Opening Statement

Ten years later, I didn’t remember many specific details from There Will Be Blood, but as I rewatched the film for the first time so much came up from my subconscious—of course, the film’s reputation and more renowned [and parodied] scenes being in the cultural consciousness helps — by Aaron Pinkston, September 25, 2017

On Fathers and Sons

We see Daniel look down at this baby, his new son, with a softness in his eyes that we never truly see again. There is no audience to this moment, it’s just a father looking at his child as if nothing else existed. How, then, do we arrive at their final scene together? How do we go from this, to a “bastard in a basket”? — by Sarah Gorr, September 26, 2017

I Watched the First Fifteen Minutes of There Will Be Blood Ten Times in a Row

Before Plainview was the deranged, mansion-dwelling robber baron of Blood’s bludgeoning climax, he was a hardscrabble nobody. I’m talking, of course, about the film’s wordless 15-minute opening sequence. It’s a remarkable start to a remarkable movie. But! Is it “Let’s watch this 10 times in a row” good? We’re about to find out — by Matt Warren, September 27, 2017

Scenessential: A Simple Family Dinner

We see H.W. return in a long one-shot that makes use of the wide space and powerful effect of having close up sound with a wide shot. That shot culminates in H.W. hitting Daniel, small fists flying at him, while Daniel shamefully holds a hand up for him to stop. This is a dramatic shot and a showy one but, to my mind, the more impressive scene is the one that immediately follows it — by Marcus Emanuel, September 28, 2017

The Cinessential Podcast, Ep. 22

The regular crew of John Gilpatrick, Sarah Gorr, and Aaron Pinkston return to discuss one of the best films of the century, There Will Be Blood. Topics include: Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano's performances, their characters' relationship, the difficult question of There Will Be Blood vs. No Country for Old Men, and more! — September 28, 2017

Related Review: Syriana

Let me get one thing out of the way right now: Syriana is not the film There Will Be Blood is. Maybe half that. But for me, that still qualifies it as pretty engaging and successful. It’s Traffic for oil—not surprising when you learn that Gaghan wrote the Soderbergh film and that this is his debut as a director — by John Gilpatrick, September 29, 2017