Recent Reviews for There Will Be Blood
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MCT:July 6, 2008Here's another one that the academy loved and I didn't. It was just way too long and dragged on so slowly that it was painful at certain points. Daniel Day Lewis is such a great actor though, and he's what kept me interested. I did like some of the themes presented, such as greed and corruption and the definition of the American Dream, but overall I think too much was made out of this movie, although Lewis was terrific, so I don't mind him winning an award for the movie.
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MCT:July 6, 2008Daniel Day Lewis is brilliant in this movie as the cold-hearted oil tycoon, who will knock down anyone who gets in his way, including the scarily real Paul Dano, who plays the preacher Eli. The exteriors, the music, the acting, the excellent script, everything about this movie was perfect.
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MCT:July 5, 2008as a story, in terms of character development and the usual elements of a narrative, i thought the movie wasn't that great. but in terms of execution of cinematic elements like DDL's acting or the cinematography and Johnny Greenwood's score, i thought it all worked really well.
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MCT:July 5, 2008
There Will Be Blood is a cinematically brilliant piece of work. It shows the gritty and twisted life an oil prospector named Daniel Plainview, who is played by Daniel Day-Lewis. He won his second Academy Award for this picture and rightfully so. He gives one of the most memorable performances by an actor since Marlon Brando in The Godfather. In conclusion, There Will Be Blood is an amazing piece of art.
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MCT:July 4, 2008
The hands that indeed built America, on the one hand this film is a testament to the dedication and sheer will power of early settlers to the untamed west, on the other, however, it's a cautionary tale about obsession and greed. Loaded with layers and subtext, this is a frightenging insight into a man so driven by the pursuit of power and capital, and its intoxicating effects, that he forsakes all else. Fairview's initial redeeming quality, as well as any sign of humanity, is in his love for his son, but by the end, he even manages to destroy this due to paranoia fuelled by alcoholism. Like Charles Foster Kane, by his twilight years, Fairview is nothing but a bitter and pathetic figure, who has shut himself away in his gilded cage. Day Lewis's performance is mesmerising and undeniably one of the most well-deserved Oscar wins of all time. Paul Dano holds his own as the slithery and shrewd Eli/Paul Sunday; not an easy feat when placed next to an artist such as Day Lewis. By the end, both characters are indeed finished.
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MCT:July 3, 2008The pace of There Will Be Blood is slow, yet satisfying... much like a milkshake moving through a straw acroooooosss the room. And the ending is nothing short of BONKERS.
Daniel Dae-Kim is amazing in this film, as is all the other actors.. though Paul Dano didn't seem to age. The cinematography, directing, and haunting score are also key. Paul Thomas Anderson is a true filmmaker.
Whether you like bat-shit oil tycoons or bowling, There Will Be Milkshake is 2 1/2 hours of plain-speaking bliss.
I'm finished! -
MCT:July 3, 2008I feel ashamed for not watching this fucking masterpiece.I want to see it badly.Daniel Day-Lewis is a brilliant actor and i want to see his Academy Award perfomance.Can´t wait to come out on DVD.
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MCT:July 3, 2008Daniel Day Lewis again makes this movie so powerful from the inside out. ( Gangs of New York made the passion the actor more unbearable to releize he is one of the best Drama Actors of the 20th century.) This movie is made for people who appreciate the dignity of a early film that had more meaning and passion of what is behind the movie rather then scratching the surface. I understand the "understatement" of what brings a movie to make the knowledge of the 18th century and makes it modernize of effecting the economy of now. Its ironic to show how oil was industry now is starving for more and needs it to survive in life. And in the movie only the richest had it, they were beginning to discover what to use with the oil that was indeed in fact in america.
I thought that Daniel was a tactful yet powerful character that showed alot of purity about his work. I loved the fact that he always annouced himself in a kindly matter to how he meant business and will treat you right with good deeds rewarded. , but dont mess with him else you will get sock puppeted.
Intelligence is a main flaw/quality for the man of many talents, it was revealing how he can show so much and make every minute better and better.
The plot was amazing to the fact it kept on bring more surprises with wit and character and I appericated it had depth to the point it had great meaning about the film.
I could honestly watch the movie over and over again. Even though it had the gore of being a oiler (worker) It showed risk and danger and I admired that. IT had alot of principals people should indeed relate to -
MCT:July 2, 2008
OK, I liked the direction, the fotography, the music, the acting of Daniel Day Lewis, but in the whole I found it very boring...
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MCT:July 2, 2008Crazy dialogue, performances and actions by the 3 main characters. I didn't feel sorry for any of them, including the son. He did try to set his "dad" of fire! Decent film, but vastly overrated.
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MCT:June 30, 2008
Finally got around to renting this movie. I have been wanting to see it since it created all the Oscar buzz. Once again, Daniel Day Lewis takes on a character and gives a flawless performance... but I swear, this man will not do a movie that is not like three hours long. It was a good movie... it was just long and a little too slow in parts. Definitely worth a rent, though... an excellent portrayal of the greed and corruption when the oil industry took off.
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MCT:June 30, 2008
Plainview: You're not my son. You have none of me in you.
H.W. Plainview - Older: [signed and translated by assistant] I thank God I have none of you in me. -
MCT:June 30, 2008i can't really say much about this film that hasn't already been said. top notch cinematography and performances from lewis & dano. ...i found quite a few of their scenes quite humourous as well. this is my favourite film of 2007.
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MCT:June 29, 2008
While I loved no country for old men, the oscar for best picture was definitely deserved here. It was absolutely excellent. Relevant, flawless, masterful.
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MCT:June 29, 2008
Day-Lewis gives one of the most electrifying performances of his career and Paul Dano is simply brilliant.
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MCT:June 29, 2008
Histoire :
C?est l?histoire d?un des premiers pétroliers Américains. Florissant, il rachète à bas prix de plus en plus de terres à de pauvres paysans. Appâté par le gain, le mal s?empare de lui et il devient de plus en plus inhumain.
Points forts :
Très bien joué. La musique est très impressionnante. Le paysage très beau et l?histoire émouvante. Par fois même burlesque, sur un fond de dénonciation socio-économique.
Points faibles :
Le film est long. Les scènes insistantes qui décrivent la méchanceté du personnage principal sont longues et pénibles.
On comprend bien que le film dénonce le comportement d?une personne en 1911 transformée par le pouvoir. Ce même phénomène est celui qu?on connaît aujourd?hui à une autre échelle. Cependant, il n?y a pas de morale qui proposerait une éventuelle solution ou qui donnerait de l?espoir. Ou alors, la conclusion est-elle que le mensonge et la malhonnêteté gagne ? Bien triste, somme toute? -
MCT:June 28, 2008
A solid piece of true American Cinema, in the vein of The Treasure of the Sierre Madre and Citizen Kane,.
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MCT:June 27, 2008
I've only ever seen a clip of this, the part where Daniel Day-Lewis is yelling "I've abandoned my son, I've abandoned my boy!" and that alone gets me all emotional. It looks like a powerful film and I can't wait to see it.
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MCT:June 27, 2008
At first I was a little disappointed, I came out of the theater after what felt like forever and I couldn't really make out what I had seen. The performances are as good as you are likely to see anywhere, visually it's stunning with moments of beauty(the fire), but for me the music is really what carried this movie, which opens sounding like "2001" and ends sounding like "Clockwork Orange", Kubrik seems like a driving influence here, and for the most part it works seamlessly and really propells the film through some of it's slower moments. However, he story does takes a bit too long to unfold, there could have been a cut or two here and there, but nothing major. That being said, it's one of those movies which I couldn't grasp the first time around, ("Babel was another of these, which I love now), but whose scenes end up playing themselves out over and over days later. It's a less technical and less sentimental Citizen Cane, which though technically set before that film, is much more topical, showing oil, ambition, and fundamentalist Christianity at a unique juncture in history that ends up, if not mirroring our own modern time, than definitely refracting it. Better than No Country For Old Men, in verisimilitude of performances, it's ability to mix humor and repulsion, and it's construction, which is less formulaic than No Country, and more satisfying. So yeah it's worthy of it's hype, if only for it's last ten minutes, which contain one of those instant "classic" scenes that comes around rarely. "I drink YOUR MILKSHAKE! I drink it up!"
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MCT:June 27, 2008
Really great overall, but I think it could have been a bit tighter. I found the score really interesting, if you can call it a score. That is a whole lot of jarringly unpleasant noises to be subjected to in 2 and a half hours.
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MCT:June 26, 2008
PTA delivers again with this truly magnificent film. This flick lived up to every bit of it's potential with the best acting all year. I'm still tormented by Daniel Day Lewis' stunning performance, Dillon Freasier's skills as the best child actor on the market and Paul Dano's breath taking attitude through out the entire film. Easily the most quotable film of 2007 and a must see for any movie fan.
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MCT:June 25, 2008
Paul Thomas Anderson does it again! This one left me completely speechless. A very, very chilling film. The more times I watch it, the more in love with it I fall. Daniel Day-Lewis really outdid himself this time...no one else could have pulled o...(read more)ff Plainview as much as he did.
By far one of the greatest films ever made, one of those rare ones that stand out and we'll be talking about for years to come. -
MCT:June 25, 2008
Lordy Lordy! How prescient is this film? A clash of Corporation, Capitalism, Superstition and Religion. Yee-haw! I was mesmerised from the opening scene, and though Daniel Day-Lewis as Plainview did have a bit of the Sean Connery's going on with the old brogue, and despite the rather Dickensian portrayal of the wretched creature at the end, it is a magnificent performance. The film is beautifully shot and I was entranced by the character of Eli/Paul - now there's an actor to watch. The snivelling little shyster! I will definitely watch this film again and again and have (along with No Country for Old Men) had my faith renewed that simple tales, beautifully made are here to stay and say more than any rhetoric or complicated political satire...
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MCT:June 25, 2008
Daniel Day-Lewis is my all time favorite actor. he is great, evil, and greedy. He portrays the character of Daniel Plainview with such distinction that he creates one of the best characters in modern film.
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MCT:June 23, 2008
A sprawling epic about family, greed, corruption, and hte pursuit of the amercian dream. Set in the booming west coast oil feilds at the turn of the 20th century.
