No More Battles for Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson was holding his first Best Director Oscar, looking down at it practically beaming—but also seeming to process the moment with a bit of disbelief: “You make a guy work hard for one of these,” he said to the room. Before Sunday night, of course, PTA had gone 0-for-11 across his last six trips to the Academy Awards, where films like Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, and Phantom Thread lost statuettes to Good Will Hunting, No Country for Old Men, and The Shape of Water. He finally snapped his losing streak at the 98th Oscars, where he took home three trophies as a writer, director, and producer for this year’s Best Picture winner, One Battle After Another.