# I watched "There Will Be Blood" \[Spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796 "2011-08-15T17:16:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/41 "2011-08-15T22:30:49Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Haven’t seen them, so they can remain velociraptor free for the time being. I’d dearly love to introduce Forrest Gump to a carnivorous dinosaur, possibly after drenching him in gravy and tying his shoe-laces together. Clever girls are as clever girls do… ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/42 "2011-08-15T22:34:25Z")
Great movie, IMO. I actually love the opening scene, almost 20 minutes without any real dialogue. Absolutely brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/43 "2011-08-15T23:15:11Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > It’s a slow, bleak tragedy, so it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. Hated the movie, and this was exactly why. Reminded me of 1984 (the movie) or Goodfellas, which I disliked for the same reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/44 "2011-08-15T23:23:47Z")
TWBB is a parable about the battle between capitalism and religion for control of America. Both are scammers preying on naive bumpkins. They sometimes pretend to cooperate, but despise each other. Ultimately, capitalism wins because even religion wants money. Capitalism is more pure in some ways. Unlike religion, it delivers. Plainview basically gives people what he says he will give them, and gets everything he wants. It requires a complete surrender of the soul, though. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/45 "2011-08-15T23:26:50Z")
I don’t need constant action in my movies to keep me entertained and I found TWBB boring. The movie failed to convince me to care for the characters or that anything that was happening was important. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/46 "2011-08-15T23:42:25Z")
You weren’t supposed to care for the characters or think anything that was happening was important. It was trivial people battling over trivial things. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/47 "2011-08-15T23:48:30Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > You weren’t supposed to care for the characters or think anything that was happening was important. Mission accomplished. Guess that’s why a fair few of us found it boring. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/48 "2011-08-16T02:50:10Z")
To start with, I think it’s one of those films that _must_ be seen on the big screen. The first twenty or whatever minutes were nothing short of stunning to watch and hear. That being said, I do think Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance was overrated. Not in the sense that it wasn’t captivating, because it absolutely (to me ) was. But that’s just it, it was such a “performance”. I loved every moment of watching it but I never once believed it or forgot I was watching a celebrated actor. Same as “Gangs of New York”. The whole film was a spectacle to behold because there was so much production value. Forgive me, I absolutley don’t want to sound like a movie snob, but it’s kind of a “movie lovers’ movie”, If that makes sense. I can totally see how someone could walk away not liking it. Frankly, as much as I enjoyed it, I wouldn’t particularly call it accessible. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/49 "2011-08-16T03:34:14Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Some movies just take their sweet time being awesome without attempting to razzle dazzle you with tricks and twists. Just good old fashioned acting. > > To watch Plainview’s character unfold before me is worth the price of admission straight away. > > To realize that he really did use that boy as a sweet face to gain favor makes you recoil, but you are haunted to realize that he really does love the boy. It’s not said, but it is slowly revealed…in beautiful shots of him cradling the boy after the deafening accident, taking the boys beating when he picks him up after abandoning him, or that intense scene where he is forced to scream that he has abandoned his boy at the top of his lungs. You can feel the moment when he realizes that Eli chose this particular mantra to coerce him with because he recognized the boy as Plainview’s _only weakness_. And once you realize that the boy is his weakness, you can’t watch the ‘bastard in a basket’ scene without feeling a tiny droplet of sympathy for the monster yelling the offending phrase. > > I could go on and on, obviously, but I will wrap it up by saying that the movie is slow. That’s all the better to savor the music, the nuances, the absolute delicious huge scope of it all. Let the characters really develop and blossom while the camera never wavers. Terrific stuff. I love this post. Yes. And yes. And yes etc. This was not only my favorite movie of that year, it’s one of my All Time favorite films. I couldn’t say it much better than the above. Tragic, yes. Funny (as hell), yes. Slow, oh yes. All the better to savor. I agree about seeing it in the theater but I have no basis of comparison. I saw it 8 times in the the theater and if it came back in a PTA retrospective or something I’d see it 8 more times. It’s grand and majestic, and warped and brilliant. And, IMO, it has one of the [BEST](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqrZSYzg1GU&feature=related) [scores](http://youtu.be/xttJwDP9I3s) [ever](http://youtu.be/3R75NhMQC8Q) [ever](http://youtu.be/WpaCymKWfgM)[ever](http://youtu.be/UOCTwtZDpF0) [ever](http://youtu.be/O3hoQWJmZlE) [ever](http://youtu.be/SaZ0r_NQYMM). I could go on. That soundtrack is just exhilarating to me. IN the theater, on the big screen, with big speakers and a great sound system, it electrified me. It still does, but it can’t possibly be as intense. Much of it is so odd and alien and I know a lot of people hate it, but it perfectly captures Daniel Plainview and the movie. Not all of it was by Jonny Greenwood. [Arvo Part](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vO92REraUo&feature=related) added some brilliance, as of course did [Brahms](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EhQd4nugps). I loved the fact that it did so well (beyond Daniel Day Lewis’s performance) during [awards season](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469494/awards), but that’s because 1) I’m an awards geek, and 2) very very rarely do my favorite films come up for awards, let alone be near frontrunners. If **No Country for Old Men** had been released the next year, **There Will Be Blood** would have had a better showing. It did win 2 of its 8 Oscar nominations (Cinematography was the other one, besides Day Lewis). Oh what a grand year that was. [SO MANY](http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000003/2008) great movies getting attention. My favorite movie of the year up against my favorite filmmakers? Multiple awards orgasms all season long. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/50 "2011-08-16T05:53:52Z")
I saw it on DVD and loved it. I dislike cinemas and rarely go to the movies. It’s a subtle film that doesn’t telegraph an obvious moral conclusion. It lacks recognisable “goodies” and “baddies”. So, naturally, a lot of people see it as boring and pointless. ---
**Author:** ![Stowed\_Bob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stowed_bob/32/3312_2.png) [@Stowed\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stowed_Bob)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/51 "2011-08-16T08:13:25Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > The movie’s about drainage, **PSXer** ; _drainage_. I’m so sorry. > > Here, if I have a milkshake, and you have a milkshake, and I have a straw… you see? Are you watching? And my straw reaches acroooooooos the room and starts to drink your milkshake. > > I… drink… your… milkshake! Every day I drink the Blood of the Lamb from Bandy’s tract. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/52 "2011-08-16T08:31:38Z")
worked in oil and gold and in both, particularly at certain points in history, crazies sometimes ended up on top. it showed how fast a man can go up and how fast others get left behind, like it was the devil’s gift. besides that my interest was mainly professional. i liked the natural gas blowout that wrecked the kid’s eardrums. realistic. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/53 "2011-08-16T12:14:12Z")
That particular emperor is naked as a jaybird. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/54 "2011-08-16T12:45:29Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > You weren’t supposed to care for the characters or think anything that was happening was important. I disagree, more than anything else the film is a character study. I think enjoyment and appreciation of it hinges on whether you can find some sympathy with the character of Plainview, which isn’t the easiest task. > [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Hated the movie, and this was exactly why. Reminded me of 1984 (the movie) or Goodfellas, which I disliked for the same reasons. I didn’t like Goodfellas, because I actively disliked the characters. I can appreciate it’s a good piece of film-making, and Joe Pesci is terrifying, but I can’t enjoy it at all. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/55 "2011-08-16T14:19:07Z")
I liked it better than **No Country For Old Men**. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/56 "2011-08-16T14:50:30Z")
They should have been combined into “There Will Be No Country For Bloody Old Men”. ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/57 "2011-08-16T16:00:10Z")
Its been a while but… To me, TWBB was the tragic biography of this successful but sociopathic man. The point of the story being that despite all his successes, he’s just a lonely asshole, even spurning the one person he was close to (his son) in the end. Then he gets the revenge on the man that publically humiliated him that we’re all waiting for (in the bowling alley) but even that is hollow, because (for me anyway) that scene just reinforces that he’s just going to die a lonely old asshole. I loved the movie, and thought DDL was brilliant as usual. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/58 "2011-08-16T18:46:21Z")
I think Plainview is one of the most fascinating characters in movies. The first twenty minutes show a man who is determined and self made. He literally drags himself to success. He is actually quite admirable in the start, including taking on has his own the son of I believe his brother who died in a tragic accident. But like most things, including drive and ambition, which can be admirable qualities, can morph into monstrous qualities when they become a end in and of themselves. Plainview is not greedy for money or even really for power, so much as he is greedy for self-fulfillment. He says straight out that he does not like to lose. He isn’t talking about money, he is talking about his own self-worth. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/59 "2011-08-16T19:38:13Z")
Surprised [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CF2PbJsaW8) hasn’t been posted yet. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796/60 "2011-08-17T08:01:16Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > And, IMO, it has one of the [BEST](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqrZSYzg1GU&feature=related) [scores](http://youtu.be/xttJwDP9I3s) [ever](http://youtu.be/3R75NhMQC8Q) [ever](http://youtu.be/WpaCymKWfgM)[ever](http://youtu.be/UOCTwtZDpF0) [ever](http://youtu.be/O3hoQWJmZlE) [ever](http://youtu.be/SaZ0r_NQYMM). I could go on. That soundtrack is just exhilarating to me. IN the theater, on the big screen, with big speakers and a great sound system, it electrified me. It still does, but it can’t possibly be as intense. Much of it is so odd and alien and I know a lot of people hate it, but it perfectly captures Daniel Plainview and the movie. You’ve got to be kidding me. The 4th grade music class they hired to play the violins made it annoying. The score was disjointed and amateurish at best. Oooooh we can make violins squeal out of tune _aren’t we edgy?_ This movie was one of the most boringest things I’ve ever watched. I expected a period piece about oil prospectors, not professionally made home-movies with no narration or plot or even a bare hint at an explanation of what’s going on. I love highfalutin period movies, but I was bored to tears. I turned it off at the climactic scene where the oil derrick exploded. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-there-will-be-blood-spoilers/592796.md?page=4)