Biografie

[Camel cigarettes] All smoking characters in Anderson's early movies smoke Camel cigarettes - Philip Baker Hall smokes Camel Filters in Last Exit Reno (1996), William H. Macy smokes Camel Lights in Magnolia (1999).

Frequently uses the Iris In/Out film technique. This technique has one part of the scene encircled, while the rest is black. Also used during the silent film era as a way of opening and closing shots.

Frequently uses extended takes

Most of his early films are set in the San Fernando Valley, California

Most of his early films feature large ensemble casts, often featuring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzmán, and/or Melora Walters.

For the brief time he was at NYU film school, he handed in some of Pulitzer Prize-winner David Mamet's work as his own. When he got it back with a "C" grade he decided to leave.

He dropped out of film school after the teacher in his first lecture claimed that anyone who wants to make a film like Terminator 2: Tag der Abrechnung (1991) should leave immediately.

Tom Cruise got him on to the set of Eyes Wide Shut (1999). He spent the day there and got to talk to Stanley Kubrick.

Despite the constant comparison between them amongst fans, he and fellow director Quentin Tarantino are great friends. Furthermore, Tarantino has praised Anderson's work, calling him a "filmmaking artist.".

(As of 2018) The movie of his that he is the most proud of is The Master (2012).

I have a feeling, one of those gut feelings, that I'll make pretty good movies the rest of my life. And maybe I'll make some clunkers, maybe I'll make some winners, but I guess the way that I really feel is that Magnolia (1999) is, for better or worse, the best movie I'll ever make.

My dad was one of the first guys on the block to have a VCR. So along with all the videotapes that I would rummage through, I would find porno movies. Not that it twisted me into some maniac or anything. I was watching porno from age 10 to 17. I had an interest in it.

I had older brothers and sisters who were doing drugs and playing rock music and doing all those insane things. I was watching.

You can really see a strong and distinctive line between '70s and '80s porn, not just in the quality but in the spirit behind it.

Today's movie villains often remind us of James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart and that's as cool as it gets. There's something comforting if they're hip and cool. They're not entirely real, or not entirely threatening, so it might be a little easier to swallow if they remind us of traditional movie villains.