Awards Decoder: There Will Be Blood

Wed., Dec. 12, 2007 4:42 PM PST by

There Will Be Blood Melinda Sue Gordon / Paramount Vantage

It's that time of the year again: awards season! When Hollywood looks in the mirror, kisses the mirror and full-on makes out with the mirror. You will hear about so many awards that your heads will spin. But I'm here to help.

I'll check in on the latest prize-winning movies and performances, and answer two questions: (1) Should you see it before Oscars and, more important, (2) Will you like it?

The objective is simple: We all want to win our office Oscar pools and get sucked into good movies. So, let us have hope.

The Subjects:   Paul Thomas Anderson's drama There Will Be Blood and leading man Daniel Day-Lewis

The Buzz:  The L.A. Film Critics Association awarded Blood the Best Film award. The New York Film Critics Association made Blood the runner-up in the same category.

Should You Care?  Well...you should buy the soundtrack. How's that? Of course, Day-Lewis is inhumanly great as an early 20th century oil tycoon, but he's always inhumanly great. But his performance isn't one that invites you in, but rather one that scolds you and says, "You cannot do this, you simpleton." The cinematography is on par with any Anderson film (Boogie Nights, Magnolia), but it's as if his personal, deeply modern signature has been erased. Also, it's too long.

Oscar Potential:  This won't be the Oscar movie. Most people, Academy voters included, are just a wee bit more into schmaltz than Anderson. Daniel Day-Lewis will get nominated, but he always does, so no big news there.

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