• PT’s stated goal was to “make an art-house Adam Sandler movie” and it was purposefully anti-ensemble multi-character epic like boogie and magnolia
  • Jon Brion’s brilliant and experimental score (this is the pre-Greenwood PT era which makes me think PT is the genius here on the music (not to say Greenwood and Brion aren’t both brilliant and possible geniuses as well) but there are such commonalities here with how segments of this sound (especially in scenes he’s ratchetting it up (think forklift accident here, oil rig explosion in There Will Be Blood) match shots from TWBB and the master (opening silent montage))—apparently Brion had the score played on set to inspire and set rhythm with the actors
  • The “He Needs Me” song is from Altman’s movie Popeye and sung by Shelley Duvall—not as many Altman connections here as his previous work but this is a big one clearly
  • Like his previous films Anderson allows for errors in the performance and script—“business is very good” and “hello this is back” (combination of real name “Barry” and fake name “jack”- this feeds into character as Barry is an awkward character but also it’s connected to scenes like William H. Macy’s “ass in her cock” flub in boogie nights
  • It is, strangely, still an Adam Sandler movie and accomplishes what PT set out to do. He’s not trying to change Cruise and Sandler- these are talented actors and megastars. He’s tapping into their talents for something different (better). Barry has all the sweetness and rage here he displays at different times in say Waterboy or Happy Gilmore– clearly he can both beat up a bathroom and have tender love for Watson, the excitement in the Chaplinesque dance in the grocery store and have that sweetness you see in the harmonium.
  • PT is such a formal/visual freak/master- how many grocery stores have color coded aisles?
  • The opening is perfection—we have a blue suit, blue lines on the wall and he shoots at an angle to make Barry, at the desk, look very very alone
  • Lens flares galore—but all with a blue tint or a blue/pink tint to match both the normal film décor and the pink/blue dye experimental watercolor splashes (3 times in the film— 4 if you count the end credits)
  • The film is so formally rigid- I adore it. He’s bullied on the phone and then he goes and plays the music. The music and Watson are tied throughout the movie
  • The shot of Barry/Sandler running away from the brothers from Utah mirrors the shot of Phoenix running from the farmers in the master
  • I had to read it in a review to notice it but there is a red figure in the background the first time Barry/Sandler goes to the grocery store and sure enough—it’s Watson (who is always wearing red or pink)
  • The Windex on Barry’s table in his sad apartment is blue
  • The claustrophobic scene I mention above with the escalating score (phone ringing, loud sister, forklift) is magnificent
  • I see 500-1000 movies a year and I’ve never seen anything like this
  • Watson has a storied history of playing the odd duck looking for love which is a little out of the norm (breaking the waves)
  • The entire film is a dichotomy—formal point/count—we have the rage (car crash, breaking sliding glass door, beating up bathroom) and the adoration (Watson, harmonium, Chaplin dance)
  • Blue atlas van lines truck- no mistake- blue lights when driving from the street, blue phone both
  • The silhouette kiss in Hawaii when they meet there is an absolutely masterful stunner of a shot/scene
  • Pink sky to open at dawn— blue/pink sky to close in Hawaii
  • Pink pant pajamas for Watson
  • Barry is difficult and obsessive (could tie into There will be blood)
  • Beautiful Zoom-in on PSH
  • I think it’s the best film of 2002, I think it’s a giant masterpiece, I think it changes how I feel about PT Anderson