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Phantom Thread (2017)

Phantom Thread (2017) is written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. In the 50s, a British dressmaker falls in love with a waitress only to have her find out that he's very picky about most things.

The problem when watching "artistic" movies is that there's going to be symbolism almost throughout the film. Phantom Thread is not shy on the symbolism and it suffers more than it helps. It almost seemed like a test for Paul Thomas Anderson to say 'I wonder if I can get away with this and still get an Oscar nomination.' I'm not hating on PTA, I mean he did There Will Be Blood, one of my favorite movies.

Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the best, if not the best actor ever and continues to show it. There's not a scene of his acting that I can complain about. I expected such going in.

Vicky Krieps plays the female lead, Alma, and can't hold a candle to Lewis and in such her performance is easily criticizable. She has two good scenes in the film, and the rest feel as if you're watching paint dry. She pauses for about three seconds before answering any question. After fifteen minutes of that, I was already tired of her.

Lesley Manville plays the sister of Lewis, Cyril, and has an easy role for an English woman to fill. She does a decent job, but nothing out of her wheelhouse.

The first third of the movie is the most boring, and it's intentionally boring. I'm serious, it's apart of the symbolism in the film that will make sense later. The dialogue is good and befitting. The choice in camera usage was offputting at some points. A particular scene went from shaky handheld to stationary, then to steady cam. The abrupt changes were something most of the movie-going audience won't notice. Then again most people won't go out and watch this.

Result: B (Unless you're a movie buff, you're gonna get bored.)

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