It’s been less than 3 months since Oscar. And that conversation is starting up again. I guess whenever Paul Thomas Anderson makes a movie though...
I love that Anderson is married to Maya Rudolph. Maya by the way grew up with Gwyneth Paltrow. And Gwyneth was in Anderson’s Hard Eight way back in the 90s, the emerging artist. It’s just something else for her to drop into conversation now and again. You know.
Even before anyone had seen it, they were saying The Master would rise during the Fall and contend into award season. Now that the first trailer has been released (along with a longer preview last night here in Cannes), that assumption has only grown stronger. But it’s more than just the director and the cast. It’s also The Master’s reported association with Scientology. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the charming leader of a “faith-based organisation” supposedly based on L Ron Hubbard. Joaquin Phoenix is a lost young man who becomes his greatest cheerleader. So, like, more Tom Cruise than John Travolta...?
Only this clip seems to suggest that he may have lost his way... Or is he still just as crazy?
I don’t know. We aren’t supposed to know. Which is why this is such an effective teaser. And there’s Joaquin at his compelling, electrifying best. For all his faults, there’s never been any question about Joaquin Phoenix’s talent. If this is any indication, he will floor us in The Master. This is exciting. I can’t wait to see it. I really hope to see it at TIFF. Because that would be the presumed schedule: Venice and TIFF, then building momentum through the Fall. Oh, and I already mentioned that Harvey Weinstein is also all over this one too, right?
