There Will Be Blood an Unforgettable Film - Best of 2007

It’s not often that I state something with absolute certainly when it comes to film. But with Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood I can tell you without any hesitation at all that it was THE best film of 2007, Oscars be damned. It is truly a unique viewing experience, totally engrossing and curiously so. Based on the novel Oil by Upton Sinclair, There Will Be Blood carries its storytelling with an ambitious intensity that mirrors that of its central character – Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis).

In the very first scene we are witness to the almost inhuman drive of Plainview, a self-made oilman operating at the turn of the 20^th century in the desert wastes of the southwest United States. At the opening we see Plainview working alone in a deep shaft, speculating for oil. The scene introduces a bit of the process to us but also clearly shows the labor involved and the exhausting nature of the work. That Plainview is alone is impressive. He sets a charge at the bottom, climbs out and waits. The charge detonates and upon his re-entry into the shaft, the ladder breaks and he falls uncontrollably to the bottom breaking one of his legs. But despite the severity of his injury and the fact that he is alone, he manages to climb out of the shaft and somehow drag himself back to civilization to gather a team. Plainview has discovered an oil deposit.

Such is the nature of the beast within Daniel Plainview. Driven by unbridled ambition and an unquenchable thirst for success, there is nothing he will not do attain his goals and be the best. He will not be beaten, by nature or man. As far as Plainview is concerned people are an inconvenience only useful for helping him to make his profits, and nature is nothing more than an obstacle to be tamed… by him. He is proud, conceited, violent and remorseless. Daniel Plainview is a very dangerous man.

Fast forward a few years and we see that his operation has grown. He, as he so proclaims to groups of gathered townspeople, is an oilman. When he finds oil (or hears rumors of fields) he immediately moves in for the deal; he must buy the land and he will say and do anything to get it quickly and cheaply. The consummate salesman, Plainview knows all the right moves and words, speaking of his workmen as a “family”, playing up the benefits to befall the local residents and land-owners and even parading his son, H.W. Plainview, to help sell his image. But the words are just words and the actions just actions, for Plainview sees only the money to made, the victory to be won.

When a young man by the name of Paul (Paul Dano) shows up looking to speak with Mr. Plainview the story really picks up. Paul offers the notion of cheap, oil-rich land to Plainview and before long they are discussing location, but all the while both men are careful dancing around each other, evading questions and never answering the specifics of questions posed. With the news fresh in his ears, Plainview scouts the land, finds oil and quickly makes his move, buying all of the land but one holding.

Soon we learn that Paul is really named Eli and Eli, it turns out, is the leader of a local religious group. Plainview is not one for God and Eli is not really one for Plainview, but Eli knows that the profits from his promised share of the oil revenue will help grow his church. He is attempting to use Plainview’s ambition as an oilman as a way to fund his church.

While the themes of ambition and greed underscore the story of the film, the central conflict is a battle of wills – Eli versus Daniel, a player trying to play the player. It plays out in grand fashion and I loved every minute of it. Eli believes that he can hoodwink and control Daniel because he is blinded by his own greed, but he never truly understands what Daniel is – a deranged man who will not be made to serve the ends of another and certainly not be the pawn of Eli and his church. For a time Eli is able to obtain and maintain control… or at least convince himself and his church that it is so. Ironically, it is Eli’s own ambition that blinds him to reality. Where the path he is on leads only one man knows for sure.

There Will Be Blood is truly an epic tale played out in a classic setting that might easily be described as Legendary America. The characters are larger than life and the fortunes to be made enormous; the American dream of a man building his empire shines brightly, whether it be a business empire or a church. Both are prominent in America’s history.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s effort is phenomenal! He crafts the story so as to never let up in its intensity from beginning to end. It pulled me in and didn’t let go until the credits rolled. Even then it still had my attention. Days later I find myself continuing to think about it - Daniel Plainview and his maniacal quest for personal fortune and glory no matter what the cost.

Daniel Day-Lewis’ (Last of the Mohicans, The Boxer, Gangs of New York) performance was the best of his career I would say. Known for living out his roles for the duration of filming, he truly became Daniel Plainview. His character was real and strangely magnetic. Watching him I knew he was scum and legitimately mad but I couldn’t help but watch with intense interest. Like a train wreck or some kind of sick carnival act, he was fascinating and demanded my attention. Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine), too, gave an excellent performance as Plainview’s adversary. Playing the humble and righteous religious leader, watching Eli play out his scheme was pure entertainment.

Viewing There Will Be Blood exactly one week after seeing No Country For Old Men, I can easily say that this film was the best of 2007 and deserved the Oscar for Best Picture. Both are excellent films and rightly deserved nomination, but even with No Country fresh in my mind, it blew me away on a level I did not expect. It’s an instant classic! If you haven’t yet seen it, do yourself a favor and clear an evening (its 160 minutes long) and watch it. Every aspect of this film impressed me and I am confident that it will be a long while before I see another film like There Will Be Blood. It's cinema at its best. It’s absolutely riveting! 10/10

No Country For Old Men an Outstanding Film

Is there really such a thing as fate? If you are to take No Country For Old Men as an example then, yes, there is. Set in the wide open spaces of southern Texas, No Country For Old Men is the story of one man’s chance discovery and the harrowing string of events that play out as a result.

Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is hunting out in the rugged back county of Texas when he comes across a gruesome discovery – a massacre in the middle of nowhere. As he quietly inspects the bodies and the abandoned pickups at the site, he runs across a truckload of heroine, a satchel full of money and one Mexican survivor, barely clinging to life. Uncertain what to do, Moss takes the money and a pistol and leaves the site and returns home. It would seem he just had a very lucky find with a clean getaway to boot. But in the middle of the night compassion gets the best of him and he decides to return to the site to help the survivor. He returns under cover of darkness only to find that the man has been finished off and Moss quickly discovers he is not alone. Chased by gunman, a dog and suffering a glancing gunshot during the chase, Moss barely makes an escape, but he knows it is already too late – his getaway is no longer clean.

Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a ruthless killer to whom we are introduced to in one of the first scenes, is hot on the trail of the two million dollars Moss found. Armed with a compressed air gun that he uses to shoot unsuspecting victims in the head with, he calmly and coolly hunts down Moss, who to his credit, is already two steps ahead on his way out of town. But what Moss does not and can not know is how ruthless, cunning and remorseless Chigurh is and that it is not dependent on what he (Moss) does as much as it is a battle of wills. Fate, it would seem, stands against Moss.

Chigurh, an emotionless man who spouts bizarre pseudo-philosophical banter, will do absolutely anything to achieve his goal of recovering the money. It wouldn’t be unwarranted to expect every person he encounters to be fall by his hand – he wouldn’t think twice of it. His ruthless efficiency in tracking Moss seems impossible until it is discovered that he is tracking a homing beacon in the satchel. But even after it is removed, Moss has his hands more than full. The question is can he survive?

A remarkable film for its ability to set the tone and build suspense with nothing more than silence itself, No Country masterfully sets its events against the reminiscence of the retiring county sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) who tells us (the audience) how it used to be in the old days of Texas law enforcement… a time, he says, when many of the law men he knew growing up didn’t even carry guns. The mysterious string of murders and the drug runner massacre in the desert only serve to dishearten Bell as he suddenly finds himself part of a world he can’t even fathom to explain; a world without moral or remorse. He knows Moss is in trouble, but he is shaken to think that he may not be able to save him from the fate that is chasing him down.

No Country is methodical in its storytelling, rushing nothing and certainly not afraid of the silence, an aspect I found particularly impressive and integral to the film. The Coen Brothers made the most of every piece of dialog, every shot and every bit of natural sound. It felt absolutely real. And at times it was totally unnerving.

Deserving of all the praise and accolades it received (except perhaps its Best Picture win), No Country received marvelous performances from Bardem (Best Supporting Actor Winner), Brolin and Jones, although Jones took on a role that was more supporting that central. Bardem sold his character as being truly unhitched. Everything about his performance, from his walk to his talk, sent the signal that he was truly mad. He even managed to capture an empty, soul-less look in his eyes. No small feat!

No Country For Old Men gets my full recommendation. It fully entertained telling an intense story often through the sounds of silence. Fate, it would seem, need not make a sound. 10/10

Southland Tales Star-Studded, Poorly Constructed

Richard Kelly's alternate history, dark-comedy/drama Southland Tales is a big film with a lot of ambition. In fact, its too big for its own good. Full of edgy concepts and mind-bending plot, it plays out like a weird dream more than an actual coherent film.

In a nutshell, Kelly mixes science fiction, political commentary and dark comedy in a story that takes place in southern California in an alternate universe where America suffered a nuclear attack and has quickly become a government-run police state.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars in the lead role as Boxer Santos, the son of a prominent politician. He has recently gone missing only to find himself in Los Angeles, his mind blank from a case of amnesia. Now he finds himself living with pornstar Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who is reinventing herself as a television pundit. Together they are working on a screenplay. Boxer is busy researching the title character, Jericho Kane, which finds him teaming up with a policeman named Roland Taverner (Sean William Scott) and this is where things take a serious turn for the decidedly weird and confusing.

It is a point of fact that Southland Tales becomes so confusing that it is virtually impossible to know what is really happening until its final act, where finally the audience is able to glean that Boxer's amnesia is the result of a time travel phenomenon that also happened to involve Taverner (which explains why there are two of him running around). But in the meantime the film has also brought a second storyline into play that involves a company on the verge of a technological breakthrough that will break America's energy dependence on oil once and for all. It seems that a scientist has found a way to harness the energy of ocean waves. It all sounds too good to be true (it is) and for some reason the demonstration of this technology will usher in the apocalypse. It is up to Boxer to stop it.

Back up. Apparently the events of Boxer's screenplay are mirroring reality and now he is really IS the hero, not simply researching the role of one. The only problem is that none of this actually makes any sense at all! And in getting to this point we have encountered a cast that includes Justin Timberlake, Mandy Moore, John Larroquette, Kevin Smith and roughly half of Saturday Night Live's alumni (Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler, Jon Lovitz, Ganeane Garafalo, etc). There are so many characters and so much going on that Southland Tales comes across as little more that schizophrenic. It is a mess.

Richard Kelly was the mind behind Donnie Darko, so the fact that this film was trying to be heady and think outside the box is not surprising. Watching it I got the feeling that I should somehow be taking more away from it, but the presentation just flat out didn't work and instead of thinking outside the box, Kelly simply over-filled it. As a result, the film never achieves focus and everything becomes irrelevant.

Kelly has said that this was intended as a dark comedy. With all of the obvious political commentary that permeates the film, that at least comes through loud and clear. Even so, I really wasn't entertained.

This film is completely confusing. Some films confuse but are still enjoyable despite that fact. Southland Tales is not and I recommend that you avoid it. You can easily find something more worthwhile to fill two hours. 3/10

Rescue Dawn Features Brilliant Performances

Why settle for reviewing just one Werner Herzog film when you can review two Herzog films in one evening? A reasonable answer does not present itself and so I shall commence with my review of 2006's Rescue Dawn.

Rescue Dawn flew under my radar (no pun intended) until just recently when I started seeing television ads for it, seeing it in stores and hearing some very favorable comments about it word of mouth. The fact that it also stars Christian Bale also peaked my interest as I have become a real Christian Bale fan. (Batman Begins, The Prestige, American Psycho, 3:10 to Yuma)

Based on the true story of Vietnam POW Dieter Dengler (how loosely I don't know), Rescue Dawn follows him through his experience in a POW camp, subsequent escape and ultimate rescue.

A pilot flying his very first raid against Viet-Cong targets, Dengler gets shot down and manages to survive the crash landing. For a short while he even manages to evade capture, but eventually makes a wrong move and is discovered, apprehended and imprisoned in a small POW camp with 6 other men, but only after refusing an offer for freedom that would have had him denounce the United States.

Deiter's back story is that he is a German immigrant, a child during World War II that upon seeing US fighter planes fly over his village harbored the dream to one day be a pilot himself. His determination to realize his dream as an immigrant translates into his iron-will and mental discipline that enables him to escape his captors and flee to freedom.

He quickly befriends the other POWs, among them a two Americans, one named Duane (Steve Zahn) and another named Eugene (Jeremy Davies, reminiscent of his role as Charles Manson in 2004's Helter Skelter). They have all but given up hope and it falls to Dieter to lead and inspire them to find hope again.

The focus of the movie is on the minutia - those small bits of humanity and routine that keep these men sane. While the others are more or less resigned to their fate, Dieter focuses his mind to stay sharp, always looking for opportunities to exploit his captors' mistakes and escape. His planning eventually pays off and the men escape, but ultimately going off on their own, except for Duane who accompanies Dieter into the thick jungle.

Duane is a truly broken man, physically and mentally. Reduced to a shell of his former self, Steve Zahn's portrayal is one that is far more deserving of attention and acclaim than it received. He surprised me and brought to life a genuinely sympathetic character who had absolutely nothing left. Despite all his effort to help his fellow prisoner and comrade, Dieter is unable to reach freedom with Duane who is forever lost in the jungle. His loss begins to haunt Dieter and he continues on alone to his eventual rescue.

Unlike most war films, Rescue Dawn is very quiet and introspective, examining the nature of will and hope rather than more common aspects of war like the actual combat. In so doing, I think Herzog stays true to what kind of story this is. He doesn't sensationalize it or overproduce it. Instead it is more an intimate journey that demonstrates how a man can defy overwhelming obstacles and odds. It is a story of survival, physically and spiritually.

The highlights of this film were unquestionably the performances of Bale and Zahn, who gave everything they could to their roles and it was clearly evident. Its unfortunate that they didn't receive more acclaim, especially Zahn who showed his range with the character of Duane.

The film is a bit slow and methodical at times and as I've said it isn't flashy or sensational, but I did appreciate it. However, it's probably not for everyone so I'll throw that right out there for those who haven't seen it. If you don't like introspective films or stories without a lot of action that quickly advances the story, you'll probably want to stay away. For those of you who appreciate details and great performances, Rescue Dawn gets a strong recommendation. 9/10

Grizzly Man - Best Unintentional Comedy. EVER!

Call this old news. Call me late to the party (I am). Just don't call me late for dinner.

Yes, over a year after its release I finally got around to viewing the now notorious Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog's documentary following the exploits of one Timothy Treadwell, aka the "Grizzly Man".

If you've already seen it, I beg your patience with this post. Please allow me the pleasure of indulging in this review. If you've seen it, you already know where this is heading and it isn't flattery for Mr. Treadwell or his cohorts. They are crazy. The whole lot of them. They are full-blown GONE! Over the rainbow. They have punched their tickets to La-La Land.

Timothy Treadwell spent the last 13 years of his life living in the remote wilds of the Alaskan Peninsula for reasons only God knows. Timothy, in his many monologue-filled recordings, would tell you he was there to save the bears. From who or what I cannot tell you. It's a federally protected wildlife reserve, a little fact like that wouldn't stop Timothy from saving them anyway. As I see it, he basically despised humanity, was a social outcast to begin with and this drove him into the Alaskan Wild where, for better or worse, he mingled with the bears and foxes and the glorious splendor of nature. I don't hold that against him. Its a free country and he can do what he liked as far as I'm concerned. He wasn't hurting anyone. In fact, he wasn't even in their way. He couldn't have been farther from it.

He also couldn't have been father from sanity. His exploits, and all their intimate details, would have been lost forever if it weren't for Werner Herzog deciding to take Timothy's over 100 hours of self-shot video footage and making it into a documentary of his life with the bears. Only God knows why he decided to do so, but luckily it turned out to be worthwhile. Wholly unintentional, Grizzly Man is a first rate riot!

I had heard so many stories of this film from people who had seen it that I fully expected it not to live up to my high expectations. Even so, it surpassed all my expectations! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Herzog, for all his good intentions, only served to expose Treadwell for the nutcase he was.

Sequences such as one where Herzog is describing Treadwell's childhood saying quote, "He was blossoming into an all-American boy"... meant to be a play on an image of truck from a flower business where he worked as a teenager. Only it didn't help that the truck read "Nick's Pansy Farm", immediately cutting to Timothy making diving motions through the air. It was probably just unfortunate editing. But of course then there is the whole side exposition of his sexuality (how it was relevant to the film I don't know) that included a fairly lengthy segment of Tim talking about how being gay would be so much easier than being straight. Not only was his reasoning just a little insensitive to the gay community at large (apparently all gay relationships are casual and without emotional consequence to paraphrase Treadwell), the whole sequence was obviously one of Treadwell trying to convince himself that he wasn't. Truth be told, there was really no real reason, as far as bears were concerned, to even capture that on film. Awkward.

But that was Treadwell and this film as a whole. When Herzog interviews one of Treadwell's close friends and ex-girlfriend he asks her if she feels like his "widow". She responds by laughing at the very notion... only to then stop suddenly and earnestly reply, "Yeah, I think so." What?!! Then there is the coroner who performed the autopsy of Treadwell's bear digested remains. Cause of death - eaten by bear. However, the ridiculous notion of performing an autopsy on a person eaten by a bear takes a back seat to how truly weird the coroner is, all of his descriptions overly dramatic and assisted with full-on gesturing.

Then there was the "actor" friend from California who talked about Timothy and his Australian accent... which I'm pretty sure he didn't have (never in the film). Then when admitting that Timothy was mostly a fake in such regards, this "friend" casually shook it off as if the fact that everything about the guy he knew was more or less under suspicion was trivial. Okay, buddy.

And of course we get back to Treadwell himself who diatribes against the government (on pace to out-"f**k" The Big Lebowski), punches bears in the face to show his "dominance", revels in touching fresh bear dung (because it was inside the bear!!!) and literally scolds flies for feeding on rotting fox corpses. For a guy who loves nature, he sure didn't seem to understand natural law... or the role of predators... or life and death for that matter. In the end, for all its seriousness, Grizzly Man only comes across as bizarre, awkward and unintentionally hilarious as we see scenes and meet people that, not knowing better, we may have though was nothing more than a lampoon of nature documentaries to get some laughs. It is that ridiculous!

Watching this film, I literally could not believe what I was seeing most of the time. If you want to see genuine craziness, watch Grizzly Man. If you've already seen it, you know exactly what I mean. If you haven't, gather up some friends and take an evening to watch it. It won't disappoint. Honestly, where else will you ever hear serious dialogue the likes of, "Here we see Mickey versus Sgt. Brown for the right to court Jupiter, Queen of the Bears!" All this and more in Grizzly Man. 8/10

Perfect Blue A Very Different Anime Experience

My tour of Satoshi Kon's filmography eventually had me sitting down to watch Perfect Blue. I had first heard about it a couple years back when I first started getting into anime with Miyazaki films. Notably different from other Kon films, Perfect Blue is far removed from the more fantastic themes of his other films and carries a much darker, mysterious feel.

A psychological thriller, Blue has drawn comparison to Hitchcock for its style, which includes a slower methodical pace and unnerving, suspense-filled aesthetic designed to keep the viewer guessing what it real and what is not.

The story centers around pop icon Mima Kirigoe, who at the height of her popularity in the band Cham decides to call it quits and pursue an acting career. A nerve-racking transition in its own right, Mima finds herself quickly losing her sense of security when show business isn't all she thought it would be. But her world is slowly torn apart when she begins encountering malicious content aimed at her on the internet. Someone is out to destroy her and she knows neither who is behind these acts or how to stop them. Suddenly isolated, personally and professionally, Mima is completely vulnerable.

Paranoia soon overtakes Mima as she loses all sense of what is reality and what is only in her imagination. While others begin to question her wellness, the danger to Mima's life intensifies and culminates in a brutal attack by a deranged, obsessed fan.

I have yet to watch Perfect Blue a second time, but I really feel I need to re-watch it. I didn't dislike the film, but I found myself really struggling to get into it for the duration. The suspense did not grab my attention and pull me in like the mind-bending story of Paprika or the life reminiscing journey of Millenium Actress. However, true to high visual quality of Kon's films, Perfect Blue features great animation.

Going back to the earlier Hitchcock comparison, I think that perhaps my reaction to the film is less about the film itself and more to the genre. I've enjoyed Hitchcock films in the past (Vertigo, North By Northwest, Psycho) but by no means consider myself big a Hitchcock fan. I've never really gotten into those films as a genre. I think that a bigger suspense fan might have a more enjoyable experience with Perfect Blue. Until I am able to give it a second viewing, I'd say that Perfect Blue is the Kon film that I have enjoyed the least to date. That said, it is by no means a bad film. 7/10