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There Will Be Blood (2007)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
2007 | Drama

"Next up is There Will Be Blood. I gotta say, Paul Thomas Anderson might be the best working director alive. There Will Be Blood was such an interesting balance of showing why Daniel Plainview prospered in the oil rush of California. But it also shows how he’s essentially decrepit as a human being. He’s almost rotting away. He’s losing sight of his own humanity. It’s about dehumanization. Even outside of how gorgeous it looks, especially when the fire ignites the oil derrick and then the camera is rushing in. It’s a low angle tracking shot following Plainview as he’s rushing toward the fire. The colors in that scene are literally just dumbfounding. But the biggest thing is performance, performance, performance, performance, performance! Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing, and Paul Dano as the pastor is freaking insane. Insane! And his dynamic with Daniel Plainview is some of the most compelling s–t I’ve seen on film. The fact that Plainview views Paul Dano’s character as a necessary mechanism to control the people in the town, but he doesn’t give him any bit of respect; Plainview doesn’t believe a lick of what Dano is saying in those church services. But he feels it’s important for the people in the town that are working day in and day out for him to believe it. It’s such an interesting dynamic."

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There Will Be Blood (2007)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
2007 | Drama
Great cast (0 more)
A very unique film that will have most people in one of two camps. Some will love it as a quality film, with a great performance from Daniel Day-Lewis. It's well written and has some stand out cinematography. Others despite this will find the story a bit tedious, boring. The film is a bit too long, some will find it drags in places. I fall in between the two, appreciating a well made film but the story was just not that interesting. If you like films along the lines of the Godfather, charting rise to power etc you should like this.
  
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
1988 | Drama, Romance
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"A testament to how sexy and personal a film about politics can be. Though the film could have been preachy or shrill, the story’s aperture stays tightly focused on the shifting feelings of its protagonists, how their understanding of the politics around them begins to change, how they feel about themselves and, in turn, how willing they are to love with abandon. And finally, it showed me how valuable a small gem of comedy is: Daniel Day-Lewis telling beautiful women to take off their clothes because he is a doctor (a lie) serves as a touchstone of rakish charm throughout the most dire moments of the movie."

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Awix (3310 KP) rated Phantom Thread (2017) in Movies

Feb 9, 2018 (Updated Feb 9, 2018)  
Phantom Thread (2017)
Phantom Thread (2017)
2017 | Drama
Not a Fun Guy to Be With
Yet another reissue of the controversial 1999 movie, but this time George Lucas has taken out all the stuff with taxation and Jar Jar Binks in favour of fashion design... ha ha, I jest.

Daniel Day-Lewis plays an obsessional creative genius who throws himself completely into his work and is very demanding of everyone around him, and is occasionally prone to hallucinating dead family members (so perhaps this role was less of a stretch for him than many).

Initially this comes across as a slightly so-what romantic drama about the relationship between a powerful, privileged man and a much younger woman, with him as a manipulative user and her, essentially, as a victim, but it eventually turns into a dark and even slightly twisted tale of what it sometimes takes to make a relationship work.

Day-Lewis is good, obviously, but so is Vicky Krieps as the woman in his life; presumably it's only her obscurity that's kept her from getting awards nods as she is really as good as he is.

Probably not for everyone, but Paul Anderson's most satisfying and accessible film for some years.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Little Buddha (1994) in Movies

May 27, 2019 (Updated May 27, 2019)  
Little Buddha (1994)
Little Buddha (1994)
1994 | Drama, International
7
6.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Keanu Reeves IS the Buddha in this hard-to-categorise epic. At first glance it looks like a ridiculous choice, but on reflection, which other actor, particularly of his generation, could have done a better job? This doesn't mean that the flashbacks to the Buddha's early life in ancient India are any less difficult to take completely seriously - though vivid and unusual, this part of the film is still as didactic and earnest as the rest of it - but at least they're better than the stodgy present-day stuff, which is afflicted by a performance from Chris Izaak so wooden he makes Keanu look like Daniel Day-Lewis.

Still, for the open-minded there is some interesting material about the origins and philosophy of Buddhism here; not much to reward the cynical, though. It's probably a bit too slow and underpowered to really be considered a success, but few failures are quite as original and interesting as this one.