Paul Thomas Anderson
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Academy Award wins: Best Cinematography, Best Actor (Daniel Day Lewis) Notable Festivals: Berlinale The year 2007 was a very special year in cinema for me. On a personal level, it marked the tenth anniversary of my own first short films, an occasion I celebrated with a limited engagement of a feature I co-directed at a…
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![Paul Thomas Anderson [3.3]- The Concept Comedies](https://thedirectorsseries.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/pta3-3.jpg)
3.3: THE CONCEPT COMEDIES is the third installment of THE DIRECTORS SERIES’ examination into the films and careers of director Paul Thomas Anderson, covering his short foray into experimental art comedies: -VARIOUS MUSIC VIDEOS & SHORT WORKS (2000-2002) -PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (2002) -VARIOUS SHORT COMEDY SKETCHES (2002)
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After the release of 2002’s PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE, director Paul Thomas Anderson embarked on a little hiatus from feature filmmaking that would last for five years. While he decided on what he wanted to develop as his next project, he took on several small-scale projects to keep his skills sharp and his creativity active. BLOSSOMS &…
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Notable Festivals: Cannes (Best Directo), Toronto, London By 2002, director Paul Thomas Anderson had gained a reputation for long, sprawling features with multiple points of view. He had arguably reached his personal apex with this style in 1999’s MAGNOLIA, and began feeling a desire to subvert his critics and move away from the types of…
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With the release of 1999’s MAGNOLIA, director Paul Thomas Anderson had arguably reached the peak of what he could do with his particular stylistic conceits. As he developed ideas for his next feature project, Anderson dove right back into the world of music videos and short-form work as a way to keep his directorial skills…
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![Paul Thomas Anderson [3.2]- The California Chronicles](https://thedirectorsseries.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/pta3-2.jpg)
3.2: THE CALIFORNIA CHRONICLES is the second installment of THE DIRECTORS SERIES’ examination into the films and careers of director Paul Thomas Anderson, covering the pair of sprawling ensemble-based pictures that cemented him as a major new voice in American cinema. -BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997) -VARIOUS MUSIC VIDEOS (1997-1999) -MAGNOLIA (1999)
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Notable Festivals: Berlinale (Golden Bear, Reader Jury) During my senior year of high school, I spent a grand majority of my time in the halls of the campus’ performing arts center. The eclectic mix of creativity and awkward hormonal clashes was endlessly fascinating to me, no doubt because it reflected what was churning inside of…
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During the period between the release of his breakout feature BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997) and his sprawling follow-upMAGNOLIA (1999), director Paul Thomas Anderson branched out into other forms of cinematic expression. He did what many filmmakers do between features to pay the bills: shoot commercials and music videos. However, unlike other directors, it can be argued…
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Notable Festivals: Toronto, New York For most filmmakers, every one has that singular film that serves as a flashpoint in their own individual development; a film that lets them see the whole medium of cinema through new eyes, informing and shaping everything that comes after it. My flashpoint arrived in the winter of 2005—I had…
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![Paul Thomas Anderson [3.1] – The Sundance Kid](https://thedirectorsseries.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/pt3-1.jpg)
3.1: THE SUNDANCE KID is the first installment of THE DIRECTORS SERIES’ examination into the films and careers of director Paul Thomas Anderson, covering his lo-fi origins and his breakout at the Sundance Film Festival. -THE DIRK DIGGLER STORY (1988) -CIGARETTES & COFFEE (1993) -HARD EIGHT (1996)
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Notable Festivals: Sundance, Cannes (Un Certain Regard) Screening his short film CIGARETTES & COFFEE at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival was a transformative event in director Paul Thomas Anderson’s career. Not only was he invited to workshop his film in the Sundance Institute’s prestigious Directors Lab, but he was also approached by producer Robert Jones,…
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Notable Festivals: Sundance When it was time for director Paul Thomas Anderson to go to college, he naturally went the film school route, like so many other would-be directors did before him. He was admitted to Boston’s Emerson College as an English major, lasting for 2 semesters (it seems like all the prominent Emersonians are…