"It's not about the movies"

There Will Be Blood, (2007) Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

 It’s not often I can walk out of a movie theater with the feeling that I have learned something.  So the fact that this film turned out to be a virtual equivalent of a post graduate education was quite unexpected.

 For those that are able to crack its code, there is a veritable treasure or cornocopia…wait a minute…forget cornocopia…I’m not even sure I spelled it right.  There is a veritable treasure chest of life lessons to be mined from this golden goose, if you will permit me the luxury of mixed metaphors (actually, who’s going to stop me?  You?  Don’t flatter yourself, toots).

My mind overflowed with the nuggets of wisdom culled from this remarkable film.  The following are only the ones I was able to capture on paper (the rest are probably stuck in old nacho cheese sauce, scattered all over the floor of the theater).

1. Never, NEVER smoke near an oil well.
2. Goat’s milk will always go down easier with a shot of whiskey in it.
3. Make sure that the guy who says he is your brother really is your brother.
4. Potatoes are not as good as bread.
5. Beware of quail hunters.
6. If you are at the bottom of an oil well, keep an eye on those pile driver thingies.  They can be dangerous.
7. Never renege on a promise to a crooked preacher.
8. A “Bastard in a Basket” is not fancy name for a fast-food combo meal.
9. With a little imagination, bowling pins can have more than one use.
10. Jealous, hearing-impaired children should not have access to matches.
11. If someone says to you, “There will be blood,” it’s in your best interest to believe him.
12. The terms “family man” and “family business” can sometimes be open to interpretation.
13. The Churches of the First and Second Revelation were great testimonies to God’s all-encompassing power on this earth.  The Church of the Third Revelation…uh…not so much.
14. Having your preacher try to suck the devil out of your hands can be a viable alternative to over-the-counter painkillers.
15. If knife wounds make you a little squeamish, don’t try to tell a crazy man “how to run his family.”
16. If a psychotic suggests getting some women liquored up and taking them to the Peachtree dance, it’s best to agree with him even if you have no idea what he is talking about.
17. Never eat meat left over from the night before.  It can make you crazy.
18. The longer the straw, the more satisfying the milk shake.

Well, as I said, these are the only gems that I could jot down in the dark.

As far as the film goes, I don’t remember a heck of a lot of it.  I was too busy writing.  I seem to recall that it starred John Huston, though.

That was John Huston, wasn’t it?  Well, the guy sounded like him anyway.

My Rating:  18 Thumbs (see list above)

~A Dangerous Obsession~