Michael Margetis (afilmbymichaelmargetis)

#1 Film of 2007 Every so often there is a film that ranks number one on my end of the year top 10 list that is ten times better than anything else on the list. Paul Thomas Anderson's soon-to-classic about greed and oil 'There Will Be Blood' is one of those rare masterpieces. Daniel Day-Lewis delivers what might be the most jaw-droppingly powerful and extraordinary screen performance I've ever seen. I've seen hundreds upon hundreds of movies in my life, and I never remember seeing a performance better than what Daniel Day-Lewis turns in here. He stars as Daniel Plainview, a manipulative and ruthless oil prospector in turn-of-the-century America who travels with his eight-year-old son to Little Boston, California to muscle simple town people out of their oil. When he arrives, Daniel is faced with complications when an equally as deranged and power-hungry sixteen-year-old preacher (played with an off-putting but brilliant creepiness by Paul Dano) stands in the way of his profit. Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia) has always made incredible films, but this is the crowning achievment of his career. It's beautifully constructed, consistently enthralling and unquestionably original, the way every epic should be. Jonny Greenwood, lead guitarrist from Radiohead, also provides a bold and haunting music score. Certainly the most ambitious film of the year, Paul Thomas Anderson's 'There Will Be Blood' strives to be in the same ranks as 'The Godfather' and 'Citizen Kane', but it's not. It's better. Grade: A (screened at Harkins Camelview 5, Scottsdale, Arizona, 1/4/08)