1. 'The Master'

( September 20, 2012 )

So gigantic it warrants a weeklong seminar, Paul Thomas Anderson's hypnotic, original "The Master" is an inkblot test in itself. Remarkable performances from Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams create layered characters who are linked and prodded by their own vulnerability. Anderson suggests concrete notions of human nature while asserting an infinite search for, and the potential elusiveness of, the self. Fittingly, each elliptical moment of "The Master" flickers in the shadows, planting seeds in your mind, awaiting processing.

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