blake sent us an interview from ‘the av club’ where luis guzman discusses “random roles” from his career. boogie nights was chosen as one of the films they were interested about.

…It was probably one of the most amazing experiences, shooting that movie, especially that whole opening sequence. It’s just one long camera take. Just seeing Paul’s passion for it and everything, and all the cats who were involved in it. Of course, I didn’t know who half of the people were that I was working with, I might have seen this guy or this girl, but for the most part, I was just blended into this awesome group of people. It was an amazing experience, he shot it so well. We became so tight on that movie.

He showed me a rough cut of that movie. I’m walking out, and he goes, “What do you think?” I go, “Oh, I don’t know, man, I don’t know, I’ve got to think about it.” Because when I first saw it, it was shocking. It blew me away. It messed up my senses. After a couple of days, I said, “Bro, you got an amazing movie here.” That’s a tribute to Paul, because when you see a movie like that, it takes a while to sink in. You’ve really got to process it. You know you just saw something special…

half of the article is a bit re-hashed from the cast & crew commentary, but still worth checking out. read the full article here

a poor quality rip of cigarettes and coffee has found it’s way onto the net. it can be viewed here.

for anyone who may not know: cigarettes and coffee was paul’s first professional short (shot on a borrowed camera), which used the money he saved from dropping out of nyu film school to help fund it. the story revolves mainly around kirk baltz and philip baker hall’s character working out the dark demons brewing inside baltz after he discovers his wife has been cheating on him. the film was accepted into the sundance shorts program, which led to paul being invited to the sundance institute where he began shooting and workshopping aspects of his script ‘hard eight.’

in the better-late-than-never catagory: afi is currently screening all paul’s films from hard eight to there will be blood. because i was late posting this, you’ve missed out on hard eight and boogie nights but they are currently running punch drunk love for a few days, then to magnolia and ending on twbb. part of what they have to say:

Paul Thomas Anderson, the writer-director of five remarkable feature films, enjoyed a career highwater mark last year with the justly celebrated THERE WILL BE BLOOD. While Anderson makes plans for his next project, we offer a look back at this young artist’s body of work–each film unique, yet each marked by a willingness to go to extremes, be it narrative experimentation, daring performances, unabashed romance or just the patience, hard work and thoughtfulness some stories need to be told well.

for tickets, and full information, please go here.

worst headline ever, but google will love us! despite being turned away from the oscars, jonny greenwood has been nominated for a grammy in the “best score soundtrack album for motion picture, television or other visual media.” for there will be blood.

jonny was not nominated for an oscar, apparently because the academy thought the score was “diluted by the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music.” radiohead is also nominated for best album of the year.

several people sent us a nice official press release for this one: roger ebert has selected magnolia to go into his “great movies” list. here is part of what he has to say:

“Magnolia” is one of those rare films that works in two entirely different ways. In one sense, it tells absorbing stories, filled with detail, told with precision and not a little humor. On another sense, it is a parable. The message of the parable, as with all good parables, is expressed not in words but in emotions. After we have felt the pain of these people, and felt the love of the policeman and the nurse, we have been taught something intangible, but necessary to know. That Paul Thomas Anderson thinks and creates in this way is proven again in his latest film, “There Will Be Blood”. It is another film with an enigmatic ending, one that “Magnolia” teaches me I will have to think more carefully about.

the entire review is available here.