Saturday, August 29, 2009

"I still prefer the exuberance of Boogie Nights..."

...over the formalism of There Will Be Blood." says Quentin Tarantino when raving about Paul Thomas Anderson's auteurial genius.



On this we can agree though we love both films passionately.
*

18 comments:

Victor S said...

Guilty as charged. I'm with Tarantino on this one.

Eric Henderson said...

I like the sloppy bipolarity of Magnolia better than either.

Joe Reid said...

God love ya, QT.

FrenchGirl said...

i'm not original but i like the 2 movies

Adam said...

I side with Tarantino, but I'd say even "Magnolia" and "Punch Drunk Love" are on par with those two as well. They're all masterpieces, although "Boogie Nights" is my favorite. I think the scope of "There Will Be Blood" and its more classical side is what makes people heap the most praise on it, but the smaller scale of "Punch Drunk" is just as visionary.

Christine said...

It's interesting hearing Tarantino talk about Daniel Day-Lewis since one of the few film roles DDL actively fought for was the John Travolta role in "Pulp Fiction" but Tarantino turned him down.

I think he is dead wrong about "Boogie Nights" being a better film. But, on the other hand, I have a weakness for over-the-top, hyper-referential films, so "There Will Be Blood" falls right into my sweet spot.

Unknown said...

I just wish Tarantino were there to introduce all movies this way.

Danny King said...

This guy is so fascinating to listen to. He's one of those filmmakers who puts as much passion into watching movies as he does when he making them, and I applaud him for it. Even the greatest directors out there can benefit from watching other people's work.

Carl Joseph Papa said...

he looks just like an older version of roger federer. Hmmm. But I have to agree with QT on this. I think that "There Will Be Blood" is somewhat overrated.

Henry said...

How did No Country For Old Men win Best Picture over There Will Be Blood?

Sometimes I wonder if the Academy voters think to themselves, "Hmm. Maybe I should have changed my vote."

Anonymous said...

No love for Hard Eight?

Ian said...

"There Will Be Blood" > "Boogie Nights" for me, but both films are great in their own ways.

Chuck W said...

Count me in on Team Magnolia -- which might be the best film of the nineties -- although I will admit to preferring There Will Be Blood to Boogie Nights.

Drainage!

Mikadzuki said...

If I had to rank them, I'd say:

Magnolia > Boogie > Punch > Blood > Sydney

gabrieloak said...

I don't often agree with Tarantino but i do on this one. I loved Boogie Nights, found Magnolia odd but original, and absolutely hated There Will Be Blood and Punch Drunk Love.

Styx said...

I thought that "Magnolia" was awful, but between "Boogie Nights" and "There Will Be Blood", I have to go with "There Will Be Blood". Once people start to revisit that film ten or twenty years down the line, you'll really start to see that view take shape. I think the film's pretty underrated even for the acclaim it received (which just about all centered around Daniel Day-Lewis). Some of that should have gone to Paul Thomas Anderson too.

Notluke said...

I am exactly opposite than the above poster. Love Magnolia to bits, was severely disappointed with both Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood. Still, if I had to choose between the two, I'd pick the latter, which was too annoyingly self-conscious about being an AUTEURIAL! piece, but at least seemed to have a point or two to make. Unlike BN, which to me was three hours of bland characters doing random things. Was PTA's intention with that one to emulate a porn movie with all the juicy scenes removed by the censors?

Anonymous said...

wow he is so cocky. completely agree with styx, twbb is immense. also i thought paul dano was excellent, plus he is 20/30 years younger, its kind of unfair to judge him like that. funny, there will be blood and reservoir dogs are two of my most favouritist movies ever =)