In college I wrote a paper on the subversion of the detective novel in Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49. I got an A, although the paper received its highest compliment in 2009. That’s when Pynchon finally lived up to my astonishing insight and published a detective novel, “Inherent vice.” This survey of Los Angeles weirdness circa 1970 is brought to the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson. The ... more >
ARCHIVES
Inherent vice
Based on a novel by Thomas Pynchon
Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin and Kathleen Waterston
Directed by P.T. Anderson
The Master
The long wait is over--P.T. Anderson wows us again
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix
Directed by P.T. Anderson
After “Battlefield Earth” who would've thought that scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard would ever be portrayed seriously in film again? “The Master,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s first film since 2007’s “There Will Be Blood”, does just that. It neither condemns nor justifies the religion, but centers on the fascinating struggle of two men. Joaquin Phoenix’s faux mental breakdown is over, thankfully, ... more >