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

[max from fearless]

Years and years ago i posted a draft of the there will be blood script which was an earlier draft than the one released for consideration. That script changed my life in a way. It was such a brilliant construction and now think probably one of the best screenplays I've read - in the same rarefied air as Network for sure. Anyways, long story short. I just read another screenplay that struck the same nerve that TWBB did all those years back. The film is in production, top tier director (PTA has mentioned them in the past) Also a family story with a poltical undercurrent that is clearly present but never needs to named. One thing I thought about that draft of TWBB was how there was this religous/mystical element that the film kind of evades. In the movie theyre both charlatans, the script too, but there was also this - what if energy...If I remember correctly the script posits/suggests a little more forcefully that if the well maybe had been blessed Daniel's son would maybe not have gotten hurt, whereas in the film everything feels very matter-of-fact. Like, I remember reading the script that first time and wishing the well got blessed by Eli. It would be The Master where realism surrealism mysticism and magic become possible and then in Phantom Thread where we actually witness a spectral occurence. Well, in this other script which I can't name (back in the day I would've posted it but my lord how times have changed) this story crosses those lines and mixes the surreal and magical pretty well. I'm glad that film can still be potent electrifying art and that filmmakers are still shooting for the damn moon! It also makes me excited for PTA's new one as these films will be out, fingers crossed in the same year fingers crossed...

[Scrooby]

Saint Bruno
Les Belles Heures du duc de Berry
London
[1959].

[Find Your Magali]

"I thought this was just a Paul Dano flick"

https://theonion.com/breaking-holy-shit-daniel-day-lewis-is-in-this/

[Find Your Magali]

Michael Palin's newest diary volume was published this month and apparently there's a section where he discusses a serious friendship with Paul Thomas Anderson in the early 2000s and mentions that Paul -- before There Will Be Blood -- was batting around the idea of a movie with Daniel Day-Lewis and Palin as the two protagonists.

[ono]

Where? 

[max from fearless]

I dont know if i've ever told this story, but when TWBB finally came out here, I followed the movie on it's release run, bringing various friends to see it again and again (after having seen a friend of a friend's dvd bafta screener 2 months before it came out in cinemas here) anyways, another friend who used to work in a cinema here would always get us free tickets for this cinema chain in East London. The manager was his friend and he would always speak to us after screenings about what films were doing well and why, and we'd love to hear his opinions and what films he liked, although vastly different from ours he was still PASSIONATE AF about movies and wanted movies to do well. It was such a different time to now, where every mofo knows a movie's box office and test screen results, devoid of any passion or pride about the movies, and the blood sweat and years that go into making them. (The Manager even let us screen Goodfellas on my birthday which was incredible and the first time I saw it on the big screen) Anyways, we come out of what must've been our 4th time seeing There Will Be Blood. It was an incredible screening, friday night, full house, paying punters, not no Prince Charles cinephiles screening, this was a real mix of real people from all over East London...and hearing people debating the movie in the foyer was electrifying. You could hear, "I drink your milkshake" becoming a lil bit of a thing, with people repeating it as they left or saying it in the toilets (my fav line was: "There's a whole ocean of oil under our feet, no one can get at it except for me" god i love that dialogue)

We're waiting outside to talk to the manager, he comes out with Sir Ian Mckellan, whose there with a young dude. They'd seen the movie (I think he was a regular at that cinema when he was in town) The Manager introduces him to us and Ian was the nicest, like so chill and generous. We spoke a little about LOTR for like 2 minutes and then me, being total PTA nut at the time, proceeded to go on and on, on a full rant about Daniel Day Lewis in TWBB and Adamn Sandler in PDL for godknows how long. Ian was gracious but I could tell I'd gone OTT, it's hilarious to me now. I think at the time, I thought DDL's performance was the best thing I'd seen in a cinema on initial release. And Ian's films LOTR and X2 were a big deal for me too, but somehow I forgot all about him even with him being right in front of me and being so damn cool and I just went on and on and on about Daniel Day lol. He loved the movie too and DDL's performance...It was such a cool moment, everyone just gassed from seeing a great movie! I'm so glad I didn't run into anyone during The Master's run. I still think the first 3rd of The Master is a miracle of acting and filmmaking, culminating in the processing sequence which is such an astounding piece of work.