THE ANDERSONS: The Master (2012)

Macintosh & Maud Haven't Seen What?!

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CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of alcoholism, drinking fuel, military, war, isolation, mental illness, murder, sexual addiction, sexual obsession, violence, incest, cults, Scientology, manipulation.

We were so excited for this week. A film we’d had built up in our heads from the trailers, the mystery, the Scientology connections. So it was a major bummer to see Paul Thomas Anderson pull a Kubrick on this film and miss the point entirely for this story to succeed. It’s not like he didn’t have a unique and thoughtful approach to his take on cults and Scientology - using a damaged and destructive character as an entry point is a brilliant move. But there’s no plot, no story foundation, and it just leaves us having to slog through a gorgeous movie about people being awful and manipulating each other. And gorgeous it is, being Anderson’s first foray into the rich colors of 65/70mm formatting and absolutely stunning performances from three powerhouse actors. If only there was an actual story to tell. Grab a can of jug juice as we discuss The Master this week on Macintosh & Maud Haven’t Seen What?!

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Intro and outro music taken from the Second Movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Hong Kong (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 HK) license. To hear the full performance or get more information, visit the song page at the Internet Archive.

Excerpt of "Able-Bodied Seamen" from the motion picture score for The Master is written and composed by Jonny Greenwood. ℗2012 Nonesuch Records Inc.

Excerpts from the film The Master are © 2012 Western Film Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpt of "Mr. Moustafa" from the motion picture score for The Grand Budapest Hotel is written and composed by Alexandre Desplat. ℗2014 ABKCO Music & Records, Inc.