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Widescreen: 'Monster Hunter' is no 'Magnolia,' but it sure is fun

Paul Thomas Anderson is the most acclaimed filmmaker of his generation, a purveyor of puzzling, powerful films like "There Will Be Blood" and "Magnolia." I see everything he does.

Paul W.S. Anderson makes flashy, trashy movies based on video games - like, a whole lot of them - and most of them aren't particularly good. I see everything he does.

The latter Anderson's latest film, "Monster Hunter," puts his leading lady/wife/muse Milla Jovovich in an alien world where tall ships sail on the sand and beautifully rendered CGI creatures try to kill her. It's a fast, fun adventure flick that requires no previous knowledge of the Capcom video game series it's based upon, and worth the $6 digital rental if you like movies with giant spiders and arrow-slinging heroes.

"Monster Hunter" is definitely top-tier Anderson, up there with the 1997 Sam Neill space shocker "Event Horizon" (Cinemax) and 2004's much-maligned "Alien Vs. Predator" (HBO Max). That mashup doesn't seem so silly now that we've seen stuff like "Batman V Superman." Plus, it has lots of gory, goopy practical visual effects!

Anderson has also given us Jovovich's "Resident Evil" franchise, which is about to be rebooted by someone else, and 1995's "Mortal Kombat," which is about to be rebooted by someone else - Simon McQuoid, to be exact, and his version premieres April 16 on HBO Max. Anderson did some rebooting of his own in 2011 with a version of "The Three Musketeers" (Amazon and Hulu) that stayed in-period but also managed to have Jovovich doing kung fu and Orlando Bloom flying a giant airship.

Next up for Anderson: "In The Lost Lands," a werewolf flick starring Dave Bautista and (of course) Jovovich that's adapted from a story by "Game of Thrones" mastermind George R.R. Martin.

With the first pick ...

My current podcast obsession is "Screen Drafts," in which hosts Clay Keller and Ryan Marker host a rotating roster of guests who choose the top seven (sometimes more) films for that week's topic. Recent episodes tackled the best films starring Eddie Murphy and Hugh Grant; the top directorial efforts of Tony Scott and John Woo; and broader topics like "relationship horror" and TV adaptations.

The best episode: the Coen Brothers super draft in which Keller, Marker and screenwriter Bryan Cogman (also "Game of Thrones") rank every single film in the "Fargo" auteurs' filmography. It runs a brisk 275 minutes, or 2.35 viewings of "The Big Lebowski."

"Screen Drafts" is available on Spotify, Stitcher and other podcatcher apps. Maybe next they can do a Paul W.S. Anderson super draft ... ?

• Sean Stangland is an assistant news editor who's really upset he didn't think of "Screen Drafts" first.

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