Tag Archives: The Master

The Master Loses Control of Its Flock: Underserved Cast Overacts in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Pretentious Sermon | Observer

Cringing at cinema’s latest in a line of ‘lobotomized catatonia,’ our critic laments the golden years

 

I never cease to be amused by the pile of unmitigated crap that gets shoveled off onto the moviegoing public by pretentious critics. They’re at it again with The Master, a load of film-festival tripe that was BOOED IN VENICE and greeted with MASSIVE WALKOUTS IN TORONTO but is now being defended in an organized rescue mission that hopes to develop a minor cult following in New York before the whole thing mercifully vanishes in a puff of twaddle. With an embarrassing, overwrought performance by the dependably creeped-out Joaquin Phoenix…

With so many amateurs who run what’s left of the once-great movie industry making bad movies that pander to an easy-to-satisfy youth market that doesn’t care what it’s watching as long as the projectors keep running, and with so many bogus producers who used to be parking lot attendants at the Brown Derby always miraculously raising the money to make more, one thing is certain: no matter how rotten the movie is that you just suffered through, there’s always another one on its way that is 10 times worse. Paul Thomas Anderson, the egomaniacal writer-director of The Master, is a member of the new group of anarchists that includes Wes Anderson, Spike Jonze, David O. Russell, freaky Todd Solondz and the dismally overrated, no-talent Charlie Kaufman, who wins critical praise for writing incoherent movies about why he can’t write coherent movies. Abominations like the neo-Kafka burlesqueSynedoche, New York are algebraic extensions of all of them put together—eccentric but brainless. And now The Master, which follows in a perfect line—all style and no content—and therefore offers no fresh equation of its own.

Call The Master whatever you want, but lobotomized catatonia from what I call the New Hacks can never take the place of well-made narrative films about real people that tell profound stories for a broader and more sophisticated audience. Fads come and go, but as Walter Kerr used to say, “I’ll yell tripe whenever tripe is served.”

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Venice Film Festival: Hollywood shines a light on Scientology – Telegraph

Venice Film Festival: Hollywood shines a light on Scientology – Telegraph.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s new movie “The Master”, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival tells the story of the early days of Scientology.

It has been revealed that Tom Crusie requested a private viewing of the movie before the premiere. Anderson would not disclose what Tom Cruise thought of the movie, saying only, “we are still friends”.

Tom Cruise is Scientology’s most famous follower. The movement has been called Hollywood’s cult with celebrities like John Travolta and Lisa Marie Presley also members.

The movie The Master is tipped as a potential winner of the Golden Lion, the Venice Festival’s most prestigious award.

Scientology was founded by L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s. Hubbard also came up with the idea of “Project Celebrity” to promote his ideas. He targeted the big names of Hollywood at the time: Greta Garbo, Howard Hughes and Orson Welles. Hubbard was unsuccesful at gaining their support, unlike modern day Hollywood.

Scientology are also planning on launching a broadcasting service from near their Hollywood headquarters, to promote the teachings of Scientology to a global audience.