UnCultured

Paul Thomas Anderson's - "Inherent Vice" Trailer

Inherent Vice spotlights Joaquin Phoenix as Doc Sportello, the drug-hazed private investigator navigating a couple convoluted crime queries in 1970s Los Angeles. Paul Thomas Anderson's ensemble adaptation of the 2009 Thomas Pynchon novel — also featuring Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro, Jena Malone, Michael Kenneth Williams, Maya Rudolph and Martin Short, among others. Opened in limited theaters earlier this month and expands wide Jan. 9.

Our 13 Most Anticipated Films of the 52nd New York Film Festival

If you haven’t had the chance to get yourself to Cannes or TIFF, it’s that thrilling first time of the year that you can indulgence in your cinematic passions and see some of the most exciting new features of the year from your favorite filmmakers around the world. And this year, the 52nd NYFF will be screening so many wonderful films, from Hollywood icons such as David Fincher and Paul Thomas Anderson to acclaimed artists such as Olivier Assayas and Mia Hansen-Love. So with the festival beginning this Friday with Fincher’s Gone Girl, we rounded up our most anticipated features and one very special presentation.

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Philip Seymour Hoffman "A Small Boy Chased by Furies"

I first noticed Philip Seymour Hoffman in a big way when I was reviewing movies for this magazine and spotted him—I referred to him as “the scene-stealing Philip Seymour Hoffman”—playing Scotty J., a chubby gofer with an abject crush on Mark Wahlberg’s character in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 film, “Boogie Nights.” Hoffman made an impression on me then, as he continued to do in his later roles, as someone who was more than familiar with the forces of darkness in himself—to be specific, with the nub of chagrined self-loathing that impels many of his best moments on film and on stage. In this instance, he was called upon to plant a lunging run of a kiss on the mouth of unreceptive porn star Dirk Diggler (Wahlberg); that he does so with such aching klutziness, such awareness of the debasement that lies in wait, made me think that he was drawing on something he knew intimately, some psychic well down which he had fallen in the past and remembered, up here on the ground.

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Paul Thomas Anderson on Filmmaking

First part of a series of informative selections from PTA and Philip Baker Hall together. PTA is a known cinephile who comes from the same camp as Quentin Tarantino. A man who had immersed himself in studying cinema by watching a plethora of films and utilized the knowledge gathered from laserdisc commentaries in the late 80′s and early 90′s to learn filmmaking on his own. Of course not many people know he had a leg up in the industry as much as he likes to milk the “non-film school” card, but one can still admire the dedication of learning the craft by being a sponge, soaking up all kinds of filmmaking information. 

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Paul Thomas Anderson’s Commentary on the 1981 Porn Doc That Inspired ‘Boogie Nights’

It’s just fascinating to see, especially at this point, to just look at a guy and this is a documentary about his dick! I mean what the fuck is this, it’s a documentary about his dick…maybe I’m insane but this is just good stuff. And like I said, I laugh at this just as much as it fuckin’ kills me, it’s so sad, you know? This is an hour and a half documentary and we’re just seeing clips of it and it’s all about his penis and he probably got to a point in his life and realized, nobody gives a fucking shit about me—and that’s kind of sad…and weird.

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Paul Thomas Anderson Looks To Mesmerize Us With “The Master” VIDEO

With the summer movie season making its final rounds, it's time to get back into the real world of cinema this fall. And one of the most anticipated releases of the season will be director Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams, this could be a movie to keep an eye on when award season rolls around. Not much is really known about the actual plot of this picture, but buzz around the film has confirmed that it is a thinly-veiled critique on Scientology and its creator, L. Ron Hubbard. In the movie, Hoffman plays Lancaster Dodd—the enigmatic leader of a new religion he created in the wake of WWII. His right-hand man is played by Phoenix, who begins to lose his faith in the religion as he sees more evidence of Dodd's misleading practices.

Glenn O'Brien, Writer

What did you do immediately before this questionnaire? I planted strawberries and pulled weeds.

What will you do immediately following this questionnaire? Cook dinner.

What is your idea of bliss? Stay home, play some bridge, drink some wine and eat some caviar, go to bed.

What is your idea of misery? Economy class.

What is the strangest article of clothing in your closet? I guess my Supreme hoodie that says “Illegal Business controls America.”

What is your proudest moment? Being a father.

What is your greatest regret? Not marrying my wife earlier and going for a daughter.

What would be the first sentence of your biography? “I always skip the first chapter in biographies.”

What catchphrase do you use the most? It was “Fuck that!” until my three-year-old started saying it.

What is your best personality trait? Telling the truth.

What is your worst personality trait? Telling the truth.

Which fashion celebrities can you impersonate? I can do Charles James (he was a trip), I can do Calvin, and I can do Stephen Sprouse without even saying anything.

What is the best advice you've given? Say no more.

What is the best advice you've received? Give me the car keys.

What is the most inspiring place you've visited? Greece.

What is your most embarrassing fashion moment? Not recognizing Donna Karan.

What is your most triumphant fashion moment? Maybe when Jean-Paul Goude said I was the perfect vision of manliness.

What do you do when you're creatively blocked? Vacuum or do the dishes.

What is the most attractive quality in a person? Being funny.

What is your favorite physical feature? Not that there’s anything exceptional about it but I’ve always enjoyed my Johnson.

What is your least favorite physical feature? My feet.

What makes you feel the most alive? Waking up with wood.

What is your best talent, after your work? It seems like everything I do is work, but I’m a pretty good DJ.

What would you ask for if you were granted one wish? Absolute power.

What was the last thing that made you laugh uncontrollably? Watching Woody Allen’s Whatever Works with Larry David on a transatlantic flight—I scared everybody in business class.

What is your greatest fear? Pentecostal Christian Air Force officers.

What has been your greatest loss? My second wife getting half of my art collection.

Who was your favorite cartoon character as a child? Bugs Bunny.

What is the best gift you've ever received? The art that my artist friends have given me.

What is the best gift you've ever given? Important jewelry.

What historical figure would you most like to meet? Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, or Wyndham Lewis.

What is your most treasured possession? My house in the woods.

What have you marched in the streets for? Against various wars.

What would you march in the streets for? Independence from the U.S. for New York and New England.

What is your drag name? (name of first pet + name of first street) Elvis Edgewater.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Remembering everyone’s name.

If you made a parody of a song and video, what would it be? Erotica?

If you could erase one memory, what would it be? I forget.

If you could live out one fantasy, what would it be? Getting my Warhol bio script directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

If you could change your life in one way, what would it be? The Megamillions Jackpot would do me fine.