There Will Be Blood

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of my favorite filmmakers and I’ve loved to pieces every film he’s made. I believe it was 2 or 3 years ago I read he was making a new film called There Will Be Blood. Super heightened anticipation doesn’t even come close to describing my desire to see this film and I finally got to see it on Sunday. I was hypnotized throughout the film. Everything about the film- the writing, directing, acting, cinematography, editing, etc…- sucks you in, casts you under its spell and leads to a dazzling finish that knocked me on my ass. Actually I was already on my ass but when the film ended, I sat in my chair not moving.

As more time passes from when I saw the film, it’s sinking in deeper and deeper. There are shots and lines of dialogue I can’t get out my head. Images in the film, so powerful, are burned into my brain and pop up like my own private slideshow. Anderson’s movies always have this effect on me. The amount of times I’ve watched Boogie Nights and Magnolia would appall people of better sense than mine, but I can’t help myself. There Will Be Blood is no different. I want to go back to the theater and watch it over and over and over again.

This film tells the story of Daniel Plainview and his quest to succeed, to dominate all people and things, no matter what. He doesn’t let anything get in his way. Anything at all. He's "an oil man" and he has "a competition in him." His drive is so strong he doesn't want to see anyone other than him succeed. He’s a self-made man who built himself from the ground up and Daniel Day-Lewis plays him to perfection. I think everyone knows that Daniel Day- Lewis doesn’t give bad performances. Ever. I think this is his best performance and knowing what we know about him, that’s no small feat. Much has been made, with good reason, about his performance in the film but I’m surprised more people haven’t made mention of Paul Dano’s performance, an actor who’s work I’ve been enjoying a lot lately and I was beyond excited when I found out he was cast in the film. He plays Eli Sunday, a supposed "prophet," but really he's more interested in profit. This is a film about greed, but it is also a film about God and without Dano's extremely strong performance as the preacher, the film would be broken. You may have seen Dano in Taking Lives, The Girl Next Door or The Ballad of Jack & Rose (also starring Daniel Day-Lewis) but I’m sure you remember him as the self-imposed mute from Little Miss Sunshine. He does incredible work in There Will Be Blood. Look for him as the lead in Spike Jonze’s version of Where the Wild Things Are. Dillon Freasier plays H.W. Plainview, Daniel's adopted son. He is an absolute revelation. His performance is so important to the movie and although his imdb page lists no previous film credits, his work is that of a seasoned actor.

Paul Thomas Anderson has created a film so simple, yet so complicated. I've heard and read that this is a departure for him. I disagree. You still feel his imprint in the writing, camera work (though with less kinetic dolly moves) and cutting style-not mention it is a sprawling epic, much like Boogie Nights and Magnolia (Magnolia takes place in one day but it feels like a lifetime). There is a rhythm to his writing and the beats he uses draw you into his scenes and ultimately his entire film. He isn’t afraid to hold shots. For awhile. (I’d love to know how many cuts are in this film, by the way.) Though the film is just over 2 ½ hours, there is no fat on it- not unnecessary bullshit. I must say when the early word about the film starting emerging and people were throwing around comparisons to Citizen Kane, Giant and other works of exceptionally high caliber, I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t surprised by the fact that he had made a quote-unquote masterpiece. I just nodded ‘Yeah, of course. He’s the fucking man.’ I’ve wanted his films to sweep the Academy Awards but they never do. If There Will Be Blood doesn’t, I might throw my fucking TV out the window.

Robert Elswit is a terrific cinematographer who’s been doing particularly good work lately (Good Night and Good Luck, and Syriana to name a few). This is 4th film with Anderson and his work is nothing less than breathtaking. He created beautiful, lasting, epic images which, as I’ve mentioned, I can’t get out of my head. Not only is the film shot well, it is also edited very well. Dylan Tichenor, an extremely talented editor, who has also worked with Anderson on his last 4 films, does wonderful work once again. The Production Design by Jack Fisk is truly awesome. I would hope to see all of these names on Oscar ballots in a few weeks.

The score is by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead fame. It’s easily one of the best scores I’ve ever heard. I dropped a few tracks on this blog a last month, but heard with images in it’s entirety give rise to the emotions going on in the film, but on the surface and under it. At times subtle and at times not, the score, much like every other aspect of the film, is perfect.

Much has been made of the nearly wordless opening, which lasts, I think, 10 minutes or so. Either people didn’t mention or I didn’t read that there are quite a few nearly wordless sections of the film that are fantastic and exciting. This film is a slow burn and it takes it’s time- necessary time- getting to where it needs to go. But from the first frame you can feel the intensity of it, simmering- waiting to boil, crouched in a dark alley, around a corner, fist clenched, ready to pounce. That intensity never settles. That intensity has been slow cooking in me since I saw it yesterday. I can’t get this film out of head.

Dexter

Pottyboy has been raving about this show, in fact it's his favorite all-time show, and he burned a DVD of the first 2 seasons for me. My fiancée and I stayed up until 4am last saturday watching the first season. Yeah it's that good. Dexter is a forenics expert, specifically a interested in blood spatter patterns, who moonlights as a serial killer. But he kills other "killers" or people he deems bad. He even collects evidence and has a procedure based on years of training from his foster father. Just-"this much"-ever-so-slightly over the top it's barely noticable, Dexter is American Psycho meets CSI (not the shitty NYC or Miami editons, even though Dexter takes place in Miami). But even that doesn't describe it entirely. I'm sure I've said it before, but tone is HUGE, and the tone in this show is balanced so delicately and so well you don't even realize it until you reflect. At times, hilarious, moving, scary and violent this show blends just about every genre into a big bowl. Speaking of reflecting, as the episodes go on, right up and into the finale you realize you've seen a truly well thought out and brilliantly conceived idea that spans 13 episodes. Michael C Hall plays Dexter to perfection and without his performance the show doesn't work. The show just finished it's second season on Showtime, so in the meantime, and the midst of the writers strike, when there's very little to watch on TV, rent the first season of Dexter.

Cloverfield Party

This could be cool. Sadly I'll be knee deep in work. Who's going to go so I can live vicariously.

Roundup

I hope everyone had a nice holiday and a Happy New Year. I’ve seen a bunch of good movies lately and they are all worth mentioning. Here we go-

Juno
In fell in love with this movie early on, and when it was over, I wanted it rewound so I could watch it again. Juno is a 16 year old girl who discovers she’s pregnant and decides to give the baby up for adoption to whom she thinks are the ideal parents. The result is touching and hilarious. This is the debut from screenwriter Diablo Cody and I can’t wait to see what she has coming down the pipeline. It’s also the second film, after Thank you for Smoking by Jason Reitman who has a good eye for comedy and casting. Which leads me to Ellen Page, who plays Juno. Her performance is note perfect, in a delicately balanced film, and award worthy. She’s perfect. Her supporting cast isn’t too shabby either. You can’t beat charm and humor. Check it out.

The Bourne Ultimatum
The best of the bunch. It’s fast and furious but more importantly we see a different Jason Bourne than before and it made the film that much better than it’s predecessors. Matt Damon is such an interesting choice for the character and he’s done it so well. He kinda makes it look easy. There are a few action set pieces here that made me sit up in my chair (couch, whatever). I’ve seen this film on a few 10 top ten of the year lists and I can see why. There is a fight scene in this movie which ranks right up there with the very best and joining it is a fight scene from Eastern Promises (see below).

The Kingdom
I’m surprised this wasn’t a bigger hit. Then again I’m not. People don’t go to the movies to escape something very real to us. An oil company community in Saudi Arabia is attacked at an afternoon picnic/softball game. An FBI crew goes in to investigate. The director, Peter Berg, described the movie by saying the “first two-thirds of the film are like cocking a giant bow with a big arrow and the last third we let it go.” True and true. The movie is taut and intense- it’s a slow burn, but the last 20 minutes are batshit. Oddly enough I saw this movie about two hours after I saw Juno and Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner are in both films, together (literally in Juno, they’re married).

Eastern Promises
I have read that this film plays like an Opera. I’ve never seen an opera but if they play like this, I’m down. Viggo Mortensen is a bad motherfucker in this movie, plain and simple. He plays the “driver” for the Russian Mob, but he’s so much more than that. This film unfolds beautifully and I had avoided trailers, reviews and the like so I went in fairly blind and I’m glad I did. Try to do the same. David Cronenberg directed this and much like A History of Violence, (a film I greatly admired) Eastern Promises is told swiftly and cleanly, meaning it doesn’t muddle down in unnecessary shit. Very admirable, especially for a movie I’d find tempting to tell in a much longer running time.

Shoot ‘Em Up
Fucking crazy. I read somewhere that within the first five minutes of this film, you’ll know whether or not you’re going to like it and I agree. I loved it. This movie is pure fun and adrenaline. The story and the action move fast and some scenes get more outlandish than the next. I mean outlandish in a good way because the action is inventive and well thought it. Clever too. Shoot ‘Em Up would be a fun on a triple bill with Run Lola Run, and Running Scared (Paul Walker -who can really act when he wants to, not Billy Crystal) – a compliment to all of those films by the way. Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti are not usually a disappointment when it comes to performance. This movie is no exception. I mention Giamatti of note- I loved all his work here.

Bug
If you liked fucked up movies and I mean fucked up, watch Bug. It’s from William Friedkin, who directed The Exorcist. Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon play two lonely people who connect and find comfort in one another. Harry Connick, Jr. who alwasy plays "creepy" well, plays Judd’s “ex” who has just been released from prison. This film hits you in back of the head without warning. I wouldn’t call it a horror movie, but it creeped me out in a big way.