See This...

There Will Be Blood finally opened across the country last week and it was everything I'd hoped. The story of a turn of the century Oil Tycoon, TWBB follows Daniel Plainview (played brilliantly by Daniel Day Lewis...so deserving of his (pretty much) guaranteed Oscar this year) as he buys up land in Little Boston, California and drills for oil (becoming ridiculously wealthy in the process). The film is really a character study of a man driven by greed, ambition and paranoia and the lengths he will go to maintain dominance in his world.

Perhaps most interesting is the maturation of director Paul Thomas Anderson. I am a huge PTA fan (Magnolia was maybe my favorite film of the 90's), but TWBB is completely different from all his other films...it's almost like an old school epic western. The shots are long and gorgeous, the music (by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood) is haunting and perfectly placed, and the performances are spot on. PTA has grown as an artist and it's wonderful to see...almost like an old friend who's growing up and taking on new and interesting challenges. Absolutely one of the best films of the year.