Based on Upton Sinclair's 1926 novel titled Oil!, There Will be Blood is a very good movie. The movie is elevated from being simply good to near great, by the performance of Daniel Day Lewis. It's no wonder DDL comes out of "retirement" for every role. The energy and work he puts into every performance, must put him right on the edge of losing himself to the character.
I have not read the book, so I'm not certain how closely the movie follows it. The story begins in the late 1800's and we find Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) working in solitude, mining for silver with little success. This is how we find him at the end of the movie, a solitary man.
Along the way, Plainview adopts an orphan child, and uses him, the cute young child that he is, as a prop in his sales pitch to swindle poor people out of the drilling rights to their land. I guess I'll never understand the need to swindle...is there not enough to go around?
Plainview finds himself competing for the affections of the town folk with Eli Sunday, played with great passion by Paul Dano. Eli is the local pastor and his motivation is to squeeze every dollar that he can out of his neighbors and Plainview....actions that he would end up regretting by the end of the movie.
Along the way, he meets the half brother he never knew he had, has a falling out with his son after a tragic accident, threatens to kill his competition, has a near comical epiphany as he is forced to come to terms that he abandoned his son. There was actually some laughter from the audience while this scene was playing out (I felt uneasy, because I'm certain the director was not playing that scene for laughs).
All as he descends deeper into madness.
Anchored by Lewis' performance the film is chock full of noteworthy performances. Beautifully filmed, mostly in Texas, it reminds us of simpler times while it also reminds us of the brutality of those times.
You should make an effort to see this film.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
The Eye - 2 stars (out of five)
Why not call it The Eyes? After all, Jessica Alba's character did have BOTH corneas replaced. I guess if they can't get this right, there is little hope for the rest of the movie. And so it goes with The Eye.
Jessica plays Sydney Wells a concert violinist, who was blinded while playing with firecrackers at the age of 5, under the supervision of her 12 year old sister Helen, played by Parker Posey.
Jessica seems to have a good life and she seems happy in it. She lives on her own, and makes a good living making music. Her sister, still feeling guilty about the accident that took Sydney's sight 15 years ago, researches cornea transplants and gets her on the list.
The operation is a success..and then the bad stuff starts to happen. She starts to see and hear bizarre things...dead things, I'm surprised that she did not see Haley Joel Osment's career flash before her eye(s).
She goes to see a specialist Dr. Paul Faulkner played by Alessandro Nivola. He tries to convince her that it is "all in her head". By the third act, he comes around and he is with Sydney at the conclusion.
The Eye starts slowly and has a few creepy moments and the usual "jumping cats" to make the audience think that they have been scared. It all builds up to the last 15 minutes. While some movies run out of gas by the end of the third act, The Eye hits its stride.
While the ending does not explain everything that came before it, it is a very good ending.
Always good to see Rachel Ticotin, who has a small part in the third act. Has it really been 18 years since Total Recall?? Wow, time flies.
I can't recommend going to the theater to see this film. While not horrible, it is just not strong enough to spend $10 on. Catch it when it comes to cable and you'll be glad that you did.
This is the second recent film that Ms. Alba has been asked to shoulder (Awake, being the other). Seems that she is making bad choices when it come to choosing scripts, and I'm really not sure she is up to carrying a movie yet. She is fine when working within a group (Fantastic Four) and she was fine in Into The Blue, but Paul Walker and her bikini carried that movie.
I hope her career moves along and she finds real success and respect. But at this moment, I think I'll crank up the DVD player with season one of Dark Angel:-)
Jessica plays Sydney Wells a concert violinist, who was blinded while playing with firecrackers at the age of 5, under the supervision of her 12 year old sister Helen, played by Parker Posey.
Jessica seems to have a good life and she seems happy in it. She lives on her own, and makes a good living making music. Her sister, still feeling guilty about the accident that took Sydney's sight 15 years ago, researches cornea transplants and gets her on the list.
The operation is a success..and then the bad stuff starts to happen. She starts to see and hear bizarre things...dead things, I'm surprised that she did not see Haley Joel Osment's career flash before her eye(s).
She goes to see a specialist Dr. Paul Faulkner played by Alessandro Nivola. He tries to convince her that it is "all in her head". By the third act, he comes around and he is with Sydney at the conclusion.
The Eye starts slowly and has a few creepy moments and the usual "jumping cats" to make the audience think that they have been scared. It all builds up to the last 15 minutes. While some movies run out of gas by the end of the third act, The Eye hits its stride.
While the ending does not explain everything that came before it, it is a very good ending.
Always good to see Rachel Ticotin, who has a small part in the third act. Has it really been 18 years since Total Recall?? Wow, time flies.
I can't recommend going to the theater to see this film. While not horrible, it is just not strong enough to spend $10 on. Catch it when it comes to cable and you'll be glad that you did.
This is the second recent film that Ms. Alba has been asked to shoulder (Awake, being the other). Seems that she is making bad choices when it come to choosing scripts, and I'm really not sure she is up to carrying a movie yet. She is fine when working within a group (Fantastic Four) and she was fine in Into The Blue, but Paul Walker and her bikini carried that movie.
I hope her career moves along and she finds real success and respect. But at this moment, I think I'll crank up the DVD player with season one of Dark Angel:-)
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