Phantom Thread is Paul Thomas Anderson’s most recent film, starring Daniel Day-Lewis in his supposedly final role. Set in the London couture world of the 1950’s, it follows the turbulent romance of Reynolds Woodcock (Lewis), an obsessive fashion designer, and his muse and lover Alma (Vicky Krieps). Like the dresses Woodcock’s sewers meticulously craft, Phantom Thread is a work of fine beauty.

The first thing to notice is the atmosphere. The cinematography is, as one would expect of an Anderson feature, elegant and gorgeous. The camera seems to float through the various living rooms, sewing rooms, and spiral staircases in the Woodcock mansion. Or, in one incredible scene, it is fixed to the back of Woodcock’s car as he drives through the English countryside. Jonny Greenwood’s lyrical soundtrack plays in the background for nearly the entirety of the first 30 minutes, and for much of the rest of the film. Phantom Thread feels like a dream. As Mark Kermode has pointed out, Phantom Thread plays like a modern fairy tale, with its dresses and magic charms.

Rarely in film, and especially in dramas, are the aesthetic elements, image and sound, so masterfully composed as to be totally enjoyable on their own, despite plot. But, Phantom Thread’s aesthetic value is comparable to that of any art film. The simplicity of the film’s first act led me to believe that this would be the biggest compliment that I could pay it, but as the film progressed I realized that I was sorely mistaken. Phantom Thread is not only a beautiful movie, but a captivating drama.

Characters in Paul Thomas Anderson’s films never have simple (or healthy) relationships, a fact which becomes invariably more important as each film progresses. Consider Eddie and Maggie’s Oedipal romance in Boogie Nights and Daniel and H.W.’s abusive father-son relationship in There Will Be Blood. From a dramatic point-of-view, this is Anderson’s greatest skill as a filmmaker. His stories begin archetypal, but progress by subverting those very archetypes.

Phantom Thread follows this pattern. It is ostensibly a love story, but its perverse developments and sickly romantic ending lead us to reconsider love itself. In a Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross, Anderson is asked if he “sanctions” the actions Alma takes in order to get closer to Woodcock, and if he considers Alma and Woodcock’s relationship to be in any way “healthy.” Anderson responds that he is, “Groovy with love of all kinds.”

Anderson is not a psychologist, but a poet. If we are to appreciate Phantom Thread as a work of cinematic poetry, we must focus on the impression that it makes, and not on its underlying morality, which may very well be sick. We must not worry about justifying the beauty of Phantom Thread. Instead we should focus on appreciating it.

The film ends with a montage of Alma and Woodcock’s life together beyond the movie, and the multiple false endings within it create a sense of unending love and beauty. If this ove is unrealistic or even sick, it is at least beautiful. With Greenwood’s soundtrack in the background, it is reminiscent of the film’s beginning, creating a satisfying circular structure, at least aesthetically.

Lastly, it should be mentioned just how “funny” Phantom Thread is. Woodcock’s fussiness, and Alma’s waywardness, create a dynamic that is hilarious and adorable in its immaturity. Cyril, Woodcock’s deathly serious sister and business partner, also provides comic relief, as well as deep insight into either star. The stars act like two children, which may be why they are so likeable even when they do the most evil things.

So, Phantom Thread succeeds on all fronts. It is a feast for the senses and for the heart. I agree with Mark Kermode that it is, in fact, Paul Thomas Anderson’s greatest film yet.

★★★★ out of four

On Sunday night, Phantom Thread received one (for Best Costume Design) out of the six Academy Awards it was nominated for. It lost in the Best Picture and Best Director categories to The Shape of Water and its director Guillermo Del Toro, respectively. Though Phantom Thread deserved to win both, I am not totally unsatisfied with those results. The Shape of Water is a very good film, and Del Toro a talented director. Daniel Day-Lewis losing to Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) in the Best Actor category, however, was incredibly disappointing.

By: Sagal & Aniso

Black Panther is a really good movie. It is a Marvel movie, based off of the Captain America: Civil War movie. Most of the characters were introduced previously on the Captain America movie.

The majority of the characters were African American. The movie stood out because most of the cast was black, which made many people excited for its release.

The visuals of the movie were another reason why it was a major movie. The country Wakanda, where the movie takes place, is a beautiful country, and it’s special because Wakanda was never colonized. Wakanda has great natural resources like the healing plant they have. The people in the community have respect for each other and will fight for their country if necessary.

Our favorite character is Shuri, the sister of T’Challa/Black Panther. In the movie, she is really funny and outgoing. She worked a lot in the laboratory creating really cool things like: suits, imaginary cars, and planes. She’s very intelligent and she really loves her brother. She loves working with the stuff she created, and also loves messing with her brother.

Shuri and her brother have a really strong bond. There was a scene where Shuri was fighting Eric, and she was losing, and Eric tried to kill her. T’Challa saw what was going on, and ran over and started to fight Eric. He does not like people messing with his sister, and he proved it in that scene.

Eric is the “enemy” in this movie. Eric challenges T’Challa (the current king) for the crown to be king. When Eric was little, T’Challa’s dad killed Eric’s dad and left Eric behind, fatherless. That’s where all the hatred and revenge comes from.

To find out who gets hurt, and who gets to be king, you should go watch the movie. We personally think this movie is great, and should have a sequel.

Hawaii 5-0 is a criminal show with a lot of action. The characters in the show are very hilarious but our favorite characters are Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams, aka Danno, because whenever they are driving to a crime scene they bicker every single time. They also take partner counseling classes to express how they feel, and to learn to compromise with each other. Danno gets irritated by McGarrett’s crazy driving; he believes that he has some serious issues. Whenever they go on ride along, Danno is always the passenger rider in his own car, which also irritates him.

We don’t have a favorite episode because we enjoy all the episodes, but one of the funniest episodes is in season 2, when McGarrett finds out that the governor is working with his enemy, Wo Fat, and also who Shelburn is. McGarrett’s mom is an an undercover CIA agent who raised Wo Fat when he was younger. Wo Fat and Steve both went all around the world to look for a mysterious thing/person called Shelburn. They eventually find out that Shelburn was Steve’s mom’s undercover name. They both thought that she had died a long time ago.

Danny is a character we all love, he’s funny, calm, and emotional. Danny likes the easy way out of messy situations. One of the people Danny loves is his daughter, Grace. He cares for her and is a wonderful dad. He puts his daughter first and will do anything for her, or anything to save her if she’s in trouble. Danny moved all the way to Hawaii to be closer to his daughter.

Overall, we suggest this show to everyone. It’s a show that will have you wondering what happens next and it isn’t predictable. Every episode is new and interesting. We give this show 5 stars out of 5, so go binge watch it NOW and let us know how you enjoy it.