There Will Be Blood - now with child/partner forum we call H.W.

Started by depooter, March 27, 2005, 02:24:56 PM

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Ultrahip

From a Croation fellow at Amazon.com ~

"Oil!" is a fast-paced, lively and colorful story. Although Sinclair uses it to preach his political views, it is nevertheless a good piece of literature and an interesting historical testimony to the era in which it was written. Another striking thing is how Sinclair's descriptions of corporate manipulations tend to mirror very recent events. Interesting also is that Sinclair uses one of the oldest cliches in American literature, the coming-of-age story, as the vehicle for this epic; at the same time, there are indications that Sinclair seems to mock this manner of story-telling - from the main character's rather silly nick-name, "Bunny" to his perennial inability to make up his mind about where he wants to go with his life, i.e. he never really 'comes of age.' Other reviewers have noted Sinclair's apparently naive promotion of socialism/communism/the Bolsheviks, which is a valid criticism, although to me it seemed more a case of the author throwing out ideas to provoke readers into thinking rather than an attempt to persuade them. In this sense, his use of the family of a wealthy California oil baron as the main protagonists is quite telling: although Sinclair does take the opportunity to highlight the hypocrisy and greed of the moneyed classes, he also makes a genuine attempt to portray them as real people rather than just grotesque caricatures.

~ Apparently Oil! also places large emphasis on the father-son relationship. Between that, coming of age, and a funny nickname, this seems perfect for Paul.

Redlum

Yes! Watch "Oil!" climb the bestseller charts on Amazon.

Great, great news.
\"I wanted to make a film for kids, something that would present them with a kind of elementary morality. Because nowadays nobody bothers to tell those kids, \'Hey, this is right and this is wrong\'.\"
  -  George Lucas

Pubrick

another idea stolen.  :(

another awesome film in the making.  :)
under the paving stones.

Pubrick

Quote from: flagpolespecialdo you suppose he has the beard solely for pta's next project?
that was the implied connotation.
under the paving stones.

MacGuffin

Quote from: flagpolespecialalso. has greg taken down the news frome cigarettes and coffee? cos i read the news while i was at work. and now that i'm home it's not there. the update has disappeared. any one know why? did paul perhaps ask greg to take it down to control speculation or am i reading too much into this?

It's still there.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

Gamblour.

Yeah, I don't know if I should read the book first. Someone decide for me.

It's funny that the quote on the cover from Amazon says, "A marvelous panorama of Southern California life...It's story-telling with an edge on it." That could be said for any PTA flick, generally.
WWPTAD?

mogwai


modage

Quote from: flagpolespecialas much as i love knowing everything i can learn about paul thomas anderson. i believe the experience of watching a film is greatly diminished if you read the book upon what it is based first.

i'm torn.

i don't think i'll read the book. i want a truly cinematic experience.

anyone else feel the same way or am i crazy?
you're not crazy.  my first instinct was also to read the book to learn more about the project, but that is probably the worst thing you could do to a PTA movie.  this seems surprising.... but if it wasnt, that would probably be bad.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Find Your Magali

I'm leaning heavily toward not reading the book. ...

If for no other reason than the fact that I already have about 73 books piled up on this summer's reading list.  :(

It will be a fascinating reading for afterward, though, to see how PTA cracked the adaptation.

Jeremy Blackman

I'm actually leaning heavily toward reading the book. And I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I'm assuming the movie will be different enough from the book.

Gold Trumpet

I read an interview with Day-Lewis recently in I believe Moviemaker magazine (not sure) and when they talked about his future and retirement, he surprised the interviewer by saying he had a new project (film) to do in June. Considering how thorough he is with each film, it would be no shock this "project" would be the PTA film.

Kal

I'm not so excited about this so far... and it seems like a lot of speculation... I'd rather wait before reading the book or getting excited about it

Ultrahip

in the day-lewis pic above, who the hell is that dude breathing down his neck? creepy bastard

Pubrick

Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanI'm actually leaning heavily toward reading the book. And I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I'm assuming the movie will be different enough from the book.
tho he prolly picked this book cos it's obscure enuff that only hardcore fans would actually sought it out to spoil it for themselves. i mean, it's not like he's adapting a bestseller.

i'm gonna read the book if i can find a copy of it. in my experience, books only hurt adaptations if the movie is a piece of crap. unless this is sum book with a major twist, knowing the story won't hurt the film at all. from reading the amazon reviews, sumone called it a precursor to "dallas", so maybe it is full of twists.

either way, it's a historical piece about a land in transition. and if it's as good as it sounds ambitious, i'll be rewatching it so many times it won't matter if i read it first.
under the paving stones.

squints

i'm in a library right now, and...there...i checked it out
"The myth by no means finds its adequate objectification in the spoken word. The structure of the scenes and the visible imagery reveal a deeper wisdom than the poet himself is able to put into words and concepts" – Friedrich Nietzsche