Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master was set to receive the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter's inside source, until a decision to allow only two major awards per film forced jury members to re-assign the top honor to another contender. When the awards were doled out earlier today by Venice jury president Michael Mann, the best picture prize went to Kim Ki-Duk's ultraviolent mother-son flick Pieta while Best Director went to Anderson. (Full list of winners follows.)
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Also in Tuesday morning's round-up of news briefs, a 3-D newcomer tops the weekend's Specialty Box Office among newbies. Roman Coppola's second directorial effort with Charlie Sheen is headed to theaters. And, the Locarno Film Festival appoints a new Artistic Director following the sudden departure of its former head.
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Every frame of this simple but mesmerizing snippet of P.T. Anderson's The Master throbs with an unnatural hum - in this case, punctuated by the animalistic grunting of Joaquin Phoenix as he books it down a pier in the San Francisco Bay, a panting so odd and startling it jarred my cat out of his sleep, the strangest look on his face. Is there something in Phoenix's by all accounts bravura performance that vibrates on some feline, feral frequency?
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Thanks to the cajoling of a local critic, Chicago cinephiles got an advance look at Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master on Thursday night at a special 70 mm screening of the highly anticipated feature.
The sold-out benefit screening took place at Chicago's Art Deco landmark, the Music Box Theatre, which is the only movie house in the Windy City capable of projecting 70 mm film stock. more »
Also in Monday afternoon's round-up of news briefs, Martin Scorsese's Frank Sinatra pic gets a writer. Harvey Weinstein is tapped to MC Toronto Film Festival-Asian film event. Haley Joel Osment's Sassy Pants is heading to theaters and Jodie Foster boards a mob drama as director for Showtime.
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After much speculation, the Venice Film Festival officially said Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master will join the event's Competition as its 18th title. Organizers of the 69th annual event taking place August 29th to September 8th, added four more titles in all Wednesday to the festival's roster.
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As breathlessly reported by Variety's Jeff Sneider via Twitter: "Ladies and gentlemen, The Master primed for limited release on Sept. 14, will expand the following weekend!" The Weinstein Co. will release early in prime awards season moving the pic up from an October release, rolling the Philip Seymour Hoffman-starrer wide on September 21. The bad news for Austin, Texas film geeks: The timing seems to contradict speculation that Anderson's hotly anticipated pic might debut at Fantastic Fest, which runs September 20-27, though it may still screen there post-limited release. A Venice, late Toronto, or Telluride premiere is likely. [Variety]
A war veteran (Joaquin Phoenix) with a "nervous condition" finds himself entrenched in a cult — if not a religious cult, at least a cult of personality — built around a charismatic leader (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. At long last, after a series of enigmatic teases, the first full trailer has hit the web offering more than just abstract, beguiling peeks at the rumored Scientology drama. So how much L. Ron Hubbard is there in Hoffman's Master?
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In the latest installment of One-Sheet Wonder, a column going deep on the best, worst, weirdest and other milestones of contemporary movie-poster art, Movieline takes a look at the new poster for Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. — Ed.
The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson's enigmatic follow-up to There Will Be Blood, has been trailed by speculation and assumption for months — Is it about Scientology? Is Philip Seymour Hoffman portraying L. Ron Hubbard in a biopic capacity? — and every question has been met with denials and mystery. But each new marketing piece sheds more light on what we'll get. After two beautiful, beguiling teaser trailers, a beautiful, beguiling one-sheet for Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master debuted today over at Ain't It Cool News. But like the clips before it, the poster tells us almost nothing about the movie. (Or do they?)
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Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master continues to intrigue with the latest teaser revealing a look at Philip Seymour Hoffman as the enigmatic figure Joaquin Phoenix encounters — a mustachioed character who, in a new teaser entitled "Hopelessly Inquisitive," describes himself as "a writer, a doctor, a nuclear physicist, a theoretical philosopher" and stands poised in startling contrast to the skulking Phoenix.
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I hesitate to even post this video — part fever dream, part vaguely authorized marketing blip, yet utterly curiosity-stoking glimpse at what appears to be Paul Thomas Anderson's forthcoming The Master. Joaquin Phoenix, take it away.
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Looks like indie film financier/Tweeter Megan Ellison's promise came true: According to a Box Office Mojo update, Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master has been added to the fall 2012 release calendar, to open on October 12 -- just in time for an awards run! No official word from distrib The Weinstein Co. on the date or final title for the Philip Seymour Hoffman-starrer, nor mention of if/when the pic will first debut at one of the season's prestigious film festivals. While you await more info, mark your calendars... [Box Office Mojo via The Playlist]
Official release plans haven't been revealed for Paul Thomas Anderson's mysterious untitled religious drama, known as The Master, which stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix and was reportedly filmed on 65mm. But while distributor The Weinstein Co. hasn't let slip potential release dates yet, producer/financier Megan Ellison dropped a hint on Twitter about a possible fall opening.
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Paul Thomas Anderson diehards have gossiped for months over reports that the filmmaker is shooting an undisclosed portion of his next film, known as The Master, on 65mm -- the IMAX film format used recently, and to great effect, by the likes of Christopher Nolan and DP Wally Pfister on The Dark Knight and Brad Bird and DP Robert Elswit on Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. In a Twitter exchange yesterday, Pixar veterans Bird, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich geeked out over the joys of 70mm film, dropping a bit of confirmation that Anderson is indeed shooting in the format.
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