Paul Thomas Anderson: RANKED
- Oct 2
- 6 min read
With the release of Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, the absolute masterpiece One Battle After Another, I thought I’d sit down, hammer this out, and finally put together a piece about my favorite filmmaker of all time.
That’s right, Paul Thomas Anderson. PTA. The best filmmaker on the planet. Period. I’m going to say this upfront: the man has not made a bad movie. Not one. Ten films, ten great films, all four-star movies in my book. Some of them are flat-out masterpieces.
The rest are still better than 95% of what comes out of Hollywood today. He is a true original, an artist with no rival, and someone who continues to push cinema forward every single time he steps behind the camera.
So yeah, here’s my ranking of his films, but first, let’s talk about the man.
Paul Thomas Anderson was born in Studio City, California, on June 26, 1970, to Edwina and Ernie Anderson. Ernie being the legendary Cleveland horror host Ghoulardi and later the voice of ABC.
That Ghoulardi character is so essential to PTA’s DNA that his production company is called Ghoulardi Films. His connection to his dad, and the complicated relationship there, bleeds into his movies. He often explores father-son conflicts, surrogate families, legacies, ghosts of the past.
You feel it all over Magnolia, which, by the way, happens to be my favorite movie of all time. More on that later.
He grew up in the Valley, and the Valley is stitched into the fabric of his work. Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Licorice Pizza, you can feel the San Fernando Valley pulsing in every frame. It’s his turf, his home, his mythology.
From an early age, PTA was obsessed with filmmaking. He made his first movie at eight, messed around with Betamax, 8mm, Bolex, whatever he could get his hands on. No plan B. No backup career. He wasn’t going to be an accountant if the film thing didn’t work out. He was going to be a filmmaker or nothing.
He even went to film school for about two days before deciding, “Nah, screw this, I’ll just make movies.” And thank God he did.
Out of gambling winnings and borrowed money, he made Cigarettes & Coffee, which led to Sundance, which led to his first feature, Hard Eight, in 1996.
That debut is one of the best low-budget first films ever made, with a remarkable cast that included Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Instantly you could see the guy’s style, his themes, his fascination with desperation, redemption, loneliness. Then a year later, boom, Boogie Nights. He blew the doors off the industry, gave Burt Reynolds a career revival, introduced the world to Mark Wahlberg and Julianne Moore in a way they’d never been seen before, and basically announced: “Hey world, I’m here, and I’m the real deal.”
And it never stopped. Magnolia (1999), three-plus hours of audacity, heartbreak, frogs, and Tom Cruise at his absolute peak. He said at the time it was “the best movie I’ll ever make,” and you know what? He might’ve been right.
Then he flips it with Punch-Drunk Love (2002). Adam Sandler! In a dark romantic comedy that’s 90 minutes long and one of the most original films of the century. Nobody else does that. Nobody takes that risk. And it works.
Then came There Will Be Blood (2007). Daniel Day-Lewis in one of the greatest performances in the history of cinema. People put that film next to Citizen Kane and The Godfather. And they’re not wrong. It’s one of the greatest films ever made. Period.
After that, he gets even more experimental. The Master (2012), time-jumping, structure-bending, with Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman going head-to-head in a way that rattles your bones.
Then Inherent Vice (2014), a trippy, Pynchon-fueled detective comedy that’s messy and weird and exactly what it should be.
Phantom Thread (2017), Day-Lewis again, but this time in England, sewing dresses and being cruel and romantic and unforgettable.
Licorice Pizza (2021), a nostalgic but unromanticized love letter to Valley youth in the ’70s, filled with real characters, surreal digressions, and Bradley Cooper as Jon Peters losing his damn mind.
And now One Battle After Another (2025), loosely inspired by Pynchon again, and maybe his most ambitious, sprawling, mind-blowing work yet. The guy is fifty-five years old and still operating at the absolute peak of his powers. Still the most important filmmaker alive.
And let’s not forget: his collaborations are legendary. Robert Elswit behind the camera for years. Mark Bridges designing costumes. Jon Brion’s early scores, Jonny Greenwood’s later ones (some of the best film music ever written). And of course, his stable of actors: Philip Seymour Hoffman (his greatest collaborator, his muse, and God, do I miss him), Daniel Day-Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Melora Walters, Alana Haim.
He pulls things out of actors that other directors just can’t. Adam Sandler owes Punch-Drunk Love for every ounce of credibility he has when he does dramatic work now. PTA gave him that.
And it’s not just actors. He’s directed music videos for Fiona Apple, Radiohead, Haim, Thom Yorke. Even his “side projects” like Junun or Anima are experimental bursts of brilliance.
Anderson is an artist through and through. He doesn’t care about convention. He doesn’t care about telling stories in a neat A-to-B-to-C fashion. He’ll jump around, start at Z, cut back to A, then leave you hanging at K. He’ll do long takes or abrupt cuts.
He’ll juggle narratives like no one else. He’s not making movies to fit into a box. He’s making cinema, pure cinema, the kind that challenges you, moves you, and shows you something you’ve never seen before.
That’s why every one of his films matters. That’s why he’s my favorite filmmaker of all time.
That’s why ranking them is insane because they’re all great, but here we are.
So here it is. All ten of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films, ranked in order of my preference.
The best filmmaker on the planet. Every movie a work of art. And now, the list…
Paul Thomas Anderson's Films - RANKED:
My favorite movie of all time. Not just favorite PTA movie, my favorite movie, period. Three-plus hours of intersecting lives, heartbreak, forgiveness, desperation, regret, frogs falling from the sky, and Tom Cruise giving what I think is his greatest performance ever.
This movie devastates me every time. It’s messy, audacious, overwhelming, and perfect. The father-son conflicts destroy me, the Aimee Mann soundtrack elevates everything, and the way it juggles a dozen storylines is just breathtaking. I adore it.
His newest, and already a masterpiece. Bold, sprawling, experimental, and as ambitious as anything he’s ever done. Loosely adapted from Pynchon’s Vineland, but it’s pure PTA: Potent commentary, big laughs, chaos, redemption, and that off-kilter storytelling only he can pull off. It proves that after 10 films, he’s still the greatest filmmaker alive.
A towering achievement. Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview is one of the greatest performances in cinema history. The movie is Shakespearean in scope, biblical in tone, and terrifying in its portrait of greed, ambition, and obsession. It’s Citizen Kane for the 21st century.
The film that announced his arrival. A nearly three-hour epic about the Golden Age of Porn that’s really about family, fame, loneliness, and the need to belong. It’s flashy, funny, heartbreaking, with unforgettable characters and incredible performances. Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Don Cheadle... everyone shines.
A warm, weird, unromanticized love letter to youth in the ’70s Valley. Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman are incredible, and Bradley Cooper as Jon Peters is pure insanity. It’s nostalgic without being syrupy, funny without being obvious, and captures the awkward magic of youth.
Daniel Day-Lewis as a controlling fashion designer in a toxic love story that’s both chilling and romantic. Beautifully shot, meticulously crafted, and surprisingly funny in its own twisted way. Vicky Krieps holds her own against Day-Lewis, which is saying something. A haunting, gorgeous film. It's also the closest thing to a horror movie that PTA has ever done.
One of his most experimental films. Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman give two of the greatest performances of their careers. It’s about faith, manipulation, longing, and the desperate need for connection. No traditional structure, no easy answers, just raw, unsettling filmmaking.
Only PTA would take Adam Sandler and pull one of the greatest performances out of him. A dark, romantic, off-kilter love story that’s funny, violent, and beautiful. At 90 minutes, it’s tight, weird, and unforgettable. And that harmonium!
The debut. Low-budget, small-scale, and brilliant. Philip Baker Hall as Sydney is one of his greatest characters. It’s a crime film, a father-son story, and a showcase of the style and themes he’d perfect later. Not his flashiest, but an incredible first film.
The “least” of his films, which still means it’s better than almost anything else. A stoned detective story based on Pynchon, with Joaquin Phoenix stumbling through a hazy, paranoid, funny, confusing ride. It’s messy, yes, but it’s supposed to be. A cult film in the making.
Thanks for reading, and please SUBSCRIBE to my weekly NEWSLETTER!
Join me on Patreon as a paid subscriber to help keep this thing going.
Thanks again!
