In Which We Begin Our Run Through the Supposed Best Pictures of the Year

We will be looking back at our original reviews of the five-Academy nominated films this week. Since I never wrote anything about Atonement, either I will have to find a senior citizen who did, or actually view it. As Molly put it, “Juno should have been called There Will Be Blood.” Shit, I never reviewed Juno either. Here’s the short review: George-Michael Bluth? Was this the hottie who played Shadowcat in the third X-Men movie? Alison Janney’s last role? Michael Bluth? Pro-life? Jennifer Garner’s a man? Who directed this shit? Enjoy our review of Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest. Tomorrow: No Country for Old Jews.

Finding You Where You Are, Cutting Your Throat

by Alex Carnevale

There Will Be Blood

158 minutes

dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

After his bizarre 2002 film, Punch-Drunk Love, Paul Thomas Anderson took awhile to find himself. A talented writer and and an even more talented director, Paul’s ability to generate his own material and inability to direct other people’s material put him, like Quentin Tarantino, in a difficult spot.

The auteurs that Anderson and Tarantino idolize largely wrote their own material, too. Writing is difficult, writing original material that will be judged against your previous masterworks even more so.

As Daniel Plainview, Day-Lewis oozes charisma. He would have been a great choice to play Sarah Connor in the new Terminator TV series. He’s spectacular here, and I don’t think there’s a scene he’s not in.

PTA movie recommendations

With a meditative beginning, an action-y middle, and abbreviated Wellesian ending, There Will Be Blood is paced beautifully.

FI: Was it Anderson’s script that hooked you?

DDL: It always begins with a script. If the script doesn’t appeal to you, it doesn’t matter how much you admire a man through his work. You have to begin with that initial shocking encounter. He’s a wonderful writer, quite apart from everything else. Then other things begin to simmer away there, too. Certainly I’ve been a huge admirer of Paul’s work, and I like spending time with him as a man, too.

Back in 2002, I went to see one of the first screenings of Punch-Drunk Love, at Harvard. PTA was hung-over and sniffling like a drug-addict afterwards. It was obvious the movie was a work of love, and even more obvious that the film was a lovely disaster.

“Lean On Me (b-side)” – Aretha Franklin (mp3)

Q: So how did you two get together to make this movie?

Anderson: I knew through the grapevine that Daniel had liked “Punch-Drunk Love” a lot, so I felt confident enough to ask him to read the script I was writing. It worked out really nicely just because our lives were at a good spot. He was ready to work and I was in New York at the same time he was in New York. So, long afternoon walks and really good breakfasts.

Day-Lewis: We really tucked away some ham and eggs.

The fun thing to watch over the course of Paul Thomas Anderson’s career is his shifting directorial style. Normally he’s not exactly Mr. Subtle, and there are scenes here in which both actors and directors might have held back more. But for the most part, There Will Be Blood an innovative, brilliantly stylized film.

The opening sequence itself is Leone meets Scorcese, and the film’s more violent passages don’t make you recall any other director. They are moving and brilliant in new ways. If this is the next evolution of PTA, that’s great. This film may be the shortest-feeling 3 hour film ever made.

post-screening Anderson and Day-Lewis Q and A (mp3)

While There Will Be Blood is a more than satisfying movie, only in this empty year could it be considered a best picture. It has no women, it has no suspense. It has many flaws. It is written and directed beautifully; I still can’t imagine it being of interest to much more than PTA fanboys and cowboys.

Of course, sometimes the most narrow things appeal to the widest audiences, but I still have a hard time thinking of someone who would enjoy this film, even though I did.

That’s unfair, I’m sure. As someone who would give Paul a kidney, I was expecting a lot. I sat through Magnolia enthralled, and Boogie Nights and Hard Eight kick-started my inevitable ventures into pornography and prostitution.

Maybe There Will Be Blood was Paul proving he could make a film like this. From the critical reaction, he must feel satisfied that he’s back in the good graces of the general public. If this means less sprawling masterpieces and more conventional studio films from one of the finest talents in Hollywood, I’ll take the latter should it mean more movies in the next five years than he made in the last five.

Alex Carnevale is the editor of This Recording.

“Ain’t But the One” – Aretha Franklin with Ray Charles (mp3)

PREVIOUSLY ON THIS RECORDING

Experimental poetry worth reading.

We went to the war.

These pictures disturb us.

ellen page/shadowcat