There Will Be Blood 2007
PTA's oil-baron epic, loosely adapted from the first 100 pages of Upton Sinclair's Oil!, shot by Robert Elswit in Marfa, Texas, scored by Jonny Greenwood. Sean calls it the best filmmaking of the century and Day-Lewis's Plainview the performance of the century; if it were his list alone it'd be No. 1. Made $76M on a $25M budget after PTA's five-year gap since Punch-Drunk Love. Paul Dano, originally cast only as Paul Sunday, took on twin Eli after Kel O'Neill was fired, with four days to prep; Dillon Freasier, who plays H.W., was a non-actor from a Texas school and never acted again. They read it as America, oil, and religion, but land hardest on the Daniel/H.W. father-son story: the derrick explosion and H.W.'s deafness, the train goodbye, 'how big is his room,' informed by PTA having a newborn during the shoot. Sean and Amanda both flag the Dano/Quentin Tarantino 'weakest part' debate (they disagree). 'I drink your milkshake' traces to Teapot Dome scandal testimony. Nominated for 8 Oscars, won 2 (Day-Lewis, Elswit cinematography); lost Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay to No Country for Old Men. Amanda ranks it fourth among PTA's films, behind Phantom Thread, One Battle After Another, and The Master.