Beauty vs Beast: Live Without Masters

Jason from MNPP here with this week's "Beauty vs Beast" for you people to vote yourselves silly with -- did you know that today would have been the 51st birthday of the great Philip Seymour Hoffman? He's been gone over four years now and I ache to think of all the performances we've missed out on. No I wouldn't have given him that Oscar over Heath Ledger either, but he wasn't even nominated for the greatest film of the past two decades (that would be Synecdoche New York) so the injustices, they pile up.

But we're here to talk about another film, one I have come hard around on since its release - I was cool to Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master in 2012 but my affection for it has grown with time; I'm pretty keen on it now, with its medicinal greens and hard elbows. It's only right, it taking some time - it's not the sort of film that hugs you, at least not without wanting something back, making it much like its leading men...

surveys

PREVIOUSLY Naturally the actress prevailed and then some with last week's Double Indemnity poll - crossing Barabra Stanwyck was never a good idea, not when she's got that silver pistol in her pocketbook. Said cal roth:

"That was so easy... I love Stanwyck and MacMurray reunion in There's Always Tomorrow. I love Stanwyck, the most versatile movie goddess of all time. She could go from a Hawks screwball to two masterful perfomances in Sirk melodramas to westerns by Samuel Fuller and Anthony Mann (the director who got her best best performance ever, in The Furies)."

Open Thread. Best Amy Adams Performances?

by Nathaniel R

With Sharp Objects debuting tonight on HBO (Yes, we'll cover it here), let's talk Amy Adams. Why should film twitter have all the listing fun? Talk Film Society asked people to list their 3 favorite performances were and I was stunned how quickly I came to my definitive answer. 

• Junebug (2005)
• The Fighter (2010)
• Enchanted (2007)

You've got her full range displayed; endearing dramedic instincts, stealth pathos with deep soul beneath the exteriors of women who seem ordinary at first glance, her star charisma and comic invention are all over her best work.

And to make the question a bit more interesting. Is there a performance of hers other people love that you just don't? My vote there is for The Master (). I think she's terribly miscast and I couldn't ever figure out the draw of what she was doing or how people figured it was earned within the film -- especially for an actual Oscar nomination. Those are hard to come by ["for other people" - self-editing note]  But to each their own in opinion-land, right?

P.T. Pinups

I'm not a fan of Inherent Vice much but it will inspire lots of fun fan art and/or official stuff... like this banner poster starring Katherine Waterston as "Shasta Fay". (Her hair is filled with secrets characters.)

I wish P.T. still wrote memorable female characters (sigh) even the kind of vacant bimbos like Rollergirl used to be awesome. With There Will Be Blood he basically left them behind altogether. Inherent Vice has a dozen or so female roles and only two of them are halfway interesting (Yay, Jena Malone and Jeannie Berlin cameos).

Uh-oh... I feel a list attack coming on. It can't be stopped 

Female Characters in P.T. Anderson films from Most Fascinating to Least
(not comprehensive but the major ones) 

1. Amber Waves (Boogie Nights)
2. Linda Partridge (Magnolia)
3. Rollergirl (Boogie Nights)
4. Gwenovier (Magnolia)
5. Lena Leonard (Punch-Drunk Love)
6. Peggy Dodd (The Master)
7. Clementine (Hard Eight)
8. Jessie St Vincent (Boogie Nights)
9. Becky Barnett (Boogie Nights)
10. Elizabeth Egan (Punch-Drunk Love)
11. Claudia Wilson Gator (Magnolia)
12. Hope Harlingen (Inherent Vice -cameo)
13. Aunt Reet (Inherent Vice - cameo)
14. Rose Gator (Magnolia)
15. Xandra (Inherent Vice)
16. Helen Sullivan (The Master)
17. Petunia Leeway (Inherent Vice)
18. Penny (Inherent Vice)
19. Japonica Fenway (Inherent Vice)
20. Sortilege (Inherent Vice - great voice that Joanna Newsom has, though)
21. Shasta Fay Hepworth (Inherent Vice)

"Are you thoughtless in your remarks?" - The Master Winners

Maybe if we'd passed out free handjobs?Last week I asked readers to submit themselves to processing to enter a chance to win a copy of The Master on Blu-Ray. Whether it's the polarizing nature of the film or that I merely asked too much of you -- what's a little processing between friends? -- this contest had less participation than we usually get.

How come?

Nevertheless, The Master strikes me as the sort of film that those who enjoy will end up watching on loop to try to tease out its sometimes obtuse meaning.

Honorable Mentions: Apologies to Derreck whose entry was creepy sublime --- all right all right, we'll do The Talented Mr Ripley for Hit Me With Your Best Shot! --  and Checko whose entry was quite amusing. But I only have two copies to give away. Trust that I wish I had four. 

THE WINNERS ARE

Winner #1 is Kenneth.
This informal processing just gets better and better as it goes. Loves it.  I don't know if Kenneth is the bald one or the furry one but I'm crushing hard either way. 

Winner #2 is Manuel
Who also went the extra mile. He submitted Nicole Kidman for processing! Ha. What would Nicole make of this? LOL. I personally loved it and you will too if you have a little Kidmaniac inside of you... here's a taste:

Are you thoughtless in your remarks?

NO. Biting and truthful maybe. Never thoughtless.

Do you linger at bus stations for pleasure?

NO. I prefer train stations. They help me pass the hours.

So click on over to his blog to read the full processing. 

Gentlemen, your Blu-Rays are on the way (or will be as soon as you get in touch with me to arrange)!

Submit Yourself to Processing. Win "The Master" on Blu-Ray

One of the creepiest and most clever FYC items I received this winter was a proselytizing newspaper "The Cause Footpath" for Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, featuring mostly articles and reviews praising the film but peppered with ads and items from Lancaster Dodd and The Cause.

So I've used that to guide me in this new Blu-Ray contest. The Blu-Ray comes out on Tuesday just after the Oscars and includes a WWII veterans documentary from 1946 called Let There Be Light by the legendary John Huston. And your normal mix of outtakes and additional scenes, a short called "Unguided Message" and so on.

I have two copies to give away. Do you want it?

To enter the contest you must submit yourself to processing...

You can answer those questions by Monday February 25th either by e-mail or by sharing your responses on facebook, twitter, your blog or whatever (so long as you link back here & comment so I know you've done so). You can answer as yourself or in character or with simple text, photos, videos, however you want to answer it. The point is just do it somehow. Submit yourself to processing! Without blinking.

I'll announced the winners by Wednesday next week. I'll choose two winners based on the responses I most feel compelled to share with the group ;)