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Even though the main story takes place in a manufacturing warehouse, the colors of Paul Thomas Anderson's, "Punch-Drunk Love" rivals that of the brilliant, Spirited Away.
Each time I rewatch "Punch-Drunk Love," I'm more & more moved by what the contrasts of the red & blues do to me as a viewer.
Also championing this film is the one time I can be so outward with my undying (albeit slightly ashamed) love of Adam Sandler.
Just you wait until the world sees his undoubtedly excellent performance in the Safdie's Brother's upcoming feature & his career gets reassessed like Nicolas Cage's did after Mandy!
Who will be the dumb one now for thinking Mr. Deeds is a perfect film?!
Paul Thomas Anderson is a wonderful craftsman, but what Hayao Miyazaki does might as well be sorcery. To compare this (relatively) minor work of PTA's with one of Miyazaki's most renowned films feels almost unfair. Spirited Away is an awe-inspiring work of imagination, craft and pure wonder, which can also be said of Ponyo which was criminally left off the bracket.
Even more criminal: Princess Mononoke not making at least top 8 last year. Hopefully justice will be done this time. And don't be sad, Anderson. Perhaps you'll have a rematch with Spirited Away in the finale...
Spirited Away was an easy choice for me. I need to keep those non-American, non-white, animated films in the running! And yes Adam my real name is Gus Johnson... No, not that Gus Johnson but I'd be happy to announce future Filmspotting Madness matches!
Punch Drunk. And that's that.
I love punch drunk love - on recent rewatch i was struck by how much it felt like a journey into neurodivergence and emotional intensity (two topics close to my heart). But I'm afraid nothing can stand against Spirited Away - the first film that knocked me sideways aged 10. It looked like nothing I'd ever seen before. It showed me that stories could surprise me and explode outside of the predictable. There was no romance or happily ever after but instead, a radish spirit and someone turns out to be a literal river. Spirited Away is exactly the sort of expansive, joyful and terrifying film I want to take this tournament.
This was so hard. Soooo hard.
I really enjoyed Punch Drunk Love - the beep booping score, the way PTA was able to channel the essence of Adam Sandler into a near-perfect performance, etc. But Spirited Away is my favorite animated film of all time. I watched the dubbed version on my couch about four years ago and loved it. Around two years ago, I had the chance to see the subtitled version in theaters, and somehow that elevated it even further my eyes. They actually started playing the film (in Japanese) with no subtitles for around twenty minutes before they fixed it and restarted it - but, honestly, Miyazaki is such a master of visual storytelling that I would have been more than happy to watch the entire film without them.
Punch Drunk Love was a special film for me when it came out, like many here I'm sure, but these days I wonder if it's not a little overrated just by virtue of a better-than-expected leading performance more than it's actual merits. It's like when someone tells you the new Carly Rae Jepsen album is great, and you're like......"what, that 'Call Me Maybe' girl? Get the fuck outta here", and you expect it to be garbage and then finally you listen to it and it's actually really surprisingly good throwback R&B. But is it actually a "GREAT" album? Best of the entire decade? Or did your dirt-low expectations of the lead singer just make it seem better by contrast?
Spirited Away is basically the exact inverse of that. The only way you could forget how subtly beautiful and poignant and groundbreaking it really is, is if you focus on all its critical accolades.
All I know is I showed my 11 year old daughter Spirited Away for the first time a few months ago, and she hasn't stopped drawing scenes from it. That's a review you can trust.
This one hurts.
Am I the only one to find Punch Drunk Love disturbing, generally horrible, and trying to take advantage of watching bad people stew in the juices of their mental health problems? We shall see.
Jon "The Penultimate Pestilence" W
(That's my Filmspotting nickname from Sam)
In West Lafayette, Indiana
I find it surprisingly easy to vote against Pixar films in this tournament (sorry, Josh), but I will ride with Miyazaki as hard and far as I can. This is the first Studio Ghibli film I ever saw and it utterly blew me away. I appreciate Punch Drunk Love, even survived the scars of watching it when my Mom was around, but it does not come close to the haunting beauty of Spirited Away.