Blind spots: How the hell have I never seen a Paul Thomas Anderson movie?
When it was announced in January 2024 that Leonardo DiCaprio had signed up to star in the next movie by acclaimed auteur Paul Thomas Anderson, I was very excited. Then, when word got out that the movie would be an action film—of sorts—with a $115million budget, I raised my eyebrow in intrigue, as did the rest of the internet. Would Anderson be able to mould his distinctive style into something more crowd-pleasing that could appeal to a broad enough audience to justify that price tag? Was a resolutely singular artist selling out to the man by making a movie that “normies” would show up to watch?
Suddenly, though, a notion hit me like a bolt to the brain: I didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. In fact, I was probably the least qualified person in the world to ruminate on what PTA was doing with his next film. After all, despite the man making some of the most acclaimed motion pictures of the last three decades, I’ve somehow conspired to never watch a single one of them. Yes, not even Boogie Nights or There Will Be Blood.
After that thought struck me like a slap in the face from the film journalism community, I hastily took to the internet to prove myself wrong. “Surely, I’ve seen at least one PTA joint,” I thought. As I scrolled down the list of his nine feature films, though, a sinking feeling set in: I was right. I’d not even accidentally watched one when I was a wide-eyed teen who worked in a video rental shop or a financially challenged student attending a university film course. You’d think I’d have maybe dipped into his work when going through the catalogues of contemporaries like Quentin Tarantino, the Coen brothers, and David Fincher, but nope. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
Here’s the strangest thing about my lifelong avoidance of, by all accounts, one of the finest filmmakers to ever do it: he doesn’t even make movies that sound unappealing. In fact, most of them sound like they’d be up my alley. Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood and Inherent Vice all sound great. Hell, I even love Adam Sandler when he goes serious, so why didn’t I watch Punch-Drunk Love?! It’s a mystery, folks.
PTA works with plenty of actors I love, too, and I’ve heard nothing but superlatives about him for years. I’ve even written about a few of his movies from a factual perspective for this venerable publication, so I feel like I know a good bit about his directing style, themes, and preoccupations. In truth, though, I genuinely don’t know how I’ve never watched one of PTA’s movies.
Maybe I never had family or friends who encouraged me to watch his stuff? Maybe I had an unconscious impression that I wouldn’t enjoy his films? I don’t know. It’s very odd. Somehow, I’ve let myself get to a position where I’ve seen 900% more Paul WS Anderson movies than Paul Thomas Anderson movies – and that sounds like the kind of thing that will get me sacked from film journalism as a profession.
So, what can I do to rectify this grievous oversight? Well, in the buildup to the release of One Battle After Another, I think I’ll start working my way through the PTA back catalogue. Everyone has their cinematic blind spots, and this is undoubtedly my biggest one, so I reckon I owe it to myself – and the man himself – to at least see what all the fuss is about.
It might turn out that his work won’t resonate with me, and then I’ll have to accept my status as that contrarian guy who says, “He’s not that good, you know.” Equally, though, I may discover my new favourite filmmaker – and realise I’ve spent decades living with my head in the sand instead of enjoying some of the best auteur-driven filmmaking of my lifetime. Let’s see what happens!
