what’s your favorite by Paul?

Nice to see the Parent Teacher Association ranking we've all been waiting for.

My Ranking: 9. Hard Eight (The dude was early twenties when he wrote and directed this, and you can feel it. He just hasn't matured yet). 8. Boogie Nights (Totally agree with Karsten, it's great, but PTA just keeps getting better). 7. Punch Drunk Love (Hot take maybe this is a better Sandler performance than Uncut Gems, and he's hitting it out of the park in that). 6. Magnolia (A masterpiece and used to be my favorite, but might be the only one that doesn't get better with repeat viewings but instead kind of starts to wear thin). 5. The Master (This movie contains two of the most puzzling characters I've ever seen on screen). 4. Licorice Pizza (the runningest movie of all time). 3. Inherent Vice (first watch it was 3 stars, it's progressively added more. Every PTA gets better with repeat viewings but I've watched this one the most and it keeps getting better every time, you need at least two just to untangle the noir plotting, and I also read the book after my second viewing, which is amazing and increased my appreciation of the film). 2. There Will Be Blood (I drink your milkshake) 1. Phantom Thread (a perfect movie)

My favorite Paul Anderson movie is resident evil

legitimately the hardest director to rank imo

He honestly has at least 5 perfect films, so hard to pick favorites.

Must be nice to have a theater actually playing Licorice Pizza 😪

The enthusiasm with which he describes Phantom Thread is how I feel about There Will Be Blood. Everything is perfect. The criticism I’ve heard that it lacks a humanistic protagonist is fair, but it also demonstrates that those with real power (Plainview and Eli) often don’t have the same feelings and vulnerabilities due to the dog eat dog world we live in. Daniel suppresses his sadness about his disconnect with his son by being angry. He wouldn’t have driven himself to be successful without the very spark of greed that ultimately leads to his downfall. He (seems to) genuinely care about his son and cries when he leaves him. This in turn leads to his profound feeling of betrayal when he kills his “brother”. He has no one in the world except his son who literally can’t listen to him. Given, that is his choice, but loneliness strikes even those who “hate most people”. Daniel’s descent into madness in the final act is him having completely given up on humanity and finding relief in only alcohol and ultimate revenge and victory over Eli at the end. TLDR: Daniel is far more than a one-dimensional character to me.

literally just bought licorice pizza tickets so this is great timing

I watched punch-drunk love for the first time last week and right after finishing it I immediately went to check if you had a PTA ranking. Great timing Karsten

Paul Dano should have been nominated for an Oscar for There will be Blood. So so good in that film. Criminal act by the academy not to have nominated him.

This is quite a welcomed addition to the ranked series

Phantom thread was a movie that totally caught me off guard, i really wasn’t expecting much going in (no reason in particular) and absolutely loved it during and after

The Master is as close to perfection as film making can be: 1. The processing scene is ranked among the best dialogues in cinema history. 2. Cinematography is 65mm, almost never used in contemporary film making, but perfectly applied to the late 1940’s 3. Jonny Greenwood’s Alethia remains his single best composition. 4. While Joaquin Phoenix and Seymour Hoffman were incredible, this film captures Amy Adams, Jesse Plemons and Rami Malek early. 5. It’s the best depiction of cultism in modern cinema, and the capture of PTSD (when it was called shell-shock post WWII) was stunning.

The Dirk/Scotty scene in Boogie Nights never fails to break my heart. PSH was such an incredible actor.

1. Magnolia 2. There Will Be Blood 3. The Master 4. Boogie Nights 5. Phantom Thread 6. Punch Drunk Love 7. Licorice Pizza 8. Inherent Vice (I haven’t seen Hard Eight yet) I’ve really enjoyed every PTA film that I have seen and he is definitely one of my favorites, the majority I have watched within the last 6 months so I’m almost certain that the order of this list will continue to change as time passes

What makes Paul's filmography so insanely great is that I share literally none of these rankings with you (Aside from Hard Eight at the bottom) and yet I can still fully understand and to an extent agree with your choices. He's just that personal of a writer and that tight of a director. Every film of his speaks to someone in completely different ways.

I'm glad there is so much love for Phantom Thread!

I've argued about this on Reddit, so I'll just write it here too. I think that thematically, the movie is about people who use other people for personal gain, especially in regards to gender dynamics, and the racist Asian bit is an extension of that: Gary uses Alana and she uses him, as well, for her own sexual self worth. When she sees him making out with a girl she immediately finds a random guy and kisses him because even though she doesn't like him back, she likes that he finds her attractive, and derives some of her ego from it. In the scene where he leaves in a huff she changes her tune because she knows he doesn't actually need her, but she WANTS him to need her. He also uses her, to be fair, to feed his own ego, and make himself feel more mature. Gary's mom uses him, as well, but less maliciously. Alana uses every man she has a relationship with in the movie: Her first boyfriend she wants to use as a nice Jewish boy her family would approve of, but that doesn't work. She uses Gary, she uses Holden, she uses Wachs, etc. This is thematically everywhere in the movie, and the racist Asian bit to me is an example of a white guy using Asian women as a prop he's using to sell a product. The fact that he replaces his first Asian wife with a second one is further emphasis on this, he thinks they're interchangeable and doesn't think of them as people.

Yessss Phantom Thread to me is the film that make me understand love at a deeper level. At my 1st viewing, I'm totally baffled by the twist, but I can't stop thinking about it since. The film really is a technical feat, but it also show love at it's rawest and most essential form: a partnership of equals that can only fulfulled the people involved.

The only PTA movie I've seen is Phantom Thread and I came here just to see where it was ranked...I was not disappointed. Def one of my fav movies of all time and one of my favorite theater experiences. It was just me and like 5 70+ year old ladies in the theater. At one point the power flashed out and while they were getting the movie back up, one of the ladies yelled "Put back on the story!!" Old ladies at theaters are very cute. I was really irritated that Phantom Thread was mostly written off when it came out because it was about a dress maker and not like...cowboys or whatever. I feel like most people didn't even watch it, as evidenced by Vicky Krieps not getting a Best Actress nom when she managed to make herself equal to DDL of all people? That's incredible, and she was a new actress at the time! Anyway, I think about Phantom Thread at least weekly, it's just so iconic to me.

I used to listen to Phantom Thread score while studying but then I had to stop because then I’d only think about the complexity of the movie. Great list!!

1:45 Never seen Hard Eight, but wow this really is like a “90s R-rated debut indie film” bingo board.

Magnolia for me became maybe my favourite movie ever the first time I saw it. It had me thinking for weeks after, just about how imperfect people can be and how life can just be tough cause sometimes shit happens. Each character does get a little less time but the melodramatic writing and fast pace editing balances that aspect out and probably made it the quickest 3 hours of my life!

I've never seen any of these films but I'm going to now. Thank you for sharing, I've only begun my movie watching experience last year thanks to creators like you, so thank you soo much for opening a whole new world for me :)

PTA's films age really well. After seeing a censored version of Inherent Vice on a small screen on a flight, I gave it another after sifting through the film's setting/references/concepts/symbolism. Huge difference. This has been the case for several of his other films.

Magnolia is my favourite film of all time. Never fails to amaze me

When you’re watching cinema, sometimes you can’t explain it, but you can FEEL it. I felt so unsettled watching Phantom Thread. I couldn’t exactly tell what the film was trying to say, but I was moved. Phantom Thread uses a romance story to show the influence of maternal love and I hadn’t seen that in a romance film before. It’s so dark and beautiful and I LOVE IT

The Master is one of the greatests movies ever made, i realized that on a third viewing. Its just hypnotic.

There Will Be Blood is my favorite film and I agree that it is pretty much an objectively perfect film. I personally do connect with Daniel Plainview. I love the tasteful abstract nature of it, the low use of music, the dry atmosphere, and the 2 extreme main characters.

For me 9. Hard Eight, just an average movie, but a great debut for a 23-24 year old director. 8. Inherent Vice, okay just a little unfocused, and some comedy that doesn't quite land for me. 6. Phantom Thread, a little too slow and quiet for my taste, but very well done. 5. Magnolia, very well done, but the sort of opposite were it's a little too fast paced and hard to get into at points. I'd rather watch each of the segments one by one personally, but cutting back and forth so much it gets a little repetitive. But love the surreal, almost magical-realism ending. 4. The Master, very good, great acting, great cinematography, just slightly too slow and there's not as much narrative tension as I'd want. 3. Punch Drunk Love, fantastic, great pace, great acting, just a bit hard to watch because it SO accurately depicts cringy and mean-spirited behavior of everyone in his life. Not a flaw in the movie, just something I have to be in the right mood for. 2. Boogie Nights, fantastic, almost perfect. Only qualms would be the mild pretentiousness of directing flamboyancy, and a little too much of copying Scorsese's and Tarantino's styles. 1. There Will Be Blood, perfect, just perfect. I've not seen Licorice Pizza yet.

Been waiting for this one for a while. Thanks Karsten, your content is awesome and you don’t know how much I appreciate it.

N/A - Licorice Pizza 1. Inherent Vice (rewatched recently and everything finally clicked; best movie about America’s fall into collective neoliberal psychosis I’ve ever seen) 2. The Master 3. There Will Be Blood 4. Punch Drunk Love 5. Phantom Thread (only seen once, need to revisit) 6. Boogie Nights 7. Magnolia 8. Hard Eight

Not gonna lie, for a millisecond i completely bought into you having TWBB at last place.

Boogie Nights is by far my favorite PTA film. His masterpiece imo.

i loved inherent vice. Completely unique experience. I've yet to find anything like it save perhaps the big Lebowski. What it sets out to do it prefects. Great acting performance by pheonix

I agree with Phantom Thread being #1. At first I didn't understand the ending the first time I watched it. Then I sat on it for 3 years and re-watched it, and it clicked. As Karsten said, my perception of romance changed with my re-watch. It really is a masterpiece.

Finally someone that understands my obsession with Phantom Thread! Every time I suggest this one to friends or acquaintances, they come back thinking I'm deranged

I would love to see a Coen Brothers ranked, and i know there will be one soon

damn... agree with everything u said on Phantom Thread. one of my favorite movies of all time. and to this day, i cannot put a finger on exactly what it is that makes me obsessed with it. aaaaaaaaahhh

Mate i know it may sound impossible but i absolutely concur with the entire list and your perspectives on them! I feel the same way and I believe our respective journeys with PTA are quite similar in many facets. Exquisite list! I love all of these lists you do because of how honest they are regardless of what others may think, keep up the great work

Just saw Licorice Pizza- my first time seeing PTA after hearing folks sing his praises for years. It worked for me because the stakes weren't too high (hence the downplayed romance), and Paul is essentially showing you his childhood through rose-colored glasses, but he isn't trying too hard. Can't wait to watch his more "serious" films...

For me, it’s Boogie Nights. It was perfectly casted with easily the most memorable scenes in any of his movies. It touches all of the emotions: humor, drama, horror, pity, excitement, and shock as we watch the rise, fall, and redemption of Dirk Diggler.

I swear you upload these videos whenever I’m obsessed with a particular director. First it was Stanley Kubrick, then Fincher, and now PTA

I agree. Phantom Thread is a perfect movie IMO. And yes, there will be blood and the master gets better in rewatch.

internet vice is so perfect, i'll die on the hill that it's his best

Paul Thomas Anderson gives us a lot of movies that are great to masterpiece. His movies are very affective after you watch it. Great vid 👍 and also my favorite film from PTA is Boogie Nights

Loved your list and insights on each masterpiece! Happy to subscribe

If you slow down the video at 0.75x and go to 12:45 you can see PSH in Magnolia. Little editing mistake that is not worth mentioning so why am i writing this comment i have no idea

1. There Will Be Blood - a perfect film. Funny that my other favorite film came out the same year (No Country for Old Men). 2. Magnolia - Cruise should've won an Oscar. Like a melancholy puzzle that perfectly pieces together. 3. Boogie Nights - put PTA on the map for a reason; completely captures an era. 4. The Master- powerhouse performances where irresistible force (Hoffman) meets immovable object (Phoenix) 5. Phantom Thread - we are still in 10/10 territory here, an elegant swan song from Daniel Day Lewis 6. Punch Drunk Love - Sandler can act! 9/10 7. Licorice Pizza - sweetly nostalgic, Bradley Cooper steals the show 8/10 8 Inherent Vice - respect the intention and vibe, but simply not my style of humor 7/10 9. Hard Eight - a solid, entertaining, above-average and completely non-spectacular film 6/10

The fact I just binged all his movies, I was hoping you would make this video, and I was in the middle of another list… thank you simulation

This is already one of my favorite videos, you got me so bad with that first bit 😂 time to finish

I felt exactly the same way when I watched Phantom Thread for the first time. It was a brilliant cinema experience!!

Been waiting on this one for a while

Maybe im crazy but licorice pizza is at the top of my list. I was so drunkenly in love with the dreamy setting, and I felt so nostalgic for something I am 30-40 years younger than!

I've been waiting for this video for a very long time

100% agree with Phantom Thread being the best. So freaking good. It is entrancing to watch. Every time it gets to scenes I’m like “yes! Here is that scene!” Love it.

I think for Licorice Pizza it is supposed to be young people desperate for fulfillment. Its not just a romance in the sense of people trying to find each other or one person trying to find someone in a tunnel visioned manner. It is two young people trying to find meaning in the world, meaning in life. So Gary has a thing for Alana but then grows to realize she wont have a thing for him and he moves on to bigger and better things. Then it switches with Alana liking Gary but by then Gary has found other things for himself rather than stuck to liking Alana. THEN Gary likes Alana again but he sees that the older guy is into her and steals his whole Pinball thing. But from there Alana comes to realize from other bits of the story that who she wanted was there the whole time, that being Gary. While Gary came to realize that he could try fulfilling his life with other means. Other girls, business, what not. But Alana grew to be his best friend and girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. She made his life easier and you could see there through the aggressive way he ran the pinball business on its opening night. So finally they ran to each other and yeah, it was a beautiful moment. And there is so much more to the film that I did not mention but to me that was the big takeaway and why it was so beautiful. For now, definitely my favorite PTA film.

I still think Barry's awkwardness is so adorable. After he's put his cards on the table and meets her in Hawaii, she goes in for the kiss and he's walking up with his arm outstretched for a handshake. Like, he dropped all this money and time just to see her and she actually agrees instead of running, but he still doesn't want to be presumptuous. Its just so damn cute.

I love how you described magnolia. Ngl I was horrified when you put it 6th initially, but listening to your reasoning really convinced me. Still has a soft spot in my heart as the first PTA film I watched so I was just mind blown by his style, dialogue, the idiosyncrasies of all the characters turned up to 11.

I swear I was just was wondering when you were going to rank PTA! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Nice to see someone else that couldn't connect with 'There Will Be Blood'. It's an objectively great film, but doesn't do a whole lot for me personally. I'll have to revisit it sometime in the future

The Master is one of those films that has continued to stick with me and intrigue me in wanting more and more of it. And it’s visually so so stunning 😮‍💨🙌🏼

I’ve wanted you to do this for a while thank you

I'm so glad to see PDL so high on your list. Objectively it's probably not his best, but it's definitely my favorite. I haven't seen Phantom Thread yet, but I'm very much surprised to see it #1.

After seeing it yesterday, I'm feeling like Licorice Pizza is a top 3 PTA for me (I'm not an impulsive person when it comes to film ranking either). I absolutely felt immersed in the world and the characters (like Inherent Vice), but I was never bored watching it (like Inherent Vice). In fact, I could've watched another 3 hours of it. I think as people marinate on LP it'll slowly move its way up the PTA rankings.

the intro is just *chefs kiss *

Been waiting for this one 😩😩😩😩

HAHAHA. My heart sank when I saw there will be blood at #9.

I’ve only seen one of these films, but my favourite’s unlikely to change, because There Will Be Blood (the one I’ve seen) is one of my favourite films ever made. That whole ending scene between Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano. Incredible. Not to mention (spoilers) I love that the final line of a film entirely centred upon Daniel Day-Lewis’ acting is just: “I’m finished.”

This is the most I have ever agreed with any of your rankings. So glad to watch your pick for #1, I have only liked that film more and more as time has gone by.

I love Phantom Thread and the actuation of Daniel Day Lewis!🤩

Just saw licorice pizza. Like it a lot. Probably gonna need to see it again but it was lots of fun. Wasn’t a big fan of the racist humor. Not that I found it offensive or anything. Just thought it was pointless and unfunny. Other than that, it was good

PTA is the closest to a modern day Kubrick that we can get. His ability to pick up a different genre, main character, or setting is incredible. He can do simple and he can do complex. The man has it all. All of his films require multiple viewings. All of them have deeper symbolism. Despite all of them having very different perspectives and plots, they all talk about love and family in one way or another. I can’t even rank his films honestly, my top 5 could change depending on the day.

YES! So glad you put Phantom Thread on top.

YOOOOO YESSS IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS

Even though I know exactly what’s gonna be high and what is gonna be low on the list, I still wanna see a Francis Ford Coppola ranking.

I wish people would appreciate Inherent Vice more. It's my number one and one of my favorites of all time. I love that movie to death!

Had a physical "OOF" reaction to the #9 fake-out. Nicely done.

Im approaching this with a fresh lens, I’m taking a film analysis this semester and wanted to take a stab at watching Phantom Thread, my next thought was “KZfaq the director” and your video came up, really glad I watched, I don’t think anything has been spoiled by me watching your video, so great job. This is to sorta give me a little better insight on what to look for. Kudos, cheers.

For a debut film I thought hard eight was pretty solid in terms of early hints of his visual style and the characters he creates. Not enough mention in this vid of his perfect repeat casting selections from the beginning like Phillip baker hall and John c Riley

Every time I reflect on what my favourite film of all time is I flip-flop between either Magnolia or There Will Be Blood. TWBB is a masterclass in acting, writing, editing and cinematography but Magnolia has elicited emotions in me I’ve never felt before watching a movie. As the story reaches its emotional crescendo I’m filled with basically every human emotion conceivable at once.

I literally worship PTA in cinema like I love that man. My top 3 are Phantom Thread, Boogie Nights, and The Masters they literally live rent free in my head like I always think of them. The most underrated PTA film must be Drunk Punch Love it really is imho the must underrated PTA film.

Cant wait for your top movies of 2021

Just because of the fact that PTA managed to successfully adapt a Pynchon novel, Inherent Vice should be a lot higher

IMO, Licorice Pizza is the best movie since Parasite. I absolutely loved it and it's an unequivocal masterpiece!

I think Magnolia might be my favorite. You just get so many characters and storylines that weave in and out of each other. And everyone gets a catharsis in the end. You get the music, the cinematography, the dark comedy, the dialogue, and the overarching themes that link them all together. Definitely feels like something PTA would only attempt when he was younger. Feels truly original.

Phantom Thread is an absolutely 100% valid #1 ranking

Licorice Pizza is fucking amazing. Absolute masterpiece

For me literally any of his films besides Hard Eight could be argued to be his best. I truly think they all have such unique things going for them. He also has like 4 movies that i would consider to be "aesthetically" perfect (TWBB, Phantom T, The Master, and Licorice Pizza)...I mean jesus christ does it get prettier than these films?

My favorite Director for sure.

I like what you said about phantom thread having value in its human element. It’s just a matter of taste and what you’re valuing at the time. When I’m valuing horror as a genre, There Will Be Blood is a contender for best movie ever made. But phantom thread is a revolutionary haunting funny and engrossing romance and sometimes I find myself thinking it’s his best work.

parent teacher association ranked

It’s really fascinating to me how you felt Daniel Plainview was “one-note” when that’s actually how I’ve always felt about Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights. I’ve never fully understood the love for that main character - it strikes me as another one of those cínémá films about POS characters where the fact that they’re a POS is what’s supposed to be “interesting” and “cinematic” and I’ve just never been into that. Daniel Plainview always felt like there was much more to him and I think it’s thanks to one of the all time greatest acting performances in history by Daniel Day-Lewis. … it could also just be that Mark Wahlberg is a POS in real life and I don’t like watching him in general so there’s that lol.

Oh my god, I love this list!

phantom thread is my favourite too, i absolutely adore it.

I find some of his films to be so different that it's difficult to rate. However, I do have my personal favorites. I would preface by saying I've only just seen Licorice Pizza and, I believe, my feelings towards it will improve on rewatch. Which would be similar to Phantom Thread which took repeated viewings for me to love. Also, I saw Magnolia only once as a teenager and didn't care for it. I need to revisit it as I'm sure I would like it more then my 14 year old self did as my 12 year old self hated Punch Drunk Love. 1. Punch Drunk Love 2. Phantom Thread 3. There Will Be Blood 4. The Master - this is a great film which is an unpleasant watch for me, but I'd rate it highly despite that 5. Boogie Nights 6. Licorice Pizza - I think will likely supplant The Master on repeated viewings 7. Inherent Vice 8. Magnolia 9. Hard Eight

7/9 of his films are masterpieces. How can anyone argue against this guy being the best filmmaker of our generation, maybe of all time?

YES my favorite youtuber talking about my favorite director LETS GO

this is the craziest pta ranking i’ve ever seen