12 Times A Director Went On An INSANE Streak Of Great Movies
11. Paul Thomas Anderson: Five Films From 1997-2012
The Streak: Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, The Master
Paul Thomas Anderson is arguably the best filmmaker of his generation, and he’s almost had a totally flawless run.
His debut Hard Eight almost made it on here, but it's admittedly rougher around the edges than his following movies, and is mostly overshadowed by Boogie Nights. It was the three-hour epic, Magnolia, that really put him on the map, though, thanks to its weird and wonderful tapestry of characters and a completely oddball performance by Tom Cruise.
From there, PTA jumped to the rather low-key romantic comedy Punch Drunk Love, and did the unthinkable: actually pulled a seriously good performance out of Adam Sandler.
A known quantity by now, 2007's There Will Be Blood proved he deserved a seat at the table next to the all-time greats. The Daniel-Day Lewis-led masterpiece was instantly viewed as one of the best American films of the 2000s, leaving everyone wondering what the director would do next. Rather than buckle under the pressure, his next film, The Master, was a worthy successor, and arguably just as good.
But, then, Inherent Vice came along and totally f***ed the flawless streak up completely. The meandering stoner epic was purposefully abstract and incoherent, leaving audiences wondering what the hell they’d just seen. It’s not a total write off, but it was the most indulgent the director has ever been - and its biggest crime was that it wasn’t anywhere near as funny as it thought it was.
At least Phantom Thread brought things back into alignment.
[Josh Brown]