The framing chart used during production of Inherent Vice.

IV: 158 days.

Find more information about the film on our Inherent Vice page. 
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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. 
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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.

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

'Inherent Vice' Set To Expand Nationwide On 1/09/15

Unfortunately, film fans who do not live in any of the major cities in the U.S., or have convenient access to the film markets therein, will have to wait just a little bit longer to see Inherent Vice. Via Box Office Mojo, Warner Bros. has announced that the film will receive a nationwide expansion on Friday, January 9th, 2015, a full four weeks after opening in limited markets on Friday, December 12th, 2014.

As if there was any doubt at this point, the expansion date further suggests a strong awards push for the film from Warner Bros, who plotted a very similar release strategy for Spike Jonze' Her last year. (Thanks Eric Edge!)

At any rate, the countdown stays the same:
212 days until Inherent Vice is made available to the buying public.

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WATCH: 90 Minute DGA Talk On Francis Ford Coppola's Career, Featuring PTA & Others

Back in March of 2011, when Paul Thomas Anderson was in pre-production on The Master, he and fellow filmmakers David O. Russell (The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle) and Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Twilight, Red Riding Hood) sat down at the Directors Guild of America to discuss the career and influence of one of America's most important filmmakers, Francis Ford Coppola. 

You can watch the full, 90-minute talk here.

With each director selecting clips from Coppola's career to showcase and then discuss, PTA presented scenes from 1974's The Conversation and 2007's Youth Without Youth - the latter of which he would go on to accredit as influential in his decision to hire Coppola-veteran Mihai Malaimare Jr. as cinematographer on The Master. Though the talk is fairly evenly spread out between the four filmmakers, PTA had some interesting remarks to make when asked about Punch-Drunk Love by Coppola. That part of the talk comes in around 26:27.

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA: Did you know what you were doing when you made Punch-Drunk Love?

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON: No, I was just trying to get through every day. It started to feel -- it was horrible for the first three weeks. Just felt terrible, like I didn't know... none of it looked good, none of it looked right, and [we] stopped and started again, and then somewhere along the way, everything started to feel better, and it felt better...

FFC: And do you notice as years go by, people say, "I love that, that was so beautiful! That was so unique!"

PTA: Yeah, no, and I thought... it turned out that everything I thought was terrible was really good. Just with some distance, it felt good. And then I edited it together, and I thought, "I think I made a film that every single person is gonna see, and it's gonna make like 500 billion dollars, you know? I finally did it!" And no one saw it, and people didn't like it, but...

FFC:  I mention it because each of these wonderful directors each has made a film, if not more than one, that's one of my favorites. And Punch-Drunk Love, not to mention the others and certainly Boogie Nights, but... when I go to the movies, I like to go out and say, "I never saw anything like that." That's my favorite thing to say, you know? And that leaves you - that filmmaker - in a tough spot for a while, you know? It tends to come around, though.

If you have the time, we highly recommend sitting through the whole thing. There are many interesting anecdotes from FFC's career, notes on his technique, and, perhaps most importantly, perspectives from three prominent filmmakers who have been deeply influenced by him.

Special thanks to Cinephilia and Beyond for the news.

IV: 225 days

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