I’ve watched this murky teaser trailer for There Will Be Blood, the latest movie from Magnolia guy Paul Thomas Anderson, a couple times now, and I don’t know what to think of it. The whole thing’s obviously a little strange. As a considerable fan of P.T. — Boogie Nights, IMHO, is the second-best movie of the 90s, after Pulp Fiction, and Magnolia could conceivably squeak in on the list of that decade’s top ten or twenty — I’ve been itching to see this movie ever since was announced. We don’t know that much about it yet, except that it’s adapted from Oil!, a novel by Upton Sinclair, who wrote The Jungle, and it stars Daniel Day-Lewis as an old-fashioned oil prospector.
And after watching the trailer, I still don’t know that much about it. No matter. I’m gonna see this ASAP, anyway. (Most sources say it’s gonna open in November.) P.T. could’ve posted footage of Daniel Day-Lewis doing the Charleston with monkeys in hula skirts and I’d still give him a pass. He hasn’t made a movie since 2002’s Punch-Drunk Love; let’s get excited! That said, the one minute and twenty-three seconds we get here plays very Terrence Malick-y, don’t you think? One other thing to note is that the only other real name in the cast is Little Miss Sunshine’s Paul Dano; guess that must be him at the 1:01 mark, huh? Looks different. Your thoughts, PopWatchers?
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Am I excited? H-E-double-hockey- sticks yeah I’m excited. I actually rate Boogie Nights above Pulp Fiction. Good call on the Malick comparison, but I would also maybe compare it to Sayles work too. It’s hard to tell from the trailer whether it will be poetic like Malick or political like Sayles or a combination of the two. Can’t wait!
Mmmm…I don’t know. PTA is hit & miss with me. While BOOGIE NIGHTS & PUNCH DRUNK LOVE were good movies (but NOT great IMHO), MAGNOLIA has got to be one of the most unbearable, unwatchable films I’ve seen in my entire life. I genuinely wanted to ask for my money back. Having said that, PTA is also a very original director so I’m not completely writing this one off. But then again, wasn’t he partially responsible for Fiona Apple’s strenuous musical hiatus? I heard rumors that she was so depressed after their bitter breakup that she would go weeks without leaving her house.
It looks great. I can’t wait. Magnolia is one of my favourite films, but it’s not like PTA has made a bad film in my opinion.
yes. I’ll see anything with DDL in it. I will continue to argue that he is the best actor out there. Anyone who thinks differently should watch My Left Foot. I am glad he came out of retirement and decided to continue to make quality films.
That clip is ridiculously ambiguous. I’m not sure if DDL and oil prospecting is enough to entice me (certainly not enough to entice mainstream audiences who prefer Eddie Murphy in a fat suit) but for PTA I might give it a whirl.
i miss p.t.a. im eagerly awaiting his next cinematic endeavor but Im not quite sure if this was even a trailer.
Excited? YES!!!
They need to change the frigging title – sound like Saw, Part XIII!!
I guess I’m in the minority, but I LOVE trailers like this! I’m so sick and tired of all the formulaic trailers out there that give away 80% of the film’s story and contain all the best dialogue. The trailers for “Little Children” (with that unnerving train’s approach as its soundtrack) and “Marie Antoinette” (set to New Order’s “Age of Consent”) are 2 of my favorite recent trailers and now this one is added to the list! I’ve been following this movie since it popped up on IMDb a few months back and hope it comes out sooner rather than later. And also, did “Giant” with Liz Taylor, James Dean and Rock Hudson pop into anyone else’s mind while watching this?
Wow! That was just amazing. I never thought I would see a more pretentious and annoying piece of crap than Magnolia, but I guess I was wrong. PT, please keep making these films, it will give wannabe critics and pseudo-intellectuals an artificial sense of superiority. I want to be entertained by a great story, not impressed by how “abstract” you are.
Absolutely I can’t wait for this movie. Not only is Boogie Nights the best film of the ’90s, it’s also my favorite film of all time. And I agree with the sentiment that trailers tend to give away too much of a film’s plot. Teasers are called teasers for a reason.
Absolutely I can’t wait for this movie. Not only is Boogie Nights the best film of the ’90s, it’s my favorite film of all time. I also agree with the sentiment that trailers give away too much of a film’s plot; they’re called “teasers” for a reason.
Jim is the rain on the parade. “People who don’t like what I like are stupid.”
PT Anderson is one of my favorite directors, so I’ve been looking forward to this since it was announced (back when it was going to be called “Oil!”, so lets just take a moment and thank God for the name change). I’ve loved all of his films, and though a lot of people HATED “Magnolia” I thought it was a beautiful, powerful movie. I agree that this does look Terrence Malick-y, and I love that because he’s another amazing director (if you haven’t seen “Badlands” or “The New World” do yourself a favor and catch them). Oh, and I totally thought of “Giant” while watching this.
I actually think I’ll end up liking this movie when I see it on HBO in a year or two. I like gritty realism in my period reproductions combined with the hardscrabble gothic of rural industrializing America. That said, shoot the teaser with a deer rifle.
flop. i will love it, but i t will flop. the masses are asses.
That trailer is brilliant. I will see it even if I have never seen Magnolia or Boogie Nights.
Seems similar to the Hearst character on Deadwood … big time speculator with a large disdain for people.
Interesting–all the talk of the Terence Malick influence on the trailer. Am I the only one seeing Sergio Leone? Specifically, the very similar train arrival scene in Once Upon a Time in the West? Whatever, this trailer looks great and I know I’m looking forward to the movie itself.
This will be the best film of the year.
Just because it is a period piece set in the southern midwest sometime in the 1800s with big fires and the trailer is told entirely through voiceover does not mean its like Terrence Malick. Oh wait that is essentially Days of Heaven, except with oil instead of wheat and no female lead.
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