so uh I have it at number nine, but yeah, I I could see it being interchangeable with Heart Eight or Inherent Vice. Also funny that we didn't address the the one elephant in the room with the film, but we can move on from the uh age gap element oh yes. Yes, that is weird.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:58

I mean, we can address it if you want.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:00

I mean, we don't have to.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:02

I'm gonna address well, there is a there's a scene too in the movie where she addresses it herself where she's like talking to her sister and she's like, Do you think it's weird that I'm hanging out with Gary and his 15-year-old friends? And she's like, Yeah, I think it's I think it's weird that I'm doing this. But that's like the only acknowledgement toward it. So yeah, it is sort of weird, especially considering how the film ends, where she's like telling him he loves she loves him. But yeah. Yeah, solid number nine for me.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:36

Number nine. We're not supporting.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:42

All right, so we've arrived at the final one. One battle after another. We I'm sure we may spend more time talking about this as we get through award season. Synopsis Bob is a washed-up revolutionary who lives in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited and self-reliant daughter Willa, when his evil nemesis resurfaces and Willa goes missing. The four more radical scrambles to find her as both father and daughter battle the consequences of their past. Um, this is very solidly one of my favorite of 2025. I just from PTA perspective, I feel like it's his most accessible film. You know, it's more for you know, mass audiences probably enjoy this, you know, more than a lot of his other films. Love the performances. I think I think Sean Penn's performance in this is one of my favorites in all of PTA's filmography. He's just so I don't know, he's just such a freak in this movie. It's in in the weirdest and best way. But but yeah, I I don't know how much we want to talk about it, but it's one of my favorites of the year, easily.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:01

I I would agree. Maybe the yeah, I almost find it interesting the comment about it being more accessible. I I can see that, but I also can see like so many small details and like questions that I would have about the movie or the characters or why certain things played out the way they did, or even just the state of the world that's being portrayed and how it mirrors what's maybe happening in the real world, but then in a lot of ways there's different differences that are pretty apparent as well. So I I left the movie like clear on what was being said, but I still was asking questions. So, you know, it was accessible to an extent, but hey, what are these questions there? Why? No, I don't know. I think the car chase scene was one of the most well-executed cat and mouse chases I've ever seen played out in a film. It didn't take like this typical movie, like need for speed, like high-speed chase. It was like drawn out and slow and dragging me along with it.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:20

I will say seeing that in a gigantic IMAX screen was quite a thrill. It was especially that scene. Like I was almost like getting motion sickness from it because of just how you know you're like going over and through those hills. Yeah, that was a very you know, car chase scenes are done to death, but I I felt like that was like a totally new and unique perspective and way to shoot one of those scenes, which was really fun, really well done.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:51

Yeah, something that only Paul Thomas Anderson can do. Like, no, I I think it's just the perfect way to end a film in that you know, car scene. Obviously, there's there's still like uh 15 or so minutes after that movie, but it's just that scene itself elevated an incredibly well-made movie already. So it's one battle after another is definitely one of my favorite films of 2025 and is up there as far as Paul Thomas Anderson filmography goes.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:27

This one comes in for me at number four.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:32

This one for me is number two.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:35

I also have it at number two. Alrighty, thank you so much for joining the Cinephile Mind on this Paul Thomas Anderson retrospective. We hope you enjoyed it. Please check out more of our content coming soon and hit us up on social media at thesinephile mind as well as our website, thesinephilemind.com.