Discuss Phantom Thread

For me, a film has 30 mins to show me anything. To make me smile or titter, to pique my curiosity, to catch my eye with a shot, to give me a character I remotely care about - to do anything; the merest, slightest thing to make further investment of my time worthwhile compared to flossing my teeth or rearranging my sock drawer.

Alas, the film got 30 minutes of my time and came a distant second to dental hygiene. I hate to give up on something like a film with so much time and creativity invested into it, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

I'm not a fan of PTA (although I consistently give him 6/10 for his efforts) and while I can hold some appreciation for DDL I don't regard him as a 'must watch' actor (though he is as good as any in recent years)). Remove the nameplates. Imagine this is a film from a new director and a no-name cast. I think many would draw the line at a half hour of their lives on this rather than scrutinise every detail trying to extract some merit from the film because, you know, DDL is a discerning actor who only does projects with merit and PTA is a top flight director - so let's give it the benefit of the doubt. This film about a tailor appears, fittingly, to have been an allegory for the Emperor's New Clothes.

The bonus of such ruthless conduct is that in the same viewing session, you can instead move on to another film that might enrich your life for a couple of hours.

No criticism intended of anyone who was genuinely captivated by this film, horses for courses and all that.

3/10

3 replies (on page 1 of 1)

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I was with PTA until The Master and he completely lost me with Inherent Vice. And of course, this film without the A-list cast, etc., wouldn't ever have been seen by more than a few hundred people. Why do so many good directors and musicians decide to just go off the deep end after achieving greatness, aesthetically speaking?

@MongoLloyd said:

I was with PTA until The Master and he completely lost me with Inherent Vice. And of course, this film without the A-list cast, etc., wouldn't ever have been seen by more than a few hundred people. Why do so many good directors and musicians decide to just go off the deep end after achieving greatness, aesthetically speaking?

What do you mean by "aesthetically speaking?" If you want to consider aesthetics, Phantom Thread either won or was nominated for quite a few awards for costumes and music. I haven't checked it out yet because it looks quite boring, and I'm not that big on PTA myself... but your post piqued my curiosity.

Yeah, it's not for you. That's ok.

This is more a movie for cinema, the theatre, where you're already committed to the 2 hours or so to see it completely and without distraction. Not designed to compete with domestic distractions...

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