there has been blood (and now QT's review of CMBB)

[ElPandaRoyal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri33bydAavI


worth a minute of your time, I think.

it was

Genius.

As for the movie, I finally saw it yesterday, and it's very hard for me to talk about it. After it was over, I could only think I'd never seen anything quite like it. It was strange, and intense, and it blew my mind. I wasn't even sure I'd liked it, because I couldn't think straight about it. Cut to a few hours later, and I couldn't stop thinking about it for a second, its images still blowing my mind, and this is really starting to grow higher and higher in my consideration and will soon become one of my favorite movies. There isn't a single moment wasted in There Will Be Blood, and Paul really did some of his best work technically and storytelling wise.

One of the aspects of the film that really made it for me was the editing, which was fantastic. It's a 158 period minute movie about an oilman (I think we can agree that's what he is) and it never drags. The pace changes a lot in the movie but we don't really sense it, since it all feels natural. And then we get those long shot Paul is famous for, letting the actors do their thing and just placing the camera in the right point of view. Wonderful.

If I had to choose a favorite scene, it would be the bit when H.W. has is accident and Daniel eventually chooses the oil (his obsession) over his child. He's so under the influence of the oil that he makes a decision that's gonna change his life. Daniel is a bad man, yet we feel something very strange for him, like we're hypnotized by him the whole time. Daniel Day-Lewis is the best there is.

I'm not really writing anything new here, so I'm just gonna go and keep on thinking about it.

Oh yeah, and... DRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAINAGE!

[tpfkabi]

One of the aspects of the film that really made it for me was the editing.

There Will Be Dissolves

(i think that's the film term for when one image slowly fades over the next, no?)

[JG]

david bordwell provides a pretty great analysis of what seems to be just another moment in twbb.

[FrunLg]

Berlinale 08: Paul Thomas Anderson - Best Director (holy shit it has that mystery music from the first trailer at the end!!!! someone out there knows what it is!)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SmWMPpdZQv4&feature=related

paul + mya exiting a building with surprise ending
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bZqEaSyCGik&feature=related

admin-edited to include descriptions of wtf these are. i've been guilty in the past of posting youtube links without descriptions and i understand the appeal of it but coming from the other end it borders on assholism.

[modage]

saw this a 5th (and probably final) time FINALLY. 

times square sucks.  i wont let my friends talk me into seeing a movie there again.  the theatre is too bright, all i can see is the lights going down the stairs and people were filing into their seats for the first 20 minutes (uhh the whole no dialogue section!)  it sucked. 

i don't remember if i asked this before but here's another question:

is it daniel or henry that goes after HW after he sets the bed on fire.  its SO dark everytime i see the film i can't make out who it is.  by the breathing i'd almost think it was henry except i don't think even after almost being burned alive he would have the balls to try to school HW like that.  its the new vodka/water.  thoughts?

[JG]

DEFINITELY daniel.

[ElPandaRoyal]

DEFINITELY daniel.

Yeap.

[Pozer]

it's dark indeed, but ive always CLEARLY seen that it was Daniel all four times ive seen it.

[Alexandro]

I inmersed myself into There will be blood yesterday and read pretty much all you guys have said about it so far here. It's hard to conclude something even after all that. All I know is that this is one strong, emotional punch in the fucking gut. I would say also, this is the most uncomfortable film I've ever seen in my life. I kept feeling awkward about everything. And I mean that as a compliment. It was just painful.

I wouldn't call it perfect by any means, but perfect films are not great films for the most part. This is a film for the ages.

[mogwai]

i finally saw it yesterday and i loved it. i have been ignoring this part of the site since november/december. when i saw the finale the entire audience (it was packed) gasped at the same time. it gives me goosebumps now when i write this. cmbb is without a doubt pta's finest work to date. i can't wait to see what he has up his sleeves for the next project. i hope he grabs at least one of the nominations but it's a stiff competition. johnny's score was perfect btw.

[Stefen]

So, I FINALLY saw this this weekend. It was everything I hoped it would be. It was pretty much perfect, and that's not just hyperbole or hype since the hype has already died down. Just a straight masterpiece.

I had paid attention to this thread/forum early on but when I realized it would be a few months before I could see it, I stayed away. It was worth it.

Daniel is in my opinion, one of the sleaziest villains in history. His greed knows no bounds. He has absolutely NO redeeming qualities. NONE. Eli, while manipulative seems to have good intentions. Eventually at the end, the greed finally gets to him too, but I don't think that was because of his doing.   

Quick question. The girl I watched it with felt that the relationship between Daniel and Eli's sister/HW's future wife had undertones of child molestation. Particularly the scene where Daniel grabs her right after the opening of the well and is very playful with her and says "Are you happier now that your father doesn't beat you?" She said it made her think that there was something else going on. I could see it, but I honestly don't think that was PTA's intention. Also, what did Daniel do to the father to get him to stop beating her?

[modage]

Also, what did Daniel do to the father to get him to stop beating her?

he intimidated him to protect mary.  and that was certainly a redeeming quality.

[Stefen]

Also, what did Daniel do to the father to get him to stop beating her?

he intimidated him to protect mary.  and that was certainly a redeeming quality.

It certainly is. But how do you know that is what he did? It isn't really implied that I saw. Sure, he looks over at the father after the little thing with mary, but it's never really applied. Did I miss something?

Also, has it been established yet that it's completely obvious that they're twins? I went into knowing there was controversy with the other actor that dropped out, but it's completely obvious they're twins.

[tpfkabi]

Also, what did Daniel do to the father to get him to stop beating her?

he intimidated him to protect mary.  and that was certainly a redeeming quality.

It certainly is. But how do you know that is what he did? It isn't really implied that I saw. Sure, he looks over at the father after the little thing with mary, but it's never really applied. Did I miss something?

Also, has it been established yet that it's completely obvious that they're twins? I went into knowing there was controversy with the other actor that dropped out, but it's completely obvious they're twins.

yeah, that scene with daniel and the girl felt very odd to me, too.
paul mentions eli name. eli knows who paul is when daniel speaks to him.
i dont' understand why paul didn't just have daniel of h.w. whisper "twins?" when they're both looking at each other after eli has walked away when they first met. i was pretty certain they were twins just by eli's look, speech and demeanor, but it has confused a lot of people.

[Stefen]

Also, what did Daniel do to the father to get him to stop beating her?

he intimidated him to protect mary.  and that was certainly a redeeming quality.

It certainly is. But how do you know that is what he did? It isn't really implied that I saw. Sure, he looks over at the father after the little thing with mary, but it's never really applied. Did I miss something?

Also, has it been established yet that it's completely obvious that they're twins? I went into knowing there was controversy with the other actor that dropped out, but it's completely obvious they're twins.

yeah, that scene with daniel and the girl felt very odd to me, too.
paul mentions eli name. eli knows who paul is when daniel speaks to him.
i dont' understand why paul didn't just have daniel of h.w. whisper "twins?" when they're both looking at each other after eli has walked away when they first met. i was pretty certain they were twins just by eli's look, speech and demeanor, but it has confused a lot of people.

He probably wanted to get everyone to talk. It worked.

Daniel and HW are both perplexed when Eli introduces himself to them so that right there was the first indication they are twins, then in the Sunday house after Daniel goes upside Eli's head he (Eli) proceeds to go upside his fathers head and keeps saying "It was your own son who sold us out because you're too stupid!" which sealed the deal for me.

Heres hoping PTA adds an extra hour of footage to the DVD to keep us talking.

I just can't get over how beautiful this film looked. Elswit is a god. PTA has his own style of violence and I love that. In the beginning when HW's father gets his head knocked off it was filmed in a way that only PTA can pull off. Just stunning.