Het is al een tijdje geleden sinds Paul Thomas Anderson hoge ogen gooide met There Will Be Blood. Dit jaar komt er een nieuwe film uit van de regisseur, getiteld The Master. Naar verluidt is de film flink beïnvloed door L. Ron Hubbards Scientology. De film volgt oorlogsveteraan Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), een man die achtervolgd wordt door zijn ervaringen en die besluit zijn eigen religie te beginnen. Joaquin Phoenix speelt zijn rechterhand.

Het is dan ook niet gek dat fans van de regisseur reikhalzend uitkijken naar deze film, en sommigen van hen hadden het geluk bij een testscreening te mogen zijn. Op Twitter plaatsten zij hun reacties op de film. Hieronder een impressie daarvan.

Een gebruiker genaamd Bobfilm e-mailde zijn reactie op de film naar de website Hollywood Elsewhere. I’m still digesting everything I saw, but it was pretty amazing. It was like a strange fever dream. [But] not audience friendly AT ALL. An ambiguous ending and not one likable character. And without any ‘milkshake’ lines, it probably won’t have the breakthrough that There Will Be Blood had… There are three or four scenes between Phoenix and Hoffman that are barn burners. It also containts the best work Amy Adams has ever done… Phoenix WILL win Best Actor unless Daniel Day Lewis blows us away with [his] Lincoln performance. This is Raging Bull territory for him. Believe it or not, his performance is stranger than that fake doc he made.

Dan waren er de tweets van Victor Escobar. “Don’t want to say more than a few words about it but it is an all around excellent film. I’ve yet to see one bad PSH performance but this one may be his best. 2hrs 10 min. Will get nods for Picture. Good chance of winning original screenplay and acting awards. If it were me, I’d put them both in the Best Actor category but if one them is getting the supporting nod, its Hoffman. It will have its fair share of detractors and its not a “safe” choice. If you guys can, see The Master in 70 mm. Looked gorgeous and its the way P.T Anderson wants you to see it. “

En hieronder een aantal kortere berichten.

@TotallySketch “Just saw ‘The Master’. A movie has never made me feel quite like this one did. I can’t describe it or even rate it. I am speechless.”

@aaldere1 “The Master was amazing. Oscars all over this one.”

@LoganDoe “@prfessorbigsock Hoffman is one of the finest actors alive. The Master is (more) proof. #themaster”

@pillowfightin “@cigsandredvines Saw The Master in 70mm at the Aero Santa Monica. Surprise screening after The Shining. Its like nothing yvever seen before.”

@jessecrall “The Master: B+ hazy, meandering story with beautiful staging and headed by Phoenix’s brilliant, year’s-best performance. @kristapley”

@Super_Matts “THE MASTER is…interesting…I’ll be thinking about it for days #THEMASTER70MM J Phoenix and P S Hoffman are out of this world”