Those Are Great Names! Paul Thomas Anderson vs. Wes Anderson

where's Loni Anderson?

Not to mention Sparky.

paul w.s. anderson

I've seen all their films except the most recent for each.
- Wes is more limited in scope but meets his more goals more successfully
- PTA is more ambitious but fumbles worse and more often
- Best films: Rushmore and The Master
- Worst films: Life Aquatic and Magnolia (I would have said Inherent Vice but watched it again last year and found it charming in a delicate way)
- Underrated films: Darjeeling Limited and Punch-Drunk Love
- I expect a lot from a new PTA film and am usually a bit disappointed; I expect that a new Wes film will be the last straw for me and am usually modestly pleased

It's a tie!

(note: my favourite Anderson is Jon)

This is a little like a poll I thought of last night:

FAVOURITE 'Z' DIRECTOR:

- ZHANG
- ZILNIK
- ZULAWSKI
- ZURLINI
- ZVYAGINTSEV

"I've seen all their films except the most recent for each.
- Wes is more limited in scope but meets his more goals more successfully
- PTA is more ambitious but fumbles worse and more often
- Best films: Rushmore and The Master
- Worst films: Life Aquatic and Magnolia (I would have said Inherent Vice but watched it again last year and found it charming in a delicate way)
- Underrated films: Darjeeling Limited and Punch-Drunk Love
- I expect a lot from a new PTA film and am usually a bit disappointed; I expect that a new Wes film will be the last straw for me and am usually modestly pleased

It's a tie!"

agree with all of that

except I think Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood and maybe even Magnolia are better than The Master

They're all better than The Master.

Best films: Fantastic Mr. Fox and Phantom Thread
Worst films: Hotel Chevalier and The Master

xxp and Phantom Thread

and for me The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel are the most memorable Wes Anderson films

I'll go with PTA since he didn't have a 7 movie run featuring no BIPOC actors.

PTA easy for me, have no use for wes

Almost exactly where I stand; Rushmore is perfect, and a couple of the films from the few years after are good, but zero interest now. I'm up and down with PTA but always interested.

Wes Anderson more or less does one thing and one thing well (unless you don't like that thing). PTA, you never know what you're going to get, and seems to have fewer affectations. So I guess ... largely what Halfway said. I like them both, but I'm always interested in what PTA is up to, whereas Wes I generally know what I'm in for before I've started the movie. PTA's biggest weak spot is his endings.

This though:

I'll go with PTA since he didn't have a 7 movie run featuring no BIPOC actors.

I don't know if this is necessarily accurate, but regardless, I don't think of either of these directors as particularly diverse or inclusive,

I'll go with PTA since he didn't have a 7 movie run featuring no BIPOC actors.

On the basis of Kumar Pallana alone--who's always great--I suspect that's true.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.rogerebert.com/uploads/blog_post/primary_image/mzs/kumar-pallana-1918-2013-wes-anderson-royal-tenenbaums-obituary/Screen_Shot_2013-10-11_at_3.56.56_PM.png

there was also Danny Glover in Rushmore, and Darjeeling had several.

I suspect the post was meant as hyperbole and not literally, since the complaint is often that he only employs BIPOC actors in roles as servants or minor supporting roles.

both about equally good at their respective things. phantom thread is the best film by either but moonrise kingdom is a personal fav. i'll give them the tie

Dont forget Lumi Cavazos is the female lead in Wes Anderson's first film, too! Her character is a maid, but imo its a more three-dimensional role than, for example, i.e. Samuel L Jackson's drug thug in Hard Eight, or Luis Guzman's comic relief in Boogie Nights, etc. Neither Anderson has a ton to be proud of w/bipoc representation, but for some reason people dont set their sights on PTA in the same way.

Heck, the lobby boy co-lead of "Grand Budapest Hotel" is a POC, too.

Just realizing there's a number of interracial relationships/romances in Wes movies too.

Lindsay Anderson crushes both this poll and this thread.

PTA for sure. I still look forward to seeing his stuff (Liquorice Pizza hasn't reached me yet), whereas I haven't watched a new WA film in over a decade.

Since The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou I’ve always expected to be irritated by each next Wes Anderson film, but they have all been charming to me and have transcended accusations of triteness (I haven’t seen The French Dispatch yet). PT Anderson has made films with more gravity but they are so often alienating. I guess PTA has made more significant films historically, but not by much imo

Just guessing, but I think that gap will widen over time as reflected in the TSPDY Top 1000 list. Currently:

PTA - #163, 252, 423, 434 (Punch-Drunk Love?--doubt that'll last), 485.

WA - #536, 591 (nothing since Tenenbaums)

regarding the Z’s

Zyagintsev’s Leviathan and Loveless are both really great films, as are Yimou Zhang’s Raise the Red Lantern and Red Sorghum. Haven’t heard of Zilnik or Zurlini. Want to see Zulawski’s Possession.

sorry to go off topic

Zissou!

that movie is underrated

"please don't make fun of me. i just wanted to flirt with you."

Just guessing, but I think that gap will widen over time as reflected in the TSPDY Top 1000 list. Currently:

PTA - #163, 252, 423, 434 (Punch-Drunk Love?--doubt that'll last), 485.

WA - #536, 591 (nothing since Tenenbaums)

― clemenza, Monday, March 7, 2022 5:41 PM

PTA is overrated and WA underrated

There def are too many PTA movies in the TSPDT top 1,000.

Ernie Anderson

Roy Andersson

(Didn't realize until looking thru the TSPDT director list that PTA and WA were also born only about a year apart, too.)

Outside of Kubrick, is there a director more likely to inspire list-making than PTA?

http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2022/all-9-paul-thomas-anderson-movies-ranked-from-worst-to-best/

PTA because he made the good choice to not direct Darjeeling Limited

Theyre both equally repetitive, but WA has chosen a template thats harder to screw up, whereas with PTA movies if he doesnt thread the needle perfectly the whole thing falls to shit.

i was surprised at nearly every placement on that PTA list!

yeah that's a pretty challopsy list

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I think I forgot to vote, toss another on the “I like them roughly the same” pile

Just realizing there's a number of interracial relationships/romances in Wes movies too.

Margaret Yang!

Zyagintsev’s Leviathan and Loveless are both really great films, as are Yimou Zhang’s Raise the Red Lantern and Red Sorghum. Haven’t heard of Zilnik or Zurlini. Want to see Zulawski’s Possession.

Somewhere Zhang Yuan sheds a tear.

Never mind that I also left out Zeffirelli, Zinnemann, Zanussi, Zemeckis, Zetc. Zetc.