Raging Bull (Martin Scorcese, 1980)

Talking about Raging Bull at this point is kind of silly - I'm guessing everything that I want to say has been said thousands of times before and better. Two main points, though. While I certainly liked the movie, I didn't love it. This is probably because of the intensely masculine nature of the film. I've never thought much of boxing in the first place, but Scorcese, the visual master that he is, really brought out the poetry and the beauty in it. I wish I had taken some stills of it, because it really is a gorgeous movie, especially the boxing scenes. The opening sequence, when DeNiro is hopping around the ring and the steam is rising from it, is one of the most beautifully photographed scenes I've ever seen. But the characters are, for the most part, so utterly unlikeable, and while that is never a problem for me liking a movie, it is their unsympathetic natures that really get me. LaMotta ends up a fat, pathetic slob, but it was by his own doing. And strangely enough, the first/last scenes (with LaMotta at the mirror, practicing his terrible act) really impressed me with how great Paul Thomas Anderson is. I shot straight up and knew that this is where the final, infamous scene in Boogie Nights came from. The way Anderson reappropriates this scene (which was, ironically enough, reappropriated by Scorcese from On the Waterfront) is really a great statement on post-modern cinema. So Anderson is this generation's Scorcese, I say. 8/10

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Happy Oscar Day!

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News on PT Anderson's next project?

Even though this Bloody Disgusting news piece is disappointingly void of specifics, apparently they've learned that PT Anderson is considering making a horror film for his next project. At first glance, this might seem like a total WTF? moment, but at its core, There Will Be Blood was definitely a horror film about the effects of greed on the human soul. I hope this vague rumor is true, because he's already conquered the ensemble drama, the romantic dramedy, and the period piece. This might be a challenge, but one he's certainly up to.

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There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

I saw There Will Be Blood this past Sunday, but I've been hesitant to blog about it. Not that it was bad - completely the opposite. It's too good that I really can't say too much about it. The film deals with almost every single universal theme: greed, family, power, you name it. The only thing the film doesn't deal with in depth is romantic love, but unlike other male-centric films, this one doesn't suffer from the lack of female presence. Daniel Day-Lewis is Daniel Plainfield, turn of the century oil prospector who has a habit of coming into towns, sucking them dry, and not paying what he promised. The first fifteen minutes of the film, which some have compared to the beginning of 2001, are wordless and transcendant. Daniel, on his own, tries to mine oil, even falling down a shaft once, breaking his leg, and dragging himself back to civilization on his back. This is truly a man discovering a new world all for himself. Skip forward 10 years, and Plainview is now a rich man with a real operation, trying to branch out to more communities. He meets Paul Sunday, who tells him about the oil on his family's land for $500. Plainview visits the Sunday ranch under the auspices of quail hunting, and meets the family, including burgeoning pastor Eli, twin of Paul (both played by Paul Dano). From there, the Sundays and the Plainviews are intertwined through tragedy and triumph, until the explosive ending. It would be a crime to spoil any of it for you, so I won't. All I can really say is that Day-Lewis gives one of the best performances I have ever seen. In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Peter Travers likens this performance to Orson Welles' in Citizen Kane, and while at first, I thought that was a little ridiculous, now I agree. Day-Lewis, like Welles before him, completely loses himself in the role, until you forget it's a movie at all. Here's one Academy Award that will certainly have been earned. But in all the deserved praise for Day-Lewis, almost no one has mentioned the also great performance of Paul Dano. He shows a great deal of growth from even Little Miss Sunshine, and I think, with a few more meaty roles like this, he could grow into one of the better actors of his generation. Of course, I can't not mention PT Anderson's writing and direction. The movie is epically beautiful, and on account of the breathtaking, epic landscapes, I can't recommend seeing this on the big screen enough. This is Anderson's masterpiece -- I really can't praise it enough. After seeing the film, my friend and I were unable to make meaningful conversation for about half an hour - it's that powerful. It's definitely the best film of 2007, and probably the best film of the decades. See it! 9.5/10

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