Cinema Science

Moriarty over at AICN posted his There Will Be Blood review last week but I just got around to reading today, not wanting to spoil any of the movie before I had seen it. It is probably the best written review I have read of the film and also skews the closest to my personal opinion of it. Below are a few segments, the ones I most agree with (especially the part about first falling in love with movies).

I’m not going to tell anyone that they aren’t smart enough to “get” THERE WILL BE BLOOD, or yell and stamp my feet if it doesn’t win major awards. I’m not going to dig in and demand that everyone take the same things from it that I do. All I’m going to do is observe that it’s rare I feel this strongly about a film after only one viewing. This resonated for days and days after I saw it, though, and there are scenes I can’t shake, dialogue I can’t stop replaying. More than that, there’s this feeling that I had while watching it... a feeling I used to get a lot more frequently. And I think I figured out why it’s less common for me these days.

When you’re first falling in love with film, when you’re starting to realize you are a film geek, there are SO MANY amazing, classic, essential films and filmmakers that you need to catch up with. And thanks to video, I remember when I would fall in love with a filmmaker like Stanley Kubrick and I would be able to watch 2001, CLOCKWORK ORANGE, LOLITA, PATHS OF GLORY, THE KILLING, THE SHINING, and BARRY LYNDON all in the space of a week, all for the first time. Do you know what kind of a hole that left in the back of my skull? Once you’ve really caught up to a certain point, though, you don’t get to discover true classics as often, because there aren’t that many left. You don’t get to gobble up whole filmographies at once because you already have. That experience of having my brain chemistry altered by a film is more and more rare these days, and I suspect the same is true for many of you who are also rabid film freaks. You still hope you’re going to feel it whenever you put on some new film, but you’re starting to suspect that you’ve caught up... that you’re not going to get your head caved in as often... and it’s a little bit depressing.

Well, THERE WILL BE BLOOD was that sort of experience for me. It hit me that hard, that immediately. THERE WILL BE BLOOD restores my faith in American film in general. It is still possible to make a classic, a new film that tells a story in a unique way and that makes no apologies. This is not homage. It’s not post-modern. It’s not pastiche. It’s not a sequel. It’s not a remake. It’s not a reimagining. It’s not ironic. It’s not some ham-handed political screed. It’s not an excuse for style over substance. This is, simply put, a great story about a great character told confidently by a great filmmaker.

He also compares PTA to Quentin Tarantino and has an absolute perfect description of what Tarantino has become. I still love his movies but I always thought he would deliver something more, not just 70's throwback pictures.

I’ve seen many film fans express profound disappointment with Rodriguez and Tarantino for GRINDHOUSE, which they saw as wallowing in the past, drowning in homage. And although I had a great, great time with GRINDHOUSE, I can see why it would frustrate someone looking for growth from either of those filmmakers. Quentin’s enormously gifted, but I can see how some people must be furious to see him using those gifts for mimicry more than invention. He’s like the single greatest maker of movie mix-tapes ever.