A powerful performance, worth having someone drink your milkshake.

Two great actors fill the screen and make this film enjoyable for all three hours.



I wasn’t sure why I had such respect for Daniel Day Lewis. I couldn’t get into My Left Foot a few years ago. I really didn’t like Gangs of New York when I rented it. But I knew that this Oscar winning actor had some acting chops. This last weekend my opinion was given solid evidence as I enjoyed There Will Be Blood for a second time. Lewis’ performance fills an empty landscape and entertains every minute of this lengthy film. I found his portrayal of Daniel Plainview to be so enjoyable. I could see him process his circumstances and experience pain.

This movie by Paul Thomas Anderson felt like Stanley Kubrick could have directed it. The first 15 minutes are without dialogue and it has the camera just sitting on situations. It was great to see a period piece from Anderson that is not based on the San Fernando Valley. He really let the actors do their job and didn’t rely on words to communicate the message. Paul Dano plays two roles, primarily that of Eli Sunday, the disingenuous preacher. This is the older brother from Little Miss Sunshine, and in this film he shows his range and charisma.

Multiple people have asked me if the statements made about religion offended me. It is such an easy response, not at all. I don’t think the film slams religion; I think it shows the emptiness of greed. It shows the greed of two men, and how one uses oil and the other uses God to gain power and money. I loved to see greed come to fruition. I also loved the soundtrack of this film, it really drives the intensity and really made me feel the competition that consumes Plainview.

So, if you are at Blockbuster and want a light movie to enjoy on a weekend, and have this DVD in one hand and Click in the other, just watch Click. This is not your movie tonight. (By the way, Click, really?!?) But if you want to be wrapped up in an epic then grab There Will Be Blood. In my opinion it doesn’t disappoint and is a masters workshop in acting and cinematography.

In Politics, it takes an elitist to know an elitist.

This video is the comments in their entirety,
feel free to listen at your leisure.



These words from Senator Obama have had the media in a frenzy the last few days…
You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them...And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

People are not discussing the first paragraph and its accusations against republicans and democrats...no no no… that would involve a debate of the issues. Instead they take comments in the second paragraph to attack Obama. There are two things that bother me about this situation. First of all, let’s take a look at what his comments are really saying. People are devastated when jobs leave their communities by the thousands and many of these people are bitter. Their bitterness finds solace in unhealthy passions. Do I think Obama is saying that all guns and religion are always unhealthy? Absolutely not. Look at his other comments about faith and how he has personally embraced religion.

I think that Obama is saying that at there are people who don’t allow faith to be a healing and positive transformation in their hearts and lives. They use it as a way to gain social acceptance and identity. Rather then allowing God to change their hearts, they take on a judgmental spirit. He is not saying that this is the case of everyone who goes to a church, or owns a gun.

People who have been devastated economically are hurting people, and rather than pursuing healing they often pursue hate. Instead of hearing this message the sound bite media and other ‘down to earth’ candidates are taking it as a chance to slam Obama. Is Hilary Clinton really going to try to give off the impression that she isn’t an elitist? Is she really going to call out Obama?

This woman epitomizes what she is criticizing. Is she really going to present herself as a pro-gun, pro-religion candidate? Her comments in the last few days are evidence of how out of touch she is with her own history. Now I am not a Hilary-Hater. I will not allow a simple distaste to cause me to spew venom when her name is uttered. But, it makes me sad that she is playing the game and trying to come across as if she loves Smith-Wesson & Jesus.

Here is an idea, let’s stop trying to vilify people based on a few words. Let’s take a look at their past and their plan. Let’s make judgments based on positions not parties. Let’s take the economic situation in Pennsylvania and give a plan for change rather than a justification of their hate. Stop kissing voters butts and validating their unhealthy response to circumstances. Start to tell them why you are the candidate that will create opportunity for new circumstances and prosperity. This is just an idea.