1. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson)
This time, I'm not talking about the film, I'm talking about Paul Thomas Anderson. His films may not be commercially viable or as marketable as your typical thriller, comedy, or romance, but he knows what he's doing. Let me repeat that because I think we believe every director knows exactly what he's doing, but PTA
really knows what he's doing. The best filmmakers make the most of every shot and every scene; if a picture is worth a thousand words then a film is worth a billion and if most of those words make sense and are stringed into coherent sentences, then you have a great director behind the camera. Every Paul Thomas Anderson film can be watched multiple times and you'll notice something that you hadn't before, thus enriching your cinematic experience of the characters and story. Critics had mixed feelings about The Master and rightfully so, but it didn't stop them from noticing PTA's valiant efforts and execution as the director. Peter Travers said:
"The Master, the sixth film from the 42-year-old writer-director, affirms his position as the foremost filmmaking talent of his generation. Anderson is a rock star, the artist who knows no limits."
Todd McCarthy said:
"In a film overflowing with qualities but also brimming with puzzlements, two things stand out: the extraordinary command of cinematic technique, which alone is nearly enough to keep a connoisseur on the edge of his seat the entire time..."
A.O. Scott said:
"...Mr. Anderson discovers the perpetual promise of new beginnings and a poisonous backwash of anomie, violence and greed. In his world fortunes are constantly being made and squandered. New religions are springing to life. Gamblers, pornographers, hustlers and drunks are plumbing the mysteries of existence. Fathers are at war with their biological and symbolic sons. Husbands are at war with wives. Men are at war with the universe, perversely convinced that they have a chance of winning. All of this striving absurd, tragic, grotesque and beautiful can feel like too much. 'The Master' is wild and enormous, its scale almost commensurate with Lancaster Dodds hubris and its soul nearly as restless as Freddie Quells. It is a movie about the lure and folly of greatness that comes as close as anything Ive seen recently to being a great movie. There will be skeptics, but the cult is already forming. Count me in."
I know critics aren't a part of the Oscar ballot, and if they were we'd have quite an interesting list of winners, but these are people who know films and the people that make them. Scott hit it on the nail when he mentioned how broken people are "plumbing the mysteries of existence" because isn't that what all great filmmakers do? They show you a nugget of truth through the mysteries of life we'll never truly know the answers to on this side. Cinematic technique notwithstanding, I don't believe any other director is truly plumbing the depths of these mysteries like Paul Thomas Anderson is and for that I believe the Academy made a mistake. Maybe PTA and Ben Affleck can go grab a drink at an after party and talk about their favorite directors or movies that never won Oscars either. Coming back to the Orson Welles comparison made by Ben Affleck - he may have been right in more ways than one, as Welles was arguably the greatest director to have never won an Oscar. Even if Paul Thomas Anderson never wins an Oscar, at least he's in good company.
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