Great small character study. I like how they mention the director as just this small director, who will grow up to be one of the greatest living cinematic legends of all time.
@@shawnpringle8191 I think the filmography speaks for itself. Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, Inherent Vice, Phantom Thread. He's an established genius.
@@23jakesmith23 There will be blood and Magnolia are two of my favorite movies. Allow time to judge one's greatness, when all is said and done. Life's a marathon and not a sprint. Thanks.
@@shawnpringle8191 Well said. I believe Anderson will prevail, but it's best to wait. He's doing real well, over a distance of ground, but to be called 'the greastest' or to be considered in the realm of Welles, Coppola, Scorcese, Kubrick, Altman etc, let's give him another ten to twenty years, to amass a true lifetime of work. I think Inherent Vice was a tad underappreciated, myself. He's on the right path.
Wayne J To be perfectly honest, I think it’s fair to say he’s the best of his generation. No other living auteur has improved and gotten better as they’ve gotten older, but I agree that if he were to keep this up for another 15-20 years, he could easily be considered to be amongst the best American directors of all time.
Casino speak: I broke even = I lost more than I could afford to. I lost = I lost a shit ton of money. I won = I lost what most people would consider a reasonable amount for a trip to a casino.
haha yes. The thing that really gets me is stuff like scratchers or slots. A slot machine is LITERALLY designed to take 60-70 percent of the money that's put into it. So why would you put your money into that machine? Human psychology is fascinating. (I'll play 10 or 20 dollars in slots when I'm in Vegas because fuck it, I'm in Vegas, but now that I think about it... said it like, "I'm willing to throw away 20 dollars on slots, because of the experience to play slots in Vegas, which isn't that interesting". Damn. That could have been 20 singles at a strip club. Although, if you only got 20 singles at a strip club, you're in trouble. I had a friend who got roughed up because a cab driver drove him to a coke hookup and my buddy only wanted a gram of blow. Vegas is fucked. Sodom and Gomorra)
KaleLikesWaffles No he liked Boogie Nights. Just didn't think is was quite as great as people said. But he DEFINITELY would have loved There Will Be Blood.
@Barry McCokiner Yeah, literally every other PTA film is technically better than Hard Eight but, you know, each one has their favorite movies, it might be personal to them. I actually find quite amusing when people say their favorite movie of a director is one of their weakest. It only shows the high quality of this filmmaker.
@Barry McCokiner I only watched Punch-Drunk Love and Hard Eight once, but I need to rewatch them, especially the former. By the way, I agree with you that Magnolia is his best film, although There Will Be Blood is very, very close. They are both masterpieces. Boogie Nights and The Master come in the second tier for me, while Inherent Vice and Phantom Thread come in third, although I have a feeling that Phantom Thread is going to grow on me even more on the second time I watch it, and maybe Punch-Drunk Love too.
@Barry McCokiner I totally agree! Oh, and just so people don't come here complaining about my ratings - when I separated his movies by tiers I didn't really mean to say the last tiers are bad. I don't think PTA has ever made a bad movie in his career so far. All of his films are above 7/10 to me (most of them above 8/10, with only Hard Eight being a 7). Everything he's made is at least good and interesting.
I saw this movie last night and I was blown away by it. The main character comes across very mysterious and almost an ethereal way. You don't know if he is a human being or some kind of angel that has decided to focus on this down and out young man. And keeping with John Travolta's character in the movie. Michael, when asked why he doesn't look like a typical angel, John Travolta's character says I'm not that kind of angel. Turns out the man in heart eight is not an angel, but he is a guy that is mobbed up and connected. He is sort of like in the old west of professional gambler and he's all by himself. His kids don't talk to him. He's divorced and as we make our way through the movie we find out that he is the man who killed this young man's father years ago. He is paying a debt he feels must be paid before he himself leaves the sale of tears otherwise known as life. You can always count on. Samuel L. Jackson to be the jalapeno pepper or the wasabi in any movie he's in. He mixes things up to such a point that you hate him and can't wait to see him get his just desserts. I imagine in real life. Samuel L. Jackson is a very nice man, but he's very talented of what he does. Gwyneth paltrow is good. She plays a typical AC cocktail waitress who has a side gig and we all know what that "Side Gig" really is. John C. Reilly, as the down and out young man who was taken under the wing of Philip Baker Hall, is excellent. We are rooting for him. When he pauses after receiving instructions on how to do better at gambling or anything else for that matter from his personal Yoda John Baker Hall. We are rooting for him and hoping he catches on. His relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow's character is special. Both these characters are not the sharpest tools in the shed to spend, especially Gwyneth Paltrow's character. She is locked in and has made her own hell and thinks that she cannot escape. By contrast, John C. Reilly has a learning curve and he will improve in time. He is on a personal journey to claw his way out of poverty and despair and ignorance. His street smarts aren't what they should be but will be in time and it may take him a lifetime to come up to the level he needs to be. He will never be as smart as his mentor, John Baker Hall. The ending of the movie is quite interesting. We find out who John Baker hold really is and what motivates him. His last dealings with Samuel L. Jackson makes us cheer. It is the typical you reap what you sow but also John Baker Hall is trying to change the paradigm for himself as well. He is dating himself out of the whole that he has been living in all his adult life. He is trying to write the wrong. He did many years ago to John C. Reilly's father. He can't resurrect the man but he can put the man's son on the right track. He tells him over the phone. He will always be there for him. He tells him that he loves him and after a long pause consisting of choked up emotion, John C. Riley reiterates his love for John Baker Hall and all that he has done for him and knows he will always be there for him as well. By contrast, Gwyneth Paltrow's character will always be a hot mess. She will always have to be monitored like a child because her strangely convoluted comfort zone is to revert back to the lifestyle that had kept her afloat for a while. I don't think she'll ever be able to lay that to rest. Perhaps if she lives long enough to be an old woman, she will marvel at the fact that she did make it too old age through the efforts of her husband and his mentor.
The released version is his version, they just kept the title as Hard Eight rather than Sydney.. To my mind it's definitely got PTA's stamp all over it, it's a great first film.
@@w.harrison7277 That scene is actually super important as it neatly summarises the toxic appeal of Vegas, and the two sides of gambling addiction. On the one hand you have the young gambler with P.S. Hoffman, having a good time, having a laugh, it's not serious for him. On the other hand you have P.B. Hall's character, Sydney - a true hard man, gambling is a fundamental part of his life, you see it throughout the film. In that scene, an innocent taunt from Hoffman's character gets Sydney to bet 2000 dollars on the statistically-hardest bet to hit. It's an insane bet to make, basically only someone addicted to the rush would make it. But Sydney is completely stone-faced throughout it, and you actually see Hoffman's character start getting nervous, his bravados collapses. When he misses the hard eight, it's not his fault at all - ultimately, it's a game of chance, but you can see how through their interaction, Sydney has brought Hoffman into his deep gambling addiction and seen the reality - a throw of the dice is enough to lose 2 grand. It's crucial to understand that Hoffman had essentially no part in making Sydney lose money, as it's a game of chance they're betting, but in a loose way he was the reason Sydney lost the bet as he (Hoffman) threw the dice. By the end of the scene he maybe is confronted with the reality of the situation, that something as careless as throwing dice can result in a huge loss, and that it's a slippery slope. Sydney has dragged Hoffman into the guilt of addiction, but perhaps has taught him a lesson also - see how embarrassed Hoffman is at the end. It's a genius scene, and Hoffman is a phenomenal actor and really steals the show with less than 3 minutes screen time.
He had to obtain the film elements including a workprint to reassemble his version in secret first. he tells the whole story on the 2nd audio commentary for the dvd
This movie is the perfect compliment to Boogie Nights. In Hard Eight you have people who have given up hope and but keep grinding it out, whereas in Boogie Nights the characters are foolish dreamers.
I didn't understand the scene with Philip Seymour Hoffman disrespecting Sydney in public at the crap table. Why was he doing that and what was Sydney thinking? I was expecting revenge to come later in the movie but it didn't.
I'm among the few who actually didn't like this movie. I've loved other Anderson films in the past (Magnolia and Boogie Nights are on my all time favorites list), but this one always felt really dated to me. Sydney might have been an original look into the pit of Vegas crime drama FOR ITS TIME, but the scope of its story seems incredibly meager today. That and its main character has been greatly emulated after its release, making Sydney seem banal and kinda lazy. The "twist" was also a bit weak.
Shame that this is the only response you see now when someone expresses their opinion that a film that has a following or a director that has one didn't work for them is these lazy marvel comments.
@@joeodonnell921 Exactly right. It's as if the original commenter were complaining about the lack of superheros and CGI in Hard Eight, rather than its actual flaws. The world isn't divided into "fans of Marvel" and "fans of anything that isn't Marvel" like Bigga Winna Crapsa seems to imply.
At first, I thought he was a do gooder type who tries to help people. Then I realize he’s a ruthless killer. Suddenly I don’t like him anymore. He’s basically cold blooded and deserves his lonely fate.
Yea, the Main character is pretty much perfectly explained to us by Sam Jackson towards the end. NOT a do gooder, with a too cool for school appearance. But just an old man hood killer.
@@kevinfinnerty8414 I enjoyed the film because it shows how morally bankrupt Vegas is or at least how those types tend to congregate there. Anti Social types and girlfriends who do tricks on the side for rent money and resort to kidnapping and holding someone hostage if they aren’t paid. It’s all very sick and disgusting then you realize the moral character who straightens things out is a ruthless old hood. Vegas and only a place to gamble and see a show. Not a place to live.
I've seen Boogie Nights, TWBB and Magnolia, and I just saw this. It seems like it's unfinished in many ways and it isn't rushing....but it's not taking enough time to say everything. After 1st viewing I can't say I liked it a lot. 5/10 for now.... If this doesn't get better with more viewings, I'll just have to say PTA was still learning at this point
huh? If they agreed it was a good movie, it almost always was. Although they sometimes graded on a curve for action flicks and kids movies which is fair I think.
Great small character study. I like how they mention the director as just this small director, who will grow up to be one of the greatest living cinematic legends of all time.
@@shawnpringle8191 I think the filmography speaks for itself.
Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, Inherent Vice, Phantom Thread. He's an established genius.
@@23jakesmith23 There will be blood and Magnolia are two of my favorite movies. Allow time to judge one's greatness, when all is said and done. Life's a marathon and not a sprint. Thanks.
@@shawnpringle8191 Well said. I believe Anderson will prevail, but it's best to wait. He's doing real well, over a distance of ground, but to be called 'the greastest' or to be considered in the realm of Welles, Coppola, Scorcese, Kubrick, Altman etc, let's give him another ten to twenty years, to amass a true lifetime of work. I think Inherent Vice was a tad underappreciated, myself. He's on the right path.
Wayne J To be perfectly honest, I think it’s fair to say he’s the best of his generation. No other living auteur has improved and gotten better as they’ve gotten older, but I agree that if he were to keep this up for another 15-20 years, he could easily be considered to be amongst the best American directors of all time.
I'm still trying to process the meaning of the film. I really liked it alot.
Casino speak:
I broke even = I lost more than I could afford to.
I lost = I lost a shit ton of money.
I won = I lost what most people would consider a reasonable amount for a trip to a casino.
Haha or I won = I have the same amount of money when I started the trip
haha yes. The thing that really gets me is stuff like scratchers or slots. A slot machine is LITERALLY designed to take 60-70 percent of the money that's put into it. So why would you put your money into that machine? Human psychology is fascinating.
(I'll play 10 or 20 dollars in slots when I'm in Vegas because fuck it, I'm in Vegas, but now that I think about it... said it like, "I'm willing to throw away 20 dollars on slots, because of the experience to play slots in Vegas, which isn't that interesting". Damn. That could have been 20 singles at a strip club. Although, if you only got 20 singles at a strip club, you're in trouble. I had a friend who got roughed up because a cab driver drove him to a coke hookup and my buddy only wanted a gram of blow. Vegas is fucked. Sodom and Gomorra)
@@urwholefamilydied u can get drinks while playing slots,just tip ,so even if u lose ,u still get free drinks
hats offf to Jon Brion for the killer score
Tony Stark very underrated score
ABSOLUTELY MESMERIZING
This might be PBH's best performance second only to Mr. Bookman, the library cop. He was great in Magnolia also.
I got a news flash for you, joy boy!
exactly! this man stops ppl from drawing pee pees and wee wees in classic children's books
Although some people will know him as the drooling Dr Morrison
I think Siskel would have loved PTA's career.
Fabisch Factor unfortunately he didn't really like Boogie Nights
Whoa!
KaleLikesWaffles No he liked Boogie Nights. Just didn't think is was quite as great as people said. But he DEFINITELY would have loved There Will Be Blood.
Ebert loved all his films except he gave The Master a mixed review. He loved all the rest.
Siskel died of a brain tumor which is sad because he cant stand Roger
May he RIP
GREAT FILM! Too bad that it never got all of the acclaim that it deserves.
My top ten all time.
RIP Philip Baker Hall
RIP Siskel & Ebert
I miss these guys.
Top ten movie that NOBODY has ever seen! I miss Gene Siskel, I remember At the Movies when it was on PBS.
Funny how they talk about "the director" without mentioning his name, or the fact that he was just 25 when he made it.
I thought he was 23.
@@waynej2608 He was born in 1970. He might have been 23 when he started work on it.
@@Nathan-gd7xq pta was 23 when he made the short film hard eight is based on
One of my all time favorite movies. Always makes me wanna light a cig up though when I watch it.
My favorite PTA film the movie was just awesome loved the setting, acting, and the overall plotting.
@Barry McCokiner Yeah, literally every other PTA film is technically better than Hard Eight but, you know, each one has their favorite movies, it might be personal to them. I actually find quite amusing when people say their favorite movie of a director is one of their weakest. It only shows the high quality of this filmmaker.
@Barry McCokiner I only watched Punch-Drunk Love and Hard Eight once, but I need to rewatch them, especially the former. By the way, I agree with you that Magnolia is his best film, although There Will Be Blood is very, very close. They are both masterpieces. Boogie Nights and The Master come in the second tier for me, while Inherent Vice and Phantom Thread come in third, although I have a feeling that Phantom Thread is going to grow on me even more on the second time I watch it, and maybe Punch-Drunk Love too.
@Barry McCokiner I totally agree! Oh, and just so people don't come here complaining about my ratings - when I separated his movies by tiers I didn't really mean to say the last tiers are bad. I don't think PTA has ever made a bad movie in his career so far. All of his films are above 7/10 to me (most of them above 8/10, with only Hard Eight being a 7). Everything he's made is at least good and interesting.
Still can't believe this and Punch Drunk Love don't have Blu-ray releases. I want to complete my PTA collection damn it.
PTA said he was working with Criterion on a release of Punch-Drunk Love. No idea why it's taking so long...
+Maurice Lee Looks like it's finally a reality, my friend :)
@@balloonfiesta15 don't. Sidney is not as good a title
I just ordered my blu ray copy of Hard Eight
I saw this movie last night and I was blown away by it. The main character comes across very mysterious and almost an ethereal way. You don't know if he is a human being or some kind of angel that has decided to focus on this down and out young man. And keeping with John Travolta's character in the movie. Michael, when asked why he doesn't look like a typical angel, John Travolta's character says I'm not that kind of angel. Turns out the man in heart eight is not an angel, but he is a guy that is mobbed up and connected. He is sort of like in the old west of professional gambler and he's all by himself. His kids don't talk to him. He's divorced and as we make our way through the movie we find out that he is the man who killed this young man's father years ago. He is paying a debt he feels must be paid before he himself leaves the sale of tears otherwise known as life. You can always count on. Samuel L. Jackson to be the jalapeno pepper or the wasabi in any movie he's in. He mixes things up to such a point that you hate him and can't wait to see him get his just desserts. I imagine in real life. Samuel L. Jackson is a very nice man, but he's very talented of what he does. Gwyneth paltrow is good. She plays a typical AC cocktail waitress who has a side gig and we all know what that "Side Gig" really is. John C. Reilly, as the down and out young man who was taken under the wing of Philip Baker Hall, is excellent. We are rooting for him. When he pauses after receiving instructions on how to do better at gambling or anything else for that matter from his personal Yoda John Baker Hall. We are rooting for him and hoping he catches on. His relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow's character is special. Both these characters are not the sharpest tools in the shed to spend, especially Gwyneth Paltrow's character. She is locked in and has made her own hell and thinks that she cannot escape. By contrast, John C. Reilly has a learning curve and he will improve in time. He is on a personal journey to claw his way out of poverty and despair and ignorance. His street smarts aren't what they should be but will be in time and it may take him a lifetime to come up to the level he needs to be. He will never be as smart as his mentor, John Baker Hall. The ending of the movie is quite interesting. We find out who John Baker hold really is and what motivates him. His last dealings with Samuel L. Jackson makes us cheer. It is the typical you reap what you sow but also John Baker Hall is trying to change the paradigm for himself as well. He is dating himself out of the whole that he has been living in all his adult life. He is trying to write the wrong. He did many years ago to John C. Reilly's father. He can't resurrect the man but he can put the man's son on the right track. He tells him over the phone. He will always be there for him. He tells him that he loves him and after a long pause consisting of choked up emotion, John C. Riley reiterates his love for John Baker Hall and all that he has done for him and knows he will always be there for him as well. By contrast, Gwyneth Paltrow's character will always be a hot mess. She will always have to be monitored like a child because her strangely convoluted comfort zone is to revert back to the lifestyle that had kept her afloat for a while. I don't think she'll ever be able to lay that to rest. Perhaps if she lives long enough to be an old woman, she will marvel at the fact that she did make it too old age through the efforts of her husband and his mentor.
The released version is his version, they just kept the title as Hard Eight rather than Sydney.. To my mind it's definitely got PTA's stamp all over it, it's a great first film.
RIP Philip Baker Hall, an amazing and underrated actor. He should have received bigger roles like Gene said.
I miss little indie classics like this. You don't find too many of these kinds of gems these days. To much pretensiousness now.
Shaka laka do. Shaka laka doobie doobie do.
2000, 100, 100, 2000, FORTY FOUR!
Hard six, that’s a hard six, old timer!
I didn't understand the scene with Philip Seymour Hoffman disrespecting Sydney in public. I was expecting revenge to come later in the movie.
@@w.harrison7277 That scene is actually super important as it neatly summarises the toxic appeal of Vegas, and the two sides of gambling addiction. On the one hand you have the young gambler with P.S. Hoffman, having a good time, having a laugh, it's not serious for him. On the other hand you have P.B. Hall's character, Sydney - a true hard man, gambling is a fundamental part of his life, you see it throughout the film. In that scene, an innocent taunt from Hoffman's character gets Sydney to bet 2000 dollars on the statistically-hardest bet to hit. It's an insane bet to make, basically only someone addicted to the rush would make it. But Sydney is completely stone-faced throughout it, and you actually see Hoffman's character start getting nervous, his bravados collapses. When he misses the hard eight, it's not his fault at all - ultimately, it's a game of chance, but you can see how through their interaction, Sydney has brought Hoffman into his deep gambling addiction and seen the reality - a throw of the dice is enough to lose 2 grand. It's crucial to understand that Hoffman had essentially no part in making Sydney lose money, as it's a game of chance they're betting, but in a loose way he was the reason Sydney lost the bet as he (Hoffman) threw the dice. By the end of the scene he maybe is confronted with the reality of the situation, that something as careless as throwing dice can result in a huge loss, and that it's a slippery slope. Sydney has dragged Hoffman into the guilt of addiction, but perhaps has taught him a lesson also - see how embarrassed Hoffman is at the end. It's a genius scene, and Hoffman is a phenomenal actor and really steals the show with less than 3 minutes screen time.
That was a great comment by Siskel about insert shots increasing tension in a film.
Great cast, great writing, great film.
I liked when Sydney (Philip Baker Hall) terminated that slimy creep Jimmy (Samuel L. Jackson).
Brilliant film. Pure cinema.
We really didn't know what we had with these two guys . . .
He had to obtain the film elements including a workprint to reassemble his version in secret first. he tells the whole story on the 2nd audio commentary for the dvd
Great discussion. . . as always!
This movie is the perfect compliment to Boogie Nights. In Hard Eight you have people who have given up hope and but keep grinding it out, whereas in Boogie Nights the characters are foolish dreamers.
Just saw the film on Prime. Really good acting & settings make the film very involving.
It's on the Bounce channel right now. I'm gonna watch it.
Here after Ripley, same cinematographer, both incredibly beautiful. Hard eight has stuck with me all this time mostly due to all the stylish shots.
Bookman!
No, the released version was his version completely. He just didn't like that they changed the title from "Sydney" to "Hard Eight".
I didn't know that
Ah, okay! Thanks. Huge Anderson fan, but I must have missed that story. :-)
This and Boogie Nights are to me the most accessible P.T.A movies.
I know some things about Atlantic City...
Great character film just saw it finally for the first time
I love this movie!
fucking cool movie.
yeah, i agree. to be fair though, it was his debut so he was still learning.
Great movie
I didn't understand the scene with Philip Seymour Hoffman disrespecting Sydney in public at the crap table. Why was he doing that and what was Sydney thinking? I was expecting revenge to come later in the movie but it didn't.
Did Seinfeld still find that library book?
A Great Small Film!
I honestly didn't see it coming.
JFC... PTA was 25 when he made this movie.
If you haven't seen it, see it. If you don't love it, your opinion can't be trusted so watch it until you do.
Mr.Bookman!
Ha funny Seinfeld episode
This was actually the title to a movie? 😅
@heavyminded09 Also the 3 million dollar budget kept him a little bit restrain. Still a good film though.
Gene really didn't like things blowing up 😀
I'm among the few who actually didn't like this movie. I've loved other Anderson films in the past (Magnolia and Boogie Nights are on my all time favorites list), but this one always felt really dated to me. Sydney might have been an original look into the pit of Vegas crime drama FOR ITS TIME, but the scope of its story seems incredibly meager today. That and its main character has been greatly emulated after its release, making Sydney seem banal and kinda lazy. The "twist" was also a bit weak.
Well then, go and enjoy your Marvel CGI fests, you freaking idiot.
Shame that this is the only response you see now when someone expresses their opinion that a film that has a following or a director that has one didn't work for them is these lazy marvel comments.
@@joeodonnell921 Exactly right. It's as if the original commenter were complaining about the lack of superheros and CGI in Hard Eight, rather than its actual flaws. The world isn't divided into "fans of Marvel" and "fans of anything that isn't Marvel" like Bigga Winna Crapsa seems to imply.
isnt it set in Reno?
Not lazy. It explains the whole motivation. A father teaches his son how to earn a living, finds him a wife and mentors him.
ZING! Nerd isn't an insult anymore, by the way. I know, you tried. Better luck next time.
such a fucking good movie.
@coreymitchelhoulden But only if you promise to wear a rubber, Corey.
E beast
For your health!
Yeah what is this guy up to #grangergloryhole
At first, I thought he was a do gooder type who tries to help people. Then I realize he’s a ruthless killer. Suddenly I don’t like him anymore. He’s basically cold blooded and deserves his lonely fate.
Yea, the Main character is pretty much perfectly explained to us by Sam Jackson towards the end. NOT a do gooder, with a too cool for school appearance. But just an old man hood killer.
@@kevinfinnerty8414 I enjoyed the film because it shows how morally bankrupt Vegas is or at least how those types tend to congregate there. Anti Social types and girlfriends who do tricks on the side for rent money and resort to kidnapping and holding someone hostage if they aren’t paid. It’s all very sick and disgusting then you realize the moral character who straightens things out is a ruthless old hood. Vegas and only a place to gamble and see a show. Not a place to live.
I've seen Boogie Nights, TWBB and Magnolia, and I just saw this.
It seems like it's unfinished in many ways and it isn't rushing....but it's not taking enough time to say everything. After 1st viewing I can't say I liked it a lot. 5/10 for now....
If this doesn't get better with more viewings, I'll just have to say PTA was still learning at this point
I didn't know that film was so old. I'm shocked that people like it. I thought it was a total piece of crap.
It says something about you doesn't it?
@@jeanclaude4 ooh burn. That is the kinda douchebag I believe would appreciate such a film. You got me
I have seen better critics on TH-cam. These guys were so full of themselves.
huh? If they agreed it was a good movie, it almost always was. Although they sometimes graded on a curve for action flicks and kids movies which is fair I think.
They get hard over Ebert. That tells you something about them. Ebert never fathered a child but if he did, abortion would be an act of kindness
I miss these guys.
Great movie