I think it’s incredibly wrong to suggest that Phantom Thread is mainly about Reynolds. Not only does that erase the construction of Alma as a character, and her role as the very motor of the film’s plot, but also Vicky Krieps’ incredible performance. You can praise Anderson for making a film centering on a female character without completely erasing the previous film where he did just that!
I just love you two! Seeing you smile and giggle and get all excited about films you love is so enjoyable to watch. You guys have great chemistry on the podcast and I always love your film discussions! You made me even more excited to see Licorice Pizza💕
Paul Thomas Anderson worked on various TV game shows so it’s no surprise that there’s always a scene involving a game show. He’s so good at story-telling. John C. Reilly & Malora Walters characters, Jim & Claudia was written, acted to perfection as two flawed, broken souls finally connecting at the end.
I saw Licorice Pizza today in 70MM up in Westwood. The best coming of age love story I’ve seen in years. Paul Thomas Anderson has given us his most tender, funny, and humane film. I’ve never felt this unburdened watching a movie of his. I also really loved the characters and cared about them. And I had a smile on my face as the credits rolled. It’s been a long time since a new movie made me feel this good. Licorice Pizza is why I love cinema. I felt bummed exiting the theater into the real world.
@@djstarsign hey this is the perfect Emmanuel Macron origin story 😂 But seriously, I really liked this movie. Sometimes it’s a little too idiosyncratic and coy but it truly is a realistic take on how love and friendship operate (unlike West Side Story). Love it or hate it, it feels like a real film with a totally original tone. Technically brilliant. However, If you don’t like the characters then you’ll hate this film. Personally, I felt really invested in them to the point where I was actively worrying for them as if they were my own family. You kind of end up wanting to hug them. It captures that youthful spontaneous zeal for life that bubbly teenagers have so perfectly and their petty flaws as well. Very human movie. Also, this is like the only movie that has made me want to open a business of some sort by the time I left it. Idk, People date older people all the time. Should Ansel Elgort lose his career cause was in a relationship with a 17 year old when he was 20? The president of France met his wife when he was 15 and she 40. Life is strange
From what I’ve heard the film seems more experiential than just solely focused on formulaic motion picture narrative structures. Looks fantastic! Can’t wait to see it.
Me too. I loved how strange and off it was. For some reason, this film is meandering and pointless but I could never get on board. And this is coming from a pretty big PTA fan.
As a big fan of PTA (Boogie Nights is one of my favorite movies of all time) I was definitely hyped for this movie. The first time I saw it in the theater I remember being a little underwhelmed and thinking it was merely good/ok. However, on multiple viewings the film has only grown on me more and more and I now consider it my #1 favorite movie of 2021. Both Alaina Haim and Cooper Hoffman are wonderful in it and have amazing chemistry together. I also love the '70s Valley setting as someone who just loves that decade in general. It really shows the work of a top tier filmmaker when their movie just gets better and better with repeat viewings.
Yeah but you see...why is a 25 year old girl wanting to fall in love with an 15, or even show affection towards him. If the Rolls were reversed, this movie would be shut down, and heavily criticized. None of it is okay. But of course another prime example of the differences between men and women, and how people perceive them.
Well, there isn't anything sus or pervy in the story: in spite of his age, Cooper's character is more mature than Alana's, so actually the roles are somehow reversed throughout the movie. Their dynamic is pretty interesting, and don't forget that when he hits on her, she doesn't want to fall in love with him because of the age gap. You do know that age difference doesn't matter to some couples, who live a happy and fulfilling life together, right ?
@Randy White the story line was all over the place. There was no story. It was really boring towards the middle end. And the characters were not endearing and you didn’t care for them at all. I loved the lead actors just the story and the dialogue let them down
@@mattc.8887 yea I feel a lot of people r going to feel that way. But personally I got invested in the characters. It’s definitely one of those films that if you don’t like the characters you’ll hate the film. I did feel that sometimes the movie wandered a little bit too much but it was shot incredibly well. Idk, I’ve seen a lot of movies and I didn’t find this one boring. I saw no way home and I found that pretty boring because there was nothing new in it (it was shot too dark and the action felt lifeless) and the matrix resurrections where people were straight up hibernating in the theater (including myself). I think even you have to admit that the film was shot rather well
@@mattc.8887 It pains me to say this, but this was the most disappointed I've felt in a long time after looking forward to seeing a movie in the theater. The narrative was discursive and I didn't care about either lead or their relationship even if the performances were really good. I genuinely disliked both characters. Normally I like show business inside baseball, but this was confusing and jumped all over the place with no apparent purpose. It actually became painful to sit through. Easily my least favorite PTA.
Did not know where this weird setup movie was going for the first hour. But it came together nicely by the end. Alana Haim was excellent and having her whole family in the movie was great. Obviously Cooper Hoffman will be a star.
I was just hooked from the very first scene. I grew up in the 70s and 80s and this movie brought me back to PICTURE DAY! Picture was a big deal! I have not thought about picture day in decades. All these memories flooding back to me. I remember how the photographer or our teachers would pass out those little plastic cheap combs to us and how all us Black kids would just be like, what the hell are we supposed to do with these?!
Watched this a couple of nights ago. It's my favourite film of 2021 so far. Im not sure when was the last time I had enjoyed a non-blockbuster at the cinema as much as I did. Thanks for the review!
I’m a big PTA fan with magnolia be my favorite picture of his, but I couldn’t help but feel creeped out while watching this movie. I know you can technically say that it’s commenting on age gap relationships and not condoning it, but the movie clearly wants you to root for alana and Cooper especially by the end. Also, not even regarding that I feel like the movie has quite a few enjoyable scenes but overall just feels jumbled… if this was not a PTA movie, it would not be getting all the acclaim it has been getting an would’ve probably gotten more controversial reviews
I enjoyed this movie a lot, even though it meanders just like every Anderson movie since Boogie Nights. The story works best when focusing on Alana and her struggle to grow up while also wanting to be the cool friend to well meaning juveniles. And even though the ending felt way too Hollywood for an "indie" film, I fell for it. I fell for it even though I grew to really dislike Gary Valentine. This movie also has the scariest character Bradley Cooper has played yet imo. Anyway, Anderson again proves he is a masterful filmmaker.
I went to see it again tonight and loved it so much more. I was able to appreciate much more Alana's growth throughout the film. Especially in the final act, when she gets involved in the political campaign, there's a shift in tone and you can see how she grows in those moments that carry more 'heaviness' than the rest of the film. She's such an interesting character.
I come in late on this just saw it on streaming . It absolutely captures the vibe of the SF VALLEY in the 70’s..I arrived here in 1977 from Florida and even the lighting and the type of film stock really gets it right , the look and the L.A. thing you get when you start running into “celebrities” , tv stars in life , like grocery stores…dentists offices etc… Alana Haim is amazing as is Cooper Hoffman. By the way I never hear it mentioned that LICORICE PIZZA WAS AN ACTUAL RECORD STORE chain of the era. It’s a great movie if one with no plot really but all atmosphere.
I loved SO MUCH of this film but the ending really ruined it for me. Given the trajectory of Alana's story, I think the choice she makes at the end is a complete misfire and even though I loved the hell out of everything before that, the ending really does make me feel less inclined to ever revisit the film
The ending of the film is the exact thing you wanted from the beginning? What's the misfire, that she kisses the kid? If you're going to watch a film, actually know what you're getting yourself into, because from what I read, you know nothing.
@@cky1088 WOW okay. "Actually know what I"m getting myself into." What the fuck does that mean? I knew I was walking into a Paul Thomas Anderson movie and I watched it with the same open mind I watch every movie. I liked a lot of it, as mentioned, and then I also happened to hate the ending. What exactly was I supposed to know beforehand that would have somehow made me like the ending more? To me the ending betrayed Alana's character development. Gary represents her arrested development and she slowly realizes that it's weird that she hangs out with him and his kid friends all the time. At the end she finally feels ready to move on with her life and be an adult, and maybe stay platonic friends with Gary, but definitely not romantic. But then she 180's and decides she wants to be with him forever. It betrayed her character arc, for me. Also generally speaking if you want to have a discussion about a film, don't insult the other person. Do you even watch these videos? Christy doesn't scream "You know nothing" at Alonso for disliking Promising Young Woman. Jeesh
25 year old woman can’t seem to get 15 year old boy out of her head and struggles with inappropriate feelings of being open to pushing the boundaries of the relationship. But it’s PTA and the soundtrack and cast is amazing!!!! We can overlook creepy when it’s a director we like! #ewgross #nothanks #creepyAF
@@supes616 I loved many aspects of this film (aside from the completely tone-deaf mock-Asian accent scenes), but I was so disappointed to see Alana so willingly and blissfully ran into the arms of her “true love” at the end, and to hear her mutter the words “I love you Gary!” as they walk away, holding hands like a romantic couple… it just seemed so massively cringey. Had the roles been reversed, people would be demonizing the film as one about a sexual predator. But that’s the double standard of our society. I get that she was mentally immature and unmotivated and that she was drawn to Gary’s self-assurance and how he was completely obsessed with her. That it validated her was really a sad commentary on how pitiful she was as an individual. It shows how emotionally naive she is because she feels lost without the validation of a more respectable man. And when she realizes that the Safdie character isn’t interested in her sexually, she retreats by literally running back to the one source she knows will look at her the way she craves. And it’s a 15 year old kid. There were more than enough suggestive looks she’d given him throughout the film, and by the end of the film, it’s implied that even though he’s 15 and she’s a full ten years older, she was willing to overlook it because “age is just a number, man”. What’s so odd about the film is that Gary neither looks or behaves like an archetypal 15 year old boy. So it would have been so easy to keep her the same age and to make him 18. Would have made the whole “she’s a grown woman going after a 15 yr old boy” a non-issue. PTA decided to keep it in and I couldn’t get over it. But let’s be honest, even without the creepy undertones, this is a minor PTA film.
I typically try to enjoy art for art’s sake, and not get too worked up about character choices or political statements or anything like that. With that said, I did find myself having a hard time with the fact that this movie is, in the end, about the blossoming of a romantic relationship between a 15 year old male and a 25 year old woman. Certainly it wouldn’t be acceptable were the roles reversed? Anyway, I did find the movie (mostly) enjoyable. Just having a bit of a hard time coming to grips with that aspect of it.
On a related note, how did these guys not bring up that aspect of the film in the review? I watch darn near every review Christy and Alonso do, and damned if they don’t bring up the social ramifications of the movies they are reviewing on a near constant basis. THIS is the movie where they leave that stuff out of the review? Weird.
@@sunnyd100 for real. I can watch movies about criminals and junkies and it doesn’t phase me, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t get passed the ending where she actually declares her love for the teen. Like I’m supposed to feel good about that? Couldn’t do it.
Does anyone seriously believe if the genders were reversed and a 25 year old man had a relationship with a 15 year old girl that the critics would say "Well, it was the 70s?" I highly doubt it. I mean, it's the 21st Century. People can like the film but to completely over look it's questionable sexual politics (to say nothing of the Asian accent scenes) is bizarre. And how Christie and Alonzo can say this picture isn't meandering, man, I don't know. A character is a child actor then he is selling waterbeds then he's the owner of pinball shop. WTF, Is he still 15? Is he still in high school? Where are we now? This picture is all over the place. And let's not even get started with the politician who turns out to be gay. This felt like a total mess to me.
I won't entirely dismiss the idea that a double standard exists, but having just seen the film, I don't think it's the best example of that problem. The fact that there is a 10 year gap between them (maybe more - at a point Alana claims to be 28, and it's left ambiguous as to if it's true or not) isn't something that gets ignored, quite the opposite in fact. Their age difference is the source of much of the underlying tension of the movie, it drives most of the conflict and the different paths each of them take and is remarked upon as a little weird by multiple characters, including Alana herself. And while yes, at the end they kiss and profess their love for one another, I'm not sure we are meant to take it at face value. We spend over two hours getting to know these two and their flaws, and by the time the credits role nothing's changed, they haven't gone through any sort of a linear character arc. They care for each other but are both in it for self-serving reasons: for Gary it's another feather in his cap to make himself appear older and cooler, and Alana is in a state of perpetual adolescence and looking for anything that might give her life a sense of direction. Based on what we see, it's easy to imagine that they'll probably just have another falling out, and are gonna keep doing this song and dance number where they fight and make up until one of them finds something better to do. And I don't think we as an audience are meant to think that it's a good thing for either of them. That's how I see it anyway, and honestly I'm glad a film like this can exist these days - one that actually offers room for interpretation and discussion, and makes you work for it a little rather than coming pre-packaged with some ready-made moral lesson that the audience is unambiguosly supposed to understand.
Well red rocket has a nearly 40 year old fuck a 17 year old and i dont see people complaining. It's a film it forsnt have to have once people doing nice things .name your favourite films I bet they have horrible characters doing horrible things in. Yet your fine with them right?
Considering the loving rivalry between Tarantino and Anderson, Licorice Pizza is Anderson’s response to Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. And every time I think modern Hollywood is gossamer to the silk of past Hollywood, I’m reminded that greatness and spunk still exist today…albeit rare and precious.
Christy: If you grew up in the Valley then you know about ZZZZZZBest Carpeting and that character. I thought the lead might have been inspired by that.
I'm a huge fan of PTA but this movie was a disappointment. The movie certainly meanders but not in a good PTA way. The trailer is much more entertaining than the 2 plus hours of run time. A lot could have been cut and the editing could have been better. It's almost unwatchable with the thin character development (other than Alana), gratuitous running and lack of any real narrative The age gap will pre occupy you regardless of the " 70s era" or the fact PTA once saw a kid hit on a older woman years ago....she actually falls in love with a 16 year old. I did enjoy the cinematography as a kid who grew up in 70s - 80s SoCal. Oh yeah, John C. Reilly was great as Herman Munster.
OMG!! SO EXCITED to see this! I also grew up in the Valley in the late 70s and this (confirmed by your glowing reviews) seems like it's going to be amazing. One thing: The TITLE! Licorice Pizza was a record store chain around SoCal (and maybe beyond) so I hope that plays a part in the setting. (assuming it does).
John Mav, I never knew this! Where in the Valley? I'm from Woodland Hills, went to El Camino, shopped at the Licorice Pizza location on Topanga. Here's a little spoiler: In all their ramblings, they never do set foot in an LP store, but that title is evocative, isn't it.
Paul Thomas Anderson anda fazendo algumas "aventuras aleatórias" bastante agradáveis de assistir, mas também confusas de certa forma. De toda forma, as cenas e sequências funcionam muito bem e demonstram a força da direção/roteiro do diretor.
PTA is my favorite director and it's great to see him head back to his earlier work. Excellent review again and two amazing scores, very much looking forward to seeing it.
I'm a fan of PT Anderson, but this movie was half-baked and lackluster. It was like Inherent Vice without Thomas Pynchon's script, or Phantom Thread minus Daniel Day Lewis's performance. It has been likened to "Once Upon A Time ... in Hollywood" but lacked Tarantino's attention to time period aesthetics (this movie has no establishing shots to let viewers enjoy the design of the time, backgrounds are often out of focus). I'm fine with a movie being style over substance, but if you're going to do that, the movie needs to show off that style, and this movie is muted in that category. The costume design and art direction isn't good enough to make up for the fact there's close to no plot. All it had to say was that men were misogynist in the 1970s. All the men treat Alana as a pawn. This is positioned as opposite to her relationship with Gary, a 15 year old, who is too young to have a physical relationship with Alana. I got the message that this relationship was more "pure" than Alana's superficial relations with older men, because it contained Gary's youthful optimism and genuine interest (infatuation) for her. He basically falls in love with her at first sight and there are so many scenes of them running into each other's arms. Give me a break. This emphasis on the purity of youth is "feel good", but honestly Gary's infatuation with Alana is an immature take on love, and not something to be put on a pedestal. While I liked Gary's eternal optimism in the face of the dark, cynical side of Hollywood, that optimism was only there because of Gary's inexperience. Is this inexperience and naivety something to envy? Not for me. Maybe I'd feel differently if I grew up in the 70s. But honestly, this movie is a cynical attempt to cash in on nostalgia. They get you with the David Bowie trailer of people running around in polyester. If that does it for you, by all means, watch this movie. But for me, I need a little more.
It’s funny how much they tore Nightmare Alley gave this film perfect scores. I’m fully on board with the majority of PTA’s work so I was shocked at how inferior this movie felt. I’m not a Guillermo Del Toro fan (film wise) but loved the noir aspect of NA. Just goes to show how critics are so drawn to pointlessness and cringiness if it’s got a good soundtrack and feels Altmanesque.
I guess I'm just curious what your reaction would have been if the movie had been about a 25-year-old man spending all that time with a 16-year-old girl.
this movie is the worst PTA movie imo. I haven't seen inherent vice. cinematography was great. the dialogue was meh. the story was horrendous. and the characters were not likable at all. I feel bad for Alana and Cooper because they were the highlight of the movie. Really promising futures for both of them. Its just the characters, and story; well there was no story whatsoever.
You know sometimes you play a fantastic 70s record which transports you back to the period you grew up in but were a bit to young to properly enjoy and listening makes you long for the time that slipped you by? Imho Licorice Pizza (as do Inherent Vice & Boogie Nights) evoke that feeling
Normalizing statutory grape great review. If you can avoid the obvious abuse theme you need to get out of your echo chamber...its ok to be abused because hes got "swagger" seriously? Is everyone crazy?
Its a nice coming of age movie. Its pretty good but nothing great. It starts of promisingly but kind of moves around for a long time. I think the relationship aspect is handled well but you kind of have to suspend your belief to admit that the lead actor is 15. He is definitely not 15 and that is a drawback. But full credit to the lead actress. If the movie holds its due to her charms and acting. But the chemistry of the 2 is good. I think the dialogues are well written. Licorice Pizza needed a story arc to be hold the movie apart from the age gap concept. But there is not one single thread to hold the movie together and after a while you feel that the story moves along pointless for too long. I give it a 6.5. There is some good stuff here. I think the makers got the mood right, and the lead actress is great. There is some funny stuff and dialogues and coming of age concepts that are done well, but Licorice Pizza needed one more thread apart from the coming of age concept to hold it together which it lacks. Fine but nothing great.
Some films and filmmakers can be trashed. Because they were ‘in it for the money’ and their art… is artless. But if a director reaches the level of adored Auteur. It is a crime to ‘diss’ them. For you’re siding with the dark side of film making. Where money and not art… are the driving force for the ‘product’ surfacing. The director of Liquorice Pizza reached this beloved Auteur status, almost twenty-five years ago now - This film is already considered a classic. The appeal of this movie is very similar to its titular title. The literal one, rather than as a tasty metaphor for vinyl records. You either fancy liquorice on your pizza, or you don’t? I went into this ‘blind’ - Not knowing that the director has a mate, that told him a whole series of Hollywood anecdotes… ( salacious nonsense and gossip ) of when he was a famous child star in the seventies. Without this ‘key’ to unlocking the films episodic structure. You have to take it and the main protagonists at face value. As a series of quirky vignettes without any real narrative structure or end goal. A toe-dip into a now bygone age, of inappropriate behaviour, that wasn’t as ‘problematic’ then, as it must seem now. In this digital age of immediate access to pointing out shame and disgust, to the hordes of your new friends ‘you just haven’t made yet’. What immediately struck me was that both leads are ‘goofball’ actor casting choices. Their screen presence lapse into an amateurishness mess, and are both unashamedly uncharismatic. This is quite refreshing, to see two ‘asymmetrically’ facial featured/embodied and pimpled faces… so carefully arranged and tastefully shot. Yet the juxtaposition is unnerving… for a Hollywood film. It goes against so many conventional taboos of ‘cinema as a commercial product’. Beautiful people, beautifully shot for the ugly masses. If the leads were in anyway believable… or credible as actors, I would’ve been carried into their seemly ‘oddly untroubled’ lives. And followed their lazy meanderings into the films rose tinted artifice. But it was hard work and the male character, was particularly unlikeable in the way he was written and played. ( Although, I found his famous father almost unwatchable too. His acting had a sort of fevered, restless self-loathing energy, that was excruciating to view, for more than a cameo. ) * I know I’m quite alone in seeing this aspect of the much beloved actor. The film felt like the director wanted to make an epic tale, where nothing happened. Nothing within it or because of it, pulsated with any purpose. As a series of fanciful scenes with no sense of character arc, or danger… it feels like a pointless exercise in ‘art for art’s sake’. The director, a rich kid from a ‘Hollywood family’ that makes movies… because he comes from a filmmaking town… and he can, because he's rich. Has made another deeply decadent American movie, about nothing except itself. He is loved in the states, because he is, and his movies are… a magical cypher for the plastic, inauthentic meaninglessness of American life. So should you see this film… absolutely! Because whereas I found the two leads unengaging and the film a pointless waste of time. It is a slice of pizzazz, delivered with a smile and a wink …and littered with liquorice litter. Which unlike me, you may enjoy picking up... because you're really into American trash.
Christy: I grew up in the Valley also. I lived there from 1971-1978. I graduated from Cleveland High in 1973. I know you know where that is. This movie is a fantasy. Christy: How many 15 year olds did you know that were an owner/operator of a store? You have to be 18 to do business in CA. A 15 year old would need a work permit for gods sake. A dedicated table at a restaurant on Ventura Blvd???WTF? This movie is nowhere near a representation of what it was like in the Valley in 1973. Therefore, I feel this movie is a romanticized fantasy that exists in the head of a 60 something movie director who grew up in Studio City, not Reseda. There is so much wrong with this film I don't know where to start. The characters are not fleshed out well. A Gary personality would be driving anyway. This would be consistent with the rest of the unrealistic behavior of someone 15. Further, a long stare at someone does not constitute a good scene. Yes, Alana can act her way through this horrible, embarrassing really, direction. People of this age do not speak this way. I thought the plot was a nothing burger when I heard about this film. I watched it on Amazon Prime to see how the Valley was depicted. Disappointed because it really was not shown. It could have been filmed anywhere. The elements of the era, gas lines, politics were given very short shrift. Maybe someone will make a more realistic film about the Valley in the Seventies someday. This is not it.
It's the vibe that felt right. The mood, the lighting. Of course it's romanticized. But Fast Times at Ridgemont High feels like an accurate reflection of that place/time. And it was shot at the actual Sherman Oaks Galleria.
this is based on the exploits of gary goetzman who did alot of this stuff. He had businesses at that age. I you pay attention obviously his mom is the one whos putting the money up and the name on the business hes the front man. Plus this film isnt just about what the valley IS. its more about the characters.
@@paulelroy6650 Its about Goetzman and his privileged life in the upper income Hollywood Elite section of the Valley. Someday someone will make a film about what it was like for the last of the remaining post war boomers growing up in the Valley in the Seventies. I could not agree more that this film IS NOT IT. It is about the ridiculous self-absorbed, narcissistic behavior of a Silver Spoon and a fantasy regarding the opposite sex.
I really disliked this film and Phantom Thread. I am not sure why there is such a divergence in opinion on these films. Even if I dislike a film that many others love, I can usually see why others would like it. And I love well crafted art films and films on the edge. Not in this case. I just didn't care for the characters. Like, at all. And Hoffman's character is one step away from being a sociopath. And the vibe in general, I didn't care for. Usually, I love PTA films ... but not this one and not the previous. Glad other folks enjoyed it. And I look forward to Haim and Hoffman's acting futures ... just in better films. Sean Penn was great in this, by the way. :)
This movie was so bad it made me long for Phantom thread, which I disliked immensely but there at least seemed to be something more to it that I was missing . This is just saccharine nostalgic fluff with no substance
I didn’t like Phantom Thread at all. Too toxic and arthouse. But I liked LP maybe because I really liked Inherent Vice. It captured the highs and lows of romance and jealousy but didn’t veer too much into the negative space. Honesty, much better than most films I remember seeing that year maybe except for Malignant which I cried at the end for personal reasons lol
With caller id and cell phones, we can never have that experience again. Hearing the voices over the land-line phones was nostalgic. I love this movie. Just talking about it makes me tear up. How fast time flies.
This movie is a PTA half ass effort. Characters and scenes that add nothing but time to an overly long movie that meanders in dull forgettable ways. I am genuinely baffled by the high praise it’s been receiving. I love PTA’s work but this is just a whole lot of nothing
I love you guys so much but I have to say that this review was really disappointing to me. The entire movie is framed in a positive light. The ending portrays it as delightful yet the relationships are coercive and toxic. It doesn't feel like they scratched that here. Edit: I'm not engaging with film bros who think that someone having a different option means they didn't "get" the film.
I think that’s the point. There’s a reason why 50 percent of marriages end in divorce 😆 . This movie doesn’t try to put any light towards or against on anything until the very end but I think PTA only did that because he wanted to, for once, insert a happy ending since most of his films end so sadly. I’ve seen most of his films, and this is easily his most mature, patient, confident and gentle movie of his filmography. I was like you, I was against this movie and came in with low expectations but it won me over and by the end, I walked out into a cold December NYC afternoon totally stupefied. I sat in my car and looked at the dreary sky and said Woah Really good movie I’ve seen a lot of movies in theatre last year and this, Malignant, and the King’s Man were the only ones that truly captured the spirit of an earnest, heart-touching and unique movie experience.
@@richgranados11 I have seen over 80 films in theaters over the last year. C'mon c'mon moved my soul. I am really tired of men on the internet telling me I didn't "get" the movie because I didn't have the same reaction as them. There is nothing happy or warm about toxicity. Movies like Red Rocket understand and explore that. Movies like LP ignore it. I'm tired of seeing the same movies made by the same types of humans.
@@Natsteph good point. But a movie is just a movie at the end of the day. They’re all pretty much bs. Look, I’m not trying to tell you as a man that you’re wrong. That’s a pretty cheap shot you took at me. What does my gender have anything to do with what I said? Just because I have a difference of opinion? If I were a woman and said the same comment, would you take exception to it? That type of men vs women rhetoric is pointless. I watched the film with a lady friend and we had an interesting conversation about it. And believe you me, she ain’t politically correct; she pretty much said the main girl was ugly and annoying. But that’s why the film is interesting; it uses two normal looking people that Hollywood doesn’t conventionally value and portrays them in an unfiltered rawer way, warts and all. I haven’t heard of red rocket but if you liked that better, cool. What’s the big deal? Personally, I don’t think the main characters relationship would probably last but the film is really about capturing the spirit of being young and falling in and out of interests. That’s just my take, who cares, it’s just an opinion. After watching a million realistic dark endings, it’s nice to see a cheesy happy ending. Sue me. I’m not telling what to think. You have the right to your own opinion movies are just movies, some you connect with and others you don’t. People usually like things they’re comfortable with anyways. Who cares? Your implication really bugs me. Maybe I should of prefaced my opinion with “I think…”
I’m so jealous of you fuckers who live in NY and LA. Getting this a whole month early. This should be illegal. This film needs to enter my eyeballs ASAP.
Just saw this. Most disappointing movie of the year for me. Music was ok, too many cliche choices, and keeping it buried behind the movie audio was weird. Timing was off. The big good scenes completely blew the landing. The bike jump and the truck scene. Felt zero chemistry between main characters. Would love a stand-alone movie based on Bradley Coopers character. The scene of him in the trailer was used only in the credits. Bullshit. He was the only redeeming thing for me. I really wanted to love this. Was my most anticipated movie of he year. Fuck. Ending was shit too. Unnecessary lens flare. Unnecessary racism. Unnecessary pedophilia? Come on.
I agree. Bradley Cooper’s section was by far the most compelling part of this film. It had its good points, but can’t believe it got double 10 reviews. At best, it’s a high 7. It’s one of his most boring and frustrating films. Too much running, too much relying on music cues to substitute for actual plot and narrative. Weird insinuations that Alana is actually attracted to this kid, only to be confirmed by the end of the film (creepy fucking vibes). Huge disappointment, especially considering how much I love his last few films.
It is interesting that Alonso would like Crooklyn so much, because it is arguably the most homophobic Spike Lee film. The gay neighbor in that film is treated horribly, and I can't help but think of all the times Alonso has disliked films he has reviewed for homophobia when the movie is far milder in its homophobic content. James Gunn's Super is an example. Alonso was very offended by a character in the movie saying something homophobic in a neutral scene. (I mean neutral in the sense Gunn doesn't tell you how to react to the homophobic language at all.) Crooklyn, on the other hand, had the family patriarch refer to their gay neighbor by the "f word" repeatedly, and the character himself is portrayed as a very negative gay stereotype. Lee stops just short of suggesting this character deserves to get the shit kicked out of him. Yet, Alonso seems fine with this portrayal and considers it the best Spike Lee movie.
Judas and the black messiah is my film of the year, but this sounds pretty interesting. Speaking of interesting, Crooklyn is an interesting choice for a top favorite Spike lee joint. Do The Right Thing or Malcolm X are usually everybody's go tos. I will suspect in the next decade or so, films like Blackkklansman or Da 5 Bloods will be on the list of top Spike lee films
I'm just now learning about this, having not seen it yet. I'd feel bad for any Asian person (or accented person) in a theater that has to sit with that for the rest of (what I hear) is an excellent film. Apparently it's a pointless gag, as well.
Found this from a reviewer: Picture this: You’re watching LICORICE PIZZA. It’s brilliant. Then, early on, a buffoonish character drops an Asian caricature. The (mostly white) audience laughs. And now, you gotta think about that laughter the rest of the film. Did you picture it? Because it fucking sucks.
@@djstarsign I perceived it as a creative decision by PTA to show how poser valley people were in the 70s. I mean, it’s pretty clear that the film is depicting him as an idiot who jumps on anything trendy to appease the vapid minded clientele he seeks to garner. Overall, I feel the movie satirizes entertainment figures and their communities. They’re all petty, egotistical or straight up crazy.
I was excited because Critics Praise it and number 1 on your lists but this movie is mediocre and I’m glad to see I’m not alone. Disappointing review/movie
Weak movie. Stop encouraging mediocrity. The film is a roughcut. No reason to be over two hours for a slice of life with little to no story. He couldn't cut his footage. Why encourage this?
This is such a dumb fucking take. "Oh no a character piece , please give me a story and hold my hand through it as ibhave know brain" you dont deserve great films like this.
@@paulelroy6650 There's no reason for this to be over two hours long. The only reason is that PTA could not cut his footage. Directors fall in love with their footage all the time and have trouble cutting anything out. When it's PTA, the world just kisses his ass.
@@angelthman1659 nah, some of his movies lose steam. But I liked this movie. Reminded me of the memories of my buddies and all the girls I hung out with. Just dumb fun like Malignant. I like dumb silly earnest movies that don’t talk down to you.
@@Price_of_Fame She literally flashes him, kisses him and spends the movie touching him in a "romantic" way. Idk where you come from, but round here we call that molesting.
I'm intrigued to see this because I love PTA. But I do feel that haven't we kinda outgrown these quirky White coming of age Drama comedies? With movies like The Farewell, Moonlight, Minari and The Big Sick. All showing us interesting stories from different minorities. Licorice Pizza just feels a bit dated.
@@anthonyburn1010 not dumb. Just an observation. I haven't seen this movie yet. So I'm not bashing it. From the trailer and synopsis it doesn't look that original. Looks like a mash of "Almost Famous" and "Once Upon a time in Hollywood". After the amazing Phantom Thread. This just looks like a Stepdown for PTA. To think this is the movie that is going to win Original Screenplay. We Went from Promising Young Woman to this.
Dude - when someone has a story to tell- they tell the story. It comes from the heart- the minute a filmmaker stops to think “now, am I checkboxing all the genders / races etc to cover all my PC bases?” instead of just NATURALLY telling the story a filmmaker wants to tell? THATs a sad day in moviemaking. That’s when filmmaking becomes deeply dishonest and manufactured like a “product” instead of a piece of true art.
This movie is a PTA half ass effort. Characters and scenes that add nothing but time to an overly long movie that meanders in dull forgettable ways. I am genuinely baffled by the high praise it’s been receiving. I love PTA’s work but this is just a whole lot of nothing
I feel the same way. I didn’t hate the movie but walking out of the theater, I wasn’t sure what I was suppose to take away from the film. I thought it was acted and shot great but I didn’t understand what the movie wanted to tell me. I’m not for movies to bash me over the head like “This is what you should feel” but I didn’t get it. It feels like it’s this homage to a place and a time period but that shouldn’t be the focus if your audience isn’t from then. There were scenes I liked like driving the truck backyards down the hill, but I feel some of the characters needed more flushed out maybe.
@@richgranados11 Dune, Titane, Incendies (actually that’s a 2010 film, but I watched for the first time a few months ago). The Green Knight, Pig, The Hand of God, Malignant, and Lost Daughter.
@@jeffsanders3453 I didn’t hate it either, I wanted to love it, I was excited to watch it, but I felt nothing. Hoffman and Haim were great, but I didn’t find Gary and Lana all that interesting and by the end I felt I’d just watched a very flawed average movie.
@@firewithfire848 I watched most of those films. Most of them soured on me after a few weeks. Malignant actually made me cry at the end but I was going through emotional things in my life but yea definitely that was my favorite of the year. Still, licorice pizza was awfully close. It’s just a delightful story. Although I did feel it did meander, upon second watch I realized how good it was. I don’t give a fuck. Titane was French pretentious bullshit. Malignant #1 l. Licorice Pizza number two and the kings man for bronze
I think it’s incredibly wrong to suggest that Phantom Thread is mainly about Reynolds. Not only does that erase the construction of Alma as a character, and her role as the very motor of the film’s plot, but also Vicky Krieps’ incredible performance. You can praise Anderson for making a film centering on a female character without completely erasing the previous film where he did just that!
I'd agree with that sentiment, I viewed her as a protagonist of the film.
We do know a little more about him than Alma, but it is a two handed film
The fact that Vicky Krieps was not even nominated for an Oscar is fucking insane.
@@smartalec8855 I do agree, a newcomer acting well opposite DDL is an accomplishment in it of itself
I just love you two! Seeing you smile and giggle and get all excited about films you love is so enjoyable to watch. You guys have great chemistry on the podcast and I always love your film discussions! You made me even more excited to see Licorice Pizza💕
What a lovely comment.
Thank you so much, Courtney!
Thanks so much for this. I'm so glad you guys are still reviewing after TYT. You're the best out there. Cant wait to see this one
You guys gotta do a RE-Review of INHERENT VICE. That thing gets better every time I see it.
Yeah their review was honestly atrocious. That movie is amazing and I genuinely don’t understand the hate.
Agreed
I love PTA but that movie is a Mess. An enjoyable mess but a mess non the less.
I couldn’t even finish it so maybe I should revisit.
Their worst review by far.
Paul Thomas Anderson worked on various TV game shows so it’s no surprise that there’s always a scene involving a game show. He’s so good at story-telling. John C. Reilly & Malora Walters characters, Jim & Claudia was written, acted to perfection as two flawed, broken souls finally connecting at the end.
The game show from Magnolia was pretty tense.
I saw Licorice Pizza today in 70MM up in Westwood. The best coming of age love story I’ve seen in years. Paul Thomas
Anderson has given us his most tender, funny, and humane film. I’ve
never felt this unburdened watching a movie of his. I also really loved
the characters and cared about them. And I had a smile on my face as the
credits rolled. It’s been a long time since a new movie made me feel
this good. Licorice Pizza is why I love cinema. I felt bummed exiting
the theater into the real world.
I'm quite jealous I had the pleasure of seeing the master in 70 mm
I don't believe Seattle was going to be getting any more 70 mm films unfortunately
You didn’t feel creepy watching a 25 year old woman having an inappropriate relationship with a 15 year old boy?
@@djstarsign hey this is the perfect Emmanuel Macron origin story 😂
But seriously, I really liked this movie. Sometimes it’s a little too idiosyncratic and coy but it truly is a realistic take on how love and friendship operate (unlike West Side Story). Love it or hate it, it feels like a real film with a totally original tone. Technically brilliant. However, If you don’t like the characters then you’ll hate this film. Personally, I felt really invested in them to the point where I was actively worrying for them as if they were my own family. You kind of end up wanting to hug them. It captures that youthful spontaneous zeal for life that bubbly teenagers have so perfectly and their petty flaws as well. Very human movie. Also, this is like the only movie that has made me want to open a business of some sort by the time I left it.
Idk, People date older people all the time. Should Ansel Elgort lose his career cause was in a relationship with a 17 year old when he was 20? The president of France met his wife when he was 15 and she 40. Life is strange
@@richgranados11 what a long winded way of saying you support pedophilia
@@richgranados11 Ansel should loose his career because he assaulted women.
Spike Lee's best film is indeed Crooklyn. Alonso spitting straight facts!!
From what I’ve heard the film seems more experiential than just solely focused on formulaic motion picture narrative structures. Looks fantastic! Can’t wait to see it.
I love Inherent vice
it sucked
Me too. I loved how strange and off it was. For some reason, this film is meandering and pointless but I could never get on board. And this is coming from a pretty big PTA fan.
As a big fan of PTA (Boogie Nights is one of my favorite movies of all time) I was definitely hyped for this movie. The first time I saw it in the theater I remember being a little underwhelmed and thinking it was merely good/ok. However, on multiple viewings the film has only grown on me more and more and I now consider it my #1 favorite movie of 2021. Both Alaina Haim and Cooper Hoffman are wonderful in it and have amazing chemistry together. I also love the '70s Valley setting as someone who just loves that decade in general. It really shows the work of a top tier filmmaker when their movie just gets better and better with repeat viewings.
Yeah but you see...why is a 25 year old girl wanting to fall in love with an 15, or even show affection towards him. If the Rolls were reversed, this movie would be shut down, and heavily criticized. None of it is okay. But of course another prime example of the differences between men and women, and how people perceive them.
Well, there isn't anything sus or pervy in the story: in spite of his age, Cooper's character is more mature than Alana's, so actually the roles are somehow reversed throughout the movie. Their dynamic is pretty interesting, and don't forget that when he hits on her, she doesn't want to fall in love with him because of the age gap. You do know that age difference doesn't matter to some couples, who live a happy and fulfilling life together, right ?
@@corailgris the boy is 15. She could go to jail
Finally watched this, this movie is an absolute masterpiece and definitely the best of 2021. I think is the best film I've watched since Uncut Gems.
This is the first movie in years I'm dying to see in a theater. Any PTA release is an event. Thanks for the review!
it was really disappointing
@Randy White the story line was all over the place. There was no story. It was really boring towards the middle end. And the characters were not endearing and you didn’t care for them at all. I loved the lead actors just the story and the dialogue let them down
@@mattc.8887 yea I feel a lot of people r going to feel that way. But personally I got invested in the characters. It’s definitely one of those films that if you don’t like the characters you’ll hate the film. I did feel that sometimes the movie wandered a little bit too much but it was shot incredibly well. Idk, I’ve seen a lot of movies and I didn’t find this one boring. I saw no way home and I found that pretty boring because there was nothing new in it (it was shot too dark and the action felt lifeless) and the matrix resurrections where people were straight up hibernating in the theater (including myself). I think even you have to admit that the film was shot rather well
@@mattc.8887 It pains me to say this, but this was the most disappointed I've felt in a long time after looking forward to seeing a movie in the theater. The narrative was discursive and I didn't care about either lead or their relationship even if the performances were really good. I genuinely disliked both characters. Normally I like show business inside baseball, but this was confusing and jumped all over the place with no apparent purpose. It actually became painful to sit through. Easily my least favorite PTA.
Did not know where this weird setup movie was going for the first hour. But it came together nicely by the end. Alana Haim was excellent and having her whole family in the movie was great. Obviously Cooper Hoffman will be a star.
I was just hooked from the very first scene. I grew up in the 70s and 80s and this movie brought me back to PICTURE DAY! Picture was a big deal! I have not thought about picture day in decades. All these memories flooding back to me. I remember how the photographer or our teachers would pass out those little plastic cheap combs to us and how all us Black kids would just be like, what the hell are we supposed to do with these?!
Watched this a couple of nights ago. It's my favourite film of 2021 so far. Im not sure when was the last time I had enjoyed a non-blockbuster at the cinema as much as I did. Thanks for the review!
I grew up in Van Nuys and Tarzana all you had to say was the film meanders around the valley and im in.
PTA always made great movies, i love all his movies this guy is Bergman of our time
more like the Altman of our time. The closest thing modern American cinema has to Bergman is/was Woody Allen
@@helvete_ingres4717 Yes i agry
I’m a big PTA fan with magnolia be my favorite picture of his, but I couldn’t help but feel creeped out while watching this movie. I know you can technically say that it’s commenting on age gap relationships and not condoning it, but the movie clearly wants you to root for alana and Cooper especially by the end. Also, not even regarding that I feel like the movie has quite a few enjoyable scenes but overall just feels jumbled… if this was not a PTA movie, it would not be getting all the acclaim it has been getting an would’ve probably gotten more controversial reviews
I enjoyed this movie a lot, even though it meanders just like every Anderson movie since Boogie Nights. The story works best when focusing on Alana and her struggle to grow up while also wanting to be the cool friend to well meaning juveniles. And even though the ending felt way too Hollywood for an "indie" film, I fell for it. I fell for it even though I grew to really dislike Gary Valentine.
This movie also has the scariest character Bradley Cooper has played yet imo. Anyway, Anderson again proves he is a masterful filmmaker.
I went to see it again tonight and loved it so much more. I was able to appreciate much more Alana's growth throughout the film. Especially in the final act, when she gets involved in the political campaign, there's a shift in tone and you can see how she grows in those moments that carry more 'heaviness' than the rest of the film. She's such an interesting character.
I come in late on this just saw it on streaming . It absolutely captures the vibe of the SF VALLEY in the 70’s..I arrived here in 1977 from Florida and even the lighting and the type of film stock really gets it right , the look and the L.A. thing you get when you start running into “celebrities” , tv stars in life , like grocery stores…dentists offices etc… Alana Haim is amazing as is Cooper Hoffman. By the way I never hear it mentioned that LICORICE PIZZA WAS AN ACTUAL RECORD STORE chain of the era. It’s a great movie if one with no plot really but all atmosphere.
It was indeed! Thanks for your thoughts.
I loved SO MUCH of this film but the ending really ruined it for me. Given the trajectory of Alana's story, I think the choice she makes at the end is a complete misfire and even though I loved the hell out of everything before that, the ending really does make me feel less inclined to ever revisit the film
The ending of the film is the exact thing you wanted from the beginning? What's the misfire, that she kisses the kid? If you're going to watch a film, actually know what you're getting yourself into, because from what I read, you know nothing.
@@cky1088 WOW okay. "Actually know what I"m getting myself into." What the fuck does that mean? I knew I was walking into a Paul Thomas Anderson movie and I watched it with the same open mind I watch every movie. I liked a lot of it, as mentioned, and then I also happened to hate the ending. What exactly was I supposed to know beforehand that would have somehow made me like the ending more?
To me the ending betrayed Alana's character development. Gary represents her arrested development and she slowly realizes that it's weird that she hangs out with him and his kid friends all the time. At the end she finally feels ready to move on with her life and be an adult, and maybe stay platonic friends with Gary, but definitely not romantic. But then she 180's and decides she wants to be with him forever. It betrayed her character arc, for me.
Also generally speaking if you want to have a discussion about a film, don't insult the other person. Do you even watch these videos? Christy doesn't scream "You know nothing" at Alonso for disliking Promising Young Woman. Jeesh
25 year old woman can’t seem to get 15 year old boy out of her head and struggles with inappropriate feelings of being open to pushing the boundaries of the relationship. But it’s PTA and the soundtrack and cast is amazing!!!! We can overlook creepy when it’s a director we like! #ewgross #nothanks #creepyAF
@@supes616 it’s definitely not what I was expecting, hence my disappointment and review. You can move along now. Thank you.
@@supes616 I loved many aspects of this film (aside from the completely tone-deaf mock-Asian accent scenes), but I was so disappointed to see Alana so willingly and blissfully ran into the arms of her “true love” at the end, and to hear her mutter the words “I love you Gary!” as they walk away, holding hands like a romantic couple… it just seemed so massively cringey. Had the roles been reversed, people would be demonizing the film as one about a sexual predator. But that’s the double standard of our society.
I get that she was mentally immature and unmotivated and that she was drawn to Gary’s self-assurance and how he was completely obsessed with her. That it validated her was really a sad commentary on how pitiful she was as an individual. It shows how emotionally naive she is because she feels lost without the validation of a more respectable man. And when she realizes that the Safdie character isn’t interested in her sexually, she retreats by literally running back to the one source she knows will look at her the way she craves. And it’s a 15 year old kid. There were more than enough suggestive looks she’d given him throughout the film, and by the end of the film, it’s implied that even though he’s 15 and she’s a full ten years older, she was willing to overlook it because “age is just a number, man”. What’s so odd about the film is that Gary neither looks or behaves like an archetypal 15 year old boy. So it would have been so easy to keep her the same age and to make him 18. Would have made the whole “she’s a grown woman going after a 15 yr old boy” a non-issue. PTA decided to keep it in and I couldn’t get over it. But let’s be honest, even without the creepy undertones, this is a minor PTA film.
I typically try to enjoy art for art’s sake, and not get too worked up about character choices or political statements or anything like that.
With that said, I did find myself having a hard time with the fact that this movie is, in the end, about the blossoming of a romantic relationship between a 15 year old male and a 25 year old woman. Certainly it wouldn’t be acceptable were the roles reversed?
Anyway, I did find the movie (mostly) enjoyable. Just having a bit of a hard time coming to grips with that aspect of it.
On a related note, how did these guys not bring up that aspect of the film in the review?
I watch darn near every review Christy and Alonso do, and damned if they don’t bring up the social ramifications of the movies they are reviewing on a near constant basis.
THIS is the movie where they leave that stuff out of the review? Weird.
@@sunnyd100 for real. I can watch movies about criminals and junkies and it doesn’t phase me, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t get passed the ending where she actually declares her love for the teen. Like I’m supposed to feel good about that? Couldn’t do it.
Does anyone seriously believe if the genders were reversed and a 25 year old man had a relationship with a 15 year old girl that the critics would say "Well, it was the 70s?" I highly doubt it. I mean, it's the 21st Century. People can like the film but to completely over look it's questionable sexual politics (to say nothing of the Asian accent scenes) is bizarre. And how Christie and Alonzo can say this picture isn't meandering, man, I don't know. A character is a child actor then he is selling waterbeds then he's the owner of pinball shop. WTF, Is he still 15? Is he still in high school? Where are we now? This picture is all over the place. And let's not even get started with the politician who turns out to be gay. This felt like a total mess to me.
I won't entirely dismiss the idea that a double standard exists, but having just seen the film, I don't think it's the best example of that problem. The fact that there is a 10 year gap between them (maybe more - at a point Alana claims to be 28, and it's left ambiguous as to if it's true or not) isn't something that gets ignored, quite the opposite in fact. Their age difference is the source of much of the underlying tension of the movie, it drives most of the conflict and the different paths each of them take and is remarked upon as a little weird by multiple characters, including Alana herself. And while yes, at the end they kiss and profess their love for one another, I'm not sure we are meant to take it at face value. We spend over two hours getting to know these two and their flaws, and by the time the credits role nothing's changed, they haven't gone through any sort of a linear character arc. They care for each other but are both in it for self-serving reasons: for Gary it's another feather in his cap to make himself appear older and cooler, and Alana is in a state of perpetual adolescence and looking for anything that might give her life a sense of direction. Based on what we see, it's easy to imagine that they'll probably just have another falling out, and are gonna keep doing this song and dance number where they fight and make up until one of them finds something better to do. And I don't think we as an audience are meant to think that it's a good thing for either of them.
That's how I see it anyway, and honestly I'm glad a film like this can exist these days - one that actually offers room for interpretation and discussion, and makes you work for it a little rather than coming pre-packaged with some ready-made moral lesson that the audience is unambiguosly supposed to understand.
Well red rocket has a nearly 40 year old fuck a 17 year old and i dont see people complaining. It's a film it forsnt have to have once people doing nice things .name your favourite films I bet they have horrible characters doing horrible things in. Yet your fine with them right?
Considering the loving rivalry between Tarantino and Anderson, Licorice Pizza is Anderson’s response to Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. And every time I think modern Hollywood is gossamer to the silk of past Hollywood, I’m reminded that greatness and spunk still exist today…albeit rare and precious.
Ah, interesting thought.
Christy: If you grew up in the Valley then you know about ZZZZZZBest Carpeting and that character. I thought the lead might have been inspired by that.
He's actually inspired by Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks' longtime producing partner.
I'm a huge fan of PTA but this movie was a disappointment. The movie certainly meanders but not in a good PTA way. The trailer is much more entertaining than the 2 plus hours of run time. A lot could have been cut and the editing could have been better. It's almost unwatchable with the thin character development (other than Alana), gratuitous running and lack of any real narrative The age gap will pre occupy you regardless of the " 70s era" or the fact PTA once saw a kid hit on a older woman years ago....she actually falls in love with a 16 year old. I did enjoy the cinematography as a kid who grew up in 70s - 80s SoCal. Oh yeah, John C. Reilly was great as Herman Munster.
No character development? Haha did you even pay attention
OMG!! SO EXCITED to see this! I also grew up in the Valley in the late 70s and this (confirmed by your glowing reviews) seems like it's going to be amazing.
One thing: The TITLE! Licorice Pizza was a record store chain around SoCal (and maybe beyond) so I hope that plays a part in the setting. (assuming it does).
John Mav, I never knew this! Where in the Valley? I'm from Woodland Hills, went to El Camino, shopped at the Licorice Pizza location on Topanga. Here's a little spoiler: In all their ramblings, they never do set foot in an LP store, but that title is evocative, isn't it.
This was another great PTA flick. The story meanders, but that's sort of his thing, and I was pulled into this world. The performances were great.
Glad you enjoyed!
Paul Thomas Anderson anda fazendo algumas "aventuras aleatórias" bastante agradáveis de assistir, mas também confusas de certa forma. De toda forma, as cenas e sequências funcionam muito bem e demonstram a força da direção/roteiro do diretor.
PTA is my favorite director and it's great to see him head back to his earlier work. Excellent review again and two amazing scores, very much looking forward to seeing it.
so happy i found this. missed watching you guys on tyt v1.
Thanks so much, Chris!
Is Alonso wearing a Canon Films t-shirt?
He is!
I'm a fan of PT Anderson, but this movie was half-baked and lackluster. It was like Inherent Vice without Thomas Pynchon's script, or Phantom Thread minus Daniel Day Lewis's performance. It has been likened to "Once Upon A Time ... in Hollywood" but lacked Tarantino's attention to time period aesthetics (this movie has no establishing shots to let viewers enjoy the design of the time, backgrounds are often out of focus). I'm fine with a movie being style over substance, but if you're going to do that, the movie needs to show off that style, and this movie is muted in that category. The costume design and art direction isn't good enough to make up for the fact there's close to no plot.
All it had to say was that men were misogynist in the 1970s. All the men treat Alana as a pawn. This is positioned as opposite to her relationship with Gary, a 15 year old, who is too young to have a physical relationship with Alana. I got the message that this relationship was more "pure" than Alana's superficial relations with older men, because it contained Gary's youthful optimism and genuine interest (infatuation) for her. He basically falls in love with her at first sight and there are so many scenes of them running into each other's arms. Give me a break.
This emphasis on the purity of youth is "feel good", but honestly Gary's infatuation with Alana is an immature take on love, and not something to be put on a pedestal. While I liked Gary's eternal optimism in the face of the dark, cynical side of Hollywood, that optimism was only there because of Gary's inexperience. Is this inexperience and naivety something to envy? Not for me.
Maybe I'd feel differently if I grew up in the 70s. But honestly, this movie is a cynical attempt to cash in on nostalgia. They get you with the David Bowie trailer of people running around in polyester. If that does it for you, by all means, watch this movie. But for me, I need a little more.
I grew up in the 70’s but that didn’t make this film any less disappointing and dull for all the reasons you mentioned.
It’s funny how much they tore Nightmare Alley gave this film perfect scores. I’m fully on board with the majority of PTA’s work so I was shocked at how inferior this movie felt. I’m not a Guillermo Del Toro fan (film wise) but loved the noir aspect of NA. Just goes to show how critics are so drawn to pointlessness and cringiness if it’s got a good soundtrack and feels Altmanesque.
@@djstarsign I think you should be more open-minded on why some people got so much out of this movie. I know I did.
Oh no here was no big establishing shots to tell me what era we are in instead of me paying attention . Your whole take of this is so bad
I guess I'm just curious what your reaction would have been if the movie had been about a 25-year-old man spending all that time with a 16-year-old girl.
what like red rocket. the guy is like 40 in that actually fucking a teenager.
Is the high school in this the same one from Big Little Lies? That walkway outside the school looks very similar.
It's Portola Middle School in Tarzana, and BLL was shot at an elementary school in Brentwood. Lotta LA schools look similar :)
Can’t wait to see this Christmas weekend
this movie is the worst PTA movie imo. I haven't seen inherent vice. cinematography was great. the dialogue was meh. the story was horrendous. and the characters were not likable at all. I feel bad for Alana and Cooper because they were the highlight of the movie. Really promising futures for both of them. Its just the characters, and story; well there was no story whatsoever.
Agree. This was a turd of a movie by a great writer/director. A total misfire. Can't believe all the 5 star ratings.
@@DukeFame88 how was it a turd. Give a reason and not just a buzzword
I hadn't seen a double 10 from this team! Even more excited about this now!
You know sometimes you play a fantastic 70s record which transports you back to the period you grew up in but were a bit to young to properly enjoy and listening makes you long for the time that slipped you by? Imho Licorice Pizza (as do Inherent Vice & Boogie Nights) evoke that feeling
Excellent observation!
Normalizing statutory grape great review. If you can avoid the obvious abuse theme you need to get out of your echo chamber...its ok to be abused because hes got "swagger" seriously? Is everyone crazy?
Statutory grape? Are you okay?
Statutory grape?
Agree. The age gap will pre occupy your mind the whole 2 plus hours. This movie was a huge Turd. A total misfire by a great writer/director.
Its a nice coming of age movie. Its pretty good but nothing great. It starts of promisingly but kind of moves around for a long time. I think the relationship aspect is handled well but you kind of have to suspend your belief to admit that the lead actor is 15. He is definitely not 15 and that is a drawback. But full credit to the lead actress. If the movie holds its due to her charms and acting. But the chemistry of the 2 is good.
I think the dialogues are well written. Licorice Pizza needed a story arc to be hold the movie apart from the age gap concept. But there is not one single thread to hold the movie together and after a while you feel that the story moves along pointless for too long. I give it a 6.5. There is some good stuff here. I think the makers got the mood right, and the lead actress is great. There is some funny stuff and dialogues and coming of age concepts that are done well, but Licorice Pizza needed one more thread apart from the coming of age concept to hold it together which it lacks. Fine but nothing great.
Some films and filmmakers can be trashed.
Because they were ‘in it for the money’ and their art… is artless.
But if a director reaches the level of adored Auteur.
It is a crime to ‘diss’ them. For you’re siding with the dark side of film making.
Where money and not art… are the driving force for the ‘product’ surfacing.
The director of Liquorice Pizza reached this beloved Auteur status,
almost twenty-five years ago now - This film is already considered a classic.
The appeal of this movie is very similar to its titular title.
The literal one, rather than as a tasty metaphor for vinyl records.
You either fancy liquorice on your pizza, or you don’t?
I went into this ‘blind’ - Not knowing that the director has a mate,
that told him a whole series of Hollywood anecdotes… ( salacious nonsense and gossip )
of when he was a famous child star in the seventies.
Without this ‘key’ to unlocking the films episodic structure.
You have to take it and the main protagonists at face value.
As a series of quirky vignettes without any real narrative structure or end goal.
A toe-dip into a now bygone age, of inappropriate behaviour,
that wasn’t as ‘problematic’ then, as it must seem now.
In this digital age of immediate access to pointing out shame and disgust,
to the hordes of your new friends ‘you just haven’t made yet’.
What immediately struck me was that both leads are ‘goofball’ actor casting choices.
Their screen presence lapse into an amateurishness mess,
and are both unashamedly uncharismatic.
This is quite refreshing, to see two ‘asymmetrically’
facial featured/embodied and pimpled faces… so carefully arranged and tastefully shot.
Yet the juxtaposition is unnerving… for a Hollywood film.
It goes against so many conventional taboos of ‘cinema as a commercial product’.
Beautiful people, beautifully shot for the ugly masses.
If the leads were in anyway believable… or credible as actors,
I would’ve been carried into their seemly ‘oddly untroubled’ lives.
And followed their lazy meanderings into the films rose tinted artifice.
But it was hard work and the male character,
was particularly unlikeable in the way he was written and played.
( Although, I found his famous father almost unwatchable too.
His acting had a sort of fevered, restless self-loathing energy,
that was excruciating to view, for more than a cameo. )
* I know I’m quite alone in seeing this aspect of the much beloved actor.
The film felt like the director wanted to make an epic tale, where nothing happened.
Nothing within it or because of it, pulsated with any purpose.
As a series of fanciful scenes with no sense of character arc,
or danger… it feels like a pointless exercise in ‘art for art’s sake’.
The director, a rich kid from a ‘Hollywood family’ that makes movies…
because he comes from a filmmaking town… and he can, because he's rich.
Has made another deeply decadent American movie, about nothing except itself.
He is loved in the states, because he is, and his movies are…
a magical cypher for the plastic, inauthentic meaninglessness of American life.
So should you see this film… absolutely!
Because whereas I found the two leads unengaging and the film a pointless waste of time.
It is a slice of pizzazz, delivered with a smile and a wink …and littered with liquorice litter.
Which unlike me, you may enjoy picking up... because you're really into American trash.
How in the world did you guys review this movie and not once mention the age difference of the 2 characters of 25 and 15???? Disgraceful
Christy: I grew up in the Valley also. I lived there from 1971-1978. I graduated from Cleveland High in 1973. I know you know where that is. This movie is a fantasy. Christy: How many 15 year olds did you know that were an owner/operator of a store? You have to be 18 to do business in CA. A 15 year old would need a work permit for gods sake. A dedicated table at a restaurant on Ventura Blvd???WTF? This movie is nowhere near a representation of what it was like in the Valley in 1973. Therefore, I feel this movie is a romanticized fantasy that exists in the head of a 60 something movie director who grew up in Studio City, not Reseda. There is so much wrong with this film I don't know where to start. The characters are not fleshed out well. A Gary personality would be driving anyway. This would be consistent with the rest of the unrealistic behavior of someone 15. Further, a long stare at someone does not constitute a good scene. Yes, Alana can act her way through this horrible, embarrassing really, direction. People of this age do not speak this way. I thought the plot was a nothing burger when I heard about this film. I watched it on Amazon Prime to see how the Valley was depicted. Disappointed because it really was not shown. It could have been filmed anywhere. The elements of the era, gas lines, politics were given very short shrift. Maybe someone will make a more realistic film about the Valley in the Seventies someday. This is not it.
It's the vibe that felt right. The mood, the lighting. Of course it's romanticized. But Fast Times at Ridgemont High feels like an accurate reflection of that place/time. And it was shot at the actual Sherman Oaks Galleria.
this is based on the exploits of gary goetzman who did alot of this stuff. He had businesses at that age. I you pay attention obviously his mom is the one whos putting the money up and the name on the business hes the front man.
Plus this film isnt just about what the valley IS. its more about the characters.
@@paulelroy6650 Its about Goetzman and his privileged life in the upper income Hollywood Elite section of the Valley. Someday someone will make a film about what it was like for the last of the remaining post war boomers growing up in the Valley in the Seventies. I could not agree more that this film IS NOT IT. It is about the ridiculous self-absorbed, narcissistic behavior of a Silver Spoon and a fantasy regarding the opposite sex.
@@paulelroy6650 So crazy that Gary Goetzman actually sold a waterbed to Jon Peters.
In what universe does a movie about the tantalizing urge to commit pedophilia, be spoken in such a positive light.
Maybe use your brain before asking that question
I really disliked this film and Phantom Thread. I am not sure why there is such a divergence in opinion on these films. Even if I dislike a film that many others love, I can usually see why others would like it. And I love well crafted art films and films on the edge. Not in this case. I just didn't care for the characters. Like, at all. And Hoffman's character is one step away from being a sociopath. And the vibe in general, I didn't care for. Usually, I love PTA films ... but not this one and not the previous. Glad other folks enjoyed it. And I look forward to Haim and Hoffman's acting futures ... just in better films. Sean Penn was great in this, by the way. :)
This movie was so bad it made me long for Phantom thread, which I disliked immensely but there at least seemed to be something more to it that I was missing . This is just saccharine nostalgic fluff with no substance
I didn’t like Phantom Thread at all. Too toxic and arthouse. But I liked LP maybe because I really liked Inherent Vice. It captured the highs and lows of romance and jealousy but didn’t veer too much into the negative space. Honesty, much better than most films I remember seeing that year maybe except for Malignant which I cried at the end for personal reasons lol
So your reason for not seeing the objective quality of the film is because you dont like the characters
@@waz3128 you need to pay attention if you think this had no depth
So, this isn't about the record store?
It is never referenced. I kept waiting for it.
The phone call is so intense. The fear, doubt, confusion, and longing on their faces don't require a sound. Beautiful.
PTA is so well-known for his big, dramatic moments, but you're right, that was intense in a smaller, more intimate way.
With caller id and cell phones, we can never have that experience again. Hearing the voices over the land-line phones was nostalgic. I love this movie. Just talking about it makes me tear up. How fast time flies.
This movie is a PTA half ass effort. Characters and scenes that add nothing but time to an overly long movie that meanders in dull forgettable ways. I am genuinely baffled by the high praise it’s been receiving. I love PTA’s work but this is just a whole lot of nothing
Now I want to see this . . . on a big screen.
Its about two characters falling in love.
Any chance of Ben ever joining?
We try! We'd hoped to have him on last week to give Oscar betting odds. He is a busy dude.
Great movie that was pretty engrossing.
So glad you enjoyed it as much as we did!
This movie is awful. It's all atmosphere and mood, but has no progression, and a very unsatisfactory conclusion.
Sorry you didn't enjoy! We loved it. Thanks for watching.
I thought it was fine.
Thankfully I"m way passed the 70's with this horror romanticism to some people with gleeful enthusiasm. NEXT!
Definitely want to see this PTA....makes awesome films📽️
Damn you, now I have to see it.
Damn I'm excited to see it. a 10??
I love you guys so much but I have to say that this review was really disappointing to me. The entire movie is framed in a positive light. The ending portrays it as delightful yet the relationships are coercive and toxic. It doesn't feel like they scratched that here.
Edit: I'm not engaging with film bros who think that someone having a different option means they didn't "get" the film.
I think that’s the point. There’s a reason why 50 percent of marriages end in divorce 😆 . This movie doesn’t try to put any light towards or against on anything until the very end but I think PTA only did that because he wanted to, for once, insert a happy ending since most of his films end so sadly. I’ve seen most of his films, and this is easily his most mature, patient, confident and gentle movie of his filmography. I was like you, I was against this movie and came in with low expectations but it won me over and by the end, I walked out into a cold December NYC afternoon totally stupefied. I sat in my car and looked at the dreary sky and said
Woah
Really good movie
I’ve seen a lot of movies in theatre last year and this, Malignant, and the King’s Man were the only ones that truly captured the spirit of an earnest, heart-touching and unique movie experience.
@@richgranados11 I have seen over 80 films in theaters over the last year. C'mon c'mon moved my soul. I am really tired of men on the internet telling me I didn't "get" the movie because I didn't have the same reaction as them. There is nothing happy or warm about toxicity. Movies like Red Rocket understand and explore that. Movies like LP ignore it. I'm tired of seeing the same movies made by the same types of humans.
@@Natsteph good point. But a movie is just a movie at the end of the day. They’re all pretty much bs. Look, I’m not trying to tell you as a man that you’re wrong. That’s a pretty cheap shot you took at me. What does my gender have anything to do with what I said? Just because I have a difference of opinion? If I were a woman and said the same comment, would you take exception to it?
That type of men vs women rhetoric is pointless. I watched the film with a lady friend and we had an interesting conversation about it. And believe you me, she ain’t politically correct; she pretty much said the main girl was ugly and annoying. But that’s why the film is interesting; it uses two normal looking people that Hollywood doesn’t conventionally value and portrays them in an unfiltered rawer way, warts and all.
I haven’t heard of red rocket but if you liked that better, cool. What’s the big deal?
Personally, I don’t think the main characters relationship would probably last but the film is really about capturing the spirit of being young and falling in and out of interests. That’s just my take, who cares, it’s just an opinion. After watching a million realistic dark endings, it’s nice to see a cheesy happy ending. Sue me.
I’m not telling what to think. You have the right to your own opinion
movies are just movies, some you connect with and others you don’t. People usually like things they’re comfortable with anyways.
Who cares? Your implication really bugs me. Maybe I should of prefaced my opinion with “I think…”
@@Natsteph
Now go home and get your shine box
😆
If you portrays that stuff in a positive light then YOU missed the entire point.
I’m so jealous of you fuckers who live in NY and LA. Getting this a whole month early. This should be illegal. This film needs to enter my eyeballs ASAP.
Wait for it to stream. It's a huge turd of a movie. Total misfire by PTA.
Best movie of the year and one of my favs of all time !
Just saw this. Most disappointing movie of the year for me. Music was ok, too many cliche choices, and keeping it buried behind the movie audio was weird. Timing was off. The big good scenes completely blew the landing. The bike jump and the truck scene. Felt zero chemistry between main characters. Would love a stand-alone movie based on Bradley Coopers character. The scene of him in the trailer was used only in the credits. Bullshit. He was the only redeeming thing for me. I really wanted to love this. Was my most anticipated movie of he year. Fuck. Ending was shit too. Unnecessary lens flare. Unnecessary racism. Unnecessary pedophilia? Come on.
Agreed. A total misfire. So disappointing.
@@DukeFame88 I also hated Don’t Look Up. Both are getting rave reviews. People are fucking delusional.
I agree. Bradley Cooper’s section was by far the most compelling part of this film. It had its good points, but can’t believe it got double 10 reviews. At best, it’s a high 7. It’s one of his most boring and frustrating films. Too much running, too much relying on music cues to substitute for actual plot and narrative. Weird insinuations that Alana is actually attracted to this kid, only to be confirmed by the end of the film (creepy fucking vibes). Huge disappointment, especially considering how much I love his last few films.
Spike Lee because...why?!
Crooklyn is a Female-led film, similar to the lead shifting from the boy to the woman in this film.
It is interesting that Alonso would like Crooklyn so much, because it is arguably the most homophobic Spike Lee film. The gay neighbor in that film is treated horribly, and I can't help but think of all the times Alonso has disliked films he has reviewed for homophobia when the movie is far milder in its homophobic content. James Gunn's Super is an example. Alonso was very offended by a character in the movie saying something homophobic in a neutral scene. (I mean neutral in the sense Gunn doesn't tell you how to react to the homophobic language at all.)
Crooklyn, on the other hand, had the family patriarch refer to their gay neighbor by the "f word" repeatedly, and the character himself is portrayed as a very negative gay stereotype. Lee stops just short of suggesting this character deserves to get the shit kicked out of him. Yet, Alonso seems fine with this portrayal and considers it the best Spike Lee movie.
@@slyjokerg his favourite Tarantino film is Death Proof
He probably doesn't even remember it...
Judas and the black messiah is my film of the year, but this sounds pretty interesting. Speaking of interesting, Crooklyn is an interesting choice for a top favorite Spike lee joint. Do The Right Thing or Malcolm X are usually everybody's go tos. I will suspect in the next decade or so, films like Blackkklansman or Da 5 Bloods will be on the list of top Spike lee films
All the ones you mentioned are great. I've seen most of Spike's films but never saw Crooklyn. I'll have to check it out.
@@davidleary4524 Crooklyn is really good. I hope you enjoy it
@@slyjokerg Judas was released on February 12th 2021
@@slyjokerg Dune is being considered for Oscar considerations even though the original release date was supposed to be November 20th 2020.
@@slyjokerg the eligibility period for awards consideration was December 31st.
Was anyone offended by the white actor using a fake Asian accent?
I'm just now learning about this, having not seen it yet. I'd feel bad for any Asian person (or accented person) in a theater that has to sit with that for the rest of (what I hear) is an excellent film. Apparently it's a pointless gag, as well.
Found this from a reviewer: Picture this: You’re watching LICORICE PIZZA. It’s brilliant.
Then, early on, a buffoonish character drops an Asian caricature. The (mostly white) audience laughs. And now, you gotta think about that laughter the rest of the film.
Did you picture it? Because it fucking sucks.
There were audible groans at my screening.
@@djstarsign I perceived it as a creative decision by PTA to show how poser valley people were in the 70s. I mean, it’s pretty clear that the film is depicting him as an idiot who jumps on anything trendy to appease the vapid minded clientele he seeks to garner. Overall, I feel the movie satirizes entertainment figures and their communities. They’re all petty, egotistical or straight up crazy.
Were you paid to do this review?
Did not love it.
I was excited because Critics Praise it and number 1 on your lists but this movie is mediocre and I’m glad to see I’m not alone. Disappointing review/movie
Weak movie. Stop encouraging mediocrity. The film is a roughcut. No reason to be over two hours for a slice of life with little to no story. He couldn't cut his footage. Why encourage this?
This is such a dumb fucking take. "Oh no a character piece , please give me a story and hold my hand through it as ibhave know brain" you dont deserve great films like this.
@@paulelroy6650 There's no reason for this to be over two hours long. The only reason is that PTA could not cut his footage. Directors fall in love with their footage all the time and have trouble cutting anything out. When it's PTA, the world just kisses his ass.
@@angelthman1659 nah, some of his movies lose steam. But I liked this movie. Reminded me of the memories of my buddies and all the girls I hung out with. Just dumb fun like Malignant. I like dumb silly earnest movies that don’t talk down to you.
I sense the critics and the L.A. scene are the only ones who will see this.
well thats just wrong
It was meandering and terribly boring.
25 y.o. and 15 y.o. Does not make sense. Except for pervs.
Ever watched The Reader ?
Shes 35 and hes 16 in that one
So..your 10 year age gap can go...
15 and 25? Gross. How on earth are you promoting this as okay?
Agreed. The fact that so many people seem to be okay with a woman in her mid twenties molesting a high school freshman is really just disgusting.
@@Mr2Thumbs it's set in the '70s, not today.
@@Mr2Thumbs molesting? Guess we are just throwing words out because that isn’t what happens in the movie
@@Johnnyiswhere And that helps... how?
@@Price_of_Fame She literally flashes him, kisses him and spends the movie touching him in a "romantic" way. Idk where you come from, but round here we call that molesting.
I'm intrigued to see this because I love PTA. But I do feel that haven't we kinda outgrown these quirky White coming of age Drama comedies? With movies like The Farewell, Moonlight, Minari and The Big Sick. All showing us interesting stories from different minorities. Licorice Pizza just feels a bit dated.
Dumb to make this about race, I mean really.
@@anthonyburn1010 not dumb. Just an observation. I haven't seen this movie yet. So I'm not bashing it. From the trailer and synopsis it doesn't look that original. Looks like a mash of "Almost Famous" and "Once Upon a time in Hollywood". After the amazing Phantom Thread. This just looks like a Stepdown for PTA. To think this is the movie that is going to win Original Screenplay. We Went from Promising Young Woman to this.
The movie is a total misfire. So disappointing.
Dude - when someone has a story to tell- they tell the story. It comes from the heart- the minute a filmmaker stops to think “now, am I checkboxing all the genders / races etc to cover all my PC bases?” instead of just NATURALLY telling the story a filmmaker wants to tell? THATs a sad day in moviemaking. That’s when filmmaking becomes deeply dishonest and manufactured like a “product” instead of a piece of true art.
Down with White experience it's been done to death us other people have experiences as well
I kinda agree. Looks like another "Lady Bird" which was highly overrated
Alana's face is just too hard to look at for 2 plus hours. There's a reason most actors are attractive.
Get outta here with comments like this, troll
I agree she is weird looking. But Fuck me your comments are unnecessary
Especially if you're gay and not into women 🤣
Just a shame for the problematic japanese american scene
Only if you make it problematic
This movie is a PTA half ass effort. Characters and scenes that add nothing but time to an overly long movie that meanders in dull forgettable ways. I am genuinely baffled by the high praise it’s been receiving. I love PTA’s work but this is just a whole lot of nothing
I feel the same way. I didn’t hate the movie but walking out of the theater, I wasn’t sure what I was suppose to take away from the film. I thought it was acted and shot great but I didn’t understand what the movie wanted to tell me. I’m not for movies to bash me over the head like “This is what you should feel” but I didn’t get it. It feels like it’s this homage to a place and a time period but that shouldn’t be the focus if your audience isn’t from then. There were scenes I liked like driving the truck backyards down the hill, but I feel some of the characters needed more flushed out maybe.
What did u prefer this year ?
@@richgranados11 Dune, Titane, Incendies (actually that’s a 2010 film, but I watched for the first time a few months ago). The Green Knight, Pig, The Hand of God, Malignant, and Lost Daughter.
@@jeffsanders3453 I didn’t hate it either, I wanted to love it, I was excited to watch it, but I felt nothing. Hoffman and Haim were great, but I didn’t find Gary and Lana all that interesting and by the end I felt I’d just watched a very flawed average movie.
@@firewithfire848 I watched most of those films. Most of them soured on me after a few weeks. Malignant actually made me cry at the end but I was going through emotional things in my life but yea definitely that was my favorite of the year. Still, licorice pizza was awfully close. It’s just a delightful story. Although I did feel it did meander, upon second watch I realized how good it was. I don’t give a fuck. Titane was French pretentious bullshit. Malignant #1 l. Licorice Pizza number two and the kings man for bronze