With all the hype, I was definitely expecting more, much more from Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood. Instead I got an anemic Citizen Kane, with a dash of violence and little else, very little else. One can't help but compare the two, as we follow the mercurial rise of each protagonist to ever dizzying heights of financial self destruction. But in Kane we got the whole nine yards detailing complex, nuanced relationships between friends and enemies alike, and how they functioned, changed and were, in turn, changed by various personal, social, and economic institutions. How that ground breaking film explored and showcased that complex weave of life, love and loss in visuals that still excite to this day leaves no wonder as to why it's always cited as one of cinema's greatest. Blood is a one trick pony where you simply wait for Daniel Day-Lewis to erupt, like one of his character's proverbial oil wells.
On the positive side... at least we were spared yet another Citizen Soldier viewing
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