I'm writing a full review right now, but I will immediately say that I've never been quite as taken by PTA as most people. But the more I think and write about it the more I think that this is his best movie to date. It's wonderfully twisted, off-the-wall, contemplative, and really funny.

And if you can, see it in 70mm. Not only are there a bunch gorgeous shots (I could watch hours of just ocean footage in the format), but it helps you appreciate PTA's talent for blocking, plotting, and framing of his shots, especially the long takes (Which there are a lot of here).

I don't know if this is good but I do know that for some reason Paul Thomas Anderson only knows how to make period pieces. When he sets movies in the present its pure hell.

This seems like an 'easy task' for him post-TWBB, but I'm very excited.

It's true...Punch Drunk Love is mediocre vs TWBB and Boogie Nights, though I can't comment on Magnolia

Not hating. Just didn't really connect to PDL.

I actually liked PDL the most of the three PTA films I had seen before this (Other two being Magnolia and TWBB), but I don't remember much about why I loved it that much, heh.

AFI Silver ‏@AFISilver
Evening and weekend screenings of Paul Thomas Anderson's THE MASTER will be in glorious 70mm; weekday matinees in 35mm. Opening 9/21!

Damn it. I thought it was an advance screening announcement for D.C. at first, lol.

The photography in 70mm is pretty stunning. Whether it's just a shot of the water behind a ship or really giving a scene height or a perfectly framed close-up it just had such a fullness, a grand scope.

The performances, for me, range from good (Adams) to wonderful (Hoffman, I like you again!) to extraordinary (Phoenix). There was something about Phoenix, with his poor posture and broken model, hand on the hip stance that reminded me (especially before Hoffman enters) of James Dean in East of Eden. And clearly there was paternal validation needed that he hopes/d to find in Hoffman (as Dean needed in EoE).

While at times it does seem his most inaccessible film it's also rich with humor both very light and juvenile to pitch black dark. The religion/cult element, although front and center, is remarkably well handled in letting it be the catalyst for the relationship between Phoenix and Hoffman. Yes, the Scientology references are there but again, it's neither an in your face exposition on it or even cult figures exactly. It strives (and achieves) so much more than that. Anything less would be boring and below what I'd expect from Anderson.

This wasn't necessarily what I was expecting. Several of the more prominent scenes in the early trailers (such as Joaquin Phoenix's interrogation scene in the first teaser) aren't even in the film, and it was also a bit different tonally than I was expecting as well. This isn't to discount the film, and I actually think I need to see it again to accurately give it a proper rating. A few things are for sure. The performances are flawless. Joaquin Phoenix essentially has the Best Actor Oscar in the bag for his work here. It's just such a magnetic, fearless performance you can't take your eyes away from. His first official meeting with Master has such a powerful intensity to it - it was my favorite part of the movie. Philip Seymour Hoffman is also brilliant and succeeds at showing just how out-of-touch his character is while also showing why people are drawn to him and his beliefs. Amy Adams delivers another standout performance as the seemingly perfectly-coiffed wife, who quickly reveals she isn't as meek as she appears to be and is just as committed to the cause as her husband. A scene midway through the film with her and Hoffman is another standout. The cinematography is universally gorgeous and some powerful images have been captured here, and I loved the score as well. My only complaint was, that on this viewing, it felt a little hollow - I wasn't as emotionally invested in the story as I felt I should have been despite admiring so much about the film itself. I definitely think it will be divisive - it's definitely P.T. Anderson's most offbeat film yet. But still this is overall a must-see. A-

I hate to be the figure left out in the cold as The Master is celebrated as a new American masterpiece and another crowning Paul Thomas Anderson achievement, but, in my opinion, this is a fine and often interesting, but also flawed and frustrating film. Without a doubt, it is a technical marvel: the images (such as a boat sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge or a motorcycle racing in the vast desert) are big and beautiful, and the performers are in top form, from a ferocious, almost monstrous Joaquin Phoenix (delivering, unleashing, a detailed and over-the-top performance as exhausting as it fascinating) to a charismatic and precise Philip Seymour Hoffman. I should perhaps say limited to those men; no one else leaves a significant impact, not even Amy Adams playing against type.

The content, however, is a more complicated proposition. The surface is spot-on: as we pursue our "hero" from his Pacific ship to a store to a California farm and at last into the fold of a cult known as the Cause, it is as if we are watching a cinematic adaptation of the greatest Great American Novel never published, a film concerned with the right big themes, from post-war alienation to the (often negative or at least uncertain) role faith plays in modern society. Then, though, the film goes down the wrong path. The Anderson of There Will Be Blood is in control, not the Anderson of Boogie Nights and Magnolia. I don't say this as a slight against There Will Be Blood, but I wish The Master were more interested in and aware of the larger picture. The group dynamic at play within the Cause is not explored with much depth or pleasure, nor does the writer/director exhibit much interest in the specific nature of the belief system or how it sways the fifties housewives (one portrayed by Laura Dern) and others who adhere to it.

Instead, The Master devotes itself just to the Phoenix character (the Joaquin Phoenix Goes Insane Hour) and the question of whether he can change, see the light, etc. And though Phoenix is often captivating as he humps and lunges and screams and smashes, the character is not as nuanced or surprising as, say, Daniel Day-Lewis' Daniel Plainview, and he does not sustain the film's almost two-and-a-half-hour length. The best scenes blend both concerns, Phoenix and the Cause, such as the one where he undergoes Scientology style auditing (called "processing" here). Such are scenes are, alas, too few and far between. The Master, in the end, is majestic, yet also one-note and perhaps even a shade torpid.

B-

I don't think it's one note at all. The way I saw it, Lancaster Dodd was fascinated by the nature of Freddie- his instinctual, animal-like nature was the exact human element his Cause wanted to absolve. But Dodd becomes burdened by the constraints of his own movement and wants to tap into Freddie's fearless, chaotic spirit. The motorcycle scene fits that perfectly. But Freddie lives with a liberation Dodd can't grasp onto. Dodd is the strong and he wants to reform the weak, but by the end, the strong becomes weaker and the weak gets weaker still.

To hell with reserved judgement and repeat viewings, I thought this was the most remarkable movie I've seen this year. It's something more intimate and heartfelt than I think Anderson has made so far. Phoenix embodies Freddie- it's not an actor's showcase performance like Day-Lewis in TWBB but something even grander, a joy to marvel at. The technical craft is awe-inspiring and plenty of scenes here (off the top of my head- John Moore, the jail cell, Adams in PSH in the bathroom, and of course, informal questioning) rank among Anderson's most compelling work to date.

PTA is The Master.

It's one-note because Freddie is one-note. He goes beyond being sinister or unsympathetic; he's a monster pounding the same key on the piano over and over and over. I s'pose this just isn't the movie I wanted it to be. Shrug. I would have found a panoramic film depicting the birth of a new religion in post-WWII America (and the subsequent controversy and criminal investigation) much more interesting. I love the moment, for instance, where Laura Dern's true believer is seriously contemplating the change from "recall" to "imagine" in the new text. Or the argument between Lancaster and the doubter at the party. These are the best scenes.

I grew rather weary of, "He's an animal, a fighter, a madman, a louse, and he wants this Cause B.S. to help him, but it obviously won't because religion is a losing proposition," repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, beautiful shot of water, repeat.

Huge disappointment.

It's as if PTA took away from TWBB that critics disliked his deliberateness in that film; as a result, The Master is too vague to connect at all.

Gopher, I think you're overstating the fact that Dodd feels 'constrained'...there's some evidence with the Laura Dern 'imagine' scene and with the party scene (also, PTA: did not need to see old lady breasts, kthx), but it's not clear that he's in a rut or that Freddy's freebird spirit brings him resolve. And that'd be ok...but the movie gets very iterative.

I'd still recommend seeing it for Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Amy Adams is kind of a non-factor here, like the Boy in TWBB).

I agree with the idea that it's longer than it needs to be but I didn't mind spending more time in this world. A lot of the opening depends on if you're willing to care about Freddie without being explicitly told to (his relationship stuff doesn't come until later), but I found Phoenix fascinating enough to latch onto.

And I totally saw Dodd's longing in the second half. He's being pulled in one way by Adams/the Cause but his love for Freddie and his unruliness starts to confuse his own feelings towards his movement. The Cause is more successful by the end in terms of support/growth but PSH's passion is gone. The thematic level of the film got much more interesting once I wrestled with who 'The Master' really was- Freddie breaks Dodd in a sense, but Dodd breaks Freddie too (Phoenix's ending is even worse than where he began), and they ultimately end up in a stalemate.

It's the father/son dynamic that PTA's films thrive on and the religion angle made it all the more chewable.

How so?

We last see him feeling up the body of a sand whore. He's as hopeless as he ever was, only now he's been through this experience with PSH and he doesn't even know what to make of it (the 'impersonal profiling' of his girl).

I feel like I've figured the movie out, but I'm definitely going to go back again.

I would say he we leave him in the same emotional/philosophical/inebriated/etc. place where we found him. I don't see any ultimate rise or fall narrative in the film in regard to Phoenix's character. He just hasn't been saved.

Is the final shot intended to be a beach in England, or is it a return to the beach in Guam and the first sand woman? I absorbed it as the latter.

http://cigsandredvines.blogspot.com/2012/0...ted-scenes.html

It is as if there is a whole other movie left on the cutting-room floor, lol. I must admit, I was eager to see many of these scenes in context, such as Phoenix holding the pistol and falling to his knees or the aerial shot of him leaning over the side of the ship with his arms outstretched.

Didn't like it all that much to my surprise.

Sounds like you guys let your expectations get the better of you.

It's not as good as TWBB (but really, what is?), but it's still a masterful, complex work that I'm eager to dive into again.

Boogie Nights and Magnolia, to name two. Better, in fact.

Incredibly opaque and sort of difficult to really put your finger on, The Master is nonetheless a technical achievement filled with brilliant acting. I wasn't as taken with it as most of PTA's previous films, but there's a lot to admire here. Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman are both incredible, while Amy Adams is quietly forceful in the background. B+

A minor masterpiece IMO. This made me realize what defines PT – he makes movies about humans. And this thing is as hyperfocused on humans/humanity as anything I’ve seen in a long time. It’s as if we spend 2 and a half hours staring right into the face and thus souls of Phoenix, Hoffman and Adams and everything else is blocked out. I really lost myself within this film in the middle 3rd.

I didn’t like There Will Be Blood much because it came off as surprisingly shallow and surface heavy – both DDL’s character and how it went out of its way to make its surface visuals stand out. The Master is the opposite. This is about layered humans and while a beautiful film the visuals breathe within the context of the plot and characters.

Phoenix gives one of the best male performances I’ve ever seen tbh. The emotion in his eyes is just otherworldly here. Hoffman is also spectacular. Adams is clearly 3rd wheel but does her job.

Spectacular film