God and Maya Rudolph are the only ones who know when Paul Thomas Anderson will get around to directing another feature, but it’s not all bad. Time Off Paul Thomas Anderson is still plenty of fun, doing neat-o stuff like heading to India with Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood for an hourlong documentary with Israeli and Indian musicians, or shooting the bull with Quentin Tarantino about The Hateful Eight and the future of film. Losers garden, do jigsaw puzzles, or read books in their spare time; in his spare time, Paul Thomas Anderson chats with the most relevant filmmakers of the day about the most exciting new releases.

He had another such chat recently with filmmaker Adam McKay, one-time prince of sophomoric studio comedies with Will Ferrell and current Academy Award nominee for his blackly satirical jazz riff on corporate greed, The Big Short.

For The Director’s Cut, the podcast run by the Directors Guild of America, McKay and Anderson sat down for a half-hour conversation about McKay’s newest offering, his transition from lighthearted fare to the sort of film that contends for awards, and the difficulties of adapting Michael Lewis’ book for the silver screen. The tastiest morsel? Apparently Anderson took an early look at the script for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and even considered producing the film before finding it too wacky, and going on to direct the decidedly un-wacky There Will Be Blood instead. Altogether, it’s an entertaining and edifying back-and-forth between a master of modern film and a veteran who feels like he’s just getting started.

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