The wait is almost over for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, but we have one more trailer to share before it hits theaters next month.  Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as Lancaster Dodd, a charismatic leader for “The Cause.”  Joaquin Phoenix also stars as Freddie Sutton, a veteran of the Navy with what appears to be post-traumatic stress syndrome and who finds himself swayed by Dodd.  Phoenix lends a percussive tempo to the new trailer for The Master, which helps ratchet up the tension a bit.  While also featuring new footage, this last trailer showcases a few scenes that you can expect will look glorious in their 70mm format.  Hit the jump to watch it.

Hot on the heels of the new poster debut last night, a new trailer for writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master has been released.  The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a World War II veteran who’s haunted by his experiences, and decides to form his own religion as a result.  Joaquin Phoenix plays a drifter who becomes Dodd’s right-hand man.  If there were any doubts about the film’s Scientology overtones, those can be thrown out the window after watching this new trailer.  More striking, though, is the fact that it looks like the crux of the story centers on Phoenix’s character.  The actor looks to be in fine form, and this trailer teases some great contention between Phoenix and Hoffman.

On top of the promisingly thrilling performances and touchy subject matter, Anderson shot the pic in gorgeous 65mm, which results in some brilliant photography.  And the excruciating wait for The Master continues.  Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Amy Adams, Laura Dern, and Jesse Plemons.  The Master opens on October 12th.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood) has kindly provided an update on the status of his recently rescued project, The Master.  As the picture is being shot in 65mm film, Anderson provided a first image (of sorts) of star Philip Seymour Hoffman (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead) in character. Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Jesse Plemons and David Warshovsky also star in the drama about a man (Hoffman) so shaken by the horrors of World War II that he creates a new religion.  Anderson’s There Will Be Blood composer, Johnny Greenwood, is scoring the film.  The Master is aiming for an October 12th release.  Hit the jump to read the message from Anderson and to take a look at the first images.

Last month, we reported that in addition to Joaquin Phoenix signing on to star opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman in Paul Thomas Anderson’s untitled religious drama, actresses Madisen Beaty (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) Amy Adams, Lena Endre (2009′s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and Laura Dern were also circling the project.  Earlier this week, we reported that Dern was on board (along with Jesse Plemons and David Warshofsky) and now we’ve learned that Endre and Adams have also joined the flick.  The Playlist reports that Endre’s role is currently unknown while Deadline is reporting that Adams will play the wife of Hoffman’s character, Lancaster Dodd.

The story is set in the 1950s and centers on Dodd, a World War II veteran, who starts a new religion after being haunted by the horrors of battle.  He then takes in an alcoholic drifter (Phoenix) as his right-hand man.  Earlier drafts of the script heavily implied that the movie was based on L. Ron Hubbard and the founding of the Church of Scientology, but that aspect may have been reduced in later drafts.  I’m not familiar with Endre’s work, but I’m a huge fan of Adams and this cast continues to impress.

Now that the lead roles in Paul Thomas Anderson’ untitled religious drama have been filled by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix, it looks like the supporting cast is starting to fill out.  As we previously reported, the film centers on the charismatic figure of Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman) who forms his own religion after witnessing the horrors of World War II.  His right hand man is an alcoholic drifter (Phoenix) who eventually begins to question his mentor’s beliefs.  Earlier drafts heavily implied that the movie was based on the history of Scientology, but that subtext may have been reduced in more recent versions of the script.

Variety reports that Laura Dern (Everything Must Go), Jesse Plemons (Friday Night Lights), and David Warshofsky (There Will Be Blood) have joined the film.  Plemons will play Dodd’s son, and Warshofsky will play a detective.  No word yet on who Dern will play, but I like all three of these actors and Anderson has always excelled at putting together a strong cast.  Plemons will next be seen in Peter Berg’s Battleship while Warshofsky was recently cast in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.

Friday Night Lights has proven to be the Little Engine that Could. The show recently finished airing its fourth season and a fifth is on the way in October.  The upcoming season will be its last, but the fact that the show has pushed on for so long, despite its lack of success with ratings, seems to say something about its quality.  The fourth season was just released on DVD and you can check out my full review of it after the jump:

When last we saw the cast of “Friday Night Lights,” they were suffering from a particularly brutal version of the sophomore jinx. Barely renewed for a second season after a low-rated (but critically praised) initial run, “FNL” added “bad timing” to its list of problems upon its return; thanks to the 2007-08 writers’ strike, production halted after 15 episodes, and despite the fact that the show was one of the only scripted series on NBC’s schedule during the strike, it continued to languish in the lower reaches of the Nielsens. The closing moments of the season’s final episode – which saw the Dillon Panthers on the verge of the playoffs, and star running back Brian “Smash” Williams (Gaius Charles) dealing with the aftermath of a brawl that cost him a scholarship – seemed likely to wind up going down as a terribly unsatisfying conclusion to a series that never had a chance to really hit its stride.