Friday, April 11, 2008

20 Semi-Random Screen Grabs From My Favorite Paul Thomas Anderson Film, Punch-Drunk Love

With the release of There Will Be Blood - my #1 film of 2007 - onto DVD this past Tuesday, I went and rewatched P.T. Anderson's previous two films, Punch-Drunk Love and Magnolia, this week to get myself PTA-primed. I know, I know... as if I'm ever not PTA-primed.

Anyway, I still love Magnolia (although I have to admit it felt a little long this go-round, watching it for what might have been my fifth or sixth time), but my love for Punch-Drunk Love really just grows and grows and grows; it's boundless, really. I love every single thing about it... yes, even Adam Sandler. I'll probably, with a few more viewings, see There Will Be Blood as PTA's greatest film (so far), but PDL might always be my favorite.

And because it's Friday and my brains are hurting, I went and randomly grabbed 20 stills from it to gaze upon, because I really don't think it gets the credit it deserves for being totally gorgeous to look at as well. The cinematography by Robert Elswit is some of my favorite ever put on screen. The way the color and the light just flows and pops... the way Emily Watson always seems to have light just pouring out of her... some of it is terribly subtle work, but it's all really, really stunning. Click any of 'em to embiggen.

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5 comments:

NATHANIEL R said...

hear hear. great cinematography.

i'm proud to say i rewarded it my silver medal for the same in 2002. i had it second only to FAR FROM HEAVEN which i still have to stand by.

but these random grabs underline its greatness. thanks for the reminder.

Jason Adams said...

I meant to go and check where you'd placed it, Nat. I knew I could count on you to give it some love. And yeah, I can't argue with the FFH love either.

sparky2379 said...

and also.....

Barry: I'm lookin' at your face and I just wanna smash it. I just wanna f*ckin' smash it with a sledgehammer and squeeze it. You're so pretty.

Lena: I want to chew your face, and I want to scoop out your eyes and I want to eat them and chew them and suck on them.
[pause]

Barry: OK. This is funny. This is nice.


That has to be right up there with the Julianne Moore 'f*ck you, suck my d*ck' speech from Magnolia. Such natural, honest dialogue.

Anonymous said...

I'll probably, with a few more viewings, see There Will Be Blood as PTA's greatest film (so far), but PDL might always be my favorite.

That's exactly my stance on PTA's films. I went to a PTA retrospective (yes, he's already had one!) in Queens and while I still love Magnolia, it paled to the endless pleasures of PDL. The entire Hawaii sequence is some of my favorite ever minutes in film. Swoon.

Agnes B said...

I agree that TWBB is probably his best so far. And while PDL is something else, I feel like Boogie Nights is the most fun.