Hard Eight is a gambler’s gambling movie, a riveting neo-noir and the first episode in our PTA rewatch series, Boogie Mikes. Hard Eight stars John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson and Philip Baker Hall, and it premiered at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival from director Paul Thomas Anderson.

NON-SPOILER FILM STUDY OF HARD EIGHT:

PTA Bio + Movie Intro - 1:58

Expectations, Historical Significance & Non-Spoiler Story Thoughts - 10:37

Review of the Performances - 13:32

Review of the Production Values - 18:54

“Courage, Bob. Courage.” Final Sales Pitch - 23:50

SPOILER WARNING - 26:02

SPOILER FILLED REVIEW SECTIONS:

Carryovers re: Gambling - 26:50

Why This Plot Is So PTA - 29:10

The Themes of the Film - 33:59

That Ending - 38:28

Worst Scenes - 41:54

More Best Scenes - 49:35

Final Thoughts & Grades - 57:40

OUTRO: Boogie Nights will be the next episode in this series, and we’ll release these Boogie Mikes episodes every few weeks before One Battle After Another. We have a Superman (1978) Retrospective film study for you soon. Plus, there are more Oscar Race Checkpoints and Oscar Profile Movie Reviews yet to come. As for the words of wisdom, we have one final debate in the outro about one final famous quote from Hard Eight in “Never ignore a man’s courtesy.” Well, should you?? https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar