My dad was this sort of avant-garde guy who did all kinds of weird things. He was a true original and anybody who met him never forgot him. Paul Thomas Anderson More Quotes by Paul Thomas Anderson More Quotes From Paul Thomas Anderson Screenwriting is like ironing. You move forward a little bit and go back and smooth things out. Paul Thomas Anderson writing littles moving I guess what I like in my movies is where you see a character change by maybe two degrees as opposed to the traditional movie change of ninety degrees. I guess that always feels false to me in movies because that doesn't truly happen. Around me, at least in the life I live, I guess I don't see people change ninety or a hundred degrees. I see them change in very small increments. I think it's just a monitor I might have on myself as a writer to not make any false scenes. Paul Thomas Anderson character two thinking My filmmaking education consisted of finding out what filmmakers I liked were watching, then seeing those films. I learned the technical stuff from books and magazines, and with the new technology you can watch entire movies accompanied by audio commentary from the director. You can learn more from John Sturges' audio track on the 'Bad Day at Black Rock' laserdisc than you can in 20 years of film school. Film school is a complete con, because the information is there if you want it. Paul Thomas Anderson bad-day book school I'll rebel against powers and principalities, all the time. Always, I will. Paul Thomas Anderson rebel uprising My writing has a lot to do with who I am, and what my life is like, and my relationships to people. Paul Thomas Anderson who-i-am writing people It's a gamble you take, the risk of alienating an audience. But there's a theory - sometimes it's better to confuse them for five minutes than let them get ahead of you for 10 seconds. Paul Thomas Anderson minutes risk sometimes We’re all children of Kubrick, aren’t we? Is there anything you can do that he hasn’t done? Paul Thomas Anderson done can-do children I always had a dream about trying to make a movie that had no dialogue in it, that was just music and pictures. I still haven't done it yet, but I tried to get close in the beginning. Paul Thomas Anderson done dream trying I remember being taught in school that you would underline things that you liked. I remember just underlining everything as a kid, thinking, 'This has all gotta be important!' I would just underline the whole thing! Paul Thomas Anderson kids school thinking Film school is a complete con, because the information is there if you want it. Paul Thomas Anderson information want school You write who you are. But you also cheat, and youwrite what you want to be. It's embarrasing to be the guy who madethe movie, knowing you're not exactly who you want to be. Paul Thomas Anderson guy knowing writing There’s a lot for screenwriters to steal from songwriters, in terms of getting to the point. Paul Thomas Anderson songwriters stealing term I'm completely aware of the fact that I'm a control freak. Paul Thomas Anderson control-freak freak facts I have a feeling, one of those gut feelings, that I'll make pretty good movies the rest of my life. Paul Thomas Anderson gut-feelings good-movie feelings I am always looking for that nuance, that moment of truth, and you can't really do that fast. Paul Thomas Anderson that-moment nuance moments If you figure a way to live without serving a master, any master, then let the rest of us know, will you? For you'd be the first person in the history of the world. Paul Thomas Anderson way-to-live world firsts Well I'd really love to work with Robert De Niro, because he's still the most talented actor out there. Paul Thomas Anderson de-niro wells actors But I'd be lying if I didn't say that every time you go to make a film, you're desperate to either do it better than you did it last time or to not repeat yourself. Paul Thomas Anderson film lasts lying The films that I love are very straightforward stories, like really old-fashioned stuff. Paul Thomas Anderson film stories stuff I've never been a fan of whimsical or confusing storytelling. Paul Thomas Anderson storytelling confusing fans
