PHANTOM THREAD: Paul Tomas Anderson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Fifties London

oh wow!! that looks like the same party!!
thank you for posting!! i'd have had no idea. glad i asked :)

"if you wish to have a staring competition with me, you will lose."

Ach, I can't believe I didn't consider the Hitchcock-Alma angle before...

Should you want to hear PTA's and Vicky Krieps's (competing) origin stories for the choice of the name Alma (she was originally going to be Agnes) then I recommend the PTA interview on this episode of BBC's The Film Programme. Also interesting to hear him wholeheartedly agree with interviewer Francine Stock that Cyril and Alma are the two main protagonists of the film: on the Phantom Thread edition of the generally excellent Last Picture Show podcast, I was surprised to hear them all call Cyril a supporting character.

don't know if I mentioned but I watched Suspicion last week and it definitely reminded me of this. more so than Rebecca actually, since Cyril doesn't have the expected blowout/vengeance moment that Ms. Danvers does. but in Suspicion we're (similarly) led to expect an obvious outcome that turns out not to be true, and only in the film's final minutes.

Saw it again and loved every second of it (save for the scene where Cyril smells Alma... that seemed too insidious and over the top). I could see it several more times in theaters, if only for the joy of taking in the audience's response to it (lots seem to hate it, but it's fun watching shocked crowds).

This is my favorite movie in years, probably since It Follows, but I'm actually hoping it doesn't win best picture and attract all the scrutiny that invites. Just let the people who love it have this one.

what? why? you think it can't withstand "scrutiny"? it's a great movie, i'd be thrilled if it wins best picture, doesn't look like it but i would never want to keep a great movie to myself or something

the ability to not read the criticisms or dissections of others is necessary imo

on the other hand, having something gain enough cultural currency that you hear it discussed in dumb terms in public can be irritating

Yeah, it's brilliant art, so it can withstand the scrutiny. I just think it's a much more niche movie than almost any other best picture candidate. I've seen most of them, and this was by far the one audiences seemed to find most objectionable. It just seems more appropriately positioned as an eccentric underdog (it stands no chance of winning, as I understand it) than as a popular crowd pleaser. I can just imagine how horrid the takes would be if it won.

the fact that J-Law turned it off 5 minutes in is probably a bad sign for its prospects

Unfortunately, when you're online all the time you can not read criticisms but still be exposed to them all the time. Like, you don't have to read thinkpieces to understand the general convo around Three Billboards.

Everyone I've talked to who likes film finds Three Billboards much more objectionable

they've actually seen it, though. I'm trusting their judgment

idk if J-Law is a good barometer of film criticism, but might be indicative of some Oscars voters

The internet finds Three Billboards much more objectionable (b/c it is). But general audiences seem to really enjoy Three Billboards, which is amazing, given what a hateful movie that is.

Lawrence's comments do sum up one of the most common objections to the movie ("Another tortured male artist? PASS.") even though that criticism really doesn't hold if you watch the movie.

xp the way jennifer lawrence described what she thought Phantom Thread was - "a narcissistic sociopath 'genius' who humiliates women for his art" - is a pretty apt description of mother! and she said "yeah i don't need to watch that i've been down that road before"

idk if J-Law is a good barometer of film criticism, but might be indicative of some Oscars voters

yeah this is what I meant

I am trying not to mention that J-Law never finished high school because she does seem reasonably intelligent and likeable, buuuuut

i took her comments as either a) salty that mother! was completely shut out of awards season b) she's pissed at aronofsky

tbf mother! did deserve sound noms

Phantom Thread is basically the anti-mother! when it comes to the genius-creator trope.

yeah exactly, her description fits mother! completely. god what a shit movie

b) she's pissed at aronofsky

why would she specifically say that she wasn't talking about him and then go on to discuss dating non-famous people for several minutes afterward then

J-Law doesnt like B&W or silents either; she's a discriminating artiste. (or a mall betty who hasnt made a good film since Winter's Bone)

salty that mother! was completely shut out of awards season

yes, 'transgressive' movies that pancake at the b.o. have such a steady awards track record

oh woops i didn't hear the whole interview just that 3 minute clip

MORBS I am so with you on Lawrence's career has been abysmal. Silver Linings Playbook is one of the worst movies I've seen this decade. and yea she could still be salty that it got trashed & bombed and now a movie with a superficially similar premise or bent is getting praise.

lol wait she doesn't like black & white movies? hit me with a link

not gonna use up a NYT article view, but from a 2012 profile:

“I like making movies, but that doesn't mean I want to watch a black-and-white, freaking boring” — here she amped up the sarcasm with an unprintable word — “silent movie,” she said. Her on-screen characters are often marked by their flinty resolution...

now let's go back to teacups and mushroom soup

lmao wtf

have you met many millennials who like old movies? they tend to be a minority.

they have a flinty resolution

Jennifer Lawrence dismissing b&w movies is basically Vince Staples saying he doesn't listen to Nas. It might rile up purists but it doesn't diminish their craft

Phantom Thread is basically the anti-mother! when it comes to the genius-creator trope.

I still find it hilarious that people watched mother! and thought "this movie thinks creative geniuses are cool and their interpersonal dynamics are fine" (not that this is necessarily the argument you were making)

have you met many millennials who like old movies? they tend to be a minority.

― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, March 2, 2018 2:24 PM (seventeen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

well yeah but when you're in the movie-making business i imagine the % is higher

that reminds me, Brie Larson's Criterion top 10 is really great: https://www.criterion.com/explore/180-brie-larson-s-top-10

jennifer lawrence is the queen of the normies

xp I'd judge someone's ability to say why they like a studied list of classic films more than the construction of a list and, although brief, those are some decent quotes. Brie Larson otm about how they say "Lime" in Third Man

I’d rather read KStew’s thoughts on film than JLaw’s

I mean, you can be personally uninterested in film and make good movies, but it's nice to actually be interested in the medium

me too

xxp- yes i agree, i didn't just mean it was a good list, her thoughts are great tho brief

hey wait a minute Criterion put out The Third Man on blu? and it's out of print???????????????????????

well yeah but when you're in the movie-making business i imagine the % is higher

lol, why? how many current baseball players know who Honus Wagner was?

have you met many millennials who like old movies? they tend to be a minority.

― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, March 2, 2018 2:24 PM (forty minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's not "Filmstruck and Chill"

Millennials basically decided for American that the first century of film is unimportant to keep in regular circulation, but Adam Sandler getting an 8-picture deal Netflix is better because we can watch them right away

lol baseball is a terrible analogy

People that love movies & make movies generally got there by... watching a lot of movies. How many baseball players study old games?

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Film/Pix/pictures/2011/11/23/1322055186448/Michelangelo-Antonionis-B-007.jpg?w=620&q=20&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&dpr=2&s=d3f98b63aab70140b621faef86ad309d

OOH SOMEONEA GET THESE GIRLS THE COBBLA

flappy, most actors can barely find the doorknob in the morning.

ok mr. hitchcock

BLOOM (screaming) Have you lost your mind? What are you talking about? Kill the actors. You can't kill the actors -- they're not animals, they're human beings!

BIALYSTOCK They are? Have you ever eaten with one?

This man should be in a straightjacket.