Those church scenes were very realistic of what you could expect to see at a Church back in the frontier days.
I still haven't seen There Will Be Blood. I have nothing planned for tonight so I think I'll finally give it a look. Then maybe Daniel Day Lewis will stop looking at me all angry and **** when I use a RedBox.
I guess I'll throw spoiler tags around this since some people like CCR still haven't seen the movie. Spoiler Initially the character of Eli Sunday was to be played by a different actor. But that actor crapped out on PTA pretty close to the time of shooting (haven't heard exactly who it was). PTA decided that Paul Dano was being wasted by only playing the small part of Paul Sunday, so he decided to make them twins and have them played both by Dano. He's said this in interviews and confirmed that they are and were supposed to be two different characters. I've never understood why people would think they were the same except for them being played by the same guy. If they are the same character, Plainview's little speech at the end about how Paul Sunday started a little oil drilling business of his own and how he is the successful brother makes absolutely no sense.
That's when I realized they weren't the same character but it did seem that DDL at one point when he looked at Eli thought he might have been Paul and that he was being scammed somehow.
Spoiler Yeah, when Eli first introduces himself, I think both Daniel and HW are kind of confused, but they figure it out just like the audience is supposed to. Remember the scene when Eli goes ape**** on his dad after Plainview slaps him around and shoves his head in the oily mud? You would think there would be more confusion in the family if Eli suddenly starts ranting about some guy named Paul who doesn't exist.
Spoiler I figured that possibly Eli/Paul might be schitzo and that's why the family fears Eli so much but naaaah. That would have been too much for the movie which was very simple up to that point. So I started to let that theory go and believe it was two different characters. Not til the bowling scene was I 100% positive.
Spoiler Yeah, I was confused for a while during the movie too. But I've seen people who saw the entire film make pages long arguments as to why everything is ambiguous enough that maybe the director wanted us to not be sure and make our own interpretation. But everything I have seen indicates that they were always intended to be two separate people. By the way, I loved DDL in this, but greatness is expected of him now. Paul Dano did a bang up job as Eli, though. Some of my favorite really subtle moments come from him in this movie. I especially loved the little smirk he gets in the bowling alley scene in the end when Plainview tells him to say "I am a false prophet and God is a superstition" and Eli replies "But that is not true, I cannot say it" with this grin on his face. It's the very definition of a ****-eating grin that lets you know EXACTLY how genuine Eli has been this whole time.
do you think lewis was hammy, i can see your critique, but I really think he was just trying to capture the sense of a self absorbed self made oil baron. my favorite scenes of his dialogue were the speeches he gave to the land owners.
I didn't think it was hammy at all. DDL was incredible. His voice and delievery fit his part so well. Spoiler I loved it at the end when they showed a flashback to when him and HW first started, the difference between then and now was so different, yet during the movie, changed so gradually. Brilliant. Just no No Country.
It was an interesting movie but just not as glorious as it was made out to be I found the end just plain . . . blah . . . The credits started rolling and I generally felt the same way I did at the end of No Country for Old Men "That's it???" *shrug* It had a start . . .a beginning . . . .???? I think it was almost like THE HAPPENING except it had a more interesting journey but . .it just lead nowhere for me Rocket River
I'm not trashing Lewis's or Ely's performance, but there were some scenes where it felt like there was a wink and smile from Lewis for us to be swept up with his energy. I wouldn't want that kind of performance in all movies, but it's not bad from time to time.
I waited until it came out on blu-ray before I watched it. I'm a blu-ray snob now. difficult to watch on regular DVD now. Only if I know there is no blu-ray available.
Just finished watching, and I wasn't all that impressed. Very well acted by DDL, but it just wasn't a powerful movie to me. And I disagree that the actor who played Eli did a great job. I realize that his part was over the top, but I thought he did a pretty terrible job of handling it. Overall, I'm glad I watched it. It was good, but not great. I liked No Country for Old Men much more.
