There are definitely some Boogie Nights vibes coming from this new poster for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza. While I’m out here in L.A. for a few days I was hoping to catch one of the early screenings that just took place, but no such luck. So far, the initial reviews from what I’ve heard have been wildly positive, with one friend, who knows how much of a PTA fan I am, saying it is return to the kind of movies I’ve always loved from him. Yes, please.
Like so many of Anderson’s best films, this one is set in the San Fernando Valley of the 1970s, and follows a high school kid and aspiring actor. That kid is played by Cooper Hoffman, the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was an Anderson regular. The rest of the cast includes Bradley Cooper, Alana Haim, Benny Sadie, John C. Reilly, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Skyler Gisondo, Maya Rudolph, Joseph Cross, Nate Mann, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, and Destry Allyn Spielberg.
Licorice Pizza, such an oddly wonderful title, opens on Christmas Day. If I do happen to wrangle my way into a screening you all will be the first to know.
