Punchdrunk Love

I'm a huge fan of Paul Thomas Anderson's films (Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia). Punchdrunk Love continues his tradition of making off-beat, slightly weird, but entertaining films.

I saw it twice in theaters, and pre-ordered the DVD from Deep Discount DVD. The street date for this disc is Tuesday, but I got it in the mail today.
I'll be watching this one later tonight.

 

Great flick! Tuesday can't come soon enough.

 

Loved Magnolia, loved a lot of Boogie Nights, thought Hard Eight was seminal but boring, hope Punch Drunk Love was a short detour.

 

It took months to get to our town and only showed a couple of nights. Ah yes, small town life. I'm looking forward to finally doing it on DVD.

Dan C

 

I get the feeling that a lot of us enjoy seeing a movie in a theatre, but like owning it on DVD as much or more. I regret missing films on the big screen, and no matter how good they make home video I just don't think it can compare. It was different when theatre owners didn't put a lot of thought and money into their sound systems, so that early home surround sounded better than a theatre. That's not true any longer.

 

I havent seen this one yet, cant wait until Tuesday. I much prefer watching movies at home, but it just doesnt compare to the BIG screen, esp with action movies.

 

Can anyone explain, or point to an essay that does, the ending of MAGNOLIA?

 

What do you need to have explained?

 

Hey, wait a minute. You prefer watching at home, but it doesn't compare to the big screen. I agree there's reasons for liking both but is that a compatible statement? For me, if I didn't think the TV compared to a movie screen I wouldn't prefer watching at home.

 

Tyler,

How does the disc look/sound? It's a Superbit, no?

 

Yeah it's a superbit, the movie looks pretty good. The deleted scenes on the second disc have a lot of edge enhancement. The extras have been skimped on, and there's no director's commentary.

The actual movie is excellent.

 

PTA is an amazingly talented filmmaker, but his pretentiousness ruins most of his films for me. I liked Boogie Nights best, but Magnolia was alternately brilliant and boring, while Punch Drunk Love I found merely boring and self-indulgent.

And don't get me started on that hack Kevin Smith...

 

I'm actually watching Paul Thomas Anderson's (PTA) commentary on my Boogie Nights DVD while my girlfriend sleeps on the couch. I really like PTA's films, even if parts of all them can be pretentious.

I've always enjoyed Kevin Smith's films. I've got my doubts about his latest film (Jersey Girl). Chasing Amy is an excellent movie, Jay and Silent bob strike back could have been much better.

 

I'm a big Kevin Smith fan. I used to post on his message board until it was plagued with nitwits.

I like all the films for what they are, but "Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back" is probably my least favorite. I really like the concept of having Dante, Randal, Brodie, Banky, and Holden in the same movie, but it seemed rushed to me. It's an entertaining flick, though, when you're in the mood for some mindless fun.

I think "Jersey Girl" will be great. I'm glad to see he's ditched the Jay And Silent Bob franchise, which seems to have run its course. Besides, Jason Mewes needs to lose his taste for smack.

I'm not sure if Smith will ever top "Dogma" or "Chasing Amy," but I hope he surprises us.

 

I've seen Clerks at least 100 times. I had to show it to everyone I knew. Mallrats is good flick as well, the commentary on the DVD is one of the best I've heard.

Chasing Amy and Dogma are two of my favorite films of the 90's. Like you I'm glad that the Jay & Silent Bob franchise has (supposedly) ended with his last movie.

My main doubt about "Jersey Girl" is "Jenny from the block's" ability to carry the movie. Hopefully Smith's writing can overshadow my dislike of JLO.

 

Glad to see some Kevin Smith fans here. I have loved all of his films, but I am unsure about Jersey Girl, hope it turns out ok.

ATR- If I watch a movie at home, I can tell I am missing out if it's say Star Trek or The Matrix. It just doesnt compare to the big screen. However, I can pause the movie, replay a cool scene, watch cut scenes, check out the trailer, and watch the movie whenever I want. So that's about how it stacks up.

 

I thought Punch Drunk Love was great - a simple love story, well told, with a bit of flair. A couple of things annoyed me slightly (eg. the frenetic music in places) - but I believed in the characters, they were real people. And the settings were great.

 

I used to live in Provo Utah (where the Mattress salesman is based). I live just a couple blocks from where the phone booth scene was filmed in Waikiki (where Barry yells at his sister). The Royal Hawaiian Hotel is right across the street, Barry wouldn't have had to go far to meet Lena in Waikiki).

 

I started a thread on this very topic entitled 'Puch Drunk Love DVD' that no one replied to, now I know why.

Here's what I had to say on the subject:

 

I agree. I guess what some people consider 'pretentious' in Anderson's work I consider 'existential', or 'quirky'. To each his own.

 

The only aspect of seeing a movie in a theatre that I may miss is the sheer size of the screen, other than that, I prefer watching movies at home. There's something to be said for a big screen TV and a 'Surround Sound' set up. I'm not saying that my sound system is the best there is, but I have yet to hear one in a Theatre that really sounded 'better' than mine. Louder, maybe. The sound locations, IMO, are more well defined on a good, quality, HT setup.

 

GoldenBoy, I have not seen the SuperBit version of PunchDrunkLove, but would certainly like to. Some SuperBit titles have been released here in Australia, and I have only read about them, not seen any. One reviewer commented that they really do represent an improvement over standard issue discs, with better resolution of daker areas of the screen in particular. He reported that on the Hollow Man SuperBit version, the bit-rate remained consistently around the 8 Mb/sec, whereas the regular version rarely rose above 7 Mb/sec, and often dipped to around 2Mb/sec.

 

For me no TV I've ever seen can match the visual quality of projected film. It's not just the size that counts.

 

Just watched the movie on DVD (rental) and while it is a nice quirky love story with a twist, I did not love this as much as I love "Boogie Nights "(fantastic) and "Magnolia" (flawed genius).

I usually love quirky movies but the pace of this movie was just too frentic and made me feel uncomfortable (I doubt I would want to see this movie over and over) so it fails the "would I buy it on DVD test".

Again its basically a nice love story about to quirky people who find themselves in a quirky world. Nice but not groundbreaking.

 

JohnG, interesting that you should find the pace frenetic. I didn't quite feel that way about the pacing, but I think the music was in parts deliberately frenetic and disorienting to emphasise the rather disorganised state of Adama Sandler's character's mind - to the point of perhaps being overly intrusive for the audience.

Definitely a quirky movie, but one that I think has true-to-life characters. Sandler's character was a real goofball, but his goofiness was believable, and the combination of his depression and suppressed anger made him all the more believable.