Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson)

[angrycinephile]

I could not find a thread for this one.

Joaquin Phoenix is in talks to replace Robert Downey Jr.

Fine by me.

[Henry Gale]

I mean, I'd just love to see Downey in a role that isn't Tony Stark or Sherlock Holmes again. PTA could've been that best case scenario. But Phoenix is awesome too, so...

[Raiders]

So apparently filming wrapped last week.

http://cigsandredvines.blogspot.com/...rent-vice.html

That's impressive. I didn't know it was this far along. Good that we won't have to wait another four years for PTA's next film.

Most Pynchon fans, and the general consensus as well, were disappointed by it, but it was a step up from Against the Day for me, which really just kind of lost me along the way. This was Pynchon is more focused mode (which may actually be a new mode for him) and I found it really, well, enjoyable. Lighter reading, but capturing a period feel extremely well and the characterizations were pretty succinct and adept.

I think it can make for a pretty great film, though I would like PTA to take on something more ambitious from Pynchon (though heavens not Gravity's Rainbow which must stay forever un-adapted). In other words, PTA is my director-of-choice for Mason & Dixon, but if that does ever happen we're probably getting stuck with Walter Salles or some bullshit.

Cast is impressive:

•Joaquin Phoenix as Larry "Doc" Sportello
•Josh Brolin as Christian "Bigfoot" Bjornsen
•Owen Wilson as Coy Harlingen
•Katherine Waterston as Shasta Fay Hepworth
•Reese Witherspoon as Penny Kimball
•Benicio del Toro as Sauncho Smilax
•Jena Malone as Hope Harlingen
•Peter McRobbie as Adrian Prussia
•Sasha Pieterse as Japonica Fenway
•Maya Rudolph as Petunia Leeway
•Martin Short as Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd

[Dead & Messed Up]

•Maya Rudolph as Petunia Leeway

Who did she sleep with to get this part?

[number8]

Who did Owen Wilson?

[ledfloyd]

This was Pynchon is more focused mode (which may actually be a new mode for him) and I found it really, well, enjoyable.

I don't know if you've read Vineland, but they kind of feel like companion pieces to me.

[Raiders]

I don't know if you've read Vineland, but they kind of feel like companion pieces to me.

That's the only one I have not read, actually.

[Grouchy]

Who did she sleep with to get this part?

According to Wikipedia, with P.T. Anderson, for a number of years now.

[ledfloyd]

According to Wikipedia, with P.T. Anderson, for a number of years now.

That was the joke.

[Grouchy]

That was the joke.

Sorry for being dense. I didn't know who she was, so I looked it up.

[Winston*]

That would have been a really weird thing for Dead and Messed Up to post if he didn't know Anderson and Rudolph were together.

[Dead & Messed Up]

That would have been a really weird thing for Dead and Messed Up to post if he didn't know Anderson and Rudolph were together.

Maya Rudolph has my eternal admiration and respect for the scene where she was a ghost that was banging MacGruber in a cemetery.

[Gittes]

First photo! "Doc" Sportello (Phoenix) and "Bigfoot" Bjornsen (Brolin):



There's an accompanying article, but I kind of wish I didn't peruse it, even though not much is revealed. I've read the book, but I don't want to know about too many of the particulars of the adaptation prior to actually watching the film. I probably won't be able to resist watching the teaser, though, but we'll see. I guess I'll have to try and avoid plenty of articles and headlines in October, after the NYFF premiere.

[Milky Joe]

The best part about a new P.T. Anderson is having no fear of watching a teaser/trailer because you know that Anderson himself has total control over it and will not spoil anything from the movie itself. It will actually do what a teaser should do—tease.

[Gittes]

The best part about a new P.T. Anderson is having no fear of watching a teaser/trailer because you know that Anderson himself has total control over it and will not spoil anything from the movie itself. It will actually do what a teaser should do—tease.

That's true, at least with regards to The Master, whose initial teasers mostly consisted of footage that isn't in the actual film. I like that approach. You get a sense of tone and character without sacrificing too much from the film itself. There Will Be Blood's remarkable first teaser (which Anderson put together and surreptitiously uploaded onto YouTube without consent from Paramount Vantage, I think) was similarly great. In that case, it featured dialogue and footage that was actually in the film, but it was still an ideal teaser: obliquely presented, highly intriguing, etc.

Some of the longer, more traditional trailers are a different matter, though. I'm pretty sure Anderson doesn't put those together. I imagine he has the same arrangement as Woody Allen, who isn't as closely involved in the creation of promotional items as Anderson, but does have the ability to disapprove something if it strikes him as a bad approach.

[max314]

Paul Thomas Anderson's making a Wolverine movie?

[Gittes]

Some comments from Kent Jones and a new photo:

[Gittes]

Man, I'm super excited about this. I cannot wait. Here are some new photos, featuring Katherine Waterston as Shasta Fay Hepworth as well as another glimpse at Doc:

[dreamdead]

Trying to work up the time necessary to tackle Pynchon's novel before this comes available in the middle of the country. The pictures look good--I like Phoenix once again challenging the popular reception of him as unremittingly serious (this comes from someone who never saw the Casey Affleck film) via the hairdo.

I can't wait to see a trailer soon.

[ledfloyd]

Trying to work up the time necessary to tackle Pynchon's novel before this comes available in the middle of the country.

It's a pretty quick read.

[Watashi]

It's here and it's beautiful.

[Kurosawa Fan]

That is phenomenal.

[Lazlo]

Straight to the top of the most-anticipated board. Not that it had a ton of competition. But damn that looks great.

[Grouchy]

Wow. King of trailers.

[dreamdead]

Now for a The Duke of Normandy and a Knight of Cups trailer release before the end of the year, and I'm set.

I'm so happy that Phoenix has this role.