Happy Birthday, PTA!

We here at C&RV wanted to send out some serious positive vibes to the man himself, who celebrates his 46th birthday today. Have a happy one, sir, and thank you for all that you have given us!

We'll leave you with a 30-minute commentary PTA did on the John Holmes documentary Exhausted, which he provided for the Boogie Nights laser disk back in the day.

-
C&RV

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Happy 45th, PTA!

Here's wishing Mr. Paul Thomas Anderson a happy forty-fifth birthday from the team at C&RV. We owe you everything and then some, sir, and we sincerely hope this next year brings you wellness, joy, and (selfishly) productivity.

And here's an oldie-but-a-goodie:

Cheers!
CJ & Bryan, Cigarettes & Red Vines

WATCH: PS Hoffman (A Tribute)

Good afternoon.

We were passed along this beautifully constructed, and extremely moving tribute to the colorful career of Philip Seymour Hoffman, which was tragically cut short last month. The piece contains highlights from all five of the films PSH made with PTA, alongside countless other memorable PSH screen moments. It is sure to put a lump in your throat.

Thank you to the creator of this piece, Caleb Slain, for reaching out to us personally with this.

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Boogie Nights Almost Went Straight To Home Video

It's that time of year. Directors, producers, multimegastars are doing the holiday press push for awards consideration on their films. One of the hallmarks of this process in the last few years has been the various roundtables that The Hollywood Reporter orchestrates, and with their "producers" roundtable having just dropped, The Playlist points out an interesting anecdote shared between Michael de Luca and Mark Wahlberg on their experience making Boogie Nights. 

MDL:  'Boogie Nights' scored horribly. They recruit for these [test screenings] off a paragraph [synopsis] in the mall, and the paragraph for 'Boogie Nights' made it look like a sitcom, and then they come for this three-hour exegesis on existential crises in porn. It got to a point where Bob Shaye, my old boss, chased good scores on that movie, and that movie was never going to score high.

MW: I remember he did his own cut and made Paul watch it.

MDL: Yeah, it was horrible. It was tough. That movie was going straight to video, and then the reviews started to come in at the New York Film Festival. If it wasn't for early reviews� 

It's hard not to consider the dazzling irony of the prospect of the film going straight to video, given its message about the effects of video production over celluloid distribution. You can watch the roundtable in its entirety below, or skip to the pertinent information starting around 44:50.



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Eric Roberts Boasts Mysterious Involvement in 'Vice'; PTA Responsible For Anchorman?

Friends, it has been far too long. We have a bit to get caught up on.

Firstly, if this October 6th edition of The Dr. Drew Podcast is any indication, it would be appear that Eric Roberts is also going to be in Inherent Vice. He has some brief, nice things to say about the experience of working with PTA, but keeps it mostly very (very) tight-lipped. The good stuff comes in around 15:20, and here's our loose transcription:

What's coming up for you? 

Uh, what's coming up for me -- you know what? Uh... a Paul Thomas Anderson film is coming out, and um, uh, I can't talk about it, I can just say it's coming out. And um--

When? 

Uh. Eliza? When's the Paul Thomas Anderson film coming out?

[VOICE: No idea!]

No idea when it's coming out.

She has no idea. So we're not helping you, bud. Sorry.

We will -- we will post it when we find out. 

But -- but that was a great experience, and you know, and, and uh... and making movies these days is a lot like making instant coffee; it is fast and it is not particularly tasty. And uh... but working with him was like the old days.

Uh-huh.

He shot on 35mm, and you got three or four takes. It was like wow. 'Cause now you get one take. You might get two. But you get one take.

As you can probably guess, we have not been able to surmise who Mr. Roberts will be playing in the film, as it seems pretty deliberately under wraps. Time shall tell. Thank you to the number of followers who passed this along to us today!

In other PTA related news, SplitSider is currently running a story called The Lost Roles of Anchorman, which chronicles the various incarnations and collaborations of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy that never came to pass. Much to our surprise, Paul has a spot on the list, and not a particularly dismissible one at that. The story purports that Paul was in early talks to produce the film prior to making Punch-Drunk Love, and even has a direct quote from Will Ferrell on the matter:

He was the reason why we wrote the script. 'Cause he had read a script Adam [McKay] and I had written called August Blowout that he thought was really funny and it was stuck at a studio and they weren't making it... To his credit... very nice of him, [he] loved that script. He said, "Why aren't you making this? What if I help you guys get something made? You just write whatever you want and I will be the producer. So, we wrote Anchorman on spec. He was kind of the impetus to get it going. He went on to do other things. Punch-Drunk Love. But he got the ball rolling for us.

You can listen to the audio of the interview that quote was lifted from here, it being pretty much the first topic discussed. The story lists Maya Rudolph and Bill Macy as ones to hit the chopping block before production started in earnest as well (Thanks to Joe for passing this along!)

Also in order is a big (albeit belated) celebratory note about the 16th theatrical anniversary of Boogie Nights, which happened on October 10th. Director Jason Reitman, who hosted a live-read of the script for 'Boogie' at TIFF a few weeks back, directed another read of it on the 10th at LACMA with some new faces. The cast for that reading was as follows:

Mae Whitman in the role of Rollergirl, originated by Heather Graham

Kevin Pollak in the role of The Colonel, originated by Robert Ridgely

Jim Rash in the role of Buck Swope, originated by Don Cheadle  

Jarod Einsohn in the role of Todd Parker, originated by Thomas Jane.

Jurnee Smollett in the role of Jessie St. Vincent, originated by Melora Walters 

Judy Greer in the role of Amber Waves, originated by Julianne Moore

Nat Faxon in the role of Scotty J, originated by Philip Seymour Hoffman

Nick Kroll in the role of Reed Rothchild, originated by John C. Reilly

Don Johnson in the role of Jack Horner, originated by Burt Reynolds

Taylor Lautner in the role of Dirk Diggler, originated by Mark Wahlberg

It's not too late to sneak in a viewing of Boogie Nights in honor of the fact that it's another year older and another year wiser, until later this week week, when we'll have another anniversary to be posting about.

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"The Master" is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. 

Actor Michael Cotter Talks "Inherent Vice"; Boogie Nights Script Read At TIFF

An interview over at examiner.com has been making rounds today, wherein actor Michael Cotter talks a bit about his experience working with Paul Thomas Anderson & co. on Inherent Vice, and here's the nitty gritty of it:

What can you tell us about your role in the upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson film "Inherent Vice"? 

I play A.D.A. Rhus Farthington and I work in the District Attorney's office in LA, where I am co-workers with Reese Witherspoon's character Penny. It is a period piece set in LA in 1969-1970, and it's always fun to be able to play in a different decade, especially for the wardrobe and set choices which were both great.

How was working with A-listers Reese Witherspoon, the always unpredictable Joaquin Phoenix and director Paul Thomas Anderson?

It was an amazing experience! I think all three of them are brilliant at what they do and I felt lucky to be able to play in the same game as them for a few days. Once the cameras started rolling, they all welcomed me into the fold and were all very generous in the moment.

Any interesting stories from the set you can share with us?

One of the coolest things that we did was for one of the scenes we shot, PTA ended up letting the three of us basically improv through this interview scene. And once we all started to improv together, it became this really fun game of finding our way through the scene together and just feeding off of each other. It was really fun to be able to do that with Reese and Joaquin and just trust that we would find our way to the end of the scene each time, but always find cool new moments on every take.

Among other things, this should finally help put to rest any lingering suspicions you may have had that Reese Witherspoon was somehow no longer involved in the film. It also fills in a couple casting gaps that were a bit more justifiably up in the air: that Witherspoon will be playing Penny Kimball, and that the role of Rhus Farthington has gone to Cotter. Our Inherent Vice page has been updated accordingly.

In other news, north of the border right now, the Toronto International Film Festival is in full swing, where just over a year ago The Master was having its North American premier. There with his new film Labor Day, filmmaker Jason Reitman hosted a special live reading of the Boogie Nights screenplay tonight, in the tradition of the live script readings he frequently directs at LACMA. The final casting breakdown is something to behold:

Marc-Andr� Grondin in the role of Scotty J, originated by Philip Seymour Hoffman

Dane Cook in the role of Reed Rothchild, originated by John C. Reilly

Jason Sudeikis in the role of Buck Swope, originated by Don Cheadle

Jarod Einsohn in the role of Todd Parker, originated by Thomas Jane

Jordan Hayes in the role of Jesse St. Vincent, originated by Melora Walters

Olivia Wilde in the role of Amber Waves, originated by Julianne Moore

Scott Thompson in the role of The Colonel, originated by Robert Ridgely

Dakota Fanning in the role of Rollergirl, originated by Heather Graham

Josh Brolin in the role of Jack Horner, originated by Burt Reynolds

Jesse Eisenberg in the role of Dirk Diggler, originated by Mark Wahlberg

So this is now the second PTA script that Josh Brolin (who stars in Reitman's new film) has performed from within a year. We are doing our damndest to get ahold of any video taken from the event (big or small), and will share it here if/when it materializes. In the meantime, there's a flourish of images from the event online now, so here's a low-quality one, as they all seem to be at the moment:

 

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FBF: Watch Footage From the Set of Boogie Nights

Thanks to a laser-eyed reader, we have a very, very cool Flashback Friday for you today. Some footage was spat out onto youtube yesterday which shows PTA, his cast, and his crew in action on the set of Boogie Nights back in '96. The video is choppy, with many uninvited and abrupt cuts to black, but it captures some very interesting little moments, half-sentences, camera moves, dance choreography, and, most importantly, shots of Paul directing with sunglasses on like it's his damn business.

Special thanks to Diego for dropping this at our feet. Cheers.

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WATCH: William H. Macy Discusses Boogie Nights With Jason Reitman

Spare little Flashback Friday for you today, mostly because we have a casting announcement coming in a bit, but here's a cool little Q&A that writer/director Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air) moderated with Bill "Snake at the Door" Macy at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles in 2010 over the topic of his participation in Boogie Nights. Sound's not great, video's not great, and it gets cut off at the end, but it's still got some pretty good stuff! Watch away.

Stay tuned, as I mentioned, because we'll be making a casting announcement in the next little while.

annnnd

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"The Master" is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. 

FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Old School Boogie Nights Interview with PTA

 Good morning, kids. Thought it might be nice to resurrect an old tradition while waiting for more exciting news on Inherent Vice, and I don't think we ever got around to posting this one, so here ya go: A charmingly youthful PTA can be seen in the video above doing a press interview for Boogie Nights, circa April 1998. The [fucking great] older gentleman at the beginning of the clip suggests this was during a tour of Australia near the end of the Boogie Nights insanity. Enjoy and still remember: Keep stored in a cool, dry place, under "b" for Boogie.

In case you missed it, last night the cat got out of the bag re: the casting of IV's now famous heroine, Shasta Fay. It's pretty damn cool that the project has shaped up the way it has over the past couple weeks, don't you agree? There will certainly be more to report in the near future, so be sure to check back on the regular. In the meantime...

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"The Master" is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. 

Mondo Debuts 5 Film Paul Thomas Anderson Poster Series

While PTA is gearing up for his next film, Mondo -- who you will remember from their dazzling "The Master" print from a few months back -- have decided to look back. This week the Austin-based powerhouse is debuting a series of Paul Thomas Anderson poster prints this week featuring his first five features. The series was curated by artist Aaron Horkey and as per the company's usual policy will go onsale at a random time at a date still TBD sometime this week. Check out all the posters on our Facebook page and vote for your favorite or check them out at Indiewire who also features quotes from the artist/curator.

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"The Master" is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.