Paul Thomas Anderson

After last week’s Stanley Kubrick advice, we can now hear the thoughts of the director with the next greatest hit-for-shit ratio.

Considering how long he’s been working, Paul Thomas Anderson has made very few films. But then they are Hard Eight (the only one of his I’m not keen on), Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood.

So that’s pretty good, really.

As you’ll see in this interview, he’s a lot more like motormouth Tarantino than taciturn hermit Kubrick, but there are some interesting lessons here, particularly about his reaction to having his first film messed with by the financiers. Instead of deciding that the business wasn’t for him and flouncing off in a huff, he said the only thing that made him able to cope was to start making a new film (Boogie Nights). That is the attitude that makes you one of the greats instead of one of the also rans.

There are also many insights into his perspective on the porn business and a clear demonstration on how a huge chunk of pizza can always be made to fit inside a mouth (by the way, I found this via Graham Linehan’s Twitter feed. He’s well worth following):

And just for good measure, here’s Tarantino talking about There Will Be Blood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmWNJl0wCzc