Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

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mfunk9786
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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#326 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri May 04, 2018 9:37 am

Oh, I thought you just meant the case was black/not see thru. I should admit I’ve never seen a UHD case in person. Didn't realize you just meant it was the same kind of case used for Criterion releases.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#327 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue May 08, 2018 3:37 pm

Really great bitrate on the UHD Blu-ray, which is out today. Also, the extras are on the UHD disc and are also in that quality:
DISC INFO:

Disc Size: 96,497,514,385 bytes
Protection: AACS2
BD-Java: Yes
Extras: Ultra HD
BDInfo: 0.5.8.7

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name: 00801.MPLS
Length: 2:10:31.490 (h:m:s.ms)
Size: 88,035,876,864 bytes
Total Bitrate: 89.93 Mbps

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#328 Post by soundchaser » Tue May 08, 2018 4:20 pm

The UHD disc looks fantastic. It’s a little subtle to serve as a wow-ing demo disc, but the blues in particular are stunning.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#329 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue May 08, 2018 4:37 pm

How is the grain managed? I notice that it there was little to no scrubbing of it when the film was presented digitally in the theater, which can be pretty noisy in brighter scenes but really pops when, like you mentioned, color is highlighted (like the scene in the Alps, for one).

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#330 Post by soundchaser » Tue May 08, 2018 4:46 pm

Well, I'll admit that I don't always have the best eyes for this, but it looked pretty stellar to me. There were a few scenes that were a little softer than others, but I suspect that was the case theatrically as well. Definitely nothing that looks like digital noise.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#331 Post by Ribs » Tue May 08, 2018 4:51 pm

I am *infuriated* that Target put my order on backorder for some reason, when I see no one else complaining about it. I can't think of a disc I've been more excited to get in quite some time - I found the 70mm print just transcendent, to the point I can't imagine seeing it in just 1080p on a regular BD, and the idea it'd receive anything less than a totally remarkable disc would have been heartbreaking. Plus the packaging, with the cover reversed in the Scanovo, looks *real* snazzy.

(I actually picked up a poster for the 70mm engagement (with the reverse cover/program image of the dress drawing) from the theater's lobby a few weeks ago - which, judging on it not being listed on eBay by anyone either in sold or active listing, may be quite the collector's item)
Last edited by Ribs on Tue May 08, 2018 4:55 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#332 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue May 08, 2018 4:53 pm

Amazon didn't ship mine until like 1 AM this morning, and they used the equivalent shipping as their Same Day Shipping so it would arrive today - so maybe retailers are just getting their stock at the last moment.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#333 Post by Ribs » Tue May 08, 2018 4:56 pm

That's generally how Amazon sends out its release day items, I find. I would guess that a ton of people ordered this from Target during the sale last week, and I ordered on like Wednesday so am near the back of the line. It's estimated date is the 20th but I'm really hoping it pops up sooner.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#334 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue May 08, 2018 6:39 pm

Happy to report that the disc looks outstanding and the bonus material is just lovely - and it's marvelous to see the collection of set photos in such a high resolution.

Yes, some of the whites (tablecloths, some fabrics and wallpapers and lamps) are pretty... active at times, but I think that's just the look of the film shining through, not any sort of digital noise.

I think The Master would obviously be the holy grail of his films to see in this format, and perhaps if this sells well and Anderson ends up pleased with how this disc came out, we could see that sooner rather than later. No idea how all the Weinstein stuff complicates something like that, though.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#335 Post by Ribs » Tue May 08, 2018 6:53 pm

As I said upthread, our best bet is probably There Will Be Blood, considering Paramount has arbitrarily seemed to become the UHD studio, and that movie has become over the past decade one of the defining movies of the 21st century to many people. I expect they'll be sticking to your Godfathers and Titanics and probably The Untouchables for the short-term, though. The Weinstein Library is probably totally MIA for the forseeable future, as even once it's properly sold and done with they'll probably have to wait out existent contractual agreements for rights, I think.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#336 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue May 08, 2018 9:49 pm

I love There Will Be Blood (shocker) but I'm more looking forward to a Zodiac one, if we're talking about 2007 Paramount masterpieces that'd translate well to the format

Now that night has fallen and I can shut off all the lights this disc is even more impressive. HDR allows the lighting in the film (and things like candles, take for instance the asparagus dinner scene) to really pop. Make sure you watch the Camera Tests, by the way - the standout bonus feature.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#337 Post by senseabove » Sat Jul 21, 2018 12:52 am

Just saw Jacques Becker's absolutely wonderful Falbalas—did Anderson actually acknowledge it as an influence anywhere?

Because I find it hard to believe he didn't see it... There are too many things that seem to be lifted: a fussy, capricious, and wantonly cruel couturier whose House is managed by his only living relative, a matronly older sister; a breakfast scene where the obsequious former lover who has fallen out of favor storms off when he rejects her overt attempts to cater to him; and some banter between the designer and a model which starts with his seemingly derisive comment on her breast size and ends with him telling her its none of her business (implying what PT makes explicit: it's his to make her have some if he wants her to). I may have gone into it looking for them—but put together they all seem a bit much to be coincidental.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#338 Post by Werewolf by Night » Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:52 pm

Werewolf by Night wrote:
ianthemovie wrote:
Werewolf by Night wrote:Countess Henrietta Harding has trusted Woodcock (for years, probably) to make her look beautiful, but witness how uncomfortable and out of place she looks in that dress as she enters the ball—it’s written all over her face.
That's interesting. I read it differently--that the Countess was nervous about attending the gala for some other personal reason that's never clarified (in the dialogue during her fitting she alludes to this event being momentous). I'd have to go back to study her face again as she's making her entrance, but I saw her as having been given confidence by Reynolds and the dress, as stiffly designed as it may be. For me, the scene established Reynolds' power as a designer and his ability to make nervous women feel confident and beautiful in his clothes. It seemed to set up the later scenes when Alma says the same thing (that she had always felt awkward, but Reynolds made her feel beautiful) and when Reynolds feels devastated by the realization that he can't make Barbara Rose feel beautiful in spite of all his efforts to do so.
This is an entirely plausible reading, too, and maybe not entirely mutually exclusive of my take. There is the little scene of her talking to Woodcock about how much they’ve been through together. I saw that as her way of saying goodbye to him, though.

Still, it’s a bad dress, the Homer car of evening gowns. A cape, a lace collar, strings of pearls, cutouts, all that velvet? It’s practically Elizabethan in a time of increasing simplicity of design (though maybe it’s meant to be a riotous celebration of the end of material rationing). It’s so out of fashion for the time that I feel like she would have spent the whole night hearing sniggering behind her back. But Homer sure loved that car and felt great sitting in it. (The fact that Day-Lewis apparently designed this dress and Bridges was left to realize it kind of explains [but doesn’t excuse] its nuttiness. He may be a great actor and an enthusiastic collaborator, but this is one aspect of filmmaking he should leave to the experts.)
I’ve now seen the film a third time (and in a much better presentation at home than in the two theatrical showings I attended Image—fuckin DCPs and shitty movie theaters) and would now not say a lot of the things I said back in February.

That “Snow White” dress I thought was so hideous is not actually hideous. On the BD, the colors and quality of the fabrics come through as much richer and more harmonious, and it does not look garish at all. Furthermore, the colors of the dress are very much in line with what I now notice is an intentional color palette for many Woodcock designs, a kind of continuum from blush pink to deep plum. (There is also a repeated rich gold and forest green motif in contrast; Cyril, asserting herself, often wears navy blue.)

And I no longer feel the Countess looks as if she feels awkward in the dress, she’s just generally nervous about something (A long illness? A past disgrace? Perhaps she had an affair with Woodcock at some point?) Who knows, it’s not really relevant. Nothing in the film matters as much as the three main characters and the desire of each to control the others.
Last edited by Werewolf by Night on Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#339 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Sep 03, 2018 8:45 pm

You talked me into the Harding bit, especially because everyone around her is wearing a similar style that is very different from what Woodcock made for her. I don't think it's a coincidence that we see that, and that it comes up later. I think she likes the dress, wears it in that setting (again, under mysteriously important circumstances), and does not come back to Woodcock.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#340 Post by domino harvey » Sun Dec 16, 2018 2:02 am


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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#341 Post by Noiretirc » Thu Jan 03, 2019 3:42 pm

FrauBlucher wrote:
Sun Dec 31, 2017 3:40 pm
He makes no secret for his love of "old Hollywood." btw... Alma is Hitchcock's wife's name. Coincidence or not?
And Judith Anderson was in Rebecca!!

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#342 Post by Noiretirc » Thu Jan 03, 2019 6:27 pm

HinkyDinkyTruesmith wrote:
Wed Feb 21, 2018 1:25 am
He doesn't shriek that the dress is bad, he looks it over and mutters that it's not very good, despite the good work his employees put in.
I watched this only once, last night, but I thought he said "ugly" before collapsing?

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#343 Post by HinkyDinkyTruesmith » Fri Jan 04, 2019 1:41 am

Noiretirc wrote:
Thu Jan 03, 2019 6:27 pm
HinkyDinkyTruesmith wrote:
Wed Feb 21, 2018 1:25 am
He doesn't shriek that the dress is bad, he looks it over and mutters that it's not very good, despite the good work his employees put in.
I watched this only once, last night, but I thought he said "ugly" before collapsing?
He does, you are correct, after saying that it's just not very good (which is something my original post doesn't entirely accurately reflect). What I was originally combatting more pointedly was the "shriek" from the post that reads "shrieks how bad the dress design is"––the scene, more than expressing that Woodcock is a poor designer (which is what the description of "shriek" was originally used for), is an obvious dramatic coincidence (pronounced coincide-ence) of Woodcock's professional failing with a crack in his personal relationship, which is sort of what the film's all about, in my eyes.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#344 Post by HinkyDinkyTruesmith » Thu Feb 28, 2019 1:58 am

I was rewatching Casino tonight when I came across this particular moment:

Image

Which reminded me very strongly of this moment:

Image

I don't want to say for sure that PTA consciously is quoting this moment (although it would not surprise me), but, it did make me think about the relationship the two films share in larger respects, and, I couldn't help but think of Reynolds Woodcock as having a predecessor in Sam "Ace" Rothstein. They're both depicted as being uptight, kind of impersonal and controlling individuals in their respective relationships (although Alma is a far cry from Ginger), and most importantly, both incredible micromanagers when it comes to their respective fields. One can imagine Reynolds complaining about the variation in quantity of blueberries in two different muffins, for instance.

Just food for thought, since I personally always thought this was Anderson's least Scorseseian film, at least until this.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#345 Post by FrauBlucher » Sun Mar 17, 2019 9:14 am

I watched this again and it was even better the second time around. The two bits that really work for me 1) the sequence leading up to the socialites wedding and ending with Alma removing the dress off the drunken woman. Alma at that point became a force. And 2) dinner that went terribly awry and turned into a pissing match (a very funny one with Vicky Krieps stealing the scene imho). The mushrooms await.

For me Anderson’s direction was pitch perfect. He built great intensity and wonderful dramatic turns about an eccentric dressmaker and his business. Awesome. Of course Jonny Greenwood’s score gets a huge assist in creating the tension. It was brilliant. This film will clearly be in my top ten for this decade that’s fast coming to end.

Anderson being a student of classic Hollywood made me think that The Heiress (which I had just seen) was something that was a little inspirational to him. I couldn’t help but think that the character arcs were similar for Alma and Catherine Sloper.

Some years down the road I would like to see Criterion release this adding tons of extras(which current discs lack), including a doc about Anderson.

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#346 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Aug 03, 2020 5:44 pm

Lengthy masterclass with PTA's cinematography crew on the difficult shoot of this film - link has a nice rundown of key information and anecdotes from it

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#347 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Aug 03, 2020 6:04 pm

I never wrote anything on this, but a few revisits and some time between lead me to believe it may be Anderson's masterpiece. It's such a mature film that it feels perverse in its audacious truth; an unapologetically authentic declaration of the inherent selfishness in people that comes with individuality and identity's solipsistic core experience. So relationships, while invaluable and necessary, are also insane because you're compromising your 'self' against the grain of that self's selfish drives. A marriage, or serious relationship, is the most vulnerable social contract imaginable, and splitting one's attention to the commitment in another while trying to maintain their own selfishness is beautifully portrayed, as is the acceptance of the fluidity of power exchanges that drive successful romance. This is relationships in a nutshell, even if many don't want to admit it, though hopefully not to the degree on display here!

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#348 Post by TheKieslowskiHaze » Mon Aug 03, 2020 9:34 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Sun Dec 16, 2018 2:02 am
Peak fucking Internet
wut
therewillbeblus wrote:an unapologetically authentic declaration of the inherent selfishness in people that comes with individuality and identity's solipsistic core experience.
wut

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Re: Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)

#349 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Aug 03, 2020 9:44 pm

To say it another way, it may not be challenging to move beyond oneself to meet another in a relationship (as rom-coms suggest), it may actually be impossible to fully do this and sustain such a rhythm. This film’s solution of reciprocity is far darker and truer. We are motivated to compromise self will under extremities, and no relationship dynamic is static, at least not in a way that satisfies both parties.

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