Happy 44th, PTA!

Taking a moment to wish a very happy birthday indeed to Mr. Paul Thomas Anderson, who turns 44 today. Thank you for 18 years of crushing it at the movies. Have one on us.

IV: 169 days

CJ & Bryan
-C&RV

Paul Thomas Anderson To Appear In Documentary About Robert Altman

Aside from possibly Jonathan Demme, Robert Altman is the American director PTA has most been vocal about in terms of influence on his own work. He famously worked as Altman's stand-by director on 2006's A Prairie Home Companion, and dedicated There Will Be Blood to him the following year. Now, some eight years after Altman's death, a new documentary (simply, aptly titled Altman) has emerged, and it discusses the work and life of the filmmaker with some of his closest friends, collaborators, and peers.

According to a new, and overall positive review from Variety's Scott Foundas, one among those subjects is Mr. Paul Thomas Anderson himself. 

[Director Ron] Mann... stages original interviews with such close Altman collaborators as Keith Carradine, Elliott Gould, Sally Kellerman and Lily Tomlin, as well as longtime fan Paul Thomas Anderson who served as Altman's insurance-dictated "back-up" director during the 2006 shooting of "A Prairie Home Companion." But in a bold formal stroke, he asks each of these subjects - elegantly photographed in medium closeup against a black background by Mann and DP Simon Ennis - only a single question: to define, in their own words, the term Altmanesque. 

Altman premiered yesterday, June 20, as part of UCLA Film and Television Archive's retrospective on Mr. Altman's career.  It will make its broadcast debut on EPIX on August 6.

IV: 174 days.

Find more information about the film on our Inherent Vice page. 
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Warner Bros' Sue Kroll Says "Inherent Vice" Is A Masterpiece

In keeping with the early buzz Inherent Vice has received from industry insiders -- and perhaps not all that surprising given she is a representative of the company bankrolling the film -- Warner Bros' President of Marketing and Worldwide Distribution, Sue Kroll, has spoken to Deadline about the company's suite of upcoming projects and included some highly complimentary words about PTA's next:

Warners has a pretty full Academy slate after two very successful years in a row with 2012 Best Picture winner Argo and 2013's Gravity which picked up seven Oscars, along with an Original Screenplay win for Her and two other Oscars for The Great Gatsby. Kroll says the year looks good, including Paul Thomas Anderson's much-anticipated Inherent Vice.

"You're gonna love it. It's the most wonderful movie," says Kroll. "So entertaining, so smart, so fun. I think [it's] different for him but it's a masterpiece. I love it - I think it's my favorite movie of his except Magnolia."

Thanks to Christopher for the tip.

IV: 175 days

Find more information about the film on our Inherent Vice page. 
Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates.

Jillian Bell Talks "Inherent Vice", Confirms Workaholics Co-Star Anders Holm Will Also Be In the Film

In promoting her work in the recent smash-hit 22 Jump Street, actress/comedienne Jillian Bell spoke with Cosmopolitan* about her experience working on Inherent Vice with PTA & co. While what she had to say was suitably close to the vest, the details are very much worth noting.

COSMOPOLITAN: You're going to be in Inherent Vice, your second movie with Paul Thomas Anderson and Joaquin Phoenix. What's your role? I confess I haven't read the book, so I don't have any guesses.

JILLIAN BELL: I've just read parts of it too. I haven't read the whole thing. It's pretty amazing, though. I need to get through it. I have such a small part in the movie - I loved doing it, I would do anything for Paul Thomas Anderson - but they just flew me in just to do a small part as this weird waitress. But I got to do a scene with Benicio Del Toro, who is honestly my favorite actor of all time.

COSMOPOLITAN: And what about Joaquin Phoenix?

JILLIAN BELL: It was him and Benicio.

COSMOPOLITAN: Why has Paul Thomas Anderson [taken] such a liking to you?

JILLIAN BELL: He saw me in Workaholics. He is a huge Workaholics fan, I guess. I mean, his wife is Maya Rudolph, so of course he loves people who do comedy. But I guess he watches Workaholics and, actually, Anders Holm is in Inherent Vice as well, and he's in Workaholics. So I think [Paul]'s trying to get all of us in there.

You'll remember Bell had an equally small part in The Master as one of The Cause's early disciples ("Back beyond... back beyond... back beyond..."), so perhaps PTA has found a new regular for his films moving forward. Arguably most notable of these details is the fact that Bell's Workaholics costar Anders Holm will also be in Inherent Vice. His name had been recently rumored but not confirmed up until this point, so it looks like we have some fleshing out to do on the cast section for our Inherent Vice page.

Anders Holm, Workaholics

We are now officially less than 6 months away from Inherent Vice meeting commercial theatre screens for the first time. As we pivot from spring to summer, our eyes are peeled for the Toronto, Venice, and Telluride film festivals as potential premieres for Vice and, with God on our side, maybe even a teaser/poster before long.

(Thank you Jeremy Daly for the heads up)

IV: 178 days.

Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates

*Read the Cosmopolitan article at your own discretion, it does contain spoilers from 22 Jump Street.