Daniel and Arianna at the dinner last night
Spitzer, Rebecca Miller [Daniel's wife], Daniel, Arianna
While Anderson’s most obvious influence is Altman, a new video essay from Indiewire’s Press Play blog makes a strong case that Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was a key inspiration for Anderson’s last film, 2007’s There Will Be Blood. Editor and essayist Nelson Carvajal crosscuts between parallel scenes from Blood and the opening 2001 chapter, “The Dawn of Man,” to reveal similarities in both theme and composition. Blood’s oil echoes 2001’s monolith: Each is a Pandora’s box that will advance man into a new era and at the same time corrupt him. Watching the essay, Blood seems less a Citizen Kane-like origin story about America (and Southern California—Hollywood in particular), and instead becomes a more universal fable.
Martin Scorsese's 1993 motion picture, The Age of Innocence, is truly a feast for the senses guaranteed to transport you back in time with its panoramic view of Wharton's New York City of the 1870's. Daniel Day Lewis, Michele Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder and others did a fabulous job introducing us to New York's wealthy upper class, a class ruled by a code of behavior in which the slightest hint of scandal could bring about the social demise of its inhabitants.
I've been horrified by how people such as my brother [Daniel Day-Lewis, who has been labelled as eccentric] have been persecuted by the press. People are open to criticise [work], but there's no need to criticise artists as human beings.