Magnolia (USA: Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)

 

Magnolia (USA: Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999: 188 mins) 

Bernstein, Arielle and Nelson Carvajal. "The Inherent Vice in Paul Thomas Anderson's Films: A Video Essay." Press Play (January 2, 2015)

Boyer, Lanny. "Paul Thomas Anderson: Four Basics." (Posted on Youtube: October 19, 2015)

Cassidy, Brendan and J.D. Duran. "Magnolia / Punch Drunk Love." InSession Film (January 2018)

Congdon, David. "Reconsidering apocalyptic cinema: Pauline apocalyptic and Paul Thomas Anderson." Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 24.3 (2012)

Flight, Thomas. "The Evolution of Paul Thomas Anderson." (Posted on Youtube: December 21, 2021)

Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey. "Magnolia: A Savage Attack on Masculinity and Whiteness." Senses of Cinema (February 2015)

Goss, Brian Michael. "“Things Like This Don’t Just Happen”: Ideology and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia." Journal of Communication Inquiry 26:2 (April 2002): 171-192

Holt, Ryan. "82: Magnolia." Arts and Faith Top 100 Films (2020)

Jack's Movie Reviews. "Paul Thomas Anderson - Finding a Purpose In Life." (Posted on Youtube: March 11, 2017)

Lee, Kevin B. "The Career of Paul Thomas Anderson in Five Shots." (Posted on Vimeo: 2013)

Nayman, Adam. Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks. Abrams, 2020.

Ratzlaff, Jeremy. "Paul Thomas Anderson: A Chronological Timeline." (Posted on Vimeo: November 2015)

Sperb, Jason. Blossoms and Blood: Postmodern Media Culture and the Films of Paul Thomas Anderson. University of Texas Press, 2013.

Toles, George. Paul Thomas Anderson. University of Illinois Press, 2016.

Warren, Ethan. "The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha (Columbia University Press, 2023) New Books in Film (March 29, 2023) ["Paul Thomas Anderson’s evolution from a brash, self-anointed “Indiewood” auteur to one of his generation’s most distinctive voices has been one of the most remarkable career trajectories in recent film history. From early efforts to emulate his cinematic heroes to his increasingly singular late films, Anderson has created a body of work that balances the familiar and the strange, history and myth: viewers feel perpetually off balance, unsure of whether to expect a pitch-black joke or a moment of piercing emotional resonance. The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha (Columbia UP, 2023) provides the most complete account of Anderson’s career to date, encompassing his varied side projects and unproduced material; his personal and professional relationships with directors such as Jonathan Demme, Robert Altman, and Robert Downey Sr.; and his work as a director of music videos for Fiona Apple, Joanna Newsom, and Haim. Ethan Warren explores Anderson’s recurring thematic preoccupations―the fraught dynamics of gender and religious faith, biological and found families, and his native San Fernando Valley―as well as his screenwriting methods and his relationship to his influences. Warren argues that Anderson’s films conjure up an alternate American history that exaggerates and elides verifiable facts in search of a heightened truth marked by a deeper level of emotional hyperrealism. This book is at once an unconventional primer on Anderson’s films and a provocative reframing of what makes his work so essential."]

The Directors Series- Paul Thomas Anderson [3.1] from Cameron Beyl on Vimeo.



The Directors Series - Paul Thomas Anderson [3.2] from Cameron Beyl on Vimeo.


The Directors Series - Paul Thomas Anderson [3.3] from Cameron Beyl on Vimeo.


The Directors Series - Paul Thomas Anderson [3.4] from Cameron Beyl on Vimeo.


The Directors Series- Paul Thomas Anderson [3.5] from Cameron Beyl on Vimeo.





SHORT CUTS — Episode 1: Milkshakes, Monopoly & Murder from Cameron Beyl on Vimeo.


The Directors Series - Paul Thomas Anderson [3.7] from Cameron Beyl on Vimeo.

Paul Thomas Anderson & The Long Goodbye from Philip Józef Brubaker on Vimeo.

10 Books That Influenced Me by Michael Benton

Rules: list 10 books (or other works of art) that have stayed with you. They don't have to be the celebrated great works, just the ones that have touched you.

If you are reading this and if you are inspired, make your list and share them in the comments, so I can learn more about you and the books that are important in your life.

Random off the top of my head. These books are all vital in my dialogic (as opposed to monologic) conception of culture/reality. At an early age, The Bible rigidly framed for me an important, but dangerous/limited conception of the world/reality... all of the important works (art/literature/film/music/etc.....) since that early age that I value have challenged/expanded that limited frame. To be clear, although I am not a Christian now, I value that early education/experience, nothing could have taught me more clearly about how stories structure our sense of reality/the world. Reading it so closely and using that knowledge as a kid to confront lazy interpretations (or even those that had not read it spouting their uninformed interpretations as wisdom) and manipulations/distortions by preachers, politicians, and dogmatic laypeople of the Bible's message taught me the value of close readings and to not assume that people have actually read about/learned what they are talking about:

1 The Bible - I read multiple versions, seven times straight through, often aloud, by my mid-teens, taking notes, in different colored pencils each year, memorizing sections, and engaging in conversations with people of the faith about what was written, using biblical concordances and encyclopedias. It was a great training ground as I was an avid believer and was encouraged to question through dialogue everything I read and what others said about what they did (or did not) read in The Bible. I became very attuned during that time to recognizing those that were parroting other's ideas about the book/faith and to the hypocrisies of powerful interests that sought to manipulate the faithful. Ironically my close attention, seeking out of multiple editions/commentaries, and constant questioning of church authorities led to my leaving the Church/Christianity.

2) The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. It taught me about the importance of objects in the formation of identity and the problematic nature of memory/remembering. Most important was the maxim throughout the book: if they tell you this is a true war story, you know it is not. Eviatar Zerubavel's Social Memories is a non-fiction book that would be a good companion to O'Brien's fictionalized memoir.

3) A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. It changed the way I thought about and taught historical movements and the people involved - with Michael Marchman I explain the influence of Zinn's book on our lives http://noclexington.com/?p=91

4) Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography by James Allen. The first time I came across this book was in an Ann Arbor, MI, Borders and as I read the book on the floor of the store I became increasingly distraught. I drew a crowd because I started asking questions of those around me of what they knew about this history and was passing the book around to others. Some engaged me in discussion, some sought to comfort me, and some were angry at me for what they saw as pissing on their holiday atmosphere. Eventually I was escorted from the store because of the increasing commotion. Without Sanctuary is a collection of photographs detailing the visual legacy of American lynchings. Most people know that lynchings took place in the U.S. (although few realize the extent), but they are often recounted as temporary lapses of collective sanity. This book documents how lynchings were a socially sanctioned activity used to keep a section of society in check and fearful. Just as shocking and horrific as the desecrated bodies of Black Americans are the smiling, joyous faces of the White Americans in the crowds. The Equal Justice Initiative provides a contemporary project that ensures we will not forget this history https://eji.org/reports/lynching-in-america/

5 Understanding Power - Noam Chomsky This is a series of lectures by one of America's most important dissident political philosophers. It changed the way that I understood the operation of politics/power and the way that history/representation is intertwined with the former. I've read it and listened to audio versions multiple times.

6 Ways of Seeing by John Berger. I stumbled upon this book, and later the BBC documentary, early in my education and it pushed me to understand how art/culture frames certain realities that emphasizes certain aspects/people in a culture/society and marginalizes/excludes others. An important initial book that initiated my understanding and analysis of 'framing.' It also pushed me to investigate issues of gender.

7 Project Censored's Annual Books on the Top 25 Most Censored News Stories of the Year. Can't just choose one, carried out by hundreds of scholars and students every year for over a half-century, they publish an annual book detailing the stories that were ignored by the mainstream media each year and even more important are their detailed, in-depth, thematic reports of important issues all media scholars and concerned citizens should be aware of..... https://www.projectcensored.org/top-25-censored-stories-of-all-time/

8 Two Cheers for Anarchism: Six Easy Pieces on Autonomy, Dignity, and Meaningful Work and Play by James C. Scott. I have witnessed many times otherwise intelligent, thoughtful, critical people become unrelentingly & willfully reactionary and unreflective when this subject comes up. If only they could take the time to read this clear and concise look at how anarchism is actually a part of our daily lives (the whole book is available for free online https://www.axelarnbak.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/James-C.-Scott-Two-Cheers-for-Anarchism_-Six-Easy-Pieces-on-Autonomy-Dignity-and-Meaningful-Work-and-Play-Princeton-University-Press-2012.pdf ). A great counter to the extensive propaganda aimed at getting us to think that we need super-powers (egos) to lead us through life.

9) The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollen. It led me to rethink my/our relationship to the plant world and how they shape us just as much as we cultivate them. Four sections on potatoes, apples, tulips and marijuana. There is also a documentary based on this book.

10) Tie: The Xenogenesis Trilogy (Dawn/Adulthood Rites/Imago) and The Parable of the Sower/The Parable of the Talents - both by Octavia Butler. These books radically rewrote my mind to be fully conscious of the importance of being open to difference (ways of being and ways of seeing - we can never truly understand ourselves until we are able to understand others) and the destructive nature of the fear of difference. I wrote a poem in remembrance of her impact on my life on the anniversary of her tragically early death - I ache at the loss of other great works, but I am grateful for what she gifted us with. I would like to see both works adapted as series (perhaps to radical for that).

A Celebration of Alterity by Michael Benton

Alterity
Slippery word
Whose meaning is
Not decipherable
Never stated clearly,
Nor fixed firmly
The nerve of the word
Altarity
It may be approached,
Though, if one dares,
Through networks
Of associations
Altar, Alter
Alternative, Alternation
I yearn to sacrifice
Myself upon the
Altar of your difference.
Yet, I hold back
Fearing that the pleasure
May somehow alter me.
Your scent and taste
Seizes the roots of my soul
What alternative is there?
I vacillate, between pleasure and pain
Ceaselessly resonating between
Yawning gaps of reason
Even the meaning of alterity
Precipitates a crisis
Symbol of difference
Naming of the OTHER
Its power mocks
Conformity’s lack
Resist the conservative urge
To embrace sameness
Explore those who differ
Open up closed circuits
Rise up to celebrate
The eros of alterity

Hard Eight (USA: Paul Thomas Anderson, 1996)

 

Hard Eight (USA: Paul Thomas Anderson, 1996: 101 mins)

Bernstein, Arielle and Nelson Carvajal. "The Inherent Vice in Paul Thomas Anderson's Films: A Video Essay." Press Play (January 2, 2015)

Boyer, Lanny. "Paul Thomas Anderson: Four Basics." (Posted on Youtube: October 19, 2015)

Ebert, Roger. "Hard Eight." Chicago Sun-Times (February 27, 1997)

Flight, Thomas. "The Evolution of Paul Thomas Anderson." (Posted on Youtube: December 21, 2021)

Goss, Brian Michael. "“Things Like This Don’t Just Happen”: Ideology and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia." Journal of Communication Inquiry 26:2 (April 2002): 171-192

Jameson, Richard T. "Flying Dutchman: Hard Eight." Film Comment (March/April 1997)

Jack's Movie Reviews. "Paul Thomas Anderson - Finding a Purpose In Life." (Posted on Youtube: March 11, 2017)

Jeffrey, Paul. "Hard Eight and the Isolated Actor." Senses of Cinema (February 2015)

Lee, Kevin B. "The Career of Paul Thomas Anderson in Five Shots." (Posted on Vimeo: 2013)

"Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Hard Eight’, AKA ‘Sydney’: 'It’s Always Good to Meet a New Friend.'" Cinephilia & Beyond (ND)

Ratzlaff, Jeremy. "Paul Thomas Anderson: A Chronological Timeline." (Posted on Vimeo: November 2015)

Warren, Ethan. "The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha (Columbia University Press, 2023) New Books in Film (March 29, 2023) ["Paul Thomas Anderson’s evolution from a brash, self-anointed “Indiewood” auteur to one of his generation’s most distinctive voices has been one of the most remarkable career trajectories in recent film history. From early efforts to emulate his cinematic heroes to his increasingly singular late films, Anderson has created a body of work that balances the familiar and the strange, history and myth: viewers feel perpetually off balance, unsure of whether to expect a pitch-black joke or a moment of piercing emotional resonance. The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha (Columbia UP, 2023) provides the most complete account of Anderson’s career to date, encompassing his varied side projects and unproduced material; his personal and professional relationships with directors such as Jonathan Demme, Robert Altman, and Robert Downey Sr.; and his work as a director of music videos for Fiona Apple, Joanna Newsom, and Haim. Ethan Warren explores Anderson’s recurring thematic preoccupations―the fraught dynamics of gender and religious faith, biological and found families, and his native San Fernando Valley―as well as his screenwriting methods and his relationship to his influences. Warren argues that Anderson’s films conjure up an alternate American history that exaggerates and elides verifiable facts in search of a heightened truth marked by a deeper level of emotional hyperrealism. This book is at once an unconventional primer on Anderson’s films and a provocative reframing of what makes his work so essential."]

Guillermo Del Toro (Ongoing Archive)

Munoz, Gabriella. "Great Directors: Guillermo del Toro." Senses of Cinema #90 (March 2019)   

Cronos (1993)

Mimic (1997)

The Devil's Backbone (2001) - DVD at BCTC Newtown

Blade II (2002)

Hellboy (2004)

Pans Labyrinth (2006) - DVD at BCTC Newtown

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

Pacific Rim (2013)

Crimson Peak (2015) 

The Shape of Water (2017) - DVD at BCTC Newtown

Nightmare Alley (2021)

The Shape of Water (USA: Guillermo Del Toro, 2017)

 

The Shape of Water (USA: Guillermo Del Toro, 2017: 123 mins)

If I spoke about it – if I did – what would I tell you? I wonder. Would I tell you about the time … Or would I tell you about the place … Would I tell you about her? The princess without voice. Or perhaps I would just warn you, about the truth of these facts. And the tale of love and loss. And the monster, who tried to destroy it all. - Giles, The Shape of Water (2017)

Anderson, Jake. "The Shape of Water." Letterboxd (August 29, 2018)

Blair, Iain. "Guillermo del Toro - The Shape of Water: On Creating a Visually Dazzling, Emotionally Daring, Genre Mash-Up." Post 33.3 (March 1, 2018) 

Corbeil, Gilles. "The Shape of Water: The Art of del Toro." Society of Camera Operators (2017)

Digravio, Will.  "How Guillermo del Toro Uses Color to Create New Worlds." Film School Rejects (February 16, 2018)

Duran, J.D. "The Shape of Water is a Weird, but Beautiful Love Story." InSession Film (December 1, 2017)

Gerwig, Greta, et al. "63 Minute Directors Roundtable Talk." The Hollywood Reporter (Posted on Playlist: January 22, 2018) ["Angelina Jolie (“First They Killed My Father”), Patty Jenkins (“Wonder Woman”), Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”), Joe Wright (“Darkest Hour”), Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”), and Denis Villeneuve (“Blade Runner 2049”)."]

"Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) Talks with William Friedkin (The Devil and Father Amorth), Part 1." Talkhouse (April 17, 2018) ["In the first part of their enthralling two-part conversation for the Talkhouse Podcast, the pair discuss winning big at the Oscars, surviving award season, how to stay a scrapper despite success, del Toro’s apprenticeship under makeup legend Dick Smith, the remarkable story of Friedkin and the Pazuzu statue in The Exorcist, the plagiarism controversy surrounding The Shape of Water, and much more."]

"Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) Talks with William Friedkin (The Devil and Father Amorth), Part 2." Talkhouse (April 19, 2018) ["Here, the longtime friends discuss the genesis of and remarkable stories surrounding Friedkin’s compelling new documentary about the Vatican’s exorcist,The Devil and Father Amorth. In the process, they tackle some of the most substantial topics imaginable, including: Christ, Hitler, religion, evil, reason vs. emotion, empathy vs. fear, free will, the impending apocalypse — and how filmmakers can make a difference in a world on the brink."]

Lane, Anthony. "The Genre-Fluid Fantasy of The Shape of Water."  The New Yorker (December 11, 2017)

Liu, Rebecca. "Of River Gods and Women: Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water." Another Gaze (February 23, 2018)

Marotta, Jenna. "The Shape of Water: Why Guillermo Del Toro and Vanessa Taylor Didn’t Speak While Writing Their Film." IndieWire (January 12, 2018)

Mitchell, David T. and Sharon L. Snyder. " Room for (Materiality's) Maneuver: Reading the Oppositional in Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water." Journal of Cinema and Media Studies 58.4 (June 22, 2019): 150-156.

Nayman, Adam. "The Uses of Disenchantment: Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water." CinemaScope #73 (2017)

O'Falt, Chris. "The Best Cast Films of 2017, According to Top Casting Directors." IndieWire (December 4, 2017) ["15 casting directors explain the brilliance behind their peers’ work in “Lady Bird,” “Get Out,” “The Post,” "The Shape of Water," and more."]

Renée, V. "How Guillermo Del Toro's Classic Cinema Homages Add Depth to The Shape of Water." No Film School (February 27, 2018)

Scott, A.O. "The Shape of Water is Altogether Wonderful." The New York Times (November 30, 2017)

Sturm, Rudiger. "Guillermo Del Toro: 'I'm Not Meta, I'm Really Earnest." The Talks (March 7, 2018)

Swinney, Jacob T. "The Final Shot: Fading to White." Fandor (November 30, 2018)

Buy, Thai. "The Shape of Water (2017)." Psychological Perspectives 62.2/3 (July 3, 2019): 309-313. 

Thrift, Matt. "The Shape of Water." Little White Lies (February 14, 2018)

Wilkinson, Alissa. "The Shape of Water, from Guillermo del Toro, is a beautiful adult fairy tale about a fish-man." Vox (March 5, 2018)

Wood, Michael. "At the Movies: The Shape of Water." London Review of Books (March 22, 2018)

Crimson Peak (USA: Guillermo del Toro, 2015)

Crimson Peak (USA: Guillermo del Toro, 2015: 119 mins)

Basciano, Oliver. "Crimson Peak: How Guillermo del Toro sketched its visual style." The Guardian (October 10, 2015)

del Toro, Guillermo. "The books, TV, films and music that brought me to Crimson Peak." The Guardian (October 10, 2015)

"Jessica Chastain Discusses Her Acting Process In Recent One-Hour Conversation." The Film Stage (March 24, 2015)

Kindinger, Evangelia. "The ghost is just a metaphor: Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak, nineteenth-century female gothic, and the slasher." NECSUS (Autumn 2017)

Musap, Emilia. "Monstrous Domesticity: Home as a Site of Oppression in Crimson Peak." Sic 8.1 (2017)

Newman, Kim. "Houses of horror: A rambling, teetering, crumbling brief history of gothic cinema." The Guardian (October 10, 2015)

O'Malley, Sheila. "Crimson Peak." Roger Ebert (October 16, 2015) 

Patterson, John. "Guillermo del Toro: ‘I try to tell you a story with eye-protein, not eye-candy.’" The Guardian (October 10, 2015)

Pedro, Dina. "Challenging the Victorian Nuclear Family Myth: The Incest Trope in Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak." Atlantis 42.1 (June 28, 2020): 76-93.

Salazar, Andrew J. "Crimson Peak Is Quintessential Guillermo Del Toro." Discussing Film (October 16, 2020)

Scott, A.O. "Crimson Peak," a Guillermo del Toro Gothic Romance in High Bloody Style." The New York Times (October 15, 2015)

Sims, David. "Crimson Peak: A Gothic Romance to Die For." The Atlantic (October 16, 2015)

Hands of Crimson Peak (Guillermo del Toro, 2015) from Igor Fernández on Vimeo.

ENG 282: International Film Studies (Fall 2022 Course)

Guillermo del Toro (Mexico)

Paul Thomas Anderson (USA) 

Park Chan-Wook (South Korea)

Wes Anderson (USA)

Pedro Almodovar (Spain)

Hayao Miyazaki (Japan)

Sean Baker (USA)

Documentaries (2015 - 2021)

David Fincher (USA)

Ava DuVernay (USA)

Bong Joon-Ho (South Korea)

Joachim Trier (Norway)

Denis Villeneuve (Canada)

Céline Sciamma (France)

Jordan Peele (USA)

Sunshine (UK/USA: Danny Boyle, 2007)

 Sunshine (UK/USA: Danny Boyle, 2007: 107 mins)

Dargis, Manohla. "On a Mission to Replace the Sun, Fighting Demons From Inner Space." The New York Times (July 20, 2007)

Ebert, Roger. "2057: A Sun Odyssey." Chicago Sun-Times (July 19, 2007)

Grierson, Tim. "This Week in Genre History: It's No Surprise People Didn't See Sunshine's Brilliance." SYFY Wire (July 21, 2021)

Hoffman, Quentin. "Why ‘Sunshine’ is a Misunderstood Masterpiece." Movie Musing (January 13, 2017)

Like Stories of Old. "Sunshine – A Visceral Experience of Life, Death and Meaning." (Posted on Youtube: September 28, 2018) ["An examination of Sunshine and its visceral presentation of themes of life, death and meaning." Book discussed: Carl Sagan – Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space.]

Lim, Dennis. "Sunshine: Danny Boyle's latest visit to a vast new world." The New York Times (July 10, 2021)

Maskell, Emily. "Sunshine and the existential dilemma of space travel." Little White Lies (July 16, 2019)

Newell, C.H. "Danny Boyle’s Sunshine Takes Its Sci-Fi Seriously." Father Son Holy Gore (June 2, 2016)

Subissata, Andrea and Alexander West. "Stardust: Event Horizon (1997) and Sunshine (2007)." Faculty of Horror #61 (April 26, 2018) ["Andrea and Alex reach for the heavens and find the furthest reaches of hell with two films about space exploration and the darkness therein. Event Horizon and Sunshine explore the different reasons humankind would dare try to conquer space and the horrors that might await us there."]