Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the most accomplished filmmakers of his generation ... and now he is an Oscar winning director and screenwriter!
He began his career with 'Hard Eight' starring Gwyneth Paltrow, but it was 'Boogie Nights' that made him one of the most popular directors in Hollywood. Since then he has helmed such acclaimed films as 'Magnolia', 'Punch-Drunk Love', 'There Will Be Blood', 'The Master', 'Inherent Vice', 'Phantom Thread', and 'Licorice Pizza'.
The filmmakers latest movie, 'One Battle After Another,' which stars Leonardo Di Caprio, and recently earned him Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture.
In honor of Anderson's recent Oscar wins, Moviefone is counting down every film Paul Thomas Anderson has ever directed from worst to best, including his latest.
Let's begin!
Related Article: Movie Review: 'One Battle After Another'
10. 'Hard Eight' (1997)
A stranger (Phillip Baker Hall) mentors a young Reno gambler (John C. Reilly) who weds a hooker (Gwyneth Paltrow) and befriends a vulgar casino regular.
9. 'Punch-Drunk Love' (2002)
A socially awkward and volatile small business owner (Adam Sandler) meets the love of his life (Emily Watson) after being threatened by a gang of scammers.
8. 'Phantom Thread' (2018)
In 1950s London, a renowned dressmaker's (Daniel Day Lewis) meticulous lifestyle begins drastically changing as his relationship with his young muse (Vickey Kreps) intensifies.
7. 'The Master' (2012)
Freddie (Joaquin Phoenix), a volatile, heavy-drinking veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, finds some semblance of a family when he stumbles onto the ship of Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), the charismatic leader of a new "religion" he forms after World War II.
6. 'Licorice Pizza' (2021)
The story of Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) and Alana Kane (Alana Haim) growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.
5. 'Magnolia' (2000)
On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father (Jason Robards), a young wife (Julianne Moore), a male caretaker (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), a famous lost son (Tom Cruise), a police officer (John C. Reilly) in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius (William H. Macy), a game show host (Phillip Baker Hall) and an estranged daughter (Melora Walters) will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story.
4. 'Inherent Vice' (2015)
In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend (Katherine Waterson).
3. 'Boogie Nights' (1997)
Set in 1977, back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, idealistic porn producer Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) aspires to elevate his craft to an art form. Horner discovers Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg), a hot young talent working as a busboy in a nightclub, and welcomes him into the extended family of movie-makers, misfits and hangers-on that are always around. Adams' rise from nobody to a celebrity adult entertainer is meteoric, and soon the whole world seems to know his porn alter ego, "Dirk Diggler". Now, when disco and drugs are in vogue, fashion is in flux and the party never seems to stop, Adams' dreams of turning sex into stardom are about to collide with cold, hard reality.
2. 'One Battle After Another' (2025)
When their evil nemesis resurfaces after 16 years, a band of ex-revolutionaries reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own. (Leonardo Di Caprio)
1. 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis), moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
