Though I have yet to see The Master, I suspect we'll be analyzing Lancaster Dodd and Freddie Quell in these very pages in about a year or two... Great breakdown. The genius of TWBB is almost blinding.

I get the same strong characterization feeling from "The Master". It also seems like it has a tonal and thematic kinship to "There Will Be Blood" - which is great! And Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Thomas Anderson, two of my favorites, collaborating again is extra exciting to me. I love Paul Thomas Anderson's fearless portrayal of anti-heros, including TJ Mackey ("Magnolia") and Dirk Diggler ("Boogie Nights"). The idea that no man is totally bad or totally good - but can do good or bad things feels more relatable than the concept of "heroes" and "villains". PT Anderson tells the tough stories. He forces us to understand the lives of people that we are not suppose to like. And easily in my personal Top 5 Favorite Writer/Director's ever. Imagine how lame "There Will Be Blood" might have been if Anderson chickened out and made it all about Eli Sunday? The good guy preacher trying to save his church from the clutches of the bad guy greedy businessman. Been there done that - times a billion - right?