Few filmmakers have as striking and unique a style as Paul Thomas Anderson, who serves as one of the rare auteurs whose movie releases still feel like big events. He’s in that rarified air with Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Jordan Peele, and a small handful of others who are able to drive audiences off of their name recognition alone.
Now having seen each of his nine feature length films – Magnolia being a recent first-time watch to round out the group – I wanted to indulge in an incredibly difficult exercise: ranking the Paul Thomas Anderson movies from worst to best. A hard task to say the least, because he doesn’t have a single “bad” movie, and after the select couple that elevate above the rest, this list could change on the daily. I could wake up tomorrow and rank PTA’s movies in a completely different order.
And odds are I’ll return to a few of these over the next few months, either due to the new Paul Thomas Anderson playlist on The Criterion Channel in August, or because of my increasing excitement for his upcoming movie (collaborating with Leonardo DiCaprio in a big-budget blockbuster rumored to be an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland). There’s an idiosyncratic style and rhythm to each of his movies that I vibe with, and another Pynchon adaptation (after 2014’s Inherent Vice) seems right up my alley. It may even get me to read a book!
Regardless, I’ll be sure to update this film ranking once that movie hits theaters – potentially in 2025, but I’m preparing myself for anything – but for now, here’s how I’d rank Paul Thomas Anderson’s movies (as a preface, I like them all, just something has to be ranked towards the bottom):
9. Hard Eight (1996)
8. Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
7. Inherent Vice (2014)
6. Magnolia (1999)
Magnolia might feel a bit like the film that got away from Paul Thomas Anderson (because it kinda is), but it’s the sort of big-budget passion project that up-and-coming filmmakers rarely get to make nowadays. The ensemble cast of Magnolia is littered with A-listers and common Paul Thomas Anderson players, from Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman to Tom Cruise and John C. Reilly, each actor adds their own weight to this shotgun blast of characters. Magnolia review
5. Licorice Pizza (2021)
Licorice Pizza is a love letter to Paul Thomas Anderson’s childhood experience. The movie is overflowing with teenage emotional drama. One of 2021’s best films. Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman both give extraordinary first leading performances. Licorice Pizza review
4. Phantom Thread (2017)
3. Boogie Nights (1997)
2. The Master (2012)
1. There Will Be Blood (2007)
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