LOL.
The likely Best Picture for next March’s Oscars has likely been found.
“One Battle After Another,” directed by “Boogie Nights” helmer Paul Thomas Anderson, opens September 26th.
Last night, the Warner Brothers release had a premiere in Los Angeles. They filled up the gigantic Chinese theater on Sunset Boulevard. No less than Steven Spielberg interviewed PTA on stage and raved about the film.
Reviews are improbably embargoed until September 17th. Social media posts were allowed to start posting last night. Film Twitter, as we call it, exploded.
I was lucky to see “One Battle” — which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn — on Friday morning last week.
Last night, I posted to Twitter: “Warner Bros caps off an incredible year with a sensational adaptation of a gonzo Thomas Pynchon novel by Paul Thomas Anderson. One Battle After Another is thrilling funny, and insightful. DiCaprio and Penn are sublime. So is Jonny Greenwood score. This is big, kids, no kidding”
I wasn’t alone. Every post is glowing. PTA adapted the legendary novelist Thomas Pynchon’s novel, “Vineland” for “One Battle.” But instead of a direct transfer, Anderson really took its essence and some of the basic plot and reworked it even changing all the characters’ names. He also gave the screenplay structure that the book didn’t have, unlike his last Pynchon adaptation, “Inherent Vice” (which I like to call “Incoherent Vice”).
So we can post a formal review until the 17th. It’s going be a stealth whisper campaign until then to pique the interest of movie goers. I saw “One Battle” on IMAX, which is recommended. In a few places you can see it was it meant be, on 70MM. PTA shot in VistaVision, a wide screen format rarely seen anymore.
Besides DiCaprio and Sean Penn, the cast includes a sensational newcomer Chase Infiniti, plus a supporting cast that includes Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro, and Regina Hall. The soundtrack is from Jonny Greenwood, as I said in the Twitter post, and it’s a knockout.
All of these people are headed to awards podiums this winter. And unlike with some previous Best Picture winners with hot dog fingers, this one will be celebrated by everyone.
“One Battle” is a drama with a lot of comedy. But while you’re waiting, you can rent/stream Sidney Lumet’s wonderful “Running on Empty” from a long time ago to get the flavor of it in advance. You can also listen to Gil Scot-Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” on Spotify, or watch “Green Acres” for fun on MeTV.
