There Will Be Blood (2007, USA)

Frankly, I loved it. It's an amazing movie. However, it certainly won't leave you dripping with the milk of human kindness. I wouldn't recommend having to interact with other people a whole lot for a little while after you've seen it.

The cinematography is gorgeous, like something Robert Altman or Michelangelo Antonioni would have done in the 1970's. The soundtrack, by Johnny Greenwood, is excellent - horribly so in parts because it's so tense. It's long, but epic long, expansive. David Lean long, not just P.T. Anderson long. I read somewhere that Paul Dano more than stands up to Daniel Day-Lewis, and it's true. Despite the fact that Dano's character disappears for a good part of the second half of the movie, when the two are together, they're like poles of a magnet.

In any case, I'm still wrapping my head around There Will Be Blood. It's both an excellent period piece and big ol' fuck you to the contemporary devils of corporate America. I've been a fan of Anderson's since Boogie Nights, but this movie is a different creature. You can tell it's Anderson, but he's tighter, clearer, and he's finally got something real to say. I can honestly say that even if his next movie stars Tom Cruise AND Tom Hanks, I will see it.*

I'm really on a roll in 2008 - I think I would like it if in the next movie I watch, no one dies violently.

*I really hope I don't end up regretting this.