Wednesday Movie Night: Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

I've obviously been watching a lot of PT Anderson films, and each time it seems I get something different. The past movies I've watched make Adam Sandler an interesting lead for this role in Punch Drunk Love, but it is probably one of Adam Sandler's most memorable role to date. If you were one of his usual fans from his other movies then you may have been a little mystified by the atmosphere of this one that is a blend of dark comedy and romance.

Barry Egan seems a bit psychologically troubled. He's a loner who is harassed whenever his sister's speak to him. Another thing to add to his odd persona is that he supplies novelties to dealers. When he calls a phone-sex line he finds himself caught in a con, and now he is being blackmailed by a crooked mattress salesman. When he meets Lena though his life is changed, and he only wants to be with her. He has tons of pudding saved up for flyer miles as well, so it might come in handy as he pursues her affection.

135 of 1001 Movies: There Will Be Blood (2007)

There Will Be Blood seems the best all around rated of Paul Thomas Anderson's movies. I can definitely see why as it dealt with themes that I hadn't saw any movie try to tackle, and that is probably because faith and money ideas don't make for box office blockbusters if you're looking for one. It's probably one of the first movies I've seen absent of any romance, and it more a man's romance with his job, and his struggles when a man of heavy faith enters his life, and he has to be torn between money and the fact he seems a little at unease regarding the man's faith.

Summary: When Daniel stumbles upon oil he takes a few years to harness what he has found into a full blown business. This also brings others hoping to get in on what he has found to, and one of those ways is bringing him onto their own land to dig for oil, so they can sell the land to him to dig on. Paul arrives to offer Daniel the land his family lives on to dig on as long he shares the profits to help him build a church. Daniel carries him and his, HW, to the land, only to find his trust deteriorating in Paul and the fame of oil breaking is own sanity.

133 of 1001 Movies: Boogie Nights (1997)

Paul Thomas Anderson is becoming one of my favorite directors. He takes a movie that could easily be something that is ridiculous and he makes it into something very intense and emotionally driven. Out of the three I've seen from Anderson so far, Boogie Nights is by far the strongest as far a film. It does what the others seem to be trying to capture again, and that is create characters who are not normally people we would want to associate with, and creates them into people just looking for the things everyone else is, which seems to be love and a family.

Eddie is just a teen working at a nightclub, but this will lead to another world proving him some access to adulthood he hasn't had. Jack Horner meets Eddie at work, and notices that there is something special about Eddie that he thinks would do well in his line of work, the adult film industry. Eddie is hesitant at first, but after a fight at home he runs away to live with Jack and his crew. He instantly shoots to stardom as porn star, Dirk Diggler, but in the world of porn he also finds things that bring many of them down including drugs, pride, and the stigma of being in porn.