Kerr in the short, Ryan Gosling in the feature). Working with Epps in the short helped form the character for the feature (for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead and a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Performance). The neo-realism carried over from Gowanus to Half Nelson, with the teacher learning about his downfall in a realistic manner, with youth’s eyes staring right at him. The vibe of Kerr as the teacher is more everyman with the character actor sinking into the role, giving the audience an authentic portrayal of addiction without the glossy nature of a film. Gosling brings more of a movie feel to the role, being a younger and recognizable actor. You aren’t going to think of him as your uncle. Thata cult favorite right away, and obviously launched some big careers. Oddly enough, the short starts with Owen talking about Starsky and Hutch.

Slide 5: From Cigarettes and Coffee to Hard Eight

Film school for Paul Thomas Anderson lasted only two days (at NYU), as he moved on to work as a PA before making his career-trampoline short film, Cigarettes and Coffee in 1992. Following three overlapping plots and dialogue in a diner over 24 minutes, the short establishes Anderson’s knack for intense characters on the edge of society, with their idiosyncrasies and clever fetishes. The combination of realistic people with genre movie plots, “what’s-it-all-about” dialogue in a booth with a hitman outside, harkens to the work of Mike Nichols and Robert Altman and hints towards Anderson’s later feature success.