There Will Be Blood is a powerful, trascendental film which completely deserves the label of "masterpice". Paul Thomas Anderson has made something so special and groundbreaking that this film will be remembered for ages.

This is what most people who watch There Will Be Blood might say. But not me. It's not that its a bad film, the cinematography is great and Lewis' performance is one of the best I've ever seen. There are some very interesting themes in the film and there are some amazing scenes (like the Bowling Alley). But for me at least, a great film has to inspire me, I have to enjoy it (despite how violent or depressing it might be), I have to care for the characters and want to keep on watching it and think about it afterwards. TWBB did none of these things for me. The story is almost non-existent in some parts, it's just a 2 1/2 hour character study. I didn't care for any of the characters, I couldn't care less if they lived or died. I wasn't thrilled or excited and I kept wanting it to end. I guess this film isn't for me, but for film snobs and critics who appreciate "art" like this. For me it was just boring and even pretentious at times.

B

Yeah, I have to admit that I too was a little bored for most of the film. For me it was a tad disappointing.

B

My thoughts from the Filmgasm crowd reports thread. This is pretty brief, and I plan on posting more later:

When describing "There Will Be Blood," there's one word that comes instantly to my mind: "Wow." From its opening moments to its final fade to black, it's a marvelous film. For the most part, it's an intimate character study focusing on Daniel Plainview. Daniel Day-Lewis gives what is without doubt 2007's best performance, inhabiting the role in the manner only an actor of immense talent could. He doesn't falter once, nailing all of the character's transformations. At first, Plainview is a character with somewhat admirable qualities. He's a hard-working miner who gets lucky and happens to strike oil- very much the kind of rags-to-riches story we love. However, as the movie goes along, he becomes more detestable with each passing minute until he's a man with seemingly no redeemable qualities. Day-Lewis nails it all. Paul Dano does very good supporting work as Eli Sunday, the preacher who becomes Daniel's enemy. This is a movie whose intensity keeps building and building until it reaches its unsettling conclusion. Every aspect of filmmaking comes into play and works to make the film what it is. In addition to the acting and Paul Thomas Anderson's fantastic script and masterful directing, the set and costume design, cinematography, sound work, and Jonny Greenwood's score all come into play. There wasn't a moment when I wasn't completely wrapped up in the proceedings, and thoughts of it are running wildly in my head as I type. This is destined to go down as a truly unforgetable movie. In my opinion, it's the very best that 2007 had to offer.

Grade: A

I was thinking the napkin scene was trying to show that he had decided to further alienate himself from his son. Presumably the son had some lip-reading ability which the napkin obscured. Earlier in the movie the son was part of his deals with other oil men and the napkin completely erased that.

Hell... I didn't even think about that. But I'm not sure if it's him deciding to alienate himself from his son. I got the impression that he was kind of embarrassed during that scene.

Did anyone notice that there was no blood, until the very last character. The broken leg, two deaths, shooting the brother. No blood at all. No blood until the Eli. Not sure if thats anything, but something I noticed.

DDL is awesome, or is he just so great that you miss seeing him every 6 years. He'll win Best Picture. The score, cinematography and everything else was top notch too. It does seem to nowhere and long at times, but that doesnt stop it from being a very good movie.

A-/ B+

I thought I saw some blood spray off the first worker.

The answer of the lack of blood:

It's been said before and I'll say it again the one word to describe this film is WOW. This is truly a modern masterpiece and will be studied for generations to come. PTA has crafted a nearly pitch perfect film and Daniel Day-Lewis is without a doubt this generations greates actor.

Grade A++

Very, very good, especially the final half hour, although the final confrontation with Eli reminded me of Benny Hill. Not in a bad way though. Past that, I don't really have much more to add that hasn't already been said.

***1/2

I finally get to see this tomorrow, circa 9:35 pm EST.

OMFG

Best film of the year maybe? Yea.

I don't believe that excuse! I am usually very excited when hungry. I starve myself before viewing any movie so that I like it that much more.

Hmmmm this link to food and movies, interesting.

The Magnus Dark Knight Review after 3 days of fasting and nothing but toilet water - Fucking terrible film, I'd have more fun shaving my face with a cheese grater while listening to the greatest hits of Barry Manilow!!

When a movie is called overrated and gets an A-, you know it's amazing

I'm with Zingaling on this one. There is a LOT of brilliance here, in the performances by Day-Lewis and Dano (Especially Dano) and tech-wise (It's flawless in that aspect) and there are stretches of the film that are truly captivating (The burning oil thingy, the final 15 minutes), but ultimately it's a little...disappointing. People here talk about "experiencing" or "enduring" it, but I always felt like I was watching it, not truly into it. There was no real moment where I thought to my self "This is a fucking AMAZING movie!" like Atonement or NCFOM or Once or a few other great movies from this year. There were simply moments where I recognized brilliance, but never truly felt that brilliance. Actually, it's a lot like the one other PTA film I've seen, Magnolia. I guess I need to see Boogie Nights and Punch-Drunk Love now to make sure he's not a cocktease about his awesomeness.

Ultimately, a flawed but still worthwhile wannabe masterpiece.

***1/2

I left the theater this afternoon thinking one thing...

"I've just seen the greatest movie of the decade."

It's now a couple hours later, and I still feel that way.

This is the movie that Stanley Kubrick would have made if he were alive today. It's a misanthropic, foaming-at-the-mouth full scale assault on the two corner stones of this country - religion and capitalism. Even when the movie appears to be spinning wildly off its axis, the control Paul Thomas Anderson has over this film can still be felt in every frame. The final fifteen minutes feel like they are from another planet. Not just tonally, but also in the context of the rest of the film. While this could easily be perceived as a wild misstep (and it indeed has), it ultimately serves as the perfect end to what the film has been building to. The paranoid, imminently discharging tone is set right from the opening moments, and it develops itself fully. Jonny Greenwood's score works in perfect synchronicity with the rest of the film's aesthetics - the vast, untapped desert and the dank, claustrophobic oil wells - to craft a palpable sense of dread and impending doom. When Plainview's initial well in Little Boston goes up in a fantastic eruption of hellfire, rendering his son deaf and lending credence to zealot Eli's fanaticism, the film feels otherworldly. Dark clouds blot out the picturesque blue skies, and Plainview, soaked in oil and outlined by the flames, is enveloped in darkness. We realize at this point that Plainview is man possessed. Possessed by his hatred for other humans, and his burning desire to crush anyone standing in his way. It's ironic and chilling that his alter-ego comes in the form of a self-professed man of God. Note the scene of Daniel dominating Eli that is later mimicked by Eli twice - the "fight" in the oil is reenacted to a virtual tee in Eli's home when he attacks his father at dinner, and the baptismal is little more than an opportunity for Eli to viciously slap and humiliate Daniel. These two men, one a bastion for capitalism and the other religion, share the same qualities despite their drastic aesthetic difference.

Boogie Nights and Magnolia taught us that Paul Thomas Anderson was a showy filmmaker with a lot of talent. There Will Be Blood is from the same school, but there is impressive restraint on display throughout. The perfectly calculated one-takes Anderson is so fond of are found here in copious amounts, but they never feel forced or inappropriate in the context of the film. They are used with a purpose - to build tension, to reveal geography, to shift perspective, and they often times do all of these at once.

I don't think we've ever seen anything quite like There Will Be Blood, and I don't know if we ever will again. In a world where multiplexes with 38 screens are filled with movies you can barely tell apart, Blood feels extraterrestrial. I was entranced by this movie from the opening title card until the closing title card. I emerged from the screening room confused. I wasn't sure what I had just seen, and I wasn't sure how it fit into my understanding of the way movies work. The truth is it doesn't. The truth is I'm still confused by it. The truth is I have the urge to see it again as soon as possible that goes beyond an urge and into an obsession. The truth is... this movie is a miracle.

I told you

(and this is really not hype, it's reality: this movie's on a whole 'nother level).

It's funny you should say that, when I re-read my post before submitting it was I kind of embarrassed and fearful about the hyperbole. People always love love love a movie when they are fresh from seeing it, you know?

But believe me, this was me restraining myself. My unfiltered voice may have melted the forum. You can't really qualify this movie until you see it.

Yeah, and it's especially hard to judge something like this when the ending's so explosive that you're not sure if your overall reaction is measured...I felt the same way after (I waited a few hours before posting, my review's on p2)

If there's any justice on Oscar night, Blood will upset NCFOM in the Screenplay category.

I am so glad a great film like "No Country for Old Men" is taking Best Picture from this rather than a film like "Crash" or "Chicago." It was one thing to watch "Munich," a film on my all-time Top 10, lose Best Picture despite all the right ingredients back in '05, but then to discover that it lost out to a much less deserving film than "Brokeback Mountain" pissed me the hell off. If "Juno" wins Best Picture...ehh...I guess it could at least argue that it had the box office, reviews, etc... to pull it off, but man would it be undeserving.

Yeah, the thought that this movie will lose Picture to another fantastic movie is as comforting as the thought of a loss can be.

And both have their screenplays up for ready reading and enjoyment on the good ol' Internet.

I think that whole bowling alley ending is the best scene of any movie in 2007. It was the perfect way to send the movie out.

It sure was. Even for regular audiences, seeing a major death and a big "holy shit" ending was miles more satisfying than the very infamous NCFOM ending. Honestly, I don't know one person who said that they liked how it finished. Good thing the movie leading up to it was both phenomenally filmed and immensely entertaining.

I loved it because it showed Daniel's wishes being fulfilled. He'd finally made enough money that he was away from everyone, cut loose the son (which itself was a great scene), and finally did what he'd surely been wanting to do to Eli all along. He's finally reached the end of the road- and lost pretty much all his sanity and decency. It sealed the deal on one of the most complete and thoroughly mind-blowing character studies I've ever seen.

And of course, the "I drink your milkshake!" line.

The best film of the year along with the best performance of the decade, i loved it, im still processing it.