The Screen Addict Recommends – Hard Eight (1996)

To commemorate Philip Baker Hall, I picked this smaller, less widely-known film from the eminent actor’s massive body of work. Also known as 𝗦𝘆𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘆, this quiet, Tarantino-esque masterpiece is of course further significant for being Paul Thomas Anderson’s feature debut.

Modest as it may be, the film nevertheless packs quite a punch in terms of casting – next to PBH, we get to admire spellbinding performances by John C. Reilly, Samuel L. Jackson and Gwyneth Paltrow. Not to mention a short but unforgettable scene PBH shares with that other three-initialed Philip who was also a P. T. Anderson regular, and like PBH, is unfortunately no longer with us…

On a lighter note – listening to the song playing over the end credits, I realized that Anderson’s love affair with Aimee Mann apparently started long before 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗮 (𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟵). The soothing, yet fierce singing-voice in the duet “Christmastime” is unmistakably hers.

𝗛𝗘 is not easy to come by. There are a couple of Blu-ray and DVD releases floating around, but the film is not offered on any streaming platform as far as I can tell.

Don’t let this deter you – 𝗛𝗘 is very much worth tracking down.

Seek it out & get your fix.

#thescreenaddict
#film
#movies
#celebrateart
#nobodyknowsanything
#contentrecommendation