It's the story of the rise of an oil baron from the early 20th century. I also enjoyed it from a different perspective as my father is an oil worker and has been his whole life. He works running the rigs that do the drilling for oil and he worked in Signal Hill when I was a kid, which is in the movie. Other California locations that I recognized from both living there and my father working in the oil fields were also of interest to me.
It's long, at 2 hours and 40 minutes, but it's not boring in a single instance. It's great all the way through. It's an acting and writing film, not some FX spectacle or anything like that. It's one of the best films of 2007, I'd say, and well deserving of its Oscar nomination. Other films I enjoyed in the last year that fit into that same vein, of being mostly writer, director and actor driven, are: The Prestige, The Departed, No Country for Old Men, Zodiac and American Gangster. If you enjoy that kind of film where you can really enjoy the performances, then go check out There Will Be Blood. Daniel Day-Lewis hands in a truly fantastic acting job, really earning his Oscar win for best actor. Go see it before it's gone.
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And the soundtrack was wildly different from usual movie soundtracks.
Yeah, it was really foreboding at certain points. I loved it.
i agree.
all in all, it was a good year in movies. though i didn't quite liked departed and prestige, and haven't seen zodiac yet, bit i'm sure there were couple of others worth remembering.
Yeah, but we both know you're grumpy with films, Goran.
;-)
I didn't think either of those two were perfect but I enjoyed them. Departed in particular had a lot of problems, but I loved watching the actors.
You should give Zodiac a try. It's great. Robert Downey Jr is the best. It's a David Fincher film. Good.
Loved all of 'em except departed. Too predictable. No Country For Old Men did it the most for me--I like my action existential. Overall, good year for movies, though. Finally.
Yeah, Departed had it's troubles, like I said. My main problem was that it wasn't plausible. I had a big issue with Matt Damon renting this mansion on a cop's pay and nobody wondering about that when they're searching for the mole. But, even so, I enjoyed watching the actors perform, so overall still enjoyed the film. Indeed, it was a great year for film.
I haven't seen Zodiac, but the rest of the movies on your list there, I'm in complete agreement with. There Will Be Blood and No Country... are two of the best movies I've seen in years. I'll check out Zodiac though, if only for Downey Jr.
By the way, I was at your colouring masterclass at the Birmingham Con last October. Really inspiring stuff.
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