History Creator / PaulThomasAnderson

** Apparently cancer jokes are this, as his father Ernie died of it. He has said that Creator/DavidFincher should've gotten cancer simply for the jokes about it in ''Film/FightClub''.

** Includes the late Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman, who appeared in five of Anderson's first six films, Creator/JulianneMoore, Creator/JohnCReilly, Luis Guzman, and Creator/PhilipBakerHall. Until his death in 2014, Hoffman appeared in every P.T.A. movie except ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'' and ''Film/InherentVice'', while his son Cooper appears in ''Film/LicoricePizza''.

** ''Film/BoogieNights'' and ''[[Film/Magnolia Magnolia]]'' are semi-hopeful.

** ''[[Film/Punch-DrunkLove Punch-Drunk Love]]'' and ''[[Film/LicoricePizza Licorice Pizza]] are downright optimistic.

** ''Film/Boogie Nights'' and ''Film/Magnolia'' are semi-hopeful.
** ''[[Film/Punch-Drunk Love Punch-Drunk Love]]'' and ''[[Film/LicoricePizza Licorice Pizza]] are downright optimistic.

** Boogie Nights'' and ''Magnolia'' are semi-hopeful.
** ''Film/Punch-Drunk Love'' and ''[[Film/LicoricePizza Licorice Pizza]] are downright optimistic.

** Boogie Nights'' and ''Magnolia'' are semi-hopeful. ''Punch-Drunk Love'' and ''[[Film/LicoricePizza Licorice Pizza]] are downright optimistic.

* HumansAreBastards / HumansAreFlawed: His films are known for exploring characters who have realistic flaws. However, his main protagonists are usually more like bastards (with the exceptions of [[Film/InherentVice Larry "Doc" Sportello]] and [[Film/PunchDrunkLove Barry Egan]] [[Main/NiceGuy who are generally more sweet and caring people]]).

* HumansAreBastards / HumansAreFlawed: His films are known for exploring characters who have realistic flaws. However, his main protagonists are usually more like bastards (with the exceptions of [[Film/Inherent Vice Larry "Doc" Sportello]] and [[Film/PunchDrunkLove Barry Egan]] [[Main/NiceGuy who are generally more sweet and caring people]]).

* HumansAreBastards / HumansAreFlawed: His films are known for exploring characters who have realistic flaws. However, his main protagonists are usually more like bastards (with the exception of Larry "Doc" Sportello who is more of a straight up NiceGuy).

* HumansAreBastards / HumansAreFlawed: His films are known for exploring characters who have realistic flaws. However, his main protagonists are usually more like bastards.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism:
** His films go all over the place.

** Mostly on the cynical end, it feels through the film from the "go".
** His work does show signs of hope, [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet may they be.]] ''Boogie Nights'' and ''Magnolia'' are semi-hopeful and ''Punch-Drunk Love'' is downright optimistic. Film/PhantomThread is somewhere in the middle of the scale. It ends on a more satisfying end.

* BerserkButton: Apparently cancer jokes are this, as his father Ernie died of it. He has said that Creator/DavidFincher [[NeverLiveItDown should've gotten cancer simply for the jokes about it in]] ''Film/FightClub''.
** He also seems to really dislike film snobbery as he dropped out of film school shortly after his first lecturer said that anyone who wants to make a film like ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' should leave, despite never making such kinds of films like that himself. He's also defended comic book films as being artistic.

Not to be confused with Creator/PaulWSAnderson, although both have gone by merely Paul Anderson before, or with science fiction author P'''o'''ul Anderson. And definitely not to be confused with Creator/WesAnderson.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: A number of his films directly invoke real-life stories and people, like John Holmes inspiring Dirk Diggler or film producer/former child actor Gary Goetzman becoming ''Licorice Pizza’s'' Gary Valentine. He’ll often change names and add fictitious elements of his own to avoid direct comparisons.

* CopiouslyCreditedCreator: While his previous films are all written, directed, and produced by him, ''Phantom Thread'' also had him credited as a cinematographer.[[note]]Anderson later stated that the cinematography was a collective effort, and thus there would be no credit.[[/note]]

** And repeated with ''Phantom Thread'', with much of the movie being a restrained chamber drama [[spoiler:that also has one of his few unambiguous [[EarnYourHappyEnding happy endings]].]]

+ Creator/AflredHitchcock

+ Robert Downey, Sr.]

** His work does show signs of hope, [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet may they be.]] ''Boogie Nights'' and ''Magnolia'' are semi-hopeful and ''Punch-Drunk Love'' is downright optimistic. His latest film, Film/PhantomThread is somewhere in the middle of the scale. It ends on a more satisfying end.

Anderson has been said to belong to the "VCR Generation" of filmmakers, grouped with directors such as Creator/QuentinTarantino, Creator/RichardLinklater, and Creator/KevinSmith, and described as filmmakers whose careers were founded not upon film school training, but from an enthusiastic love of movies.

Also known for working with composers named after some variation of "John".

* ''Junun'' (2015) (documentary short) [[note]] Anderson's first documentary, about his composer from ''There Will Be Blood'' onwards, Jonny Greenwood, recording his new album in India with Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur and local musicians at the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehrangarh_Fort Mehrangarh Fort]] in Rajasthan.

** He also seems to really dislike film snobbery as he dropped out of film school shortly after his first lecturer said that anyone who wants to make a film like ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' should leave, despite never making such kind of films himself. He's also defended comic book films as being artistic.

* CreatorThumbprint: Tends to reference the ''Literature/BookOfExodus'' [[spoiler: with the Plague of Frogs]] in ''Film/{{Magnolia}}'' and the origin of ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood''.

Awful mental pictures aside, Anderson was Hollywood royalty well before he became a director, being the son of the late actor and announcer Creator/ErnieAnderson, whose most famous character Ghoulardi inspired the name of his production company. His life partner is Creator/MayaRudolph (the same one who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from the late 1990s to the mid-to-late 2000s, though she does come back on occasion to cameo), and they have four children together.

[[caption-width-right:300:P.T Anderson will not take your shit. His eyes and [[TheUnsmile mild smirk]] say so.]]

+ Robert Downey Sr ]

Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), more commonly known as P.T. Anderson, is an American filmmaker best known for writing and directing several films, including ''Film/BoogieNights'', ''Film/{{Magnolia}}'', ''Film/PunchDrunkLove'' and ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood''. He is regarded as one of America's greatest living filmmakers and one of the most influential.

If Creator/RobertAltman and Creator/MartinScorsese had [[CrackPairing made sweet, passionate love]] and Creator/JonathanDemme and Creator/StanleyKubrick were the godfathers, P.T. Anderson would have been the fruit of their [[NoYay priapic loins]].

* AcclaimedFlop: Every film he directed was a critical success and a box office bomb except ''Boogie Nights'' and ''There Will Be Blood'', which were successful at the box office too; and ''Film/PhantomThread'' at least broke even.

[[caption-width-right:300:P.T Anderson will not take your shit. [[KubrickStare His eyes]] and [[TheUnsmile mild smirk]] say so.]]

** Includes the late Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman, who appeared in five of Anderson's first six films, Creator/JulianneMoore, Creator/JohnCReilly, Luis Guzman, and Creator/PhilipBakerHall. Hoffman has been in every P.T.A. movie except ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'', ''Film/PhantomThread'' and ''Film/LicoricePizza'', who stars his son Cooper; the latter two were made after his death.

** Includes the late Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman, who appeared in five of Anderson's first six films, Creator/JulianneMoore, Creator/JohnCReilly, Luis Guzman, and Creator/PhilipBakerHall. Hoffman has been in every P.T.A. movie except ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'' and ''Film/PhantomThread'' (the latter of which was made after his death).