Tag / paul thomas anderson

by Jaime Rebanal

‘Licorice Pizza’ Review: Tomorrow May Not be the Day According to Paul Thomas Anderson

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Over the years, Paul Thomas Anderson has made a name for himself as one of the best American filmmakers working today, with films like There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread, and The Master all under his belt within recent memory. With Licorice Pizza, Anderson finds himself returning to familiar territory as he brings audiences a coming-of-age comedy set within an era of Los Angeles that he grew up within. Perhaps the labelling of a “nostalgic love letter” to the 1970’s would be the first way of describing the concept of a movie all about growing up in this era of Los Angeles, but the picture being painted here is a much darker and more brilliant one than what meets the eye.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Jaime’s Film Diary: February 28, 2020

In order to continue keeping this site as active as possible while I have not been able to write as many full-length film reviews as I had planned initially, I figured that another solution would have come by in placing my Letterboxd entries starting from the week before here as a placeholder for eventual full-length reviews that are set to come by, if I were able to find the time to write another one. But as is, these are quick thoughts that I figure would be nice to keep afloat so that the site will remain active on a regular basis.

First-time viewings are noted as such. You can follow me on Letterboxd right here.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Magnolia, a San Fernando Epic About The Search for Redemption Through Mere Coincidences: A Review

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The consistency of a filmmaker like Paul Thomas Anderson is enough to place him among the very best American auteurs working today, for his sophomore feature Boogie Nights he has only ever managed to turn out hit after hit at a rate that’s near indescribable. But determining a favourite film of such an impressive body of work can already be enough of a challenge for many, although for me I feel like it would be easy enough to admit that my answer whenever I’m asked what my favourite Paul Thomas Anderson film is none other than his third feature, Magnolia. While all of his films have their many distinguishable qualities, something about Magnolia has a specific potency to it that I think many of his later films never lived up to. That having been said, I can’t help but admit that this film was a turning point for my own love of film, with it being my all-time favourite film for a period of time while I was in high school. Even today, I can’t help but hold the film in such high regard, because I feel like there’s so much about Magnolia that also feels so fully realized for a young filmmaker like Anderson, because every time I come back to this film I keep thinking to myself I’d never be able to make anything of this sort at any point of my life.

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by Jaime Rebanal

There Will Be Blood is a Crowning Achievement in the Highest Order

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Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood is a film of many great moments, but between each of the many sequences that we have com to recognize over the years comes rewarding buildup and those great moments end up feeling much greater. But how exactly do you cover something that appeals to every sense the same way that There Will Be Blood does? For one, it would already be easy enough to say that Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the best working American filmmakers, but it’s just amazing to think about how a director of his age can so smoothly transition between completely different points of time and settings and they still feel so distinct under his own vision. You can start off by saying that Paul Thomas Anderson is one of our best working filmmakers, because there’s no other working American filmmaker that has established this consistency of making films that always end up becoming the best of their own kind.

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by Jaime Rebanal

General Thoughts: The 90th Academy Awards

One knows already how predictable the Academy Awards can become after the route of the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards among many more, but in the 90 years that we have seen them moving onward, what they had managed to turn forth was not only one of the strongest lineups in a while but also one of the most pleasantly surprising, knowing where their own habits lie. If there was anything else to be said about what the Academy Awards have in store for us this year, then it only makes this year’s ceremony – unlike the past few at least, worth looking forward to.

Bold indicates my vote for said category.
Underline indicates who I think will win.

To read more about the picks this year in the major categories, click “read more.” Continue reading →

by Jaime Rebanal

2017: A Year in Review

Another year is complete, but not without having talked about the wonderful experiences we’ve had at the cinemas. Together with the not-so-wonderful films. But alas, this has been an extraordinary year for films for the highlights still managed to stick their landing inside of our minds – and the inevitable “what about such and such?” will come but I will remind you that it would have been outright impossible for me to have been able to catch virtually every movie that had come out the previous year to make sure I wouldn’t forget other highlights that may not have made it.
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by Jaime Rebanal

Phantom Thread – Review

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“You can sew almost anything into the canvas of a coat,” is what Reynolds Woodcock says – hiding secrets within the garments that he makes for others to be worn. I like to think that Paul Thomas Anderson himself took those words into heart, and Phantom Thread is a canvas for himself. It’s a canvas for himself in the sense that we already have an idea of where our expectations are placed based alone on the setting of Phantom Thread and the cast members involved. But how exactly can we point out what is Paul Thomas Anderson’s own secret? All I know is that Phantom Thread is a film that is every bit as exquisite as the clothing as part of the story it is telling, not a tiny bit less beautiful.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Inherent Vice – Review

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Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice will certainly leave the most common moviegoer baffled with their own experience although given the source material that won’t turn out surprising at all. But it’s hard enough for me trying to describe what Inherent Vice will leave behind just from a single viewing because it almost feels like a hallucination as it moves by. Yet at the same time, we’re caught up inside of a web of lies almost like a Philip Marlowe story. Inherent Vice is a blend of eras and it’s the sort of experiment that only a filmmaker like Paul Thomas Anderson himself could bring to the table in such a manner. But in this indulgence, Paul Thomas Anderson also manages to summarize on the spot what exactly Inherent Vice is about, because of how much we can take in from one go to that point it’s so baffling yet it still keeps us watching. It keeps us watching because it’s absolutely wonderful in that sense, because it’s Paul Thomas Anderson at his craziest, and if that doesn’t signify something good I don’t know what will.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Punch-Drunk Love – Review

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Paul Thomas Anderson, is there ever a day in which your brilliance is going to cease to amaze me? Given his excellent track record prior to Punch-Drunk Love, it would already be a risky move for him to cast Adam Sandler in a leading role because Sandler’s comedic schtick is rather juvenile to a point where sometimes it can be unbearable, but instead something more comes out. What comes out is not only Adam Sandler’s very best performance on film (that goes without saying), but also one of the most down-to-earth depictions of love and mental illness to grace the screen. It’s not only remarkable in the sense that it has turned Adam Sandler into something above average for once, but also in the sense that it goes to show the remarkable consistency of the work of Paul Thomas Anderson – quite easily one of the most talented filmmakers of his generation. Continue reading →