Paul Thomas Anderson Finally Gets His Coronation | Defector

"Sunday night, Paul Thomas Anderson became the latest filmmaker to get the pseudo lifetime achievement Oscar when One Battle After Another won six awards, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture. It's not that One Battle is a bad movie or a lesser work, but it is one of those clear inflection points in a lengthy career, one that allowed the Academy to celebrate a director that it had mostly ignored up until now."

"As a fan of Anderson's work, I've long thought he was overdue for more recognition from the Academy. There Will Be Blood is his most obvious masterpiece and was well positioned to get him a statue, though it had the unfortunate luck to go up against the Coen brothers' similarly masterful No Country For Old Men."

"The Academy has always kinda worked like this, torn between crowning a new generation and feting the older one for their years of service. There are two surefire ways to win an Oscar as a great director: make a movie that conquers the box office and critics, or put in strong work for so long that eventually the Academy rewards you to right past wrongs."

Paul Thomas Anderson received the Best Director Oscar for One Battle After Another, along with five other awards including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. This represents a pseudo lifetime achievement award, similar to Martin Scorsese's recognition years after his prime. Anderson's previous masterpieces—There Will Be Blood, The Master, Phantom Thread, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia—were either too unconventional for Academy tastes or faced unfortunate competition. The Academy balances recognizing emerging talent with honoring veteran filmmakers for their sustained excellence and past contributions to cinema.

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