Introducing non-cinephiles to film

Magnolia.

I won't necessarily recommend you try it again. It is totally plausible and reasonable that someone would bounce off it, for all the reasons I've already described. But I will say that I wasn't particularly impressed in that first act you mention, either. It takes a little while to get going. There's a discussion between crumbs and I elsewhere about how necessary that is or isn't, with the consensus being that it's at least somewhat necessary but possibly goes on a little longer than it needs to.

The frogs scene?

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

Commenting here on an incomplete watch, so perhaps this all improves as the film goes along, but hard disagree here. I found the opening sequences annoying, and anything but unsettling. Any 3 minute section of Inland Empire, or the stuff with the doorways in Lost Highway, or any of several scenes that come to mind in Mulholland Drive (one of which is just a simple conversation in a diner) achieve a visceral dread, even if what is on screen contains only mundane imagery. The mastery of lighting, sound editing and subtle camera movement in those Lynch films is what I am after when I look for visceral film. There is something in these films that I can't really put into words, as any attempt I would make would just fall short; I would just point someone to the films themselves as an explanation.

That said, I will give Skinamarink another shot, but under better circumstances to better immerse myself in the proceedings.

I think it's in his thread, or maybe a horror thread, and I am pretty sure I read the exchange, which I believe is what put it on my radar in the first place.

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No, I didn't say it was unsettling. I said it was atmospheric, but maybe I overplayed how atmospheric/exquisite it was. I meant that relative to the disappointing resolutions.

Agreed, but Lynch is a very high standard to meet. I think Skinamarink in the same category as 90s SOV horrors - gritty, grainy, and in quality so bad that at times, it's hard to tell what you're looking at. Of course THAT plus some analog horror like Paranormal Activity plus Poltergeist.

Yeah, it's a watch alone & in the dark kinda movie, but even so, it's just not that great. When it comes to recent American horror movies, I enjoyed The Empty Man and Come True much more than Skinamarink. Oh well.

The film as a whole. On paper it's absolutely not the kind of thing I'd like, nevermind love, but it got its hooks in me completely. Which is not that odd by itself, but I've been unable to really articulate why since, which is.

It just works. It's PTA's best, and I agree it's not the kind of film I usually like (I dislike a few other PTA films), but this one just works, and let's leave it at that.

Both look great - adding to watch list.

The only problem I have with PTA is that he seems to rely to heavily on improvisation for the dialogue in his films.
I noticed this when I was re-watching Boogie Nights. Some of the dialogue was not very well thought out, which is why I assumed it was improvised. The incongruity of it just took me out of the movie. The same thing happened when I was watching Licorice Pizza. Bradley Cooper's coke-addled film director went on for so long and I thought Tom Waits might contribute something amusing. But alas no. Heavy sigh.

Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper's character), was Barbara Streisand's hairdresser. Then her husband and film producer. The stories people tell about him sound pretty wild. This statement doesn't address whether he's on screen for too long (I found it amusing, and it was a shambling kind of movie, so I guess it didn't feel out of place), but I just wanted to correct the director part, because it makes the character/figure seem even more comically weird.

On rewatch I found myself not liking the cocaine energy of Magnolia and it felt like it was trying to hard. I haven't revisited Boogie Nights and have never seen Hard Eight.
I seem to prefer his stretch from There Will be Blood (basic choice) through The Phantom Thread (a movie in conversation with Hitchcock's Rebecca, going back to an earlier mini-topic in this thread). Though, the next best one in that batch that I really like is The Master, which turns off a lot because it's one that really isn't narrative-driven.


I still don't know how I felt about Licorice Pizza other than I was hoping to like it more than what I did. It was still alright in my book.

Thanks, I could not remember his name. Warren Beatty's character in Shampoo is based on him. But he did become a quite a successful producer. If you're dating Barbara Streisand, you're going to work it. he was quite the operator.

PT Anderson has just about as rock solid a filmography as Kubrick, as far as I'm concerned.


Hard 8 is like his Killers Kiss, not up to the standards of everything else he's done, but still pretty great in its own right

Hard disagree. He's the very definition of a hit-or-miss director for me, though his hits are never masterpieces (maybe except for Magnolia if we're generous).

I love Daniel Day Lewis performances in There will Be Blood and The Phantom Thread. He is the acknowledged master of his art. One of the immortals if you will.

I am sure that PTA came correct with DDL. The script had to be on point or the ideas so compelling DDL could not resist. I have only seen these films once and haven't been drawn to see them again, so I really can't comment on the dialogue. But they are beautifully filmed and have rich story ideas. But so did Boogie Nights and Licorice Pizza but the dialogue left something to be desired.

The vibe in his films is always good. The cinematography, the great stable of actors, the interesting story ideas are always top notch. I am just not enjoying the re-watches. Mind you I have only re-watched Boogie Nights and I found the dialogue really lacking.


Have you enjoyed re-watching PTA's films?

Don't think he's made anything that is as good as Kubrick at his best, but everything he's done is great in my books. I love all of them, and all for different reasons.


I think it's a rarity for any director to take as many chances as he has done in his career, and always have them pay off.

Yes. Ive rewatched most of them and they've all held up. I probably like them more with every revisit. I've already watched Licorice Pizza four times.

Punch-Drunk Love
There Will Be Blood
The Master
Inherent Vice

were all bigger or smaller misses IMO but I probably should rewatch the two in the middle

Love all four of them