After 16 years in the weeds—tons of projects in development, none of them panning out, projects that could have included Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Daniel Craig, and more—filmmaker Todd Field returned last year with the critically acclaimed “TÁR” starring Cate Blanchett (#1 on our list of the Best Films of 2022). It’s a bold, audacious drama, and it will likely be nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and more.

Continue reading Todd Field Loves ‘Punch Drunk Love’ & Teases Adam Sandler Project, “We’ve Been Talking About Things” at The Playlist.

Before Paul Thomas Anderson cast him for his 2002 romance “Punch-Drunk Love,” Adam Sandler was mostly known for broad comedies. He was certainly not the most obvious candidate for a lead in a dramatic role, as Anderson’s longtime producer JoAnne Sellar herself admits.

READ MORE: Tom Cruise Is The Reason Paul Thomas Anderson & Adam Sandler Did ‘Punch-Drunk Love’

In the new book “Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterclass” by Adam Nayman, Sellar confesses (via IndieWire) to have doubts about casting Sandler.

Continue reading ‘Punch-Drunk Love’ Producer Doubted Casting Of Adam Sandler, As Did Plenty Of People At The Time at The Playlist.

It’s common knowledge that Paul Thomas Anderson is a huge Adam Sandler fan. In fact, he’s gone on the record calling “Big Daddy” one of his favorite movies. The duo has even worked together, beginning with the film “Punch-Drunk Love” back in 2002. But when did the love affair between Anderson and Sandler begin? Well, apparently it was way back in Sandler’s ‘SNL’ days and it’s all because of Tom Cruise.

Continue reading Tom Cruise Is The Reason Paul Thomas Anderson & Adam Sandler Did ‘Punch-Drunk Love’ at The Playlist.

If you grew up watching movies in the mid-to-late-’90s, you inevitably had a favorite Adam Sandler movie. Few actors have become comedic superstars the way Sandler did in his heyday. While the broad physical comedy of Jim Carrey began to wane into the new millennium, Sandler’s star status has continued to grow – he’s simultaneously one of the world’s most popular and contentious performers. From the immature, anger-prone protagonists of his early efforts like “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore” to the genial-schlub leading men of “50 First Dates” and “Grown Ups,” Sandler’s persona has endured through every transition in the comedy world of the last 25 years.

Continue reading The Essentials: Adam Sandler’s Best Performances at The Playlist.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson has written some of the most fascinatingly flawed male characters in cinema. They possess qualities of dominance, insecurity, and a heaping dose of toxicity. PTA writes complicated, disrupted men. Every bit of convoluted emotion is stretched into hours of interpretation. Audiences come to know these men on an intimate level, especially when given further dimension by actors like Daniel Day-Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Continue reading Examining Paul Thomas Anderson’s Toxic Men at The Playlist.

Silence has been key to the films of Paul Thomas Anderson. Capturing the intriguing, dynamic performances of his actors, the silence that would often elude others comes as a second language to the talented, adaptable filmmaker. By removing dialogue, Paul Thomas Anderson offers a moment of reflection for his characters, which carries past the screen to the very heart of his audience.

In a video compilation edited by Jacob T.

Continue reading Reflection & Silence In Paul Thomas Anderson’s Films at The Playlist.

Guillermo del Toro‘s “The Shape Of Water” is a lot of things — monster movie, ’50s Cold War thriller — but first and foremost, it’s a swooning, head over heels, delirious romance. Yes, that romance is between a woman and merman, but you’d be hard-pressed to find another movie this year that hits you right in the heart (with the exception of “Call Me By Your Name“).

Continue reading Guillermo del Toro Explains How ‘Punch-Drunk Love’ Inspired ‘The Shape Of Water’ at The Playlist.

If you haven’t noticed from the decorations, shop displays, email reminders, and worried reminder texts from your partner, it’s Valentine’s Day, the annual celebration of love, sex, romance, coupledom and having arguments in the Uber on the way to the second-choice restaurant. As always, we’re looking through the holiday through the cinematic lens, and whether you’re planning on snuggling up together on the sofa, or putting something on for company while you listlessly swipe through Tinder, we figured you could probably use some movie recommendations.

Continue reading The 50 Best Romantic Films Of The 21st Century So Far at The Playlist.

Well, take all my money right now. Another month, another insane Criterion Collection line-up that will bleed you dry because you’ll feel like you need every release. First up, the new crown jewel in the collection, the first Paul Thomas Anderson title on Criterion. “Punch Drunk Love.” In case you’ve been living under a rock, the picture is Anderson’s take on a sweet romance film, but it’s also dark, weird, dramatic and features many fanciful musical notes.

Continue reading Criterion Adds Films By Paul Thomas Anderson, Marlon Brando, Noah Baumbach & Akira Kurosawa To The Collection In November at The Playlist.

Watch: Video Mixtape Tribute To The Films Of Paul Thomas Anderson

Continue reading Watch: Video Mixtape Tribute To The Films Of Paul Thomas Anderson at The Playlist.

Watch: Joanna Newsom Sings "He Needs Me" At Live Screening Of Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Punch-Drunk Love'

Continue reading Watch: Joanna Newsom Sings “He Needs Me” At Live Screening Of Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Punch-Drunk Love’ at The Playlist.

Watch: 20-Minute Video Essay Explores Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Punch-Drunk Love,' Early Shorts & Comedy Sketches

Continue reading Explore Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Punch-Drunk Love,’ Early Shorts & Comedy Sketches at The Playlist.

It’s easy to see that influence in his latest film, a big departure from his earlier Mumblecore efforts “Dance Party USA” and “Quiet City” — more so visually, as it’s shot beautifully by DP Andrew Reed on the RED ONE digital camera, but also because it employs a genre plot to drive the characterizations and relationships forward.

Continue reading Exclusive: Aaron Katz Writing A Werewolf Action-Comedy; Cites Jon Brion As Influence On ‘Cold Weather’ Score at The Playlist.

The rumor, if you can even call it that, was first picked up by CinemaTeaser in France. However, it all starts with Easton Ellis himself, who wrote over Twitter, “Keep looking at the script…Angelina and Franco for Theresa and Jeremy?…It doesn’t matter…I wrote it for them anyway…I just spaced…”

As Premiere speculates, is Easton Ellis hinting at something he knows is in the works?

Continue reading Angelina Jolie & James Franco To Star In ‘The Golden Suicides’ Penned By Gus Van Sant & Bret Easton Ellis? at The Playlist.

Now the picture has a filmmaker in Gus Van Sant who has come on board to help realize the project, though according to Variety he’s only helping out in a writing capacity so far as he does have the teen emo drama, “Restless” on his plate currently.

Continue reading Gus Van Sant Joins Bret Easton Ellis To Write ‘Suicides’ Story Of Artists Jeremy Blake & Theresa Duncan at The Playlist.

Last night my friend and I went to go see the newest creative outing from writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson: an untitled short collection of vignettes all starring SNL’s Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph as various couples or couples-to-be or couples-has-been. In the NY Mag review of sorts they went way too softball and described it something like going through PTA’s “Punch-Drunk Love” notebook of weirdos.

Continue reading Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Top Secret’ Largo Play Could Evidently Use Some Work at The Playlist.