Wow.

It doesn't happen often that all elements of what comprises film reach such a high level as with The Master. It brushes with perfection on so many an occasion which left me in complete awe for everyone involved in making this, but mainly because of the three main offenders; Phoenix, Hoffman and Anderson.

Paul Thomas Anderson is unmistakably a unique, powerful and resounding voice in cinema. Whenever he creates, something happens among lovers of film. Whenever he speaks through this wonderful medium I just have to listen. And while not all of his tales are equally impressive, they are always unique in style, content and themes. I find it amazing that a director who has received so much acclaim…

Paul Thomas Anderson is The Master. He is a filmmaker with grand visions, a director whose loyal followers pour over every word and dissect every scene and a writer who explores the failings and extremes of Man. Above all he is a hopelessly inquisitive man always striving forward and never burdened by contemporary fashion. And just like Lancaster Dodd, the charismatic false prophet at the centre of this film, his latest work is his most challenging, dense, contradictory and elusive to date.

Each new Anderson film is accompanied by unrealistic expectation. It would not be hyperbole to suggest he is one of the last truly great American filmmakers still at the peak of their creative powers. Yet with such a…

I'm not sure at this point that I can actually separate the circumstances under which I saw this film with the film itself.

When I got to the theatre, I wasn't expecting to see The Master. I had bought tickets to see Baraka in 70mm; I knew that there was a sneak peek going on that day, but I had assumed it was happening later, after Baraka. It wasn't until I picked up my tickets and the ticket lady asked if I was excited or bummed out, that I found out that I was about to get to see The Master.

Sitting in the audience, I wondered, how crazy would it be if PTA were there?

IT WAS REALLY FUCKING…

Link to my tl;dr review.

I find it hard to step back and take a critical look at The Master (or any of Paul Thomas Anderson's films, for that matter). Sometimes, films (or albums, or novels) just resonate with you, and you become emotionally attached to them. Sometimes you latch onto them so tightly that it takes years for the joy of the experience to fade and you can appropriately and fairly judge them. Your mind hears other people's criticisms and works to defend them, however tangential, frivolous, and contradictory those defenses might be. That feeling has not yet faded for Magnolia, so I think I've got a few more years of The Master-worship in me.

The most common complaint…

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this is PT Anderson's best film yet. Yes, I think it's even better than There Will Be Blood. It's his most challenging, dense, and assured work to date. It forces you to look inwards in order to connect on an intellectual and emotional level, but it also challenges you to contemplate the entirety of human nature and what drives us. Just like PT Anderson's other films, it's extremely rich thematically, exploring control, power, regret, loneliness, action, belief, and truth. It's dense, but it's rewarding.

To say this film is stunning is a gross understatement. The richness of the picture is something that probably has to be seen on the…

There are several types of film that I won’t even bother to review on Letterboxd; those that are stone cold classics and there really isn’t anything else to be said about them (sometimes I will break this one because I just need to get down my personal impressions). Those that I was too tired/drunk to watch properly, or I didn’t watch them in one sitting, and therefore my impression may be skewed and it’s not really worth trying to put it into words. And then there are those that aren’t necessarily classics but have provoked a huge response, and everyone and their mother has already written about what they think of the film; The Master is definitely in this latter…

Cults...they are so...culty. You hear about them on the news, the twisted backgrounds, the horrific inner details and you sit and ponder how anyone with half a brain cell could ever be sucked in to such a lifestyle. To actively take that choice to suspend all logic and reason and sign up to another way of viewing and seeing all around you is well...confusing to me.

I do however, know this. If Phillip Seymour Hoffman turned up and preached his "The Cause" speech to me, I'd be sold. Hoffman is truly the star here and well deserving of the Oscar nomination he picked up. He is so calmly charasmatic and charming, I'd fall for his lines and doctrines any day.…

I don't see where all the hate for this film comes from. Before watching the film I was skeptical because I had heard that the film was boring and nothing happens in the film. This is a completely false statement. I can not see how someone would find this film more boring than another film to come out the same year, "Lincoln". There was very little I had complaints with in this film and I honestly don't understand why this is looked down upon.

Let's start with the boredom factor. Many critics and friends of mine told me that the film is very boring and that nothing happens in the film. Where I can see where they could get bored…