My expectations were too high. My anticipation worked against me. It was too exclusive. Whatever the excuse or reason, “There Will Be Blood” is not the best movie of 2007 as I’d hoped, but hell, it sure is a damn good piece of dramatic filmmaking that flexes every single muscle of raw acting talent from each of its cast members involved. “There Will Be Blood” is likened to masterpieces such as “Citizen Kane” and “Giant,” and in many ways Paul Thomas Anderson aims his film down those roads but ends up with his own masterpiece of a man’s rise to power, and fall into his own lust for greed, oil, and his amoral misdeeds in the process.
Tag Archives: Masterpiece
No Country for Old Men (2007)
I won’t lie when I tell you that it was a shame to see the Coen Brothers in such a slump. They gave us in no specific order “The Ladykillers,” a now infamous remake of a much better film, and then “Intolerable Cruelty” a week and dull dark comedy that was too glam for the duo. I’m glad to report that “No Country for Old Men” is just where they belong. It’s grit, edge, dark humor, and sheer menace in one package of incredible performances and results in a hybrid that’s basically my favorite film of 2007 and soon may just become one of my favorites of all time. Of course, this is not new for the Coens as “The Big Lebowski,” and “Fargo” currently rank in my top list.
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
You take two of the greatest actors of modern American cinema, grab a slew of all-star performers all providing excellent performances, match it with the stylish and epic direction of James Mangold, and you have yourself “3:10 to Yuma” a remake of the great western film that’s a contender for one of my favorites of 2007, and damn near superior to its predecessor. Mangold’s film packs an abundance of quality and power with it and that’s due to the fantastic writing by the adapting screenwriters, who takes the simplistic yet original story and turns it something much more unique. It’s the story of a man trying to reclaim his dignity, a story about a man who is very well the devil reincarnated learning about respect, and the story of a young boy discovering that everything he thought he once knew now suddenly was all just a fraud. “3:10 to Yuma” brought with it the stylish marketing and appeal to the modern audiences, but don’t sell it short.
Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told: Director's Cut (1968) (DVD)
“Spider-Baby” is without a doubt one of the oddest cannibal movies I’ve ever come across. And it’s not because it’s old, but because the cannibalism ends up becoming much more implied than explored in the end. There isn’t exactly anyone eating other folks here, but there are often the signs. Young Virginia collects ears, and eats bugs, while Elizabeth attempts to guilt her into her natural urges, even though she’s experiencing the same cravings to give in.
Children of Men (2006)
Forget cannibalistic freaks on a hill, forget a stranger calling, forget a torture house in Eastern Europe, forget a chainsaw bearing monster, two of the scariest movies of 2006 were, without a doubt “When the Levees Broke,” and “Children of Men.” Why? Because both films present the utterly realistic and utterly possible events that will occur, should a natural catastrophe ever shake up the world. What makes “Children of Men” both a masterpiece and probably one of the most horrifying movies of the year is the fact that mass infertility, with the change of climates, evolution, and rising population, is possible, and likely to happen.
Cinema Crazed's Top 10 of 2006
The more people I come across, the more it seems 2006 was an awful year for everyone. But, I saw more movies in 2006 than I’ve seen in a while, so this will be my first time creating a top ten. I’ve yet to see many others so, this is a list of movie I’ve seen. So, here is a list of our top ten movies of 2006:
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru No Haka) (1988)
As an uncle, as a brother, the oldest of three, and as a son, “Grave of the Fireflies” was a grueling film to sit through. Being a victim of a horrible sequence of events and watching your loved one fade away is something I’m all too familiar with. Watching “Grave of the Fireflies,” possibly the most heart-breaking film I’ve seen in years, you will know what that’s like too. Isao Takahatacreates a film that doesn’t need ghouls and goblins and fairies. It’s all frightening enough.