Sydney

Though he is best known for two ambitious ensemble pieces such as Boogie Nights and Magnolia, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson was first noticed thanks to a low-key, unpretentious character study, a gem called Sydney.The film takes its title from the... Full review

Caught it last night on Belgian TV. A little gem. An old guy, superbly played by Baker Hall, trying to relive his youth by helping two young losers (O'Reilly and Paltrow) get their lives back together. Of course they'll never... Full review

Paul Thomas Anderson's first film, Sydney (titled 'Hard Eight' by the distributors), has a story, but its more concerned about the characters, and how these actors play them. Like its inspiration, Jean-Pierre Melville's Bob le Flambeur, understanding who these people... Full review

Excellent movie. Excellent actors. I like the calm flow of the movie. Dialogs are strong: very realistic, not cultivated in a predictable andunderstandable main stream drama form. The hostage scene is brilliant. In many movies the charactersreact in a movie-like... Full review

This is also known as "Sydney" (director Paul Thomas Anderson's original title) after the name of the movie's central character, a somewhat mysterious casino gambler (and murderer, by the way) played by veteran Philip Baker Hall. The new and more... Full review

Hard Eight (1996/Paul Thomas Anderson) ***1/2 out of ****The camera opens to a diner called "Jack's Coffee Shop". A semi is pulling out of the parking lot. After it pulls away, two people are revealed. A young man sitting by... Full review

Philip Baker Hall's Sidney kept me riveted from the first scene to the last. He play the mesmerizing, enigmatic title character with rare mastery and grace. The supporting characters are no slouches either. John C. Reilly is marvelous as Sidney's... Full review

Paul Thomas Anderson's first movie and wow what an entrance to make. Its refreshing to see a film maker making films with characters that you care about and fine dialogue. Why dont people talk in movies any more? If you... Full review

This first film from Paul Thomas Anderson shows the promise he would later fulfill with BOOGIE NIGHTS. The writing here is as sharp as it was in the later film, but it must be said as a director, he sometimes... Full review

Most people didn't catch this movie when it was released (in the cinema or on video), but did discover Paul Thomas Anderson's work with the phenomenal "Boogie Nights." Make no mistake: this film is every bit as good, perhaps better,... Full review

not too many films are as subtle, yet unflinchingly bold as Hard Eight.....The story is simplistic and easy to pick up..... ... Full Review

Hall, one of our least appreciated great actors, is mesmerizing as Sydney, a sad-eyed enigma who seems to fancy himself an elderly catcher-in-the-rye for hapless young dimbulbs. Still, it's rare to see a debut film so sharp, assured, and original (this latter virtue is doubly impressive given the overused setting) that it firmly establishes a director's potential to succeed on both the artistic and popular levels. ... Full Review

Movies like "Hard Eight" remind me of what original, compelling characters the movies can sometimes give us.....we're watching for the sheer pleasure of the dialogue and the acting.....Here is another great performance..... ... Full Review

Movies like " Hard Eight " remind me of what original, compelling characters the movies can sometimes give us.....we're watching for the sheer pleasure of the dialogue and the acting.....Here is another great performance..... ... Full Review

keeps the film fresh and intriguing.....The hook is 102 minutes of time spent wondering why Sydney has voluntarily surrounded himself with such losers.....A colleague recently told me he had never seen a truly great film about gambling.....it's a step in the right direction.....Hall's Sydney is a cool customer who shows grit and character throughout.... ... Full Review

Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett will star with Hugo Weaving in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya , and Oscar winner William Hurt will star in O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night , in Sydney Theatre Company's 2010 season, the Australian troupe announced. ... Full Article

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Effective immediately, Groth will lead the six-person programming team responsible for curating the festival's on-screen and off-screen events. Groth is a Salt Lake City native and 16-year veteran of the festival and has served as senior programmer handling both narrative... ... Full Article

Howard Panter is an impresario in the true sense of the word. One minute he can be talking about the virtues of Australia's unsung theatre talents, the next ruminating about how Sydney has the potential to be one of the... ... Full Article

THERE are many things Coldplay's frontman, Chris Martin, is uncomfortable discussing in interviews. Rumours of a rivalry with fellow supergroup U2 and his marriage to actress Gwyneth Paltrow are two. ... Full Article