Paul Thomas Anderson

The nominees for the 90th Academy Awards were announced Tuesday, and Paul Thomas Anderson's film Phantom Thread landed six nominations, including best director and best picture.

The director of Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood talks to Fresh Air's Terry Gross about his new film, The Master, a tense drama with indelible performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams.

The film, based on Thomas Pynchon's novel, is set in 1970 in a beach town south of Los Angeles. With wonderful actors, it's like a gorgeous stoner art object: groovy, campy, dreamlike and funny.

He's starring in the new film Die Mommie Die! directed by Mark Rucker and written by Charles Busch, who also stars in the film. The film blends melodrama, mystery and comedy. Hall has also appeared in director Paul Thomas Anderson's films Hard Eight, Boogie Nights and Magnolia. He also played a Joe Friday-type cop in an episode of Seinfeld, on the trail of overdue library books.

Film critic John Powers reviews the new film "Boogie Nights".