The Director's Series: Paul Thomas Anderson, No. 5

 


Throughout 2025 I'm turning my focus to Directors. They help craft the vision on screen that makes a movie work. This year I'm looking at five favorite films from 18 directors I admire and 10 films directed by different women that I have enjoyed. Join me Fridays and Saturdays throughout 2025 as we take this journey.

Hard Eight (1996)
Starring: Phillip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Samuel L. Jackson, and Gwyneth Paltrow
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
About: I love to see a director's early films. It often tells you quite a bit about them as you see the bones of where they will go. That's certainly the case here, with this film from Anderson that is a feature-film adaptation of his short film. It returns Hall in the lead role and he is magnificent. It's an interesting slice-of-life film that features some great moments. We also get an all-time Phillip Seymour-Hoffman cameo, which is fun. I prefer this film to some of his later films that are more popular among fans. There's something about this story and execution that appeals to me.

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