paul thomas anderson

posts about #paulthomasanderson more →
The Rules of Director Jail
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An Open Letter to P.T. Anderson on the Occasion of 'There Will Be Blood''s Miserable DVD Release
Paul Thomas Anderson: Crazy Asshole, Apparently Liked Juno
Overthinking 'Blood': What Did Daniel Plainview Tell Eli?
Clues To Tony Soprano's Fate Lie In Santa Monica Whole Foods
Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle

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belltolls
11/24/09

In reply to The Rules of Director Jail
Darren Aronofsky has a lifetime cool exemption...as he should.
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belltolls was starred belltolls was unstarred

snugbug
11/24/09

@belltolls: For π, I assume? Since Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain and The Wrestler were all crimes in the first degree against cinema. But π.. yes. Very interesting indie.
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belltolls
11/24/09

@snugbug: Pi and Requiem (and I actually liked the Fountain but I understand it sucks) but if Aronofsky has crimes what in Holy Hell is it that M Night does?
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snugbug
11/24/09

@belltolls: I can't really muster much hate against M. Night Shama-Lama-Ding-Dong because he excreted two thriller classics, The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. He's been coasting along and flogging his one-trick pony narrative device to death since, but I still think he's got something ELSE to say.
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raincoaster
11/24/09

In reply to The Rules of Director Jail
As ever, "Make somebody shitloads of money" = "Get out of jail free" card
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Juancho
11/24/09

In reply to The Rules of Director Jail
John Lee Hancock has always had cash rolling in as an in-demand screenwriter (particularly on rewrites). Kind of a nice gig to fall back on.

I should add, not directing The Alamo is quite possibly the smartest thing Ron Howard ever did.
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Edited by Juancho at 11/24/09 7:47 PM Juancho was starred Juancho was unstarred

PaisleyPajamas
11/24/09

In reply to The Rules of Director Jail
On "The Grosses Speak Law," doesn't this have its tentacles in "The Big Cool Friend Exemption?" Not in terms so much of getting household names committed to your next project, but having industry names follow through on the marketing of your film that can make or break gross receipts? There are numerous examples of good films not getting the studio backing they needed to launch and can only aspire to be a Donnie Darko-esque film instead.
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Edited by PaisleyPajamas at 11/24/09 7:21 PM PaisleyPajamas was starred PaisleyPajamas was unstarred

SpikeLives
11/24/09

In reply to The Rules of Director Jail
Ah, I was just asking someone what ever happened to Jan De Bont. But you have forgotten a couple of people. Paul Verhoeven and Michael Cimino!
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snugbug promoted this comment SpikeLives was starred SpikeLives was unstarred

CitizenTian
11/24/09

@SpikeLives: An excellent pair of candidates. From 'Robocop' to 'Showgirls', incredible.

And Cimino is the shining star, as 'Heaven's Gate' destroyed United Artists and forever crippled Hollywood director autonomy. How many bad directors these days can make that same claim?

I would also suggest Peter Jackson, as much as it pains me to do so. He really killed it with King Kong, and I think he's gotten so much stature at this point that it's gotten difficult to edit the man or keep him on a budget. I don't have high hopes for this new flick. It will not be Heavenly Creatures.

Quentin Tarantino ought to be in director jail just to knock some fucking sense back into his over-inflated head. The shame palace that Kevin Smith currently inhabits would be a welcome abode.
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snugbug promoted this comment CitizenTian was starred CitizenTian was unstarred

snugbug
11/24/09

@SpikeLives: Ah! Paul Verhoeven.. One of my fave directors of all times. Also apt to mention him here, since Jan De Bont was his DP on the wonderful Turkish Delight , and they both first achieved fame with that movie.

Anyway, Paul Verhoeven went back to Holland and made a riveting comeback in 2006 with Black Book.

Michael Cimino hasn't done anything film-related since the mid-'90s. Instead, he published a novel and morphed into a woman via multiple plastic surgeries.
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Juancho
11/24/09

@CitizenTian: Peter Jackson is in Spielberg/Lucas territory, probably right above James Cameron. He's a billionaire. You have to include WETA and everything (as capital), but he's probably close in pure cash.

It was before LOTR, when he had to shoot the "test" footage, that everything was on the line. He was afraid that if he and Fran screwed it up, they'd never work in Hollywood again.
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Baroness
11/24/09

In reply to The Rules of Director Jail
Interesting piece I will reread..

Thought this was about writer/Tarantino collaborator Avary, Tweeting from jail.
For DUI manslaughter. It's actually pretty compelling reading. Sheets that although laundered, have "the ball-sweat of a thousand men" on them. Uh, vivid! Also, all inmates forced to watch Fox.

(How he Tweets: Avary uses his phone time each day to speak to a service that does the Tweets for him. Capitalism is amazing.)
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Airvault
11/24/09

In reply to The Rules of Director Jail
Why am I in film school again?

I'll be right back. I'm going to go dunk my head in the kitchen sink for a few minutes.
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