Joaquin Phoenix Rocks the Mutton Chops

Shooting has already started on Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice and The Daily Mail has photos of Mr. Phoenix in character. The pictures from the Los Angeles set offer a first look at Phoenix, as pot-smoking P.I. Doc Sportello, rocking mutton chops, cowboy boots and a Panama hat.

Part of me wonders if this is what Freddie Quells would like look during the Sixties. Hmm...

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Review: The Master

Freddie Quells (Joaquin Phoenix) is the textbook definition of a scoundrel. Contained on a vessel in the Pacific he could pass for normal, but only due to the distressed nature of war-time. He remains in company purely due to his innate ability as a mixologist. Still, his cocktails possess the kinds of contents that bootleggers would consider hazardous.

Following his naval tour, Freddie is a veteran who finds himself without a place. Jobs come in an erratic order and he finds himself out of them just as quickly. He looks as uneasy in the world physically as he is mentally. Perpetually hunched, Freddie makes everyone around him a little more uncomfortable. He has a convicts' eyes, constantly searching for exits.

When Freddie seeks a free ride boarding a yacht, he finds himself under the inquisitive gaze of Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Dodd takes Freddie in, for what reason is unknown, but he sees something in the feral cat of a man that no one else does. In the interest of science, Dodd must know what makes Freddie tick.

Dodd is the leader of The Cause, a group dedicated to returning to the perfection in man by finding our flaws in our past. To his detractors, Dodd preys on the willing belief that his audience offers, much like a magician. He offers solutions in a life that has few following the second World War. Peggy (an increasingly varied Amy Adams) appears to be the steady hand behind Lancaster, but she is a driving force. Where he is weak, she pushes him, the movement must not fall prey to outsiders or critics.

Freddie presents a major road block to legitimacy in Peggy's mind. Especially when naysayers start appearing in door wells of Cause gatherings. Some changes in language of "processing" does not ease the minds of benefactors. Dodd simply just dances around these questions with light jokes and casual asides, forever the showman.

L. Ron Hubbard is a reference, but nothing Paul Thomas Anderson nor Hoffman offers is reverent to the actual man. The Cause's expansion is hinted at, but never fully acknowledged. And Freddie, well, his enigma will forever remain unsolved.

As perfectly rendered as every technical aspect of The Master is (including the sumptuous 65mm print), the film's lack of emphasis on the story it tells is frustrating. Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman embody the id and ego relationship that makes them both so interesting to watch, but ultimately it feels like it didn't mean anything. When two performances are as strong as Hoffman's at times charismatic and at others Dodd and Phoenix's total devolution into a madman, that is a shame.

Paul Thomas Anderson has slowly transitioned the structure of his pictures from ensemble pieces to character studies replacing the inherently likable with cast-outs like Daniel Plainview and Freddie Quell. One man learning to obey his master, the other forced to roam the world without one.

Is it an evolutionary leftover that plagues man to place such faith in alpha members of society? Anyone with a polished image of themselves and a confident message can become a prophet. Placing your faith in the hands of these men is a dangerous game and one that rarely ends without displeasure.

One can only characterize watching The Master as holding a match, watching the embers slowly burn their way down to your fingers, but you don't care because you are entranced by it, you will pay for staring into the fire, but you don't know it yet. Eventually the light of The Master is gone and the only thing that remains is a burn of lingering questions.

**1/2 out of ****

Blu-ray review at Film Annex

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Keeping Their Fingers Crossed for Oscar

Sunday night is rapidly approaching and the favorites for the 85th Academy Awards have mostly set themselves apart from the field. Still, favorites have a way of managing to be surprised when the winner's name is announced. These nominees may just benefit from playing the dark horse.

Emmanuelle Riva
For a majority of the season, Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain had the inside track for Best Actress, but along the way 86 year old Riva upset both actresses at the BAFTAs. Her strong performance may connect with a majority of the voting body that thinks Lawrence hasn't paid her dues and Chastain has many nominations in front of her.

Frankenweenie
Wreck-It Ralph is the hip choice right now, it has swept its respective category for the last several awards, but these two animated features have their own passionate fanbases. Tim Burton has never won an Oscar over his long career and maybe that changes Sunday evening. Either way, Disney will win its first Animated Feature Oscar for the first time since the category's inception.

Silver Linings Playbook
Chris Terrio (Argo) and Tony Kushner (Lincoln) are the front-runners for the Oscar, but Academy voters have a history of giving awards to films as compensation for losing bigger contests. David O. Russell has a lot of competition for Best Director, but conceivably he could come home with the adapted screenplay award.

Ang Lee
Ben Affleck's snub opened the field up for a while and if Steven Spielberg doesn't capitalize on the moment, Lee seems most suited to take home the trophy. Life of Pi has no acting nominees, but nearly all voters acknowledge the technical prowess Lee exercised while making the film.

Joaquin Phoenix
Mr. Phoenix may not personally be keeping his fingers crossed, but current guarantee Daniel Day-Lewis name-checked the actor for his work in The Master when accepting one of his awards. Is a groundswell starting for the recently retired Phoenix? Day-Lewis has won Lead Actor twice previously so his win is a lock, yet a surprise here would be almost unprecedented.

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Second 'Master' Poster Dazzling

No two things look similar to any one person and this new poster for Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master seems to be playing on that. Controversial figures, in particular, are most divisive. However Anderson's film is received (and it has been receiving high praise as of late from 70mm screenings) this will be one of the hottest film topics come Winter.

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'The Master' Has A Poster

The is-it-about-Scientology-or-isn't-it film that has easily swept most of the conversation of the blogosphere has debuted its new poster exclusively to The Huffington Post. One of the more unique pieces of marketing that I've seen in a while. Kudos to the team behind Paul Thomas Anderson's latest feature, you've done a great job.

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New 'Master' Clip Is Hopelessly Inquisitve

With every new snippet of footage from Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, the more excited I become by this film. Between this Django and Killing Them Softly, The Weinstein Company is going to make a killing this fall/winter.

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'The Master' Teases A Planview Performance from Phoenix

Are we going to see a Daniel Day-Lewis level of committment from Joaquin Phoenix? Given the oddities revealed in the teaser for Paul Thomas Anderson's latest, I believe so. Jonny Greenwood is characteristically eerie here as well. And to think that we still haven't even seen Philip Seymour Hoffman as the titular character. Hopes for this film are going to be very high come its release date on October 12th.

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Eagle Eyes Can Catch Hoffman as The Master

The team at Cigarettes and Red Vines has received a few tidbits from Paul Thomas Anderson's forthcoming The Master, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as a man who creates a new religion following World War II. The film will be Anderson's first effort since There Will Be Blood and the chance for a sneak peek at Hoffman in character is almost too tempting to pass up. Luckily, Anderson sent over a negative for Cigarettes and Red Vines to develop, and a look is available below.

I cannot make out much, but for those of you with better vision, enjoy!

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