Paul Thomas Anderson Interview - Part 3 of 3

[sleepx2]

Ummmm he wouldn't be eating if he was on coke. If you've ever done it before you would know this...

[RICH020669]

Am I the only one who thinks that PTA voice sounds a bit like Michael J. Fox?

[mykylc]

@RICH020669 hahaha he does...never listened that close before.

[J2Cool]

@RICH020669 3:25

[daxombie]

seems like he's calmed down a lot now that he's gotten older

Interesting as hell how he predicted the death of the romantic comedy

[daxombie]

seems like he's calmed down a lot now that he's gotten older

[2505994]

this guy is the best director working today

an also such a cool person

[MckyMseNTarotCrds]

Great uploads. PTA's great.

[sonofchant]

i feel that "monsters" is probably the most intelligent monster movie that i have seen.

[blaaairVideos]

i love the end. that was probably like the first hint of Punch Drunk Love.

[Ave88]

An intelligent godzilla ? two have been made since.. The Host and Cloverfield

[daria3891]

I bet he's not like that anymore...

PTA, come back!

[MrBarackObonga]

@daria3891 what do you mean by this?

[daria3891]

@MrBarackObonga

You know, he's so daddy-like now. Not that easy-going, open-minded director. I want a brand new film of him :) Not another kid xD

[MrBarackObonga]

@daria3891 well considering hes working on Inherent Vice i think hes going in the right direction, search that up on youtube and go for the video with the narration in the background, makes me excited already xP

[daria3891]

@MrBarackObonga yeah, but I wonder what if he will change his mind again and won't do this one film. It makes me excited too! you know, the noir stuff... I love it! But could you share with me the link of what you were writing about?

[MrBarackObonga]

@daria3891 /watch?v=RjWKPdDk0_U

[GOreelz]

this guy is talented because of his passion for movies. He has a love for something, thats where the brilliance and the creative genius comes from.

[haribo687]

"there is such a thing as an intelligent Godzilla movie to be made"

anyone seen The Host? :)

[Marcus092788]

Hahah...i love the moment where he talks about a film being shot "Super 35-Scope" The notion doesn't exist, shooting Super 35 and scope are two different things!. I love the guy, but you have to acknowledge the fact that he likes to think that he knows more than he does!

[drummerjoe2610]

@Marcus092788 Scope is a very common reference to the aspect ratio, not just anamorphic, yes technically it's derived from cinemascope, which is dead, but many people in the industry use it to refer to anything 2.39:1. I can only acknowledge that you like to think you know more than he does.

[Marcus092788]

@drummerjoe2610 You forgot to cite the wikipedia page that you copied and pasted all of that from :)

[drummerjoe2610]

@Marcus092788 I didn't use any sources, I don't remember where I first heard or read that, although wikipedia would be pretty good for someone who claims to know more than a respected writer/director but actually has no idea what he's talking about.

[RHfilm]

I love the prediction he makes about romantic comedies. So true.

[rudoludo]

I had no idea of what an arrogant prick he is.

[MrMackeyMmmkay]

@rudoludo That "arrogant prick" is a modern cinematic genius. You are a douche with a Youtube account.

[rudoludo]

@MrMackeyMmmkay LMFAO wow what an overeaction. Go bacjk to eating your mommies shit

Genius my arse

[kapillie]

@rudoludo mrmackey is right every movie hes done had been a masterpiece

[rudoludo]

@kapillie Hard Eight And Punch Drunk Love are hardly "masterpieces"

Jesus overeactions make be vomit.

[kapillie]

@rudoludo ha i think the vomit comment is an overreaction

[sidekickmarie]

5.30 Do you think he already had the idea/plot for Punch Drunk Love here? Brilliant interview.

[mommyimadeapoopy]

if he was coked out,he definitely would not be chomping on pizza..

[curbyourwife]

"Oh...I can name a few from this summer" hahaha, PTA...is the man

[godfatherofwiseguys]

QT and him are best friends..

i want to see a video of them discussing films ala Siskel and Ebert. just an hour video discussing their top 10 favorite films

[lollerz16]

Wish he'd make more movies. I want to call him the Kubrick of this generation but he just doesn't make enough films.

[SideshowJared]

@lollerz16 ???? Kubrick made 12 movies between 1955 - 1999. P.T.'s made 5 movies between 1996 - 2007. (if that was a joke, it was quite funny)

[lollerz16]

@SideshowJared It was different in Kubrick's day.It was much harder to get films made. Plus, PTA seems to be concentrating more on adverts than he is films so his situation is very different. But yeah, well done for being condescending over Youtube to someone you've never met.

[SideshowJared]

@lollerz16 Hahaha I seriously seriously wasn't being condescending whatsoever. Man people have been conditioned to assume that any response that includes stats or facts is a jab at them. Seriously, that was completely innocent, and I thought it was quite funny if it were joke for real. It just catches me off guard when people say someone doesn't make as many films as Kubrick. I guess the joke would be more obvious if it were Terrence Malick or something.

What do you mean by 'adverts'?

[SideshowJared]

@lollerz16 Also, Kubrick had complete control over his films, made most of them in Europe, produced them himself, and notoriously took a very long time per film. He had a couple projects he never got off the ground, but that was mostly due to ambition or, in the case of his holocaust film, Spielberg beat him to it. He spent, as you probably know, like three years total on "Eyes Wide Shut".

Again, trust me, I HATE anonymous arguing on message boards, so consider that when reading these.

[SideshowJared]

@lollerz16 AND Universal recently past on backing P.T.'s latest film because they claim that $35Million is too big a budget. It may be easier to get films off the ground these days, but if such a low (by today's standards) budget like that is too much of a risk, then maybe it just seems easier? I don't know. There's also the whole 'Scientology" reason why they won't back it, but who knows.

[lollerz16]

@SideshowJared You've proven to me from your response there that you are not an idiot so I apologise. The thing about PTA is that he maintains such a high quality through his films. And Kubrick was similar. However, if PTA doesn't start making more movies in the next few years, then I'm worried he might turn out like other directors (like De Palma) who simply lose their directing instinct when they get to a certain age. I hope this isn't the case with PTA though.

[SideshowJared]

@lollerz16 I understand the concern. I think PTA takes enough time and also will (hopefully) stick to writing his own scripts. He seems to draw proper inspiration for his projects and he's got that chameleon-like quality where he's able to adapt to whatever subject matter beautifully. And we all know that he's able to provoke performances like no other. I think if "The Master" is as good as the script reviews claim, that'll be the deciding film to gauge his career.

[kjt1981]

Interesting what he says here about the romantic comedy, reference to Punch Drunk Love?

[IDDQDavid]

I LOVE THIS GUY!

[JesusCristo2002]

Generally indviduals in the film industry try to portray themselves as respectably likable. Throughout the majority of the interviews I've seen with Paul Thomas Anderson, have been very pleasurable in how he expresses such sentimentally honest opinions regarding his pictures/films and the actors he works with and the substancial material they're willing to work with. Here, you're just seeing a big kid do nothing other then expressing his love and experience with other in the business.

[godsaway0]

@JesusCristo2002 nice stereotype there Ebert.

[RandalBauer11]

PTA totally Babe Ruthed the future of Romantic Comedies.

[amazingblur]

First off, PTA is amazing.

Secondly, I like hearing this acknowledgment of disappointment with modern films, especially with action films. Shitty action films make me fall asleep, it's incredible. I don't sleep in films, I love films, but shitty action films make me more sleepy than ambien.... I should buy one for those restless nights, definitely better than ambien... ambien... what a goofy narcotic, I would always think about world peace in the most delusionally diluted way when on that stuff

[godfatherofwiseguys]

Transformers2 is represents what action movies have become. we're lucky we have Nolan making smart action films.

[brickbusterful]

yes! Yes! yes! I agree 100%!

[joedits1]

I don't think he's on coke here though. I think he's just naturally high from talking about a project that he loves so much. Like he said he's still wrapped up in the process of making the film. Still mulling over shots and the editing. I feel like that after only 3 short films I've edited. It's exhilarating and exhausting. I can't imagine the elation he feels for his body of work. The guy is brilliant. Not a day goes by where I don't think about the "sisters" scene in Punch Drunk Love.

[joedits1]

Brilliant, creative, and original people can do whatever drug they feel like. Kudos to the interviewer for not only a great interview, but for never cutting to himself once. You won't see that here in America.

[SideshowJared]

@joedits1 Haha very true. I don't know if anybody else responded to this, but that is Mike Figgis interviewing him. He wrote and directed "Leaving Las Vegas", "Hotel", "Time Code", etc. You can catch a detailed interview with him on the DVD release of Godard's "Weekend". He's a bit pretentious and he hates Tarantino, and, oddly enough, he makes a rule never to re-watch movies, except on special occasions. Just FYI. Glad to see he respects P.T.

[Moviesman08]

he's always fidgety in interviews it seems.

or he might be on coke. but he seems very down to earth.

[52106211988able]

A lot of excited filmmakers fidget a lot. Scorses and Tarantino do too.

[dicaprio20us]

yes he is on coke , not only his nose but he is hyper !!! and look at his eyes , like he hardly had any sleep. he is too awake!!

[DrunkyMcLushLives]

Hardly any sleep? That's not the sign of someone who does cocaine, that's the sign of a filmmaker. When we filmmakers are wrapped up in our movies (which he says he still is), we don't get sleep.

[dicaprio20us]

i am a film actor my self and i know how things proceed. i know its hard work but most filmmakers do what do they and so does screenplay wrights , producers , so on and so on!

[DrunkyMcLushLives]

I'm sorry - What I meant to say in my last comment was that those bags under his eyes and his chatty mood weren't necessarily a sign of cocaine use - not that they weren't signs period. Just wanted to clear that up since I don't know him personally and can't vouch for him first hand.

Have you acted in anything I might have seen?

[TheDrawbridge]

I want PTA to make a monster movie.

[GeddyYeti2112]

"I'll be the young filmmaker with fucking pizza in the interview."

[jakespick]

PTA just does whatever the fuck he wants.

He has to itch his nose, he itches his nose. happens to me alot too, but i don't do cocaine, y'know.

PTA's just the man.

[AddictofFilm]

too right

[edwinombac]

is this guy on coke?he is always touching his nose.if he can make it we can all make it.

[PeterZeeke]

whats wrong with something about mary?

[FunBoy15]

what they say about action movies is sooooo true. but there are always the good films that stick out of the pile of shit, in any genre.

[thegreatmorph]

gotta love figgis in 3.00 - 3.11

so funny.

[mabryzealand]

at 3:28 - 3:30 he sounds just like Michael J Fox haha

[GeddyYeti2112]

The interviewer sounds like Dante Hicks from Clerks.

[ECDCXL]

He predicst his own movie, PDL, at the very end.

[bobbyjoe]

Sort of. What he is actually talking about is his original idea for Magnolia, which started out as a small, (almost-)conventional film, but blossomed as he wrote it. Although I assume the same feelings he talks about here did lead to PDL, after the stenuous time he had making Magnolia, yes.

[ECDCXL]

I meant the part where he says he wants to make a straight forward romantic comedy but wanting to fuck it up in his own way. That's definatelt PDL.

[bobbyjoe]

True, true. God i love that film,,,

[hanshotfirst1138]

What's PDL?

[QueenyMcfaggot]

Punch-Drunk Love

[RoboDouche]

I can't believe how young he is. Holy shit.

[trulysarcastic]

thank you! there is no drug that your going to start eating pizza after doing other then weed. ans what the fuck does it matter if he is or isn't?

[TimCollinsATL]

For all of those who said he was on coke... who do you know that does lines of coke and wolfs down slices of pizza afterward? No one. If he is on any drug it's weed - and what's so wrong with that? If you are disappointed with a film director smoking weed then perhaps film directors are not the people you should be looking up to.

[maikitoo]

Looks like Boong Joon-Ho heard P.T. Anderson and then made "The Host" (;

[FilmSnapz001]

lol hanging out with quentin tarantino. i wonder what they were doing there....

[heistguy]

With or without drugs it's called "Life". This dude has a life force in him, and I find it really odd and depressing that people always find people with passion a bit odd.

[downeyr]

Even if he was on drugs, everyone should judge the work of every artist solely on the work of the artist. If everyone knew that Wagner was a Nazi, would that make you hate "Ride of the Valkyries?" I hope not, because the art should be judged by the art.

[xxplosive661]

Alright everyone... who gives a shit if he was on drugs?? Listen to what the man has to say and move on... he's a great filmmaker and appreciate what he's done. Who cares what he does in his personal life?

[Tigerlily21]

I think he's entertaining and cute. Most directors are egotistical assholes and fugly at that.

[pucatan]

will all of you sutpid motherfu(kers shut the fu(k up about weather he does drugs or non! this guy is the greatest filmmaker since kubrik! just listen and shut the fu(ck up!!!

[duncan36]

Well he hung out with Tarantino that makes the drug rumors more likely. Could explain the long gap between Magnolia and There Will Be Blood.

[BARCACROSSESTHEALPS]

Punch Drunk Love

[Rarab2]

Lol.

[SideshowJared]

@duncan36 He and Quentin did Chinese ecstasy together while Tarantino was shooting "Kill Bill". Don't forget he made Punch Drunk Love between Magnolia and There Will be Blood. Then he had a kid and, as he put it, just "felt burned out".

[CeroFrio]

I like how he essentially reveals his plans to make Punch Drunk Love at the end.

[joezam44]

Wow, young PTA is REALLY entertaining. He's more of the "quiet type" now, and it certainly hasn't hurt his films any, but I could watch young PTA for another hour or two.

[xxxzoso]

Awesome interview. Thanks for posting this!

[xxxzoso]

Awesome interview. Thanks for posting this!

[ifilmstuf24]

For everyone that thinks P.T.A. is on coke is completely wrong. If he were on drugs we would know about it. He either would've probably had an overdose by now, been in rehab, or a lot of worse things. HE IS NOT ON COKE, OR ANY DRUG. He is just a GENIUS!!! Now everyone who thinks he is on Drugs is wrong, so leave P.T.A. alone

[joezam44]

Drugs do not mean someone is a bad person or that they are "insta-talent". If coke made you a brilliant director Britney Spears would have made There Will Be Blood. That said, many creative people have used drugs to positive effect.

[RingoWinfrey]

"I'll be the young film maker with fuckin' pizza in the interview."

[bigpunholla]

Love the pizza montage haha

[ifilmstuf24]

I wonder if he saw Cloverfield (THE GREATEST MONSTER MOVIE EVER MADE)And enjoyed it.

[ifilmstuf24]

I don't care about the negative feedback, I still think "Cloverfield" is the Best Monster Movie ever.

[miller18]

Paul was so passionate in this interview. I'm looking forward to his 6th film.

[bugogorac]

excellent interview...

[DynomiteMan534]

this is why I like QT and PTA they love what they do and they are a few of my inspirations when I make my films they arent on drugs

[ifilmstuf24]

If he were on drugs we would know about it. So leave P.T.A. alone!

[apocalypselat3r]

Everyone thinks PTA is on drugs and coke all the time, he is just really passionate about his work. its not even eccentricism, he is just really passionate...something you dont see anymore really..

[Garfler]

Yeah lol, I kinda thought that everyone would prolly think he's high, cause he's like swearing and talking porn, eating pizza in the middle of the interview, but that doesn't matter at all, that's kinda what I admire the most about him. Stupid ppl :)

[10minutemoviereviews]

That was the first time i ever seen PTA talk, he acts just like tarintino.

[TouchtheDarkness]

Corporate slaying of Hollywood is well underway.

Somebody save us.

[masterlech]

mike figgis sounds ok, here. Quite surprised.  When was the last time he did anything worthwhile?

[boknowsbaseball]

PT is so coked here. Still, an awesome interview!

[hanshotfirst1138]

He is?

[receivebacon]

Yes.

[hanshotfirst1138]

Ah.  I'm sheltered and naive. How can you tell.

[receivebacon]

well, let's see. the man's running a mile a minute, scarfing pizza, and just count how many times he sniffs and rubs his nose. he acts the same way on the magnolia dvd interviews.

[slangshotstudios]

from what I know about coke, it deprives you of appetite...

[Olllie]

Definitely on coke.

[ifilmstuf24]

no he's not

[whateveritsnoyes]

"i could name a few this SUMMER!" haha.

[bigmooseextreme]

predicts matrix and minority report?

[jdenial]

its awesome he predicts an intelligent monster movie.... The Host... too bad it happened like 8 years later...

and that traditional romantic comedy fucked up in an untraditional way is Punch Drunk Love :D!

[squirmypuppy]

Paul's such a badass.

Interesting to hear Figgis appreciate anything done by a modern filmmaker.