MichaelRunyon.com – All Things Geek

8.5/10

After they finally released this movie into a theater close to me, I persuaded Leah to go see it at Showplace 16. Despite the lulls in the action at times, she was able to stay awake throughout the whole movie, which is pretty good for her after a stressful week. That right there is a key criteria for my review.

After thinking about the movie for a while, I come to different thoughts about the different aspects of the movie that there are. Firstly, the performance by Daniel Day-Lewis was stunning, as usual. I hyping to my friends that this is only his 4th movie in the last 10 years, so you know that he is crafting unforgettable characters. To this tune, however, the character that he plays is quite similar to the character that won him an Oscar in Gangs of New York (Bill the Butcher). Much of this is because of his distinctive look in the two movies, as well as the accent that he plays through. Also, the savageness and lack of empathy for his fellow man is evident throughout the movie as well.

I have read some but not all of Upton Sinclair’s Oil and found the movie to be strikingly different than the book. I was pleasantly surprised that this did not bother me that much, however, as the departure was great enough that this felt more like a different work entirely.

The rest of the movie is up and down for me, with plenty of visual and sonic space throughout the film, and apt audio cues that draw you in during the intense scenes of the movie, the director is content to jump wildly back out to absurdity of the situation developing throughout the film, and indeed, until the very end. In this way, though, this non-chalant, flippant handling of the movie and it’s emotive ability mirrors both the attitude and actions of the central character, Daniel Plainview(Day-Lewis), and the work on which it is based. The viewer is left with an empty feeling at the end of the movie about the resolution of certain conflicts and relationships, but rest assured that this is no tidy happy ending. There is severe emotional baggage left to be sorted through when this ends, but again, this is such a needed touch of reality that you are not dismayed when the cut to black is on the screen and your mind is sorting through all that is still out there.

To sum up my feelings, I appreciated the outstanding talent of Day-Lewis, and appreciated the gritty reality of both the period that was portrayed and the vicious humanity of those living in it, despite their sometimes absurb and whimsical leanings. The visual and audible space in the movie both served the piece well, and wrapped up a plain outstanding cinematic work that should well vie for prestigious awards this year against the best out there, and stand a great chance of taking it all home.

Leah and I decided to spice up tonight’s State of the Union address (which I won’t get into details about) by playing a drinking game. We chose the word America(n) 10 minutes beforehand and took a drink every time that he said it. Here is the running log that I was keeping of my count. I zoned out a few times, there may have been as many as 10 more than I counted.

5
7        9:14
9        9:14
12        9:16
13        9:17
14        9:18
15        9:21
16        9:21
17        9:26
18        9:27
19        9:28
20        9:28
21        9:32
22        9:36
23        9:38
24        9:38
25        9:39
26        9:39
27        9:39
28        9:40
29        9:40
30        9:42
31        9:42
32        9:44
33        9:46
34        9:49
35        9:50
36        9:53
37        9:54
38        9:54
39        9:55
40        9:55
41        9:56
42        9:56
43        9:56
44        9:57
45        9:58
46        9:58
47        9:59
48        9:59
49        9:59
50        10:00
51        10:01
52        10:02
53        10:03
54        10:03

54 TIMES!!! That’s a whole lot of drinks.  My face is very warm right now. This is really the only way to watch this absurb scene of hands down the worst president in US history. I have nothing further to report.

Hello, everyone!

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