Paul Thomas Anderson Movies: Ranked! (And discussion)

[Autumnal]

Hey’ Dude! Anderson can’t be wrong about his favorite of his movies. Maybe if he said it was also his best, but not as described here.

 

[GM Lent]

I tend to hold Magnolia as one of the best movies ever made; I totally get the "hey, it's Tom Cruise!" thing but Cruise made both Magnolia and Eyes Wide Shut specfically to play against his normal fare and they both worked well in that regard.

It's funny; I have a bit of an issue with Daniel Day-Lewis. I can't criticize his capability, but to me it always seems like he's just trying too hard to Be A Great Actor. So There Will Be Blood left me a bit cold despite its technical perfection.

I haven't seen Anderson's most recent films, so I can't really comment on your list overall, but aside from my Magnolia commment above I generally agree with your ranking of the films I have seen.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

It's funny; I have a bit of an issue with Daniel Day-Lewis.

Woah. And I thought I wore the asbestos undies!

 

[Clint_L]

I tend to hold Magnolia as one of the best movies ever made; I totally get the "hey, it's Tom Cruise!" thing but Cruise made both Magnolia and Eyes Wide Shut specfically to play against his normal fare and they both worked well in that regard.

It's funny; I have a bit of an issue with Daniel Day-Lewis. I can't criticize his capability, but to me it always seems like he's just trying too hard to Be A Great Actor. So There Will Be Blood left me a bit cold despite its technical perfection.

I haven't seen Anderson's most recent films, so I can't really comment on your list overall, but aside from my Magnolia commment above I generally agree with your ranking of the films I have seen.

I get where you're coming from with DDL, but on the other hand he is a technically great actor, and when I'm watching one his films I'm not distracted by his celebrity the way I am with, say, a Tom Cruise. There's a bit of the Ben Stiller/Robert Downey Tropic Thunder dynamic to this debate (speaking of great Tom Cruise roles).

One of my dilemmas with trying to rank TMBB versus BN is that I feel like I shouldn't be holding up an astonishing Daniel Day Lewis performance against Marky Mark as Dirk Diggler (and yes, I get that the latter is in some ways similar to casting Adam Sandler). On the other hand, I feel like Wahlberg's limitations are kind of the point. I think BN might have held up better as a reflection on American culture. There's a lot of Gatsby to it.