Best of the Decade Nominee:
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights (1997) was one of the best films of the 90s and in 2007, Anderson released one of the best films of this decade. There Will Be Blood is a film epic in the best tradition of the phrase, but it is also an epic American film with its portrayal of a self-made man and his pursuit of capitalism at its grimiest. Anderson’s film offers sweeping vistas, grandiose themes, and a larger-than-life-character in Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis). The film’s depiction of Plainview’s greed run amok can be closely compared to that Orson Welles masterpiece Citizen Kane (1941). Much like the fate of Charles Foster Kane, Daniel Plainview is “finished” by the film’s conclusion.

Watching the film a second time, I was struck by how meticulous and patient it is, especially at the beginning with its dialogue-free opening segment of Plainview prospecting. Anderson makes it clear from the beginning that this is not a plot-driven film but one of tone. In this way, the viewer’s experience is forced to parallel that of its oil man, one of patience with the hope of something important and rich to be discovered.

The scenes shot at Little Boston are some of the most brilliant in the film with oil derricks looming large over the land like Plainview himself. The fire burning through the night is the film’s signature image and probably will be the one most remembered.

However, I’m still put-off by Paul Dano’s portrayal of Eli Sunday. His conflict with Plainview is a central one of the film, but Dano seems too weak an actor to match the gravitas of Day-Lewis and Dano’s high, whiny voice seems severely out of place. I wonder if Anderson thought Plainview matching wits against the more diminutive Sunday would be an interesting contrast. However the viewer is never divided in this conflict on who to side with, because Plainview is the much more charming character. Granted, he’s a swindler and murderer, but he’s much more charismatic than the sniveling Sunday.

Although the “bowling pin scene” is shocking, Plainview’s meeting with his adopted son is almost as devastating. After Plainview discloses the truth to H.W., he transitions from Hannibal Lecter-like sympathetic villain to the sweaty, gangly monster who murders Eli Sunday. Anderson does offer Plainview some humanity with the flashback to Plainview playing with a younger H.W. in the past. He may disown his “son,” but some part of Plainview loved H.W. as more than a prop.

In many ways, There Will Be Blood is the film Stanley Kubrick never made. This is never clearer than in the final scene in the bowling alley with its deep focus photography of the largely empty room. Is Plainview’s use of the bowling pin to bash-in Sunday’s brains an homage to the ape’s use of a bone to kill in 2001: A Space Odyssey? Anderson’s use of classic musical and Jonny Greenwood unsettling score also recall Kubrick as well. And just like Kubrick, Anderson is able to depict a natural environment and make it alien and distancing at the same time.

Bottom Line: There Will Be Blood is a modern day classic that will stand the test of time along with Citizen Kane and Lawrence of Arabia.
Rewatchability: High
Best Line: “I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people.”

Best of the Decade Nominee:
Gladiator (2000)
Directed by Ridley Scott

It seems only fitting to kick off this series with a hit movie at the beginning of the decade. Gladiator is the film that catapulted Russell Crowe to super stardom and won him Best Actor at the 2001 Academy Awards. The film also nabbed a Best Picture statuette as well.

After nine years, does Gladiator still hold up? Absolutely. The story of Maximus (Crowe) and his descent from general to slave to gladiator and finally to Roman Emperor killer is as entertaining as it was in 2000. Crowe superbly protrayed Maximus as a badass on a mission of revenge following the murder of his family. Other actors like Joaquin Phoenix as the evil Emperor Commodus, Derek Jacobi as Senator Gracchus, and Djimon Honsou as his slave pal Juba contribute greatly in supporting roles.

The movie's battle scenes are still good from the beginning one pitting a Roman legion against Germanic barbarians to the battles in the Colosseum. Maximus's battles against CGI lions might show some of the limitations of the technology back in 2000, but it doesn't detract.

Let's not forget Hans Zimmer's wonderful score which elevates Maximus's battles to mythic proportion. Gladiator's score is right up there in quality with Braveheart and The Last of the Mohicans.

Does Gladiator have any significance beyond being a wonderful piece of Hollywood entertainment? The soon-to-be dead Emperor Marcus Aurelis says: "There was once a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish...it was so fragile. And I fear that it will not survive the winter." Following eight years of President George W. Bush, many fear America's standing in the world will falter in the 21st century. Perhaps Ridley Scott had America in mind when he depicted this Roman world.

Bottom Line: Gladiator might seem to be only a high-tech update to those sword-and-sandal epics from the '50s and '60s, but Ridley Scott elevates the material to be a stirring, emotionally rich drama filled with great action and good acting. Hans Zimmer also contributes a memorable score.
Rewatchability: Very High
Best Line: Maximus: "Brothers, what we do in life... echoes in eternity"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172495/

Best Films of the 2000s (2000-2009)

With 2009 being the last year of the first decade of the new century, it is time to start thinking about the best and most influential films of the past ten years. While this decade did not technically start till 2001, for the purposes of this series, this decade began on January 1, 2000 and will end December 31, 2009. I will nominate, examine, and discuss films that were best of the 2000s. Maybe a film released in 2009 will even make its way onto the list too.