Yes, There WILL Be Blood

I got pissed/frustrated and stomped off all by myself to the movies.

I went and saw Paul Thomas Anderson's THERE WILL BE BLOOD, mostly because of the Oscar-hype, but also because the trailer looked interesting. So, when the lights went down on the theater I was in (which was JAM-packed with a mostly 65 and older crowd) I had no idea what I was in for.

The first 15 minutes, there is no music or speaking. Just Daniel Day-Lewis sweating it out in a silver mine. Then, slowly but surely, the madness began. If you have no idea what this movie is about here it is in a nutshell:

Daniel Day-Lewis plays Daniel Plainview, who is an "oil man." He goes around and sells himself as a caring single father, who (for a sizable piece of the pie) will help people who are sitting on oil. His methods are questionable, but for the most part--he seems like an okay guy. Then this boy shows up in his office, and offers to tell him where there is a shit-load of oil. Seriously...A LOT OF DAMN oil. So much oil, the boy tells him, that the black stuff is literally bubbling up out of the ground. This lead sends him to a small southwestern town where a lot of simple people are being controlled (protected?) by another young man who claims to be a profit from God.

The rest of the film is these two characters duking it out--for oil...for money. As a whole, the film is pretty good. It's really long (like 3 hours). I'm not sure if it needed to be that long, but I honestly can't think of a single thing I'd take out. Anyway, what makes this film so amazing, and great--as a piece of art, is Day-Lewis. His performance is amazing. Actually, all the performances are amazing.

Like a lot of critical "darlings," I can't say that this movie is for everyone, but I was really impressed with it. I'm not sure if it's the "best movie, ever" like some people out there make it out to be, but for what it is, it's good. Overall, the Limemonkey says check it out on DVD after it wins Best Picture.

Oh, and as a side note...the infamous "milkshake" scene has what is probably the greatest/most memorable film quote I've seen in years.